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😊)?
Head hunter sent me to the wrong interview. I had been doing men’s sportwear at Tommy Hilfiger and JCrew and I walked into this showroom full of licensed accessories and it blew my mind. I knew I wanted to be part of the industry at that very second.

What’s a “typical” day in your current position?
Before I log in: Scan the news first thing in the morning for any retail-specific entertainment updates and general financial and pop culture news. Then its virtual meetings all day with my retailers’ buying and marketing teams, then our own internal conversations around content strategy. My inbox fills up fairly quickly, so I try to manage that in between. We have an extensive content portfolio, and I’m always working on three calendar years at once! And… I make a hand written list of my next day’s To-Dos before I log out for the day.

What’s your biggest personal and professional accomplishment?
I’ve been super fortunate to work on brands that have meant so much to me, since I was a kid! Every time we launch a collab with a partner it’s like the greatest accomplishment. From all the amazing Harry Potter collections, to Ready Player One (Spielberg!), seeing our Horror portfolio turn into a 365, and not to mention being part of the DC family, and having fun with fashion collabs around Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey!

What are the most significant trends or changes that you’ve seen in the business in recent years?
The introduction of the iPhone has changed the way we shop/collect. The pull of digital media and social networking is shaping generations to come. COVID has accelerated this in leaps and bounds.

What keeps you up at night? What’s your biggest challenge these days?
Brand relevance and content. Content is the key driver for most of the brands we work with. Nowadays everyone can be a content maker. YouTube has opened the floodgates for everyone and anyone to create their own content and curate a “brand.” But, the question still remains, how do you monetize that? And will it stick around for more than six months?

In your opinion, what is the top skill every licensing executive should have in order to succeed?
Know your business. Understand your audience, don’t be too precious with your brand.  Above all understand where the business is going. Things change constantly and what used to be relevant yesterday, may mean very little today. And please, whatever you do, don’t ever say “That’s not my job.”

What is the best piece of advice you ever received?
Lead with your strength.

What is your favorite licensing deal of all time? (doesn’t have to be one you were involved in)
That’s like picking a favorite child! In recent years I’ve been impressed with the resurgence of Peanuts as a brand, it reminds me a little of Hello Kitty (I’m a Gen X poster child, so Hello Kitty holds a VERY special place in my heart). Taking a step back I think the brand collabs of the early 00’s (H&M X Lagerfeld, Target’s early collabs with Phillip Stark) were incredibly influential. This is before social media and the technology we have today and to buy pieces from your phone as a whim was just a far off idea. These early collabs introduced a whole new generation to the High/Low mentality.

If you weren’t in licensing, what would you be doing now?
Art History, or Museum studies of some sort. I’ve always been fascinated by both sociology and curation. I went to RISD undergrad, and after graduation I was fortunate enough to be Reed Krakoff’s assistant designer at Tommy Hilfiger. He taught me the importance of looking as design as a whole, as a part of the bigger world (physical, environmental, emotional) we all live in.

The last licensed product I bought was…
A Billie Eilish x Murakami Tee for my 8-year-old!