The global licensing community is powered by an incredible group of professionals whose diverse backgrounds and creative energy drive innovation and excellence. Each week we’re profiling one of these professionals in this ongoing series developed in partnership with MyMediaBox.

How did you get into licensing (or how did licensing find YOU😊)?
The licensing industry found me right out of college and it couldn’t be more perfect for me. Out of college, I took a licensing position with Patch Products, where I gained experience in both inbound and outbound licensing for their line of games, puzzles and toys. At the time, I was working on projects that included licensing our game brands internationally one minute and researching 90’s boy band trivia the next. It was a great initial learning ground for various areas of licensing. Since then, I’ve gotten to work with a wide variety of product categories and licensed properties as both a licensor and licensee. With over 20 years in the licensing industry, I still get excited every day about new ways to bring licensed brands to market.

What’s your biggest personal and professional accomplishment?
Being a part of creating direct and meaningful brand experiences for consumers brings me joy. For example, in my current position, we’ve been able to work with our licensors to highlight some extraordinary cake decorators to create amazing licensed celebration cakes on the stages of major fan events. There is no better feeling than bringing the celebration to fans with our licensed products.

Personally, my biggest accomplishment is being the “cool aunt” for my nieces and nephews. Anytime I can spend time with them and find new adventures for us to experience together result in the best days!

What are the most significant trends or changes that you’ve seen in the business in recent years?
The pace and proliferation of content has progressed like never before, driven by the increasing digital nature of everyone’s lives. With a crowded market of content, it is harder to determine what is going to “cut through” and, with trends changing so quickly, being able to react to market demand in both the analog and digital world is critical. With all the brands in the market, consumers are looking for brands that speak directly to them where they live and with product that means something to them. Where there would have been more time to build a brand audience in the past, those timelines are increasingly shorter in our market.

In your opinion, what is the top skill every licensing executive should have in order to succeed?
Resilience and ingenuity. As we see the pace of market changes steadily increase, it is that much more important to be able to be flexible, pivot and quickly adapt with new ideas to remain relevant for customers and consumers. Keeping things “status quo” has not been an option for a long time.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received? OR What is your favorite quote?
One of my mentors told me long ago that “The most important thing you own is your brand.” I carry that thought forward with me in both my professional and personal life.

If you weren’t in licensing, what would you be doing now?
In college, I studied international relations so, if licensing hadn’t found me, I could see myself working in international business or government.

The last licensed product I bought was…
A Batmobile Lego set for my nephew.

THE 2021 PEOPLE PROFILE SERIES IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY MYMEDIABOX

MyMediaBox is the leader in providing online solutions that streamline every stage in the brand licensing lifecycle, from contract management and rights tracking, through style guide delivery, product approvals, security tag management and royalty reporting. With over 54,000 global professionals logging in from 125+ countries, Mediabox is by far the world’s most thoroughly tested and widely trusted licensing software.