RESUME

Executive
Summary

Proven creative and product development leader focused on developing, managing and mentoring highly effective teams.
Direct experience in all aspects of the product development process across multiple product types and consumer categories including stationery, home decor, gift and personal care.
Strategic emphasis on design for manufacturability and sales performance.
Clear focus upon developing of innovative digital content to support critical on-line sales initiatives and social engagement.
Driver of consumer-centric trend and fashion products.

Work
Experience

ACCO Brands/Mead Products, Dayton, OH

Senior Director of Consumer Product Development & Design

2019- 2023

Led and mentored a diverse creative and product development team to drive $595M in net sales for the school($229M), planning($134M) and office ($232M)categories. Key brands include Five Star, Mead, At-A-Glance, Cambridge, Swingline and Quartet.

• Worked as part of a strategic team to realign brand strategies for all planning lines and create clear positioning for each of the 4 brands.

• Aligned brand visuals including, product, packaging, digital content and voice to create clear differentiation.

• Reorganized the creative department to more effectively meet demand for digital content for over 3,000 products annually. This robust content improvement has increased sales at Amazon by 60% and drove omni channel sales for key retailers including Target, Wal-Mart, Staples and Office Depot.

• Created and maintained a culture focused on the identification and execution of on-trend designs and positioned the company as a trend leader to both retailers and consumers in all categories.

• Drove fact-based fashion process leveraging consumer insights, POS and category research.

Creative Director

2011- 2019

• Managed a diverse creative team of 70 people to continually create a series of relevant and appropriate product lines. Team included art directors, designers, editors, schedulers and prepress specialists for all product, packaging, signage and digital content.

• Developed and sold specific recommendations to key customers for all fashion products. Drove excitement and engagement with key retailers for our fashion and licensed product lines. As a result of this approach, fashion-driven product line placement has grown an average 20% growth year over year in key accounts. • Led the creation of key licensed design partnerships in fashion planners with partners including Rifle Paper, Sugar Paper, Emily Ley and many others resulting in incremental placement at Target, Wal-Mart and Amazon.

Mudlark Papers, Chicago, IL

Director of Product Development

2006 - 2011

Hired to transform a niche gift company into a profitable organization with multi-channel product distribution.

• Developed and executed a new Asian strategic sourcing plan for stationery, personal care and gift items to supplement the existing domestic manufacturing. Costs of comparable products were reduced by 65%.

• Managed all vendor relationships, both domestic and Asian, and all operational logistics.

• Created and executed a three-brand strategy meeting the needs of specialty and mass channels for customers ranging from Anthropologie to TJ Maxx.

•Led and mentored the team to deliver incremental revenue of $3MM each year.

Colorbok, Tucson, AZ

Vice President of Stationery

2005 - 2006

Established and built a new stationery division.

• General Manager responsibilities included strategic direction, team creation, development of customer base, driving profitable incremental growth.

• Grew the category to $15M in revenue

• Developed new factories resulting in increased capacity, superior customer support and a 20% reduction in COGS.

• Created and sold key programs to Target, K-Mart, Walgreens, CVS, JoAnns, Michaels and Costco.

Giftware Holdings, San Diego, CA

Vice President of Design

2002 - 2005

Responsible for product development of $35 million gift company that developed and marketed products under the Figi, Michel & Co. and J.W. Stannard brands. Direct responsibilities included management of product strategic direction, marketing, merchandising, concept development and Asian product sourcing.

• Increased production capacity from 1000 to 2000 SKUs while reducing headcount.

• Shortened product lead-time from 2 years to 6 months for all key product lines by streamlining processes and establishing best practices in design, approvals and production.

• Directly negotiated and approved all products at our Chinese vendors.

• Re-engineered the product development process to enable a “best cost outcome” which allowed factories and Asian office staff to recommend changes to maximize value. Resulted in a 40% reduction in average product cost.

Digital Window Design, Denver, CO

Owner

1999-2002

Founded a company that developed creative content for personalized digital products for Kodak and competing platforms.

• Delivered a comprehensive marketing, design and development solution to support the expanding opportunities in conventional and digital imaging.

• Customers included Eastman Kodak, Noritsu, Wal-Mart, Walt Disney and Universal Studios.

• Grew company to annual revenues of $900,000 in the first two years.

Eastman Kodak Company, Denver, CO

Director of Product Development

1995-1999

Chosen to lead the design and Product Development for a joint venture between Kodak and Hallmark which resulted in a new-to-market line of personalized photo products.

• Direct responsibilities included the management of strategic line plan from concept to execution.

• Set up independent creative department in Denver which was responsible for all facets of product development.

• Developed new creative platforms for Kodak technology initiatives.

• Customers included Disney Parks, Universal Studios, Wal-Mart and Costco.