St. Louis Business Journal: Most Influential Business Women 2025
Cabanne Schlafly Howard founded Kaleidoscope Management Group, a digital marketing consultancy, in 2015. Since its founding, it has recorded 30% revenue growth year-over-year, with 53% growth since the pandemic.
KMG is one of three businesses Schlafly Howard owns that are based in St. Louis, including Chakra Wellness and Chakra Real Estate. She acquired a historic building in The Grove for its company headquarters and maintains a presence in the CORTEX Innovation District.
Notably, Schlafly Howard and her team oversaw the social media strategy and execution for the first-of-its-kind, $2 billion development in Times Square: TSX Broadway.
In recent years, she was a strategic partner to a valued client to launch "Women Who Whiskey", an innovative fundraising initiative that raised $250,000 to benefit four St. Louis-based nonprofits. Schlafly Howard also launched the Let There Be Light campaign during the pandemic, raising $10,000 for the St. Louis Area Food Bank. She currently serves on the Saint Louis Art Museum’s Friends Board and is a proud mom to Isabelle and Theo.
— Olivia DeSmit, freelance writer
What recent accomplishments are you most proud of?
I am proud to celebrate 10 years of building the kind of company I'd want to hire as a client and work for as an employee. A company that values both relationships and results and that takes both high performance and happiness into consideration when making decisions. This makes me proud. And I'm proud that my kids are of an age now that they can see the gifts of my hard work in the team we have built and the clients we get to work with. They can see that what we have built is special.
What challenges have you faced in your career and how did you overcome them?
How much time do you have?! With limited word count, I'd say: I got my start in the corporate energy sector, which was very male-dominated. Instead of letting this intimidate me, I took every opportunity to learn from senior leaders, see what they valued, understand how the industry worked and then used these learnings to help me launch my business. Today we have a very diverse range of clients and I like to think that, by keeping an open mind, I can work with almost anyone! Another challenge that is critical to our success is ensuring that KMG remains a place that attracts top talent by staying up to speed on the varying interests of different generations of employees. It has always been a focus but especially after the pandemic, we paid close attention to what our team members valued in a workplace and have worked very hard to deliver on these needs while not sacrificing client service.
What else is on your career bucket list?
As KMG has become a trusted, go-to marketing partner for commercial real estate developers over the last decade, my love of real estate investing and developing has continued to grow. I recently started a business solely for the purpose of acquiring and developing real estate and I look forward to continuing to harness this passion, concentrating on property in the city of St. Louis, which I love.
What is one thing most people don't know about you?
That I was a teacher in Paris, France. French was one of my majors in college and I always dreamed of living there and becoming fluent. Et voila! I only wish I had a chance to use it more in my daily life. Maybe Nestle needs our marketing help!