Elizabeth Thalhimer Smartt

Elizabeth currently works as the entire marketing department at Chrysalis Institute, a
nonprofit learning center for mind and spirit. She got her professional start at branding
agencies FutureBrand and Landor Associates in New York City, then worked as a
freelance naming consultant for sixteen years. Having worked on more than 150
product and corporate naming projects, her client roster includes Electrolux, DuPont,
Cisco, Wells Fargo, Nationwide Insurance, and Hilton Hotels.
Elizabeth graduated cum laude with a BA in Communication from Wake Forest
University in 1998, and earned a Masters in English from Virginia Commonwealth
University in 2005.
She served as President of the Board of Jewish Family Services from 2013-15, and
serves on the Barbara J. and William B. Thalhimer, Jr. and Family Fund of The
Community Foundation. In 2010, Elizabeth published Finding Thalhimers about her
father’s family and their department store, a Richmond tradition for 150 years (Dementi
Milestone Publishing). She and her husband Ryan live in Richmond with their human
children, Lyla and Ethan, and furry child, Deacon the pug.