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 profile one of these professionals in this ongoing series.

How did you get into licensing (or how did licensing find you)?
Licensing found me! I have been in the anti-counterfeiting world for nearly a decade and have touched lightly on licensing issues, but never really engaged in this vibrant community. After participating in [Licensing International’s] Sports Licensing Summit, you can bet that I will be more involved!

What’s a “typical” day in your current position?
A typical day varies, but connecting with colleagues to identify where and when we should be engaging, meeting with external stakeholders to address their issues and share Amazon’s message, and strategizing on how best to engage our partners to generate wins for customers and fans—these are the things that normally compose my days.

What’s your biggest personal or professional accomplishment?
Completing my Ph.D. in Criminal Justice is probably my biggest personal and professional accomplishment. It gave me the academic, research, and experiential foundations to succeed within academia and in industry, and it was the springboard to my current career.

What are the most significant trends or changes that you’ve seen in the business in recent years?
The most significant trend that I have seen, which is also a challenge, is the co-occurring rise of digitization, information sharing opportunities, and data privacy. As more of our lives occur online and more of our information and habits are digitized, the opportunities for data mining and sharing seem to be ever evolving. Yet, these are juxtaposed by the need for data privacy and information security. Finding the right path to data capture and utilization that balances consumer safety and useful data outcomes is difficult.

What keeps you up at night? What’s your biggest challenge these days?
What keeps me up at night are the many ways in which counterfeiters are continuing to evolve. The biggest part of this issue for me is the fact that counterfeiters are no longer simply looking to beat our anti-counterfeiting tactics—they have become much more entrepreneurial and are trying new things before the old ones fail.

In your opinion, what is the top skill every licensing executive should have in order to succeed?
Empathy and an understanding of what the fan experience looks and feels like across the wide spectrum of fans, including social, economic, political, cultural, and other spectrums.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received, or what’s your favorite quote?
I don’t remember it exactly, but in essence my favorite quote states: “When you die, no one will remember how much money you earned, what kind of car you drove, or how big your house was. But they will remember the impact that you had in the life of a child.”

What is your favorite licensing deal of all time? (It doesn’t have to be one that was signed by you.)
Not sure if this fits, but George Lucas retaining the lion’s share of licensing rights to Star Wars.

If you weren’t in licensing, what would you be doing now?
Still a professor at university. I miss teaching and mentoring students!

The last licensed product I bought was…
The Mercedes AMG F1 LEGO set. Over 4,000 bricks that I am still assembling and loving every minute of the challenge!