I have been fortunate to join Grassroots Cannabis, the nation’s largest privately held cannabis company, early on where I could affect growth. We saw the revenue increase from $30million to $150million over three years. Throughout my time there, I managed the development of a world class product development process focusing on increasing efficiency and communication, launched many new products to market, and developed/sourced innovative packaging solutions that built brand equity and pushed cannabis packaging innovation.
My career started in the fast-paced and ever-changing fashion industry. I had the unique and exciting opportunity to work with many startup fashion brands, developing the concept through production.
While working with startups such as BOGA Menswear and The Apparel Agency, I have been tasked with developing customized product development processes, creating merchandising assortment plans, managing P&L, and implementing sourcing and supply chain operations. I have traveled the world to work directly with manufacturers to manage the design process, oversee production and QC in China, Morocco, Spain, Italy, Romania, Germany and Turkey. I’ve also developed long standing relationships with domestic and local manufacturing partners.
Taking my creative vision and product development expertise to the hospitality industry felt like a natural progression. I enjoyed the new challenge of working directly with hotel brand designers and buyers, helping to provide smart design solutions and collaborate on shared visions.
I was tasked with increasing revenue and sales on existing product categories, while also concepting new product categories. Some of the best ideas were through utilizing the proven Hookless technology and applying it towards a completely different use or market. I developed and sold the idea of Room Dividers and Closet Covers to Hilton Home2 hotels, which realized $350,000 incremental revenue with the initial order.
In talking to hotel housekeeping staff, I identified a recurring need for a solution to keep the towel racks covered from the elements, while maintaining an easy access. I developed the cart cover to meet the needs of the industry and successfully placed our initial orders through distribution partners worth over $300,000.
Working in the CPG field allowed me to expand my creative energy through art directing and package design. Collaborating with a range of clients, I drew on my skill set and expertise to develop many different types of products.
Working in the CPG industry allowed me to develop Licensed partnerships with some of the largest recognized brands such as Starbucks, Godiva, Disney, and Nestle.
Much like fashion, interior design is the result of a harmonious balance between materials, colors, and trends. My experience in interior design is a natural extension of my fashion background and expertise.
While at Maya Romanoff, I had so much fun learning a different industry, while being able to apply my product development process and techniques to streamline and build efficiencies in a very artisnal and hand made process. I had the opportunity to collaborate with some of the most renowned architects to develop co-branded wall coverings, developed unique hand made product collections seasonally, and worked on amazing custom projects for major hotel chains around the world and high end customer installations.
I am inspired and motivated by building brands and driving brand awareness through unique brand identities. There is so much that a brand can convey to its consumers through the brand identity and packaging, developing a brand story. I have created brand identity packages and unique packaging for an array of product categories in apparel, cannabis, hospitality, and consumer product goods.
