The era of the CMO has arrived.

Chief marketing officers are more important to the success of global businesses — and more powerful — than ever before.

Marketers are not only executing on corporate strategy, but are also often among the key shapers of it.

They are required to master the new digital channels that dominate our lives. They need to navigate quickly in the moment while charting new courses into the future — and at the same time drive revenue while keeping a close eye on costs.

And most importantly, they have to put the customer at the center of everything they do.

Just as some of the most celebrated CEOs have been marketing geniuses (see: Steve Jobs), some of the most lauded CMOs are taking a seat in the boardroom. And, increasingly, some are being elevated to the top job: Stewart Easterbrook at McDonald's and Stephen Cannon at Mercedes-Benz, to name a couple of recent examples.

With marketers' positions within their organizations becoming more important than ever, Business Insider is celebrating the best and the brightest global marketers with our inaugural ranking of the 50 most innovative CMOs.

Scroll down to see which marketers made the cut.

Methodology

Our ranking was compiled by Business Insider's Senior Advertising Editor Lara O'Reilly. We also drew on the knowledge of an advisory council of independent experts: DDB North America CEO Wendy Clark; CMO Council Executive Director Donovan Neale-May; and ID Comms founder Tom Denford. (Read more about our council at the end of the ranking.)

In addition, we solicited nominations from our readers and included some of their picks.

CMOs were ranked based on a number of different attributes, including:

• The Connectors: CMOs who have mixed art, science, and technology in their work.
• The Rebels: CMOs who are leading their marketing efforts in a completely different direction from their peers.
• The Integrators: CMOs who have excelled in integrating multiple channels.
• The Storytellers: CMOs who have mastered the art of storytelling across platforms.

Other factors we took into consideration included: the size of the CMO's brand, the breadth of their role and responsibilities, their effect on the marketing and advertising industry beyond their own brand, and the extent to which their marketing efforts can be linked to their company's performance.

Here are some quick references:

The CMO List: Ranked 1 to 50

The CMO List: from A to Z

Additional reporting from Lori Janjigian and Hannah Roberts.

50. Rebecca Messina, SVP and CMO at Beam Suntory

After two decades at Coca-Cola, Messina joined Beam Suntory in April and threw herself straight into the global creative review for the Jim Beam brand, which we are told is all about tightly integrating the media channels.

Messina just hired a VP of integrated marketing communications, tapping another Coca-Cola veteran, David Campbell, for the new role. It represents another example of how Messina is placing integration at the heart of Beam Suntory's marketing strategy.

Messina told Forbes in April she was attracted to the company by its offer of "a holistic, end-to-end approach to marketing and their view of the connectedness of marketing to the growth agenda."

While at Coca-Cola, she most recently led marketing and innovation for its venturing and emerging brands unit. In that role, Messina led the introduction of new brand investments, such as Suja Life, to Coca-Cola's portfolio.

49. Geoff Morrell, SVP of U.S. communications and external affairs at BP

BP is still in the recovery phase after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Morrell, who spent four years as the press secretary at the Pentagon, has led BP's long-running advertising campaign in the US to answer the question of whether the company has honored its commitment to become safer. Morrell has said BP has used advertising to be a report card on its progress since 2010.

The campaign launched amid a protracted downturn in the oil market and in the midst of the reputational challenges posed by book publishers and Hollywood studios telling their own stories about the spill.

Elsewhere, BP has been using sponsorships — of the Olympics and British cultural institutions such as the British Museum and the annual Portrait Award— to further explain the brand story to consumers.

Morrell joined BP in 2011 as its head of communications. Before his career at the Pentagon, he was a correspondent for ABC News.

48. Miguel Patricio, Anheuser-Busch InBev CMO

Patricio has served as AB InBev's global chief marketing officer since 2012. His big task at the moment is working into integrate SABMiller, which the company acquired in October for more than $100 billion. The deal expands its portfolio of brands such as Budweiser and Stella Artois to include Pilsner Urquell and Fosters.

Two of the campaigns he has overseen are very much of the moment. The flagship Budweiser brand replaced its name with "America" on its cans and bottles through Election Day. The Bud Light brand is focusing on its Bud Light x Lady Gaga Dive Bar Tour and its NFL sponsorship, which has included limited-edition cans.

Last year, Patricio appointed Wieden+Kennedy to both its global Corona and Bud Light accounts, highlighting the integrated approach the alcohol company applies across its brands.

Patricio is the champion of the company's global "Buy a Lady a Drink" campaign, designed to draw attention to the millions of people around the world, most of them women, who suffer from lack of access to clean water.

Diabetes, a group of conditions in which the body can't properly regulate blood sugar, affects roughly 30 million people in the US. 

And for many people living with diabetes — including the 1.25 million people in the US who have Type 1 diabetes — injecting insulin is part of the daily routine. 

Insulin, a hormone that healthy bodies produce, has been used to treat diabetes for almost a century, though it's gone through some modifications.

In the past decade, the list prices of insulin have risen about 300%. This has drawn criticism from patients having to pay the high cost as well as from political figures such as Senator Bernie Sanders, who went after insulin drugmakers this month over their exorbitant prices. 

Here's the story of how the critical diabetes medicine became what it is today. 

SEE ALSO: The strange history of the EpiPen, the device developed by the military that turned into a billion-dollar business

DON'T MISS: Everyone wants a piece of the drug industry, and it's one reason prices are rising so fast

Insulin is an integral part of the human body. It's a hormone that, in most people, is produced in the pancreas to help regulate our blood sugar levels. For those living with Type 1 diabetes, the pancreas doesn't make any insulin, which can cause blood sugar levels to rise too high after a carbohydrate-rich meal, or fall dramatically unexpectedly.

Back in the 1920s, researchers figured out that the pancreas was an important part of what was making diabetics so sick and got to work figuring out if they could make a treatment for them. Pictured here is an inflamed pancreas alongside the duodenum to its right, and the spleen to its left, in a rhesus monkey.

Dr. Frederick Banting, a Toronto-based surgeon, along with medical student Charles Best, started by testing out what happens when you remove a dog's pancreas. When they did, the dog developed diabetes. Next, they found that if you inject insulin back into the dog, it went back to normal.

Are CEOs born or made? According to entrepreneur-turned-top venture capitalist Ben Horowitz, most of the tricky skills needed to excel are drummed into leaders through years of experience.

Likening critical CEO capabilities, such as giving difficult feedback, to learning the unnatural motion of lifting your back foot first in boxing, he claims "it generally takes years for a founder to develop the CEO skill set." In short, Horowitz insists CEOs are made, not born.

But just because becoming an exceptional leader takes a whole lot of practice, it doesn't mean everyone can become a CEO through hard work. While you invite disappointment if you believe some people are simply naturals at the job, you invite years of wasted effort if you don't also acknowledge that certain fundamental mindsets are a prerequisite for getting started on this long path of learning.

What are they? Experts suggest you need to nail these basics before you can even start to think of yourself as potential CEO material.

SEE ALSO: 57 small things you can do every day to be happier and more successful

1. You're curious and a constant learner.

The first tip-off that a commitment to continual self-improvement is key to leadership success is the fact that nearly every business icon you can think of--from Warren Buffett and Bill Gates to Oprah Winfrey--describes him- or herself as a perpetual learner. But if you want more quantitative backing for this idea, it exists too.

According to The New York Times, research shows that you're more likely to reach the top of an organization if you've had a variety of roles, from finance to marketing, rather than hunkered down and built expertise in just one department where you felt comfortable.

"Evidence suggests that success in the business world isn't just about brain power or climbing a linear path to the top, but about accumulating diverse skills and showing an ability to learn about fields outside one's comfort zone," writes the paper's Neil Irwin.

2. You're willing to feel like you're the dumbest person in the room.

Are CEOs smart? Sure, running a company takes a certain degree of intelligence. But for top leaders, the ability to gather and listen to exceptional brains is more important than personal mental horsepower. Great leadership involves enough humility to respect others' gifts and enough confidence to reveal your own limitations and accept their help.

Or as entrepreneur Kevin Johnson cleverly put it, you need to be OK with sometimes feeling like you're the dumbest person in the room. "The average person is intimidated by smart people ... If given a choice to spend a week quarantined with really smart people or people of average intelligence, the average Jane would choose people of average intelligence," he writes.

If you're CEO material, however, you'll put learning and results before ego and surround yourself with the truly brilliant. It's why Johnson is always looking to make a super smart friend. "They make me feel inadequate and sometimes just really stupid, but I am OK with that, because I know that I learn so much from them," he explains.

3. You can know a dream is crazy, but chase it anyway.

How does Elon Musk, leader of some of the world's most long-shot ventures, deal with risk? He doesn't ignore it. In fact, he recently told an interviewer that he's absolutely terrified by the huge risks inherent in pursuing borderline insane projects such as Mars colonization. "I feel fear quite strongly," he reported.

But faced with terrible odds, he doesn't resort to irrational optimism. He acknowledges the likelihood of failure and accurately assesses the long list of risks he's facing, but then he proceeds anyway. "When starting SpaceX, I thought the odds of success were less than 10 percent, and I just accepted that actually probably I would just lose everything. But that maybe we would make some progress," he continued.

This odd coupling of open-eyed risk assessment and a willingness to dare anyway is a hallmark of great CEOs, according to Robert Scoble, who studies CEOs for Rackspace. The ideal CEO, he wrote on Quora, is "assured of the achievability of long-term goals yet nervous about the attainability of near-term milestones. This schizophrenic mindset ensures that an entrepreneur maintains an unyielding belief in the manifestation of their vision while never taking for granted the execution of their startup's most basic tasks."

In the autumn of 2015, Apple design guru Jony Ive said that if he wasn't working for Apple, he might create Christmas decorations.

"If I wasn't doing this, I think I would just be drawing or making stuff for friends,"he told interviewer Charlie Rose. "Maybe it would just be Christmas tree ornaments, I don't know." 

Ive, if you're not familiar with him, is the head honcho of design at the Cupertino technology company. He frequently appears as an ethereal, disembodied voiceover on Apple's promotional videos talking about its iconic design.

Today, 49-year-old British knight continues to work for Apple. But he's gone and decorated a Christmas tree anyway.

Keep scrolling for photos of the tree...

This is Claridge's. It's a posh hotel in central London.

Every year, it gets famous designers to design Christmas trees for its lobby. In 2015, it was Christopher Bailey for Burberry.

Dolce & Gabanna, Kally Ellis of McQueens, and John Galliano for Dior have also had a go. This is Dalliano's 2010 creation.

Stars Hollow jumpstarted the careers of a number of actors, including Alexis Bledel and Melissa McCarthy. 

But while the "Gilmore Girls" cast was full of many new faces, it was also graced by veterans.

Since most of the original cast will be returning for the revival, "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life," here's a look back at what the cast looked like when they first starred on the hit show and what they've been up to since the series ended in 2007: 

Alexis Bledel made her TV (and lead role) debut as Rory Gilmore.

She made her feature film debut in 2002 with "Tuck Everlasting" and starred in the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" movies. She also had a small role in "Mad Men." Her most recent film role was in 2015's "Jenny's Wedding."

Lauren Graham starred in a few short-lived sitcoms before landing her role as Rory's mom, Lorelai. She earned a Golden Globe nomination for her role.

The highly anticipated "Star Wars" Han Solo anthology film is beginning production and we can't wait to see our favorite space scoundrel as a youngster.

Though the movie (which doesn't even have a title yet) doesn't come out until 2018, there's a lot of news about it that we can delve into as we wait for the date to get closer.

There's the duo directing the movie, the raising star who will be filling Harrison Ford's boots, the popular stars in supporting roles, and more.

Below is everything we know so far about the movie.

SEE ALSO: Here's everything we know so far about "Star Wars: Episode VIII," the sequel to "Force Awakens"

The directors are Phil Lord and Christopher Miller of "The Lego Movie" fame.

Lord and Miller are the hottest commodities in Hollywood at the moment.

Since their successful debut, "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," they have done "21 Jump Street" and its sequel, "The Lego Movie," and are the executive producers of the hit TV show "The Last Man on Earth."

The movie has "Star Wars" longtime screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan.

Lord and Miller have by their side one of the main storytellers of the "Star Wars" saga, Lawrence Kasdan, along with his son, Jon.

Lawrence is responsible for penning "The Empire Strikes Back,""Return of the Jedi," and "The Force Awakens."

Alden Ehrenreich is playing young Han Solo.

Alden beat out a collection of established names and unknowns to win the role.

He's known at the moment for his breakthrough role in the Coen brother's "Hail, Caesar!" and currently in the Warren Beatty movie, "Rules Don't Apply."

Meghan Markle has barely been out of the headlines recently — and all because of the new man in her life, Prince Harry.

But don't let the press fool you, Markle is so much more than the girlfriend of a British royal.

Born in Los Angeles, she is best known for her role on legal drama "Suits," in which she plays Rachel Zane.

Away from the camera, she is the founder of lifestyle website and brand The Tig, and a fashion designer. She also works as a women's rights activist for the UN's Women's Political Participation and Leadership programme.

From meeting political leaders in Rwanda to enjoying a British Sunday roast with a YouTube star, read on for the incredible jetsetting life and accomplishments of Meghan Markle.

Meet Meghan Markle, the 35-year-old actress, entrepreneur, and political activist who also happens to be Prince Harry's new girlfriend.

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Best known for playing Rachel Zane in legal drama "Suits," she made her acting debut in "General Hospital" in 2002. She has also starred in shows including "CSI: NY" and "Castle," as well as films like "Get Him To The Greek" and "Horrible Bosses."

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She lives in Toronto, where "Suits" is filmed. It was here that she reportedly met Harry in May while he was visiting the city to promote the Invictus Games 2017.

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When it comes to educating your children, only the most expensive schools in the world will do for royals.

We've listed some of the most prestigious schools in the world attended by reigning monarchs and future world leaders from Jordan to the UK. 

While some future monarchs studied at internationally renowned institutions like Eton and Harrow or elite boarding schools in Switzerland, others — like King Abdullah II of Jordan, were sent to smaller schools to start their education.

From St Edmund's in Surrey to Lakefield in Ontario, here are 13 private schools that have been given royal approval, ranked by their annual tuition fees for full boarders.

13. Hill House School — Prince Charles

Location: London, England

Annual fees: from £15,400 ($18,964)

Type: Mixed

Hill House International Junior school was founded in Switzerland in 1949, but a branch in London opened in 1951. It was once attended by Prince Charles — the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II — before he moved on to Gordonstoun to complete his secondary education.

Source: Guardian

12. St Edmund's School

Location: Surrey, England

Annual fees: £20,055 ($24,861)

Type: Mixed

This small independent preparatory school in Surrey has a surprising royal past. St Edmund's was once attended by King Abdullah II of Jordan before moving to the US for high school.

Source: King Abdullah II's official website 

11. École des Roches, Normandy, France

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Location: Normandy, France

Annual fees:£30,229 ($37,261)

Type: Mixed

Founded in 1899, this French school has attracted royals from India, Thailand, Morocco and Denmark. It's most recent blue-blooded student was Joachim of Denmark, the youngest son of Queen Margrathe II of Denmark.

Source: Ecole des Roches

For some brands, an audio logo is just as important as a visual one.

Close your eyes, and you'll know it's an Intel ad from its famous chimes. "I'm Lovin' It" is synonymous with McDonald's. And we all know what the "Green Giant" sings.

But which brands have the best-performing sound marks?

Scroll down to find which brand jingles stand out from the rest amongst consumers in the US.

Methodology

Veritonic, a marketing analytics platform for commercial music, surveyed more than 2,600 panelists in October 2016 and asked them to listen to audio logos selected from Interbrand's Best Global Brands ranking, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the S&P.

Panelists were asked to record their emotions as the logos played and were asked about the feelings the audio evoked. They were then contacted 48 hours later to test recall of audio logos. Panelists' emotions and engagement were also tracked using Veritonic's patent-pending EchoTime technology.

Each brand's overall 1-100 score in the ranking combines unaided recall, plus emotion categories including: Excited, happy, approachable, authentic, confident, empowering, innovative, likable, reputable, simple, trustworthy, and unique.

10. T-Mobile. Overall score: 77.4. Unaided recall: 82

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T-Mobile's chimes scored well for evoking happy and excited emotions.

It doesn't do so well on the unaided recall front, but the mark is distinctive for people who have heard it before — giving it a high engagement score.

9. Statefarm. Overall score: 78.9. Unaided recall: 84

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The insurer's beepy audio logo places scored well for "happy" (84), "excited" (74) and "simple" (72).

It placed in ninth place for unaided recall, but didn't score well on the engagement metric.

8. Folgers. Overall score: 79.5. Unaided recall: 86

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The Folgers jingle — "The best part of waking up, is Folgers in your cup"— is more than 30-years-old, having first launched in 1984.

It scored well for emotions including "happy" (82), "reputable" (78), "approachable" (78), and "authentic" (78) — all the types of feelings a coffee company would be hoping to evoke from listeners.

Folgers was tied in third position for unaided recall.

Thanksgiving, for many, is the one time each year to gorge on foods that are part of tradition and family memories.

But it can also be a time people link with weight gain and stress. If you're looking to enjoy Thanksgiving but also eat healthy, we have some advice. We turned to Lisa Sasson, a New York University nutrition professor who's helped us with healthy eating tips in the past.

Here's your guide to making the healthiest — but still delicious — choices on Thanksgiving Day.

SEE ALSO: Here's what 200 calories of every Thanksgiving food looks like

DON'T MISS: The simplest advice for anyone who wants to eat healthy or lose weight

Before you arrive, don't starve yourself.

It may seem like a good idea to save your appetite for the main event, but Sasson says it's important not to show up to the main Thanksgiving meal ravenous. When you're that hungry, your willpower tends to disappear, making it tough to avoid eating whatever's in sight.

Instead, Sasson suggested, eat a satisfying snack before heading over to Thanksgiving festivities. Nuts, cheese, yogurt, a salad with nuts or avocado, or eggs and toast are all good options for the morning before the meal.

To start, keep your appetizers light.

To counter getting stuffed on heavy appetizers, go for the lighter fare, such as fresh veggies, salads, chips and fresh salsa, or a vegetable-based soup like butternut squash soup.

Make sure your plate is colorful and full of veggies.

A good rule for filling up your plate at a buffet, says Sasson, is to keep it heavy on the vegetables. If you can, try to choose from an array of fresh, grilled, or roasted vegetables like beets, carrots, Brussels sprouts, or cauliflower. Turkey can also be a healthy part of the Thanksgiving meal, but opt for meat with no skin.

Because I regularly test cars, I spend a huge amount of time listening to music in them — probably more time than I do at home.

The days of the good-old AM/FM radio, or the era when a stack of cassette tapes was all you had to satisfy your listening needs, are long gone.

Powerful, multispeaker audio systems are now custom-designed and perfectly integrated with a vehicle's infotainment setup. You can literally listen to anything except cassettes and and vinyl records in your car (CD players, however, are beginning to vanish).

And in luxury cars and SUVs, premium audio offerings are a common option. 

That option can cost thousands of dollars. And for the most part, it's worth it. Because most premium systems make use of careful audio design to position speakers, include subwoofers, and combine excellent amps with superior speaker build quality, listening to music in your car can be better than listening at home.

Over the past two years, I've experienced just about every automotive audio system out there in the marketplace. Here we're comparing four of the best.

Obviously, when listening to music in a vehicle, you will be using a variety of media: terrestrial radio, satellite radio, CDs, MP3s, Bluetooth streaming, and streaming audio services such as Pandora, Spotify, and Tidal. You may also be using USB inputs or an AUX jack, so the quality of your source audio will vary. 

Rather than getting into dicing and slicing that, I've tried to describe these systems more generally, in terms of their overall sounds quality. But for the most part, I've found that plugging into the AUX jack gives me the best modern audio (although some experts maintain that the USB port is better), and that using CD-player input still offers the best sound.

Also, with the exception of a single more downmarket system that I discuss, these audio offerings are all well-engineered have speakers galore. The individual components are of a high baseline quality.

So let's zero in on what's important. How do these systems sound?

SEE ALSO: Maserati has hit a home run with its first SUV

BOSE: We've experienced Bose systems on a variety of vehicles, but we often find them in General Motors cars, like Cadillacs and Corvettes.

HOW DOES IT SOUND?

To my ear, Bose hits a very sweet, middle-of-the-road place. I'm not talking about the up-market Panaray version that Bose developed for the new Cadillac CT6, which takes what Bose does well to a new level. 

Basically, Bose car audio systems always sound good, and unlike some other choices, they do it without requiring 1,000-watt outputs (the Panaray setup doesn't even get to 600). Depending on how many speakers a vehicle has, where they're positioned, and whether there are powerful bass speakers, they can sound significantly better than great.

The bass is full and robust, the midranges are well-defined, and the highs are bright. As anyone who has used Bose home speakers or the company's well-regarded noise-cancelling headphones knows, Bose isn't for bass-head listeners.

Rather, its car-audio systems will please the widest range of listeners. Rock lovers, pop lovers, hip-hop lovers, jazz lovers, blues lovers, classical lovers — everyone will be happy. The so-called "soundstage" is clearly presented, with good distinction among instruments or vocals and the position of players. 

BEST FOR: Everything.

ANY COMPLAINTS?

Even the Panaray system on the Cadillac CT6 doesn't quite rise to the sublime register as some other premium systems available in vehicles.

Bose is so broadly good that it misses out on going for it with, say, the detail you might want if you're listening to jazz or the captivating soundstage you might want if classical is your thing.

That doesn't mean a Bose system is in any way mushy. Quite the opposite — you can crank it up with no worry about distortion.

But it's not going to invade your dreams. Instead, Bose car audio will simply never let you down.

Everything around us is becoming connected. As a result, we are seeing shifts in investments and returns. There is already a great demand for network expansion, cyber security and insurance. And generally, the prices of hardware will fall as IoT becomes less of a novelty.

All of this opens up a huge opportunity for everyone to make and save a lot of money. We will invest $6 trillion in IoT between 2015 and 2020, which will yield $12.6 trillion ROI over the next decade. Enterprise will make up the majority of the investment dollars, followed by government and consumer.

BI Intelligence has created a slide deck exploring the most disruptive trends in IoT. To get a more detailed view of the progression, landscape and projections of the Internet of Everything, access the complete slide deck by clicking here.

Some of the topics covered include:

• The market drivers for the IoT.
• Forecasts for the IoT market.
• A breakdown of how many industries are utilizing IoT devices.
• A look at how governments are using the IoT to revolutionize their cities and defense.
• An examination of the smart home and connected car market.
• And much more.

Below are 8 sample slides from the 60-page deck. Want the full deck? Access it here for FREE >>

Want the full 60-page slide deck?  Access it Here - FREE >>

Want the full 60-page slide deck?  Access it Here - FREE >>

Want the full 60-page slide deck?  Access it Here - FREE >>

Tesla is no longer just an automaker.

Although the company has always offered energy storage options, like its Powerwall and Powerpack, Tesla has officially solidified itself as a player in the energy space by acquiring SolarCity in a deal worth roughly $2 billion. Now Tesla will be responsible for solar installation and financing in addition to selling electric cars.

It's a big announcement with a lot of moving parts, so we made it a bit easier to keep track of everything. Here's what you need to know:

SEE ALSO: Here's everything you need to know about the solar roof Tesla plans to build with SolarCity

Tesla first announced its intention to acquire SolarCity at the end of June to become the "world’s only vertically integrated energy company."

It's a pretty interesting concept, actually — the idea of buying into a Tesla ecosystem or a Tesla lifestyle. Your roof would collect solar energy that would be stored in your at-home battery. And that very same battery could power the sustainable Tesla car sitting in your garage.

Business Insider's Matt DeBord wrote an article explaining how Tesla is trying to revive vertical integration, a business practice that has largely gone out of style. 

The acquisition proposal was immediately met with criticism as SolarCity has struggled as a company, leading many to refer to the deal as a bailout.

In the past year, SolarCity shares have plummeted by more than 50%. SolarCity also has roughly $3 billion in debt that Tesla has now acquired.

The deal was naturally further complicated by the fact that Musk owns roughly 20% of both companies and is chairman of SolarCity. He is also the cousin of SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive.

You can read more about the criticism about the deal here.

Regardless, Tesla said it expects SolarCity to contribute over $1 billion in revenue in 2017 and to contribute over 500 million in cash to Tesla's balance sheet over the next three years.

Musk has even said he could see SolarCity being a cash contributor in the fourth quarter.

Now that SolarCity is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tesla, its shares have been converted into .11 Tesla shares and are no longer being publicly traded.

Tina Hay doesn't think in numbers.

In 2002, enrolled in a finance class while pursuing her MBA from Harvard Business School, she realized that her classmates who came from the world of banking and consulting were acing the coursework without a problem, while she struggled to master the concepts foreign to her liberal arts background.

So, she started to draw.

"I think more visually," Hay told Business Insider. "I've always put numbers into illustrations and understood them that way, especially finances and money."

Hay didn't stop sketching, and today, her business school drawings have turned into something bigger: Napkin Finance, a multimedia company that aims to introduce people to complicated financial concepts through videos, text, and of course ... napkins.

We're not talking bar napkins with a few pen strokes on the back, but rather digital illustrations that go through months of development between former bankers, financial advisers, and an illustrator to nail the perfect visual intro to nuanced concepts such as compound interest, student loans, and credit scores. The Napkin Finance team has even collaborated with Michelle Obama's Better Make Room initiative to create a course on navigating the financial side of college admissions.

Below, CEO Hay shared 12 of the most popular and beloved napkins her team has produced:

SEE ALSO: These 12 sketches perfectly illustrate the path to wealth and financial happiness

Learn more about budgeting »

Learn more about building credit »

Learn more about compound interest »

Great music can be found all across these United States. And every state has a famous band that hails from it.

To determine the most famous band from every state, Business Insider looked at reputation, record sales, and awards, considering each band within its own era, so just because a band is popular now doesn't mean it's nudged out the biggest band from another decade.

We stuck to bands only — no solo artists here — but used the term "band" loosely, including any musical act consisting of more than one person. We focused mostly on the state where each band originally formed, but also considered where their music was popularized, as well as artists' hometowns.

Check out which band is making your state proud.

Christi Danner contributed to a previous version of this article. 

SEE ALSO: The 50 best movies of all time, according to critics on Metacritic

DON'T MISS: The 30 best movie endings of all time, ranked

ALABAMA: Alabama

One of the most successful bands of all time, Alabama has sold over 73 million records and has seven multiplatinum albums and two Grammys. The band sold more records during the '80s than any other band. Not only is their success impressive by any measure, but they also did a lot to make country music popular in the mainstream.

ALASKA: Portugal. The Man

Portugal. The Man released their debut album, "Waiter: You Vultures!" in 2006 and booked their first headlining tour the next year. The rock band released three more albums — including breakout record "The Satanic Satanist"— before signing with Atlantic Records in 2009. Danger Mouse, known for working with artists like Beck and The Black Keys, produced Portugal. The Man's 2013 album, "Evil Friends."

ARIZONA: Alice Cooper

The first of the many shock-rock bands of the '70s, Alice Cooper kept fans entranced with their gender-bending outfits and dark onstage theatrics — concert-goers could expect performances to include stunts like Cooper's faux-beheading via guillotine. But it's the music that kept fans coming back for more, and their riff-heavy brand of hard rock produced a string of hits including "School's Out" and "Be My Lover." Alice Cooper was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.

This post from Ron Rule, CEO of As Seen on TV, originally appeared on Quora as an answer to the question, "What knowledge does the wealthy 10% understand that the other 90% are missing?"

1. That big money is served in small increments.

Whether that's ROI on investments, profits, margins on products you're selling, whatever. People who don’t understand this are always trying to double or quintuple their money in as few transactions as possible, while the largest and most successful companies and people in the world win by making "small money" over and over again.

2. That wages and income are about what the job is worth, not the individual.

As a person, as a human being, your value is immeasurable. If you went missing in the woods our society would easily spend five or six figures trying to find and rescue you, without hesitation. But dude, putting a sticker on a box is still only worth $5. If that.

Your income potential isn't about what you need or what the employer can afford, it's about the value of what you do. Those who are in the upper income brackets have understood and embraced this reality and have worked to bring something of value to the market or their company.

3. That personal debt is not a "tool," it's shackles — delayed gratification is more gratifying than instant gratification.

If you can't pay cash, you can't afford it. That guy you know making $70,000 per year driving an $80,000 BMW and carrying $15,000 in credit card debt looks like he's well off, but he's an idiot. His entire paycheck is gone by the end of the month, and none of that stuff is his. He's basically just renting it from the bank. He’s paying more annually in interest than he’s earning in his IRA.

One hiccup in his income and the bank takes it all back, making all the money he's paid thus far for nothing. But the guy who saved up and paid cash? His savings account grows every month and no one will ever show up and take his stuff.

The INSIDER Summary:

• From Season One to Season Seven, here are the must-see 'Gilmore Girls' episodes to watch before the Netflix revival.
• The dance marathon episode is a must-watch. Relive the (second) end of Dean and Rory and the official start of Jess and Rory.

As much as I'm sure we'd all love it, the fact of the matter is that no one really has the spare time with which to commit to re-watching every episode of Gilmore Girls prior to the release of A Year In The Life. For seasoned fans of the show who, like myself, may have have already seen every episode more times than we'd likely care to say, then most of us already know that there's certain ones that require our attention before the revival. So, while we all furiously count down the weeks, days, and hours until the release of A Year In The Life, it's definitely worth revisiting the show via the most essential Gilmore Girls episodes to watch before the revival.

I mean, there's a lot to be reminded of here. It isn't just romantic sub-plots or vital familial disputes that are worth reminding yourself of, but also the defining moments for important characters, and even Stars Hollow as a whole. Within it's seven seasons, Gilmore Girlsaccomplished a great deal of storytelling with a lot of relationships that changed dramatically throughout the course of the show.

So, come on — this is important. Load up your Netflix and start studying up your Gilmore 101 with the most essential episodes to rewatch.

1. Season 1, Episode 1 ("Pilot")

Sure, in many ways, it's like a weird, Through The Looking Glassversion of the show we know and love — but it's also our first introduction to the Gilmore Family and their extended family of eccentrics in Stars Hollow.

2. Season 1, Episode 6 ("Rory's Birthday Parties")

This episode is adorable as it shows just how much Lorelai — and the town as a whole — dote on Rory. It also shows the complexity of Lorelai's relationship with her parents when they finally come to visit Stars Hollow for the first time.

3. Season 1, Episode 16 ("Star Crossed Lovers And Other Strangers")

Dean romances Rory for their three-month anniversary and surprises her with the news that he's building her a car (which I'm sure she'll cherish for all time, right?) — but then he goes and spoils it all by saying something stupid like "I love you." They break up when Rory fails to reciprocate it.

Chicago's Lincoln Mall shut its doors in January of last year, joining hundreds of now defunct malls in the graveyard of American shopping centers.

In the nearly two years since it closed, the mall has transformed from a vibrant shopping center into an eerie, deserted wasteland.

Photographer Seph Lawless, who became famous documenting the decline of abandoned malls, theme parks, and other buildings, recently visited the location to capture images of what remains. 

Here's a never-before-seen look at the depressing shell of what was Lincoln Mall. 

SEE ALSO: Eerie, never-before-seen photos from inside one of America's abandoned malls

Today, the mall is empty, except for garbage, dead trees, and a few stray shopping carts.

A few remnants of the mall's past remain, like these banners.

However, Lincoln Mall today is more haunted house than shopping hot spot.

Travel blogger Sam Huang has made it his mission to book extravagant flights for only a few hundred dollars.

But last Christmas Eve, Huang got to sample what might be the most luxurious private airline cabin: Singapore Airlines' doubled-sized private bed, which combines two adjoining suites, and is usually reserved for couples.

"From a Christmas-themed lobster and champagne dinner in an exclusive private room, to a surprise mid-air present of sleeping solo on a double bed at 40,000 feet, chasing Santa has never been so fun." Huang wrote on his travel-deals blog, TopMiles.

Huang's first-class trip from Los Angeles to Sydney (with two multi-day destination stops) would have normally retailed for $16,000 if booked as separate flights, but Huang says he got it for $480 and 119,000 KrisFlyer miles. The trick was booking them all as one flight, which allowed him to visit Tokyo and Singapore without paying for individual flights. Business Insider has previously confirmed with airlines that Huang's booking methods are legitimate.

Join Huang on one leg of his journey, from Singapore to Sydney, as he sips champagne and stretches out his legs.

Note: All photos and text are used with permission.

SEE ALSO: Here's what it's like to fly inside 'The Residence,' the insanely luxurious private airline cabin that costs $23,000 one-way

After my wonderful stay in Singapore, I took a taxi and headed to Singapore’s Changi Airport. We pulled up into Singapore Airlines’ exclusive drop-off and check-in area for first-class passengers.

A bell hop offered to take my bags, and I was escorted into a check-in area reserved for solely first-class passengers, complete with tables, plush sofas ...

... and even a fully decked out Christmas tree.

For the past few years, I've been rather frequently attending car races, and I've discovered that an indispensable piece of equipment is a set of earplugs.

As a member of the media, I usually have some sort of access to the pit stops, where the race cars pull in to get tire changes and to be refueled. The noise they make, up close, it literally eardrum-obliterating. 

But even if you don't get down close to the action, the type of intense racket that race cars generate can be very bad for your hearing.

In the past, I've usually made do with disposable foam earplug, which dampen the wail of screaming engines, but also muffle everything else.

Then a company called Etymotic, which makes a range of earphones and hearing-protection devices, offered to let me sample a pair of ER-20 XS high-definition earplugs designed specifically for motorsports. 

I had a great test in mind for the product: the 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race, held every June southwest of Paris in the French countryside.

How'd they do? Read on to find out:

SEE ALSO: Ford just did something amazing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans

Over the past two and half years or so, I've been attending sports-car races fairly often. This one took place in Upstate New York and featured only screaming Ferrari 458s.

Noise levels in the pits can be ear-shattering. Seriously, you don't want to be down there without earplugs when the race cars pull in — and especially when they pull away!

Normally, I use disposable foam earplugs, such as these. That cord allows you to keep them around your neck so you don't lose them when you take them off.