About Ayanna
Hi. I’m Ayanna.
Brand strategist. Consultant. Speaker. Writer. Founder. Co-founder. Wife. Mom. The person people talk to when something isn’t quite clicking and I can connect the dots in real time.
I built AD consulting because I kept seeing the same thing: brilliant, multi-dimensional people playing small not because they lacked skill
or drive or vision. Because they couldn’t clearly articulate what set them apart. Their story was scattered. Their brand didn’t reflect who they’d become. And no amount of posting or pitching would fix that.
Clarity fixes that. Integration fixes that.
That’s the work.
“I've always believed the most powerful thing you can do is know exactly who you are and refuse to apologize for it.”
~ AYANNA DUTTON-DIAZ
Where I Come From
I spent 15+ years inside some of the most recognized brands in the world: LinkedIn, Meta, Dentsu, Coach, Coty, Wacoal, Cadillac. Building brand strategy, leading B2B and B2C marketing, and doing the kind of story and positioning work most people only see the results of, not the process.
I learned a lot in those rooms. How global brands think about positioning, narrative, and presence at scale. And I learned something else too: the most credentialed people in those rooms weren't always the clearest.
Titles don't create authority. Clarity does.
In September 2024, I launched AD Consulting. Not as a pivot. As an arrival.
Everything I'd built, observed, and figured out about brands, about identity, about what makes someone impossible to ignore finally had a home.
The Full Picture
I also co-founded Non-Corporate Girls™ with my co-founder Delaila, a podcast and lifestyle media platform that was, honestly, my first real proof of concept that you can build something that reflects your whole self and watch it resonate. NCG taught me things about brand and community that no corporate job could.
Outside of work, I'm a TV and film enthusiast with strong opinions, a music lover, a bookworm, a foodie, someone who appreciates a well-curated closet and a well-planned trip, and someone who believes how you show up in your life shows up in your work.
The integration I talk about with clients? I'm living it.
I’m an Afro-Panamanian woman. I’ve spent a significant portion of my career in rooms where the unspoken expectation was that I’d show up as a simpler, more digestible version of myself.
I tried that for a while. It doesn't work. Not sustainably. Not if you're trying to build something that lasts.
That experience, the decision to stop fragmenting and start integrating, is the core of everything I do. Multi-dimensional identity is not a liability. It is the asset. My whole practice is built to prove it.
What I Believe
This work is grounded in three things I come back to.
VALUE 1
Clarity before visibility. Every time.
VALUE 2
Your ambition is not the problem. Your brand just needs to catch up.
VALUE 3
Integration is not a soft concept. It's a strategy.
Where I Come In
There’s more than one way in. Start where it makes sense for you.
Let's get to work.
Book me to speak.
Start on your own terms.
Join the Aya Brand
New essays on brand, leadership and identity. Straight to your inbox