Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street
Feature documentary about the origin story of Sesame Street. Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Won an Emmy Award. Now streaming on HBO and HBO Max.
My Work
The career that built the coach.
I didn’t become a coach despite my career; I became one because of it. 30+ years across corporate America, Hollywood, nonprofits, and small business ownership taught me everything I know about leading through ambiguity, navigating change, and building a life that reflects who you are.
This is that story.
Emmy Award — Outstanding Documentary
“Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street”
Produced with my husband and our team, this feature documentary tells the origin story of one of the most culturally important television programs ever made — and the extraordinary group of people who believed that children’s television could change the world.
The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and went on to win an Emmy Award. Standing on that stage was one of the proudest moments of my professional life — not just for the award, but for what the film represents: the power of a story told with honesty, heart, and conviction.
- Emmy Award winner — Outstanding Documentary
- Sundance Film Festival premiere
- Streamed on HBO and HBO Max, released internationally with Universal
- Independently produced — no studio backing
The story of the creators who built something that changed the lives of children in our world for the better. Proof that the most meaningful work happens when you fully commit to something that matters. — Ellen Scherer Crafts
Independent entertainment
My husband and I created original content in one of the most competitive industries on earth. No large studio backing. No institutional support. Just a belief in the stories we wanted to tell, the tenacity to see them through, and the creative and business acumen to bring them to life.
The Not-So Secret Society
Original children’s graphic novel. Conceived and developed independently, then pitched and earned a publisher’s backing. Received to critical acclaim through KaBOOM!
Lantern City
Original comic book series co-created with BOOM! Studios. Original IP built from the ground up.
Career Timeline
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Early 1990s
Clinical Social Worker
My career began where my values are rooted — helping children and families navigate crisis, working in a runaway and homeless youth center and a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. This foundational work in human behavior, resilience, and the conditions people need to truly change lives in everything I do as a coach today.
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1992 – 1998
Special Events Marketing — Bally’s Casino
The pivot that changed everything. Six years producing live entertainment and casino player events — Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, Frankie Valli, live HBO boxing, and a Wild West parade on the Boardwalk with Kenny Rogers in a covered wagon, and so much more.
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1999 – 2001
Director of Development — Mainstage Center for the Arts
Blending corporate skills with a nonprofit soul. Built structure, fundraising, and governance for a performing arts center for young people from the ground up — the only full-time employee.
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2001 – 2002
Meetings Manager — American Express
A year inside one of the world’s most recognized financial brands, running high-touch meetings and events programs. A front-row seat to how large corporate structures operate from the inside.
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2002 – 2005
Meetings & Events — Caesars Entertainment
Led the largest convention clients for the hotel. Lived through corporate transitions from Bally’s to Harrah’s to Caesars — a masterclass in navigating change you didn’t choose.
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2005 – 2012
Account Director — Aimia / Carlson Marketing (for Merck)
Seven years as the outsourced strategic partner for Merck’s global meetings and events portfolio. Led the JANUVIA product launch. Built Merck’s Strategic Meetings Management program. Named as an outside vendor on the Merck/Schering-Plough M&A transition team. Promoted to Account Director of the full Merck account, managing international scope of business.
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Jan – Oct 2013
Account Director, Business Loyalty — Aimia
A role that didn’t fit. Recognized it quickly and made the decision to leave — the first time I deliberately stepped off a path rather than being pushed.
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2013 – 2015
VP / Director of Marketing — MUFG Americas
Recruited to bring Strategic Meetings Management to a major financial institution. Built a team of event planners. Navigated my fourth corporate takeover. And when a toxic culture made the decision clear — I left while pregnant to go all in on Macrocosm. No safety net. No studio. Just belief. My daughter was born in October 2015.
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Feb 2015 – Present
Co-Founder & Producer — Macrocosm Entertainment
Started the company in 2013 while working full time and made it my full focus in 2015. Built an independent transmedia entertainment company from the ground up with no studio backing. Street Gang: Emmy Award winner, Sundance premiere, HBO/HBO Max, Universal international release. Lantern City with BOOM! Studios. The Not-So Secret Society graphic novel through KaBOOM!
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2016 – 2024
Civic Leadership
Sustained civic leadership on behalf of women, families, and gun safety. One of the original producers of the Women’s March in Los Angeles — the largest in the country — serving as Communications and Marketing Director of the Women’s March LA Foundation in 2017 and 2018. Formally recognized by three levels of local government. Lead volunteer with Moms Demand Action across California and Connecticut for six years — statewide Wear Orange Campaign lead in CA (2020), Communications Lead in CT (2022), and manager of besmartforkids.com in CT.
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2018 – 2025
Freelance Producer & Speaker Coach — Point Global Productions
Delivered executive presence workshops and 1:1 speaker coaching to senior leaders at major pharmaceutical and Fortune 100 companies. Co-facilitated The Presentation Shift — a full-day executive speaker coaching program. Provided content development for leadership communications and corporate events.
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2026 – Present
Founder — Life Crafts Coaching
All of it led here. Thirty-three years, four corporate takeovers, seven reinventions, one Emmy, one historic march, and one daughter who deserves a world with open doors.
Activism & Civic Leadership
One of the organizers of the largest Women’s March in the country.
In January 2017, I helped organize the Women’s March in Los Angeles — the largest Women’s March in the country that day. I served as a volunteer leader of the Women’s March LA Foundation nonprofit and helped produce the 2018 LA march as well. These weren’t just events; they were acts of civic leadership at historic scale, built from the ground up by a team of volunteers who believed that women’s voices could not be silenced.
This work was formally recognized by the City of Los Angeles, the Board of LA County Supervisors, and the City of West Hollywood.
Advocate for families and gun safety.
From 2018 to 2024 I served as a lead volunteer with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America across two states: leading the statewide Wear Orange Campaign in California in 2020, serving as Communications Lead in Connecticut in 2022, and managing the Be SMART for Kids program, a gun safety education resource for CT families.
My activism isn’t separate from my coaching practice. It is the same work expressed differently. The march opened doors for women at scale. My coaching opens them one woman at a time.
Why now
Ellen’s Mission
We are in a pivotal moment for women in America. As a Gen X woman, I am watching my young daughter grow up in a world with fewer freedoms and opportunities than I had. We cannot give up. Women are going to face closed doors and a lowered glass ceiling — and they need tools, community, and someone in their corner who has been navigating those rooms for over thirty years. That’s why I’m here. That’s why now.
Ready to craft the life you actually want?
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