Talent Spotlight - David Lawrence

Meet David Lawrence, a collaborative retail executive with more than 20 years of experience leading buying, merchandising and ecommerce teams in the men’s apparel, accessories and footwear categories. He started his career at May Department Stores before transitioning to Tailored Brands Inc., where he held multiple merchandise roles, including VP/DMM. David also has led teams in digital and ecommerce for Men's Wearhouse and Tailored Brands, overseeing Menswearhouse.com, Josbank.com, and JosephAbboud.com as the VP of Digital Merchandise.

He has many skills and is a high contributor, being very seasoned in business analysis and forecasting, driving sales and growth where he never loses sight of the bottom line. One of his proudest moments was when he launched the omnichannel fulfillment (ship from store) for Menswearhouse.com.

David is passionate about a role where he can bring his digital and merchandising skills to help an organization grow and achieve their goals. He is looking to join a collaborative team in the San Francisco Bay Area but is also open to outside of California for the right opportunity. If you are in need of a merchandise leader who strategically thinks about the "big picture," effectively leads teams, and able to partner with all key stakeholders, then David is the talent you need. Connect with David here or at EMERGING BLUE.

Talent Spotlight - Alison Frech

Meet Alison, a creative and relationship-driven senior stylist and sales leader who has an expert understanding of fit, trends, and style. Having worked with top companies such as Neiman Marcus and Stitch Fix, Alison used her excellent customer service skills to make all her clients look and feel amazing. From being the top producer for Lalique at Neiman Marcus to styling hundreds of clients at Stitch Fix, Alison is truly an inspirational leader.

Aside from her sales and styling skills, Alison, co-created a networking group for women called Wine Women & Networking to have a safe space to gather and share their work, achievements, and any topic meaningful to them.

Alison is a California native and looking to work in Orange County or remotely. If you’re looking for a driven, creative, and seasoned stylist then Alison is the candidate you want! Connect with Alison here or at EMERGING BLUE.

Talent Spotlight - Jennifer Farnworth-Komar

Meet Jennifer, an art director and design leader with experience crafting consumer journey experiences for brands Nike, Under Armour, Google, and McDonald’s to name a few. She has over 15 years of practice curating creative and innovative user experiences. From the creation of innovative campaigns and events for a wide range of brands, to empowering members on her team to foster growth, she is a true leader!

Jennifer loves to tell a brand’s story. She dives deep into what the brand is currently communicating and finds new and insightful avenues to reach target audiences. Whether focusing on strategy and key demographics to give authenticity to the story or connecting more deeply with audiences, it’s all about the experience for her.

Jennifer is in search for a new brand to tell stories with. She is looking for a creative director role where she can use her never-ending passion to create the best and most memorable consumer journey experiences. Jennifer has a passion for streetwear and recently took the Yellowbrick Program at Parsons in streetwear design. She jokes that she is not a “sneakerhead” but she does have a dog named Tinker Hatfield. If you’re looking for a creative design director, connect with Jennifer here or at EMERGING BLUE.

Talent Spotlight - Andrea LaMonica

Meet Andrea, a consumer-centric merchant with experience across a diversified portfolio of global and domestic brands, all distribution channels, wholesale and retail, and price points from value to premium.  Andrea started her career at the Bloomingdale’s Executive Training Program which she describes as “retail bootcamp.”  From there she went to work for J Crew, Tommy Hilfiger, and Nike where she has a proven track record leading and growing strong businesses in men’s and women’s apparel, accessories, performance and lifestyle.  She has a global mindset with experience in the US, UK, Europe, and Asia markets. Andrea’s expertise is in merchandising, creating a product vision and strategy, and working cross-functionally to bring it to life from concept to commercialization. 

One of her proudest moments was when she led the Nike’s Women’s Sportswear Apparel Category and grew the business by $350M in less than 3 years with increases in every region. Andrea really has it all!  She not only can grow categories, but she is also passionate about creating a culture where innovation, experimentation, and creativity can flourish and thrive. She does this by emphasizing the importance of diversity of thought, teamwork, and thoughtful risk taking.

For Andrea’s next opportunity, she is seeking a senior level merchandising or product role. She loves working in a fast-paced, creative environment at a company with inspiring leaders who support their people, invest in technology, and encourage innovation. If you are looking for a merchandising leader who is flexible and will easily adapt to an ever-changing and evolving retail landscape, then Andrea is the talent you need. Connect with Andrea here or at EMERGING BLUE.

Talent Spotlight - Kenny Stewart

Meet Kenny, a performance-focused leader with 30+ years of experience supporting global technology and product innovation for companies such as JCP, Nike, Harley Davidson, Wrangler, and other mass retailers. Kenny has experience leading cross-functional design, sourcing and production, processing facilities, product safety, and environmental compliance teams. 

Fun fact, Kenny is certified as a scrum master. From his workflow and process efficiency skills to being a seasoned leader with the ability to build strong relationships, Kenny brings a lot of experience with him. Kenny has the passion and direct, proven experience to lead companies toward success while maximizing the efforts of everyone on his team. He is also humble, honest, and thoughtful all while being a creative problem solver. Outside of work, Kenny loves just about any outdoor sport, especially Golf!

What’s Kenny up to nowadays? When Kenny is not spending quality time with his family, he is looking for an exciting role in Product Innovation, Research & Development, and Quality Assurance & Testing. If you are looking for a successful leader who can innovate, provide technical support, and focuses on creating new growth opportunities, then Kenny is the visionary leader you need. Connect with Kenny here or at EMERGING BLUE.

Talent Spotlight - Amy Callaway

Meet Amy, a store designer, brand storyteller, and project manager.  Amy has worked in retail for more than a decade, bringing brand stories to life through in-store experiences and well curated visual designs. Working with Urban Outfitters, The North Face, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Dick’s Sporting Goods, REI, and Vail Resorts, Amy creatively designs beautiful spaces and experiences that connect with people from the moment they enter the store.

Amy has done it all, from large retail stores to pop-up shops.  Amy considers every detail that goes into a successful store, from environmental design, fixtures, props, and styling, to store flow, graphics, and messaging.  Adding to her successful career in retail design, Amy is a passionate leader.  She created an employee resource group for The North Face and Jansport, dedicated to women’s empowerment, diversity and inclusion events.

Next up for Amy is a brand in-store experience role. She loves story-telling through visual merchandising and store design. She wants to collaborate cross-functionally to bring brands to life, engage with customers and make everyone feel like part of the experience. If you are looking for an expert who specializes in store and environmental design, with top-notch visual merchandising and project management skills, then connect with Amy here or at EMERGING BLUE.

Talent Spotlight - Eric Tietje

Meet Eric, a Global Product Line Manager, who loves to build product strategy and make design vision come to life.  Eric has worked with The North Face, Winterstick Snowboards, Grundens, and SOG Knives & Tools.  As a Senior Product Line Manager at TNF, one of his greatest achievements was building the uniforms for the Sochi Olympic Games.  At Grundens, as a Global Product Director, he introduced the first commercial fishing gear for women.  No doubt, Eric is passionate about technical product, teaming-up with his cross-functional partners, and exceeding business merchandising goals.

Eric has experience managing product lines for both soft and hard goods, from technical outerwear to snowboards and knives.  He loves to expand brands and push their categories through R&D, innovation, and creative strategy.  His expertise in defining products to help brands grow their target market is proven. His mentality is that if a project needs to get done, he is determined to accomplish it no matter what with his team.

If you are looking for a leader to drive product lines in California or Seattle, then Eric is the talent you need. Connect with Eric here or at EMERGING BLUE.

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Talent Spotlight - Shannan Johnson

Meet Shannan, a born leader with knockout design skills who for the past 25 years has worked as an art director. She has creatively led teams at Pier 1 Imports, Neiman Marcus, The Bombay Company, JCPenney, The Container Store and Wisteria. Shannan excels in directing photoshoots, challenging teams to exceed expectations, concepting alone or with a team, as well as creating and executing on big ideas. She is a big believer that understanding the overall plan means fewer miss-steps that can cost the company a fortune. Not only is Shannan a highly organized and detail-oriented designer who handles stressful situations with ease, but also delivers consistently on client business strategy and marketing objectives.

What is Shannan’s secret sauce? She is a team player and leader who was born to create. Through her inspirational leadership, her team takes a vision and makes it even better to create winning marketing campaigns.

Shannan’s next move? Joining a retail team where she can let her passion and design leadership skills shine. If you’re looking for a collaborative art or creative director in the Dallas area or remotely, then Shannan is the leader you need. Connect with her here or at EMERGING BLUE.

Talent Spotlight - Steve McMahon

Meet Steve McMahon: a merchandising leader with over 20 years’ experience working with performance brands such as Adidas, Nike, Under Armour, Skull Candy, Merrell and Black Diamond. Steve has created and maintained optimized product assortments and business models which lead brands toward success.

Steve is passionate about merchandising, driving products in apparel and footwear, and takes pride in having an innovation and white-space exploration mindset. Steve is consumer focused with the ability to manage cross-functional teams to create, inspire and lead them to reach their goals.

Steve lives by a team-first mentality; to work across teams, create harmony, show commitment to each person, and be fully dedicated to their success. He describes himself as a family man, and he ensures that his team knows that he spends as much attention on his work family as his home family.

For his next role, Steve is looking for a company where he can establish a unique selling position and work directly with products to drive business. If you are looking for a merchandise leader in Utah or Oregon, then Steve is the talent you need!

Connect with him here or Emerging Blue

Talent Spotlight - Erin Hogue

Meet Erin Hogue – a merchandising leader with more than 20 years’ of experience working with brands like JCPenney and The Container Store. She loves the art of shopping, the trend and working to create something beautiful. Erin has spent the last 16 years at The Container Store where she developed new products from concept through creation. In fact, it is her expertise that propelled The Container Store to dominate the closet market where she was able to boost revenue from 60 to 300 million. Her latest role was VP of Merchandising which is her strong suit since she loves the strategy side of the business.

Erin's many top skills include excellent communication, cross-functional team leadership, project management, passionate problem solving, and motivating others to success. In addition, Erin is fantastic with global supply chain management, financial analysis, negotiation, product development, strategic thinking, product and assortment management, continuous process improvement, brand partnerships and positioning, patent strategy, and vendor relationships.

What’s next in store for Erin? She is open to different avenues, but would love to be a VP of Merchandising or Product Development. If you’re interested in Erin leading your team, reach out to Erin here or reach out to us at www.emergingblue.com

Talent Spotlight - Haley Kilar

Meet Haley Kilar – an event management expert who is very creative, strategy driven, and loves to bring together talent, entertainment, and events to create elaborate yet fun experiences. At ENCORE LIVE she assisted putting on concerts and corporate conferences, rewards trips, political events, and extravagant birthday parties.

Haley is a great motivator, describes herself as a leader, helps teams and employees grow through dynamic action plans. She also is a great problem solver where she can come up with solutions on the fly.

What is Haley looking for in her next gig? She would love to be in a creative industry as a client liaison where she can develop relationships with clients, and help them with their internal growth. Haley loves large, established companies where she can bring her creative background to help drive employee engagement.

Want Haley to join your creative team as a director or employee experience coordinator? Then connect with her here or at Emerging Blue.

Talent Spotlight - Meet Kristine Vegas

Meet Kristine Vegas, an expert Creative Services Manager with over 15 years’ experience working with known brands such as Title Nine, The North Face, and Lucy Activewear. Some wins for her that stand out were implementing project management tools at The North Face and Lucy Activewear, rolling out the processes, and ensuring everyone was trained and set up for success. She also managed the large outdoor retailer event in Denver for The North Face. She successfully led the project, from hiring outside vendors to guaranteeing the agenda went effortlessly the day of the event. In addition, she strongly believes in sustainability and presented her data, saving The North Face over $300K with conversion to recycled materials.

Kristine’s added value is that she is a strong team leader, a collaborator, and prides herself in her seasoned communication skills. She defines herself as a people person, and loves to grow teams. What is next in store for Kristine? She is looking to join a creative services team for a retail, digital, or SaaS company where she can bring her project management skills to an awesome organization. If you are looking for a creative project manager, then Kristine is the leader you need.

Connect with Kristine here or at Emerging Blue!

Talent Spotlight - Meet Krista Borley

Meet Krista Borley, a Merchandising Expert with over 20 years’ experience in the fashion industry. Her merchandising proficiency is boundless from her most recent roles at Stitch Fix and Quiksilver, to managing both wholesale and vertical businesses in department store, sports/surf industry, and contemporary markets. In addition to her team-building skills, Krista’s merchandising roles have consisted of working closely with her cross-functional partners in design, production, and marketing to put collections together and strategically create programs to increase market share. In addition to her merchandising skills, she also has a background in styling and talent acquisition.

What’s next for Krista? Great question! Krista is looking for a role where she can bring her analytical and creative skills to drive revenue. She’s looking for a hybrid role where she can manage product, build strong teams, and deliver top quality work. She is the Jill-of-All-Trades that will help your company grow and deliver results. She loves contemporary brands that are up and coming or established organizations needing fresh talent and are ready to take their business to the next level.

Interested in Krista joining your merchandising team? Link up with her here to connect and read more about her or @ Emerging Blue.

Talent Spotlight - Meet Tristan Modena

Meet Tristan Modena – An innovative product development expert specializing in footwear, who has delivered advanced products that positioned companies like VANS and VF Asia Pacific for profitable success. In addition to his proven ability to balance creative with manufacturing, he aligns brand strategy, sales / operations (S&OP), and marketing needs. He is a collaborative problem-solver working across business lines to deliver cost-effective solutions, meeting demanding product deadlines, while managing risk.

From innovation and material development, to fit and wear testing and product management… Tristan can do all that. He loves to innovate new ways of maximizing efficiency and manufacturability while improving cost, quality, and delivery. What’s next for him? Tristan wants to join a footwear development team where he can really add value and bring some international business experience to the table.

Want Tristan as part of your team? Connect with him here or reach out to us at Emerging Blue.

Talent Spotlight - Meet Isaiah Boswell

Meet Isaiah — Isaiah Boswell is a critical-thinking and intellectually curious Supply Chain Analyst who has vast experience in retail supply chain from top companies like VANS and American Eagle. Not only is he highly capable of building global networks by negotiating with vendors and customs brokers, he is also a diplomatic communicator with the ability to influence and win buy-in with stakeholders. While holding accountability for inventory levels, he has strong perseverance to effectively steer through difficult situations. His excellent interpersonal skills and ability to relate to all situations allows Isaiah to achieve in any environment.

What is Isaiah looking for next? He wants to take on a supply chain role where he can bring his planning and analytical skills to a growing team within the fashion or healthcare industries. If you are looking for a driven and outstanding Supply Chain Analyst who is also an Excel expert, then Isaiah is the talent you need.

Connect with Isaiah here or by contacting Emerging Blue.

Talent Spotlight - Meet Chelsea Blockey

If you are looking for a collaborative PR & Marketing/Events Assistant, Chelsea Blockey is your next superstar hire. Her work with #influencers, #PR and #eventmanagement, as well as her #marketing analytics capabilities are all on point. Chelsea describes herself as veracious, with great PR and product experience from her time at Zimmermann. and BaubleBar Inc.. She takes complex project details into her own hands and uses her initiative and passion to deliver results.

What is the next perfect job for Chelsea? She is looking for a challenging role with a #fashion or #beauty brand, and wants to bring her #creative mindset to a marketing and PR team to make a lasting impact.

If you want get the job done, add Chelsea to your team!

#TeamChealsea #EmergingBlue #TalentSpotlight #talent #talenttuesday #talentmatchmakers #hiring #recruiting #PRandMarketingSuperstar #PR #Marketing #Events