The CAB Philosophy

In a world obsessed with optimization, brands with soul fade into noise, not resonance.

Creative Acts in Business (CAB) champions origination.

We’re a strategic consultancy partnering with visionary leaders - founders, C-suite, investors in tech, retail, and luxury - to author enduring brands.

At the nexus of culture, commerce, and creativity, we transform cultural insight into strategic clarity and value.

We guide pivotal transformations - reinvention, market expansion, purpose realignment - through a spiral journey of listening and authorship.

Our Approach:

  • Ignites cultural resonance with commercial impact.

  • Navigates East-West scales with authenticity.

  • Shapes tech-enabled, soulful futures.

Quiet by design. Unmistakable in impact.

Carrie Zhao is the founder of Creative Acts in Business, a strategic consultancy blending culture, commerce, and creativity to empower global brands.

What turns a successful brand into a cultural legacy?

This question has been my compass for over 15 years. It led me from Paris, shaping strategy for heritage powerhouses at LVMH and L’Oréal, to Shanghai and Hong Kong, witnessing firsthand the explosive growth of Alibaba's digital ecosystem. It's a journey that gave me fluency in three languages and in the deeper language of cultural nuance.

Along the way, I honed my perspective with dual MBAs from ESSEC and Kellogg and identified a fundamental challenge in the market: legacy brands were too slow to adapt to technology, while digital natives lacked the strategic soul to endure.

I founded Creative Acts in Business (CAB) to solve this. We blend C-suite strategy with a philosophical lens, transforming brands into investable assets. We help our partners:

  • Find their cultural resonance.

  • Achieve commercial scale.

  • Build strategic endurance.

The results are clear: 15–40% revenue growth, significant risk reduction, and lasting value. Through our proprietary tools (Triad™, Emotional Index™, CAB 30 Index™), we provide the frameworks for visionary leaders and PE portfolios to author their own legacies.

Based in France with a hub in New York, my work is about shaping futures with both cultural resonance and commercial precision.

Warmly,
Carrie

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