Licensing International is powered by an incredible group of licensing professionals hailing from around the globe who take time to serve the industry they love. Each week we’ll be profiling one of these professionals in this ongoing series.

How did you get into licensing (or how did licensing find YOU)?
A good friend, Darran Garnham, put me forward for a sales/ad space role, which in turn put me in contact with a gentleman I also owe a lot to, Jonathan Sieff. I then went on to work my way up at Global Brands Group, cutting my teeth on the FIFA World Cup, which was a dream!

What’s a “typical” day in your current position?
Mainly chasing the time zones. I do a lot on US time, basically, try my hardest to carve out dinner and Rei’s (daughter in my pic) bath time. Lucky to have a great balance between dealing with internal “stuff” and then the majority of the time is outward-facing, so being pitched or pitching, getting to catch up with all of our industry mates old and new.

What’s your biggest personal and professional accomplishment?
Personal has to be my little family, my daughter Rei, middle name Hope – never give up hope they say!

Professionally… when I look back I have been so lucky to have worked on some amazing brands, from my first FIFA World Cup to the crazy days and huge success of Moshi Monsters and now the amazing rocket ship that is Jazwares. It’s not until you look back that you realise just what you were achieving at the time – reflecting is important, but you find you very rarely do it.

What are the most significant trends or changes that you’ve seen in the business in recent years?
The obvious answer I would say is the digital space, both content from non-traditional platforms or the awareness of gaming IP for licensing, which I do find strange, as I have been working in this genre for the last 10 years. I would say more luck than judgement. 🙂

What keeps you up at night? What’s your biggest challenge these days?
The speed of change – interests, crazes, platforms, social media, retailers, consumption etc, etc, etc, the list goes on. Keeping relevant and ahead of what’s coming.

In your opinion, what is the top skill every licensing executive should have in order to succeed?
For me it’s honesty. I am very straightforward and transparent, and our industry is very small and connected. Even if things are not right for me/us, I will always try and help them out in some way. I have been very lucky with industry karma.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received or what is your favorite quote?
Judd (Founder/President of Jazwares) talks a lot about how time is one of our most valuable assets as a business, and it is so true! I also love the Albert Einstein quote, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” I try and remember that from time to time.

What is your favorite licensing deal of all time? (doesn’t have to be one that was signed by you)
I won’t pick out one, but I do love it when deals really show how incremental and positive licensing can be. For example, the concern that having a frozen version of a branded restaurant’s pizza would cannibalise attendance and revenue at its restaurants, and in fact, it did the exact opposite. We all know that food licensing is huge, but the people who have done it know it comes with a huge amount of education and trust.

If you weren’t in licensing, what would you be doing now?
I dread to think.

The last licensed product I bought was…
We are running up to Christmas now, so untold toys, but coolest most recently was probably shopping with my niece for the Bershka x Billie Eilish.