Steve Cody

CEO

Steve is chief executive officer of Peppercomm, a strategic communications agency he named in honor of his late Black Lab, Pepper. He is a comedian, climber and dog lover, but not necessarily in that order.

In his role as CEO, Steve is responsible for driving everything from thought leadership and new service offerings to crisis counseling and workplace culture. The firm has won many workplace culture awards from premier media outlets including Fortune, Inc., The New York Observer and Crain’s New York Business. It has also been named a top workplace by PR Week, PR News, PR Daily and Bulldog Reporter and has garnered countless “best” campaign of the year awards from advertising, digital, workplace and PR trade media.

Steve is co-author of the HarperCollins book, “The ROI of LOL: How Laughter Breaks Down Walls, Drives Compelling Storytelling, And Creates A Healthy Workplace” (www.ROILOL.com). The book is available to pre-order on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, BAM!, Bookshop.org as well as audible. The ROI of LOL will be published in print, audio and digital formats on October 17th. Steve is also the co-author of a 2003 McGraw-Hill published book titled, “What’s keeping your customers up at night?”

He has contributed hundreds of guest columns to Inc Magazine and has been quoted extensively in leading business, advertising, human resources, internal communications and public relations publications. And he’s been a guest on countless podcasts as well as a panelist at leading industry trade conferences and also co-hosts Peppercomm’s very own podcast, LaughingMatters.

Named one of Northeastern University’s 100 Most Successful Alumni, Steve is a trustee and former chair of the Institute for Public Relations and co-chairs IPR’s ELEVATE Board, whose members include some of the best and brightest rising stars in the PR profession. He also sits on the nominating committee of The Page Society, is a board member of Communications Week and is a two-time former chair of the PRSA’s Counselor’s Academy. He is a member of the advisory councils of the College of Charleston, the University of Florida and the Diversity Action Alliance.

Steve is married with two children and two grandchildren. His passions are ice, rock and mountain climbing as well as performing stand-up comedy (very poorly) and pickleball (surprisingly well). Over the years, he has helped organize comedy charity fundraisers that have distributed more than $100,000 to worthy nonprofits and charities.

Connect with Steve online: LinkedIn

Clayton Fletcher

Comedian

Heard every day on Sirius/XM Radio's Laugh USA, Blue Collar Comedy, and Jamie Foxx's Foxxhole stations, Clayton Fletcher is an American stand-up comedian who performs throughout the USA, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Caribbean. Clayton has been featured on Hulu-TV's "Comedy Brew," MSNBC's "Your Business," AXS-TV's "Gotham Comedy Live," Amazon Prime's "Ivy League Comedy," and Comcast's "Who's Laughing Now?"

Clayton Fletcher allows us to see the world through the eyes of the son of a poker-playing mom and a jazz musician dad. His smart, clean, provocative comedy is geared towards audiences hungry for laughs without all of the crude shock value relied upon by so many modern stand-up comics. Drawing on his extensive theatre background, Fletcher brings to life all of the fun adventures his lifestyle provides. This comic proves once and for all that funny is funny, no matter who or even where you are!

Clayton lives in NYC and online @claytoncomic. Visit claytonfletcher.com.