Previously, Whitler spent nearly 20 years in senior marketing and general management positions and is a three-time CMO. She is a Forbes contributor and has published in Ad Age, the CMO Council's PeerSphere, the Marketing Science Institute, Chief Marketer and HBR.org, in addition to academic journals. Whitler has also presented at a variety of conferences and events, including the CMO Club, the CMO Exchange, Marketing Forum USA, the American Marketing Association's Educator's Conference and the Academy of Management Conference. She attended the U.S. Air Force Academy, received a bachelor's degree in psychology and business administration from Eureka College, earned her MBA from the University of Arizona, and completed a master's degree and PhD from Indiana University.