Naowna Simon: Chief Revenue Officer in Brooklyn, NY

Originally brought in to develop new lifestyle brand selling home décor and personal accessories, originally brought on to develop new brand until Brooks Brothers bankruptcy announcement in 2020. o Took on new role driving strategy and execution of reacquisition of the Alexis Bittar brand. o Kept e-commerce business running, relaunched brand with redesigned website, and opened six brick & mortar stores between 2021 and 2022. Now, focused on rebuilding and elevating wholesale business. ? Manage multimillion-dollar P&L and team of 36 driving merchandising, digital marketing, creative, e-commerce, PR, and customer experience (CX). Empower team members to take ownership, innovate, and excel in their careers. ? Built strategy to focus on e-commerce as main sales channel generating 70% of overall revenue (previously 50%). ? Known as creative driver, leading overall marketing strategy and campaign development with focus on brand storytelling through print media, out of home, and digital channels. Possesses deep understanding of the customer journey and how technology and operational excellence come together to improve CX. ? Lead analysis of in-depth site performance and marketing channel reporting along with product selling to identify actionable opportunities for optimization. ? Translate customer journey needs into action plans for development of functional design and website. ? Develop and own 5-year roadmap, annual sales and cashflow plans, and company and department budgets. ? Envision and lead retail strategy for e-commerce and brick & mortar alongside wholesale strategy that impacts relationships with department stores, specialty stores, and international accounts. ? Power transformation of product merchandising, rebuilding brand's core styles and reevaluating pricing strategy. Select Achievements ? Directed optimization of e-commerce operations immediately following reacquisition, resulting in 50% year-over-year revenue increase in Q4 from 2019 to 2020. ? Doubled comp e-commerce sales revenue from 2020 to 2021, with expected 30% increase for 2022. ? Spearheaded new customer acquisition focus in marketing, increasing traffic 4x, with 65% new traffic, and steadily growing list growth in email and social. ? Drove increase in sales and conversion from digital marketing through new approaches to segmentation, campaign mix, and diversification of paid channels while increasing return on ad spend (ROAS), despite flat budget and challenges of new privacy protections. ? Redesigned marketing campaigns, launched customer loyalty program and SMS marketing, enhanced CX, and diversified marketing efforts. ? Drove strategy for positioning brick & mortar business for growth, despite stores' openings amid Covid-19 pandemic. o Collaborated with Tony-award winning set designer to develop new store design aiming to create warmth and sense of storytelling for customers, while remaining flexible for future product mix introductions/changes. o Integrated community building element by partnering with local charities. Donated $100K+ since 2021. ? Served integral role launching first line of handbags in Spring 2022 and in launch's marketing/PR strategy that secured fashion industry press and editorial coverage and celebrity placements, selling two styles out within four weeks. ? Scaled corporate and store teams to meet demand; identified internal talent in stores for development into store management and corporate roles, improving bench strength and employee engagement. ? Tapped former PR Director to drive editorial placement strategy and celebrity partnerships, resulting in 6-page French Vogue spread and celebrity placements: Lizzo, Megan Markle, Michelle Obama, Megan Thee Stallion, Beyonce, Cardi B, Angela Bassett, Billy Porter, Drew Barrymore, among many others. ? Implemented brand's first influencer program utilizing both gifting and paid partnerships to build relationships with influencers targeted through direct outreach, and influencer marketing platforms.

Directed operations strategy/vision for jewelry brand, owning design, production, sales, e-commerce, marketing, customer service, and fulfillment, with special focus on revitalizing brand growth, its processes, and systems. o Led company to profitability from three-year slump through consumer growth in e-commerce, improved product assortment and quality, and strategic expense reduction. o Doubled year-over-year revenue and improved e-commerce conversion rate 50%+. ? Oversaw $5MM gross sales revenue. Mentored and coached team of 12 across design, production, e-commerce, marketing, and wholesale to support skill building and team building, creating inclusive, performance-driven culture. ? Led full redesign of Shopify, dramatically improving functionality on both customer and operational side, increasing conversion rate, and eliminating agency support costs, all while remaining within tight budget. ? Reengineered use of Shopify app to enable online sale of customized jewelry line, avoiding ~$100K investment. ? Drove major organizational restructuring after in-depth evaluation of roles, responsibilities, and people strengths; pinpointed need for employee ownership and specialization, dramatically improving performance and efficiency. ? Increased accuracy of forecasting and business health monitoring by transforming financial planning. ? Integrated ERP system with QuickBooks and revised chart of accounts focusing on cost of goods sold (COGS) accuracy; created by day sales reporting tool for retail and monthly for wholesale as well as weekly cashflow tool. ? Brought in new accounting firm and led monthly P&L reviews. ? Negotiated improved prices and supplier agreements by leveraging order volumes, enabled by streamlining SKU count; achieved per style productivity goals and exceeded minimum order quantity (MOQ). ? Revamped brand messaging for better alignment across platforms and improved data analytics by introducing content calendar; teamed with sales to align objectives and integrate sales initiatives into digital marketing planning. ? Initiated open-to-buy (OTB) planning to capture demand in e-commerce, which supported efforts working through aged inventory and taking healthier stock position.

Joined organically grown, underperforming digital/catalog retail business, swiftly introducing improvements to processes, tools, and people capabilities to position it for aggressive growth. Oversaw $24MM sales revenue P&L. o Implemented digital-first approach to strategy and prioritized product merchandising and promotional sales, achieving highest sales in 30-year history. ? Directed strategic planning and execution for catalog and digital channels, with ownership of production processes, inventory planning and management, product development and buying, e-commerce, and creative services. ? Spearheaded all branding initiatives, from product development through to marketing campaign design and delivery. ? Led team of 17, adapting leadership/teaching style to employees' varying skill levels. Identified high potential employees for fast track for promotions and pinpointed individual motivators for optimal employee engagement. ? Overhauled product categorization and tagging for enhanced data analysis, enabling improved assortment plans, website taxonomy, and catalog merchandising. Also improved fulfillment processes. ? Achieved KPI improvements, including bounce, conversion rate, average order value (AOV), and units per transaction (UPT) by optimizing website for improved taxonomy, merchandising, cart management, and checkout. ? Spearheaded company's first assortment plan and OTB plan, resulting in improved margin and stock levels to meet and react to demand; reduced expenses related to fulfilling backorders 80%. ? Revived digital marketing, launching new paid search, remarketing, affiliate, social paid, and content marketing, increasing traffic while maintaining healthy overall return on ad spend (ROAS).

Left position due to relocation to Kansas. ? Promoted to lead merchandising strategy for digital and brick & mortar channels enterprise wide. ? Developed line plans for outlet stores and drove special product initiatives for retail while directing visual planning for stores and wholesale showroom. Led team building seasonal selling tools, including product knowledge guides. ? Served instrumental role driving growth via product strategy, visual merchandising, and product training. ? Created and directed OTB and sales plan. Managed $12MM in e-commerce sales revenue. ? Coached and mentored team of 12, with special focus on empowering employees to utilize data in decision-making and foster collaborative relationships with cross-functional leaders and peers. ? Increased digital revenue fivefold through site optimization and competitive merchandising marketing efforts. ? Achieved 15%+ incremental sales increase and reduced component and inventory overstock through development of online vault sales program. ? Grew antique fine jewelry category to ~10% of total retail sales volume by influencing leadership to add category to OTB plan, negotiating strategic deal with consignment partner, and introducing Georgian era-inspired jewelry, which became top seller, increasing margin. ? Teamed with marketing to develop and deploy marketing strategy for paid search, remarketing, affiliate, social media, and special events, driving ~20% sales increase. ? Created custom reporting tools suite enabling more accurate analysis of performance metrics and sales and stock levels of channels and categories, achieving major improvements to sell through and the sales' team KPIs. ? Launched and managed in-house fulfillment and customer service. Scaled team from one to seven personnel. ? Transformed visual merchandising to mix collections for greater customer crossover between product lines, contributing to 12% increase in year-over-year comp sales.

Hired to build Retail division through brick & mortar expansion, growing physical footprint from two locations to 12 within three years. Introduced e-commerce in 2010, capturing $2MM in sales revenue in the first year. ? Grew Retail business from less than 5% of total company revenue to 40% ($1MM to $22MM) during tenure. ? Stood up operational infrastructure, standardizing processes and policies, sales goals, and sales incentive programs. ? Led transition to new retail point of sale (POS) system to better support locations and inventory channels; improved user experience (UX) as well as reporting features.