Linda Kaplan Thaler, founder and CEO of the agency that bears her name, is a seminal figures in contemporary advertising history.

A Bronx native and City College grad, Kaplan Thaler spent the 1970s as a stand-up comedian, actress, and musician. By the end of the decade, she'd turned her talents to advertising, composing the ditty "I Don't Want to Grow Up" for Toys 'R' Us while working at J. Walter Thompson. She went out on her own in 1997, setting up the Kaplan Thaler Group with partner Robin Koval.

Over the last few years, Thaler's agency has been responsible for such mind worms as Herbal Essences's "Totally Organic" campaign and the ubiquitous Aflac duck, which debuted in 1999 Although the company has since become part of Publicis, LKT still runs the creative show at her small agency and still keeps a synthesizer in her office. [Image via Getty]