Part One: "Alice in Tommy Land"

Fresh out of school and new to the City, I attended a small talk given by up-and-coming designer Tommy Hilfiger. He extended an invitation for a job interview, which led him to hire me. That's how I got my start in fashion.

My first position was in Men's Sportswear. Four years later I took on the Children's division. In eight years we grew that division into a $400 million business.

Part Two: The European Challenge

My next assignment was a move to our European office in Amsterdam to help grow all the Tommy businesses developing there. I spent four years in Europe reporting to the CEO, working with six different divisions to support, strengthen and expand the Tommy Hilfiger brand in ten European countries. Our team gave each division its own personality and focus, each country a voice and each licensee a process that fulfilled our in-house needs.

Challenge met.

Part Three: Recapturing Core Principles

I returned to New York as Executive Vice President of Men's and Women's Design and Merchandising. We began a major rebuilding effort because we were begining to lose our core Tommy audience in the US. I knew the key to recapturing them was to embrace and promote our core brand principles — preppy, American, cool — and to stay consistent to our brand message. Three years after my return, the DM of Macy's reported that the consumer was crossing the aisle to buy our product. We had succeeded in creating a brand that was modern, relevant and youthful, and the consumer responded.