Alejandro Herrera: Founder & Maker in Gilroy, CA

Maker of handmade leather belts, holsters, wallets and accessories. • Making 100% handmade leather belts cut from full grain leather; saddle stitched using stitching clam and awl. • Designed and developed snap boxes and presentation packaging. • Sourced solid brass belt buckles, Chicago screws, thread, leather dyes. • Budget management, COG’s review, price/margin review, customer service, logistics, shipping and receiving of raw material. • Developed website using Squarespace.com. • Manage company Instagram and Facebook accounts. @brullencompany • Wallets and leather belts have been feature in Elle UK, British GQ, and Esquire UK (2017)

Design company and producer of ultra premium protective cases and accessories for Apple and Samsung mobile devices. • Managed two Industrial Designers, two Project Managers, one Packaging/graphic Designer and one Mechanical Engineer. • Worked closely with cross functional teams (Operations and Sales) to provide key milestone updated, production status/issues. • Created timelines/milestones, managed production schedules and weekly product development status meeting to keep projects on track. • Coached and developed designers, project managers and interns by mentoring, created development process, Tech-pack, BOM and timeline creation. • Sourced and/or managed injection molding and packaging manufacturers in China and CNC factories in the USA. • Budget management; including project tooling/mold cost, travel, and COG’s.

Design company and producer of world-class strollers, car seats and accessories. • Co-lead the development and production of all Margin Improved (MI) Car Seats, Stroller, and redevelopment of current products which included accessories and attachment goods. • Partnered closely with contract manufacturers in China. Managed aluminum extrusion tooling dies and Nylon molded component tools; cost and part approvals as well as tooling budgets. • Managed and created Product Performance Specification documentation for QC lab test. • Managed Engineering Change Request and Engineering Change Order (ECO/ECR) process. • BOM creation for all existing products to drive (MI) initiatives.

Design company and producer of protective cases for portable electronic devices; iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, eReaders. Contributed to rapid company growth--from zero to $100M in annual revenues in 3 years, identifying and managing relationships with international manufacturers to achieve cost and time-to-market targets. • Experienced in rapid product development: complete packaged item from concept to market within 2.5 months • Collaborated closely with Design, Engineering, Marketing, and Operation teams in the management and execution of timelines to deliver up to 45 new products annually to retail stores such as Target, Best Buy, and Apple Inc. • Responsible for communicating project status (including tooling payment), vendor risks/concerns, production and/or sourcing issues to upper management during our weekly All-hand meeting. • Developed high number of SKU’s for multiple big box retailers. Multiple variations of protective cases for cell phone cases, tablet, and eReaders. Variations include; different packaging, color way options, shipping configurations. • Traveled extensively to China to approve; tooling, prototypes, lab dips, packaging for mass production. • Managed second and third souring initiatives depending on production output capacity needs. • Championed the launch of Speck’s first backpack, messenger bag and other carrying solutions. Including a custom woven fabric.

Privately owned company designing, developing, and distributing accessories—primarily focused on Sportswear companies like Speedo, Under Armour and Fila. • Developed accessories for Under Armour such as mouth guards, wrist bands, backpacks and shin protectors.

Product Developer for Sportswear Accessories & Motocross Protective Equipment • Motocross Product Developer for protective equipment: roller luggage, hydration packs, bags, tool packs, chest protectors, elbow guards, shoulder pads, bottles, and kidney belts. Product updates and refresh included. • Sportswear Product Developer for accessories: backpacks, purses, wallets, socks, stickers, headwear, packaging and footwear; sandals and flip flops. • Involved from “Vibe” meeting to Tech-pack review with designer and hand-off from design into development. • Responsible for taking tech-packs from design to mass production, correcting QC and production issues, implementing product refresh initiatives, meeting company wide seasonal development schedules and shipping production on time to meet our global sales and distribution commitments. • Managed sample reviews and project status with cross-functional teams prior to our seasonal sales meeting with Global Sales Division. • Collaborated with Purchasing, Operations, Marketing, and Product-Dev to ensure delivery of sales samples, marketing samples and approval samples. • Reviewed seasonal salesman books and pre-production catalog proofs for accuracy. • Approved tooling, R&D cost for payment with Purchasing and Finance department.