Expert in managing retailer relationships from ‘showroom to board room’. Developed multi billion Apple business by guiding retail partners through the minefields of branding, merchandising, product assortment, contracts, eCommerce execution, associate training, supply chain issues and much more. My sales model was a complex model that required the involvement of multiple, diverse stakeholders from both the Apple side and my customers - the regional and national retail partners that were critical to Apple’s success. I was Apple’s sales person of the year twice building my reputation by building new markets such as the iPod channel expansion in 2001 when I identified and engaged non-traditional (for Apple) CE retailers such as RadioShack, Toys R Us, Bose Retail, and Brandsmart to name a few. Other important markets I developed were US Military Retail - the MPX channel, AirPort Retail, Convenience and Department store models. All nuanced channels that represented opportunities and challenges as Apple partners - managing the cultural differences alone required all the wisdom I could muster! Innovating in retail is incredibly gratifying and the learning curve is steep. The successful model provides for strong product placement, an intelligent merchandising cadence, promotions integrated with brick n mortar and the eCommerce teams and supply chain managers. When you are launching a AirPod promotion for Veterans Day you need to lock down the offer in the Spring, secure the all important allocation of inventory in July, the printed ad in August, and shipping reservation in September - just to make sure goods hit MPX locations from Ramstein to Okinawa in time. Before I joined Apple in 1997 I had a variety of valuable experiences. ~ i was the Vice President of a Storage and Memory manufacturer leading the organization in product development, marketing and sales and distribution. I build a nationwide channel of VARs and retailers through a national distributor and a network of CE Rep firms. - Consultant to Apple - training retail sales associate in leader sessions across the US The Computer Factory - Roles - Director of Apple Sales for 80 store chain of computer stores. Managed a team of merchants and a field force of Business Development Managers and System engineers - Computer Store Manager (God help me) -Retail and Outbound sales associate- sold Apple IIs in the evenings and sold large volume units of IBM, Compaq, and Macintosh during the day. This was when I got my PhD in business!! I was the foremost expert in DeskTop publishing (yes, that was a thing). Sold high margin, solutions rich with services and add ons - those were the days😎 I live in in the New Haven area of Connecticut with my Susan and our mostly grown family of 5.5 kids. Pop Warner Coach for 32 years and I was the Connecticut GOP candidate for Secretary of the State in 2022 - yes, I lost but the journey made me stronger. - - Kids