Some days, I can’t believe it myself when I say I was “born in the mid-60’s.” But I can reflect back on my time living through some of the best (& interesting) decades, and just smile.

And now here we are in 2024…

Going part of the “way back”, I left a position in retail banking in 1990 in Texas and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. After some minor roles – and a lot of odd jobs – I realized while I loved the craft, the industry was not for me.

Looking for something new, I accepted a job in 1995 as an assistant to the head of creative at Giorgio Beverly Hills fragrances (a division of Avon and then P&G) and quickly moved into purchasing. Within 3-months I was writing million-dollar purchase orders for holiday gift programs for multiple fragrance brands sold in 10,000+ stores. Shortly thereafter I became a designer of those programs. I was then recruited by one of our licensors, Hugo Boss, GmbH to merchandise and build out stores worldwide.

Once again I joined my previous Giorgio/P&G boss at Herbalife, where I redesigned and managed both a $20M+ a year gift program and a $50M+ promotions program in 75+ countries within a $3B company. We spent 2 years reworking the lines making them the highest contribution margin programs in the company.

Much like my years in banking I realized after 5 years in a multi-billion-dollar international company, the environment was too soul crushing for me. I departed then creating my own manufacturing company (and parent holding company) gathering a fantastic roster of large brands. After 7+ years I sold it to a Korean conglomerate looking to gain a foothold with both my American clients and my Chinese manufacturers. It was my first private acquisition. This rounded out my time in the 2000’s and introduced me to a new decade – the 2010’s.

Pre- and post-sale through the 2010’s I was consulting with select clients including previous employers such as projects for P&G and new companies like KAO Global. Other companies small and large reached out for me to assist with various projects. Whether it be post asset purchase turn around, rebrand, scaling, growth issues, digital education platform, celebrity brand product management, and more – people who knew of me came to me for help. I like to help.

I’ve taken various short and longer term C-Suite roles focused on re-organization, re-creation, and re-direction. I have also gotten my hands “dirty” in start-ups as I can literally do almost every role there is to do in a company.

I sat down one day out of curiosity and added up the retail value of the programs I was responsible for during the times I was responsible for them and it totaled well over $500M. It doesn’t really seem like a lot in hindsight. Those products are a distant memory. And like those products, in today’s world, no one really cares about what was relevant last year – much less 5, 10, or 20 years ago. Thanks much, social media.

During my career I’ve run a gamut of companies and brands. Each came with distinct learnings shaping my next steps forward.

Ask me anything…I’ll share some insights. Just don’t expect me to not be direct.

And yet after all these years, I love the process of it all. It keeps me coming back.