The D60 NEXT Spotlights

The D60 NEXT | 2025

Tomorrow’s Leaders Driving

Brands of Today

On October 9th in New York City, we’ll celebrate The D60 NEXT at The D60 NEXT Forum. Learn more.

GET TO KNOW THE D60 NEXT SELECTEES

Michelle Newby

Title: Senior Director Brand Marketing & Social Media
Company: Ann Taylor

"My philosophy is rooted in leading with emotion, a mindset I honed while working at adidas where passion, identity, and storytelling drive everything. That experience taught me the power of creating emotional connection...

… first and it’s something I’ve carried into my work at LOFT and Ann Taylor. Whether we’re shaping seasonal campaigns or building brand strategies, I focus on how we make her feel, while grounding decisions in data, insight, and strong cross-functional collaboration.”

Jennifer Martinez Velazquez

Title: Senior Director, Outlet Ecommerce NA
Company: Coach

"Consumers are more dynamic than ever, and with Al, personalization, and real-time data reshaping how we think about our businesses, we're entering a phase of reinvention. As digital...

… leaders, we’re now being challenged by how quickly we adapt – testing, learning, questioning the status quo and rethinking what “best-in-class” looks like every quarter instead of every year. We have to build teams that can adapt quickly, and lead through ambiguity, all while redefining and recreating seamless, intuitive experiences that feel relevant to our customers.”

Jerry Wang

Title: Senior Director, Omnichannel NA
Company: Celine

"As our e-commerce site continues to evolve, our interactions with the clients do so as well. Our client service operations have undergone significant improvements. Since going in-house, the team has ramped up clienteling efforts with an omni-centric mindset and a more proactive...

… approach. We have launched live chat and integrated client services with the same in-house clienteling tool used by retail, allowing us to create client synergy. This means the client services team operates more like a store, fostering client relationships in addition to enabling purchases, exclusive previews, and after care services.”

Margo Oshry

Title: Senior Director, Talent & Influencer Marketing
Company: Authentic Brands Group

"Being an influencer myself has been highly beneficial as I understand both sides of the industry. When speaking with agents, I know their expectations, and similarly, I understand how brands...

… operate – they are very KPI/ROI-driven. This dual perspective is my sweet spot, enabling me to close deals and negotiate effectively with agents.”

Sarah Milligan

Title: Director, Digital Experience
Company: VINCE

"I'm passionate about editorializing the VINCE experience and introducing the world of VINCE onto the site, especially given my love for fashion and the fascinating ways customers are...

… adopting AI. This will require trusted content producers, possibly involving a collaboration between our social media presence and its interpretation on the website.”

Astha Sinha

Title: Director, Product Management MarTech
Company: American Eagle Outfitters

"I am particularly excited about the shift toward one-to-one personalization. Moving beyond the traditional ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to deliver tailored messaging, content and product...

… experiences is both powerful and transformative. The possibilities are limitless. I look forward to innovations in technology that empower us to anticipate customer needs and engage with them at every stage of their journey – through precision and relevance at every touchpoint.”

Blair Rafuse

Title: Senior Director, IT, Ecommerce & Digital
Company: Centric Brands

"I've built a framework for rapidly onboarding new brands to our digital portfolio. I essentially run an internal agency. I took all the pieces of an ecommerce agency and brought them in house to allow...

… for quick onboarding and scaling. We have our own development team, digital marketing, search engine optimization, design, marketing, and more. When brands join Centric Brands, they have a really easy transition and it removes a lot of pain points for them.”

Stephanie Campbell

Title: Director, Social Media
Company: Anthropologie

"AI is on everyone’s mind, but as we create and engage, our social community remains at the heart of everything we do. While AI offers many opportunities for personalization, analysis, and back-end efficiency, we’re equally...

… focused on preserving the human touch. With over ten million followers across our social channels, it’s impossible for our team to engage with every tag and mention, but by thoughtfully integrating AI, we can enhance responsiveness and social listening while ensuring there’s still a real, authentic voice on the other side of the screen.”

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Jessica Street

Title: Senior Director, Digital Marketing & Ecommerce Performance
Company: Patagonia

"Excellence in my role at Patagonia is thinking outside of the box and beyond conventional eCommerce best practices. I strive to support a team of talented marketers in driving...

… outcomes that extend beyond transaction, bringing Patagonia’s values-forward approach our digital marketing mix.”

Shannen McLoughlin

Title: Senior Director, CRM
Company: UNTUCKit

"We’re working to enhance our customer journey through truly meaningful personalization—going beyond send times or simple product pushes. We want you to enjoy a personal...

… shopping experience at UNTUCKit.com that mirrors the service, attention, and ease you’d find in our stores, so you can get everything you need in one place. I’m excited to see us positioned as a true lifestyle brand.”

Angela Lane

Title: Ecommerce Head, US
Company: OMEGA Watches

"Launching a luxury website with such a heritage as OMEGA truly has been an honor and easily one of my best professional accomplishments. The ability to tailor an experience that is luxurious, but also aligned...

… with standard eCommerce best practices have truly been a great balance and a challenge. I am excited to see how other luxury brands adapt their eCommerce and look forward to seeing how big of a role AI and other smart tech plays into the shopping and customer experience over the next few years.”

Fabian Brunner

Title: Director, Digital Marketing & Marketplaces
Company: HEYDUDE

"Digital has continued to evolve annually, but 2025 feels like a bigger moment in time in comparison to previous years. With Social Commerce becoming more prevalent and...

… marketplace expansion being so critical, meeting the consumer where they’re at is more important than ever. The future of Digital is exceptionally entrepreneurial and begs leaders to constantly find where the consumer is.”

Hannah Laher

Title: Director, Ecommerce
Company: Nuts.com

"We craft experiences that foster discovery and connect customers with products they never knew they needed but now can’t live without. Specifically, I’m proud of what we achieve...

… during the holiday season, but the vision extends far beyond peak moments. I keep discovery alive year-round with smart AI-powered cross-sell and upsell recommendations, working closely across teams to make sure our customers always find something delicious they’ll love.”

Brittany Uhal

Title: Director, Ecommerce NA
Company: Fresh Beauty – LVMH

“Digital is a fast-evolving landscape, and staying tapped into market trends, technology, and consumer behavior is key to driving success. I'm excited about how advancements in...

… AI will unlock entirely new ways for brands to connect and show up meaningfully in the digital space.”

Cat Quinn

Title: Executive Director, Social & Trend
Company: MAC Cosmetics

"Leading Social at MAC Cosmetics has been the highlight of my career. I feel so lucky to work with an incredible team of creatives at a legacy brand that has always been at the center...

… of culture. From “Holding Space” in the MAC store to Martha Stewart ASMR, there is never a dull moment at MAC!”

Ken Pelasky

Title: Global Head, DTC
Company: Aritzia

"We're heavily investing in our people, ensuring they have the right tools, resources, and clear role definitions to excel. Our goal is to revitalize direct communications channels with the customer...

… and create more sophisticated outreach through personalization and A/B testing.”

Kylee Clarke

Title: Senior Director, Brand Marketing – Running & Training
Company: Nike

"The world feels quite heavy at the moment. However, when you look at sport, you see women's sports thriving, youth participation making a comeback, a surge in sports within media...

…and entertainment, and record-breaking NIL deals. The power of sport serves as an antidote, presenting us with an incredible opportunity and responsibility to inspire this next generation of athletes and consumers.”

Nicolas Smotek

Title: Senior Director, Global DTC Digital Technology
Company: Deckers Brands

"Simplification is key. I pride myself on simplifying the tech stack as much as possible because it enables greater innovation in the long run. If you're constantly fighting spaghetti code and spending most of your time...

… on maintenance, it’s hard to connect the dots and foster new ideas. Simplifying and building robust APIs across our product information and customer information sets really opens the door for teams to innovate. This might seem foundational rather than innovative, but it unlocks a lot of possibilities.”

Kevin Hill

Title: Director, Digital Product
Company: FULLBEAUTY Brands

"We are the largest universal cart provider, probably out there in the industry. A significant advantage of our universal cart system is its ability to track customer...

… journeys across our various brands. Customers can seamlessly navigate between brands using dedicated tabs in this virtual mall.”

Karishma Donde

Title: Director, AI Strategy
Company: Gap, Inc.

"AI, as an always-on thought partner, both professionally and personally, has the potential to develop us into more curious, creative, and empowered problem-solvers. It’s not just...

… about efficiency; it’s about unlocking human potential in ways we never imagined.”

Grace Edinger

Title: Director, Product Management
Company: Stanley Black & Decker

"I believe that even in a B2B context, customer expectations are shaped by seamless direct-to-consumer experiences like Amazon. Therefore, we cannot afford to offer outdated experiences.

… Meeting these heightened consumer expectations, which have been refined by a decade of e-commerce, is crucial for customer retention, regardless of the product being sold.”

Cati Brunell-Brutman

Title: Head of Customer Experience
Company: Glossier

"Instead of transactional engagement with customers on social media, we do a lot of dynamic engagement. We are not just answering questions, but have fun with the consumer...

… and getting them excited and hyped up. The number one thing that you can do to make customers trust your brand on social media is just reply to their comments.”

Jordan Bowry

Title: Senior Director, Retention Marketing & Global CRM
Company: Michael Kors

"While much of the industry focuses on the customer-facing applications of AI, what excites me is its potential to transform how teams work - streamlining workflows, accelerating...

… decision making, and enabling us to think more strategically. That efficiency unlocks our ability to deliver highly relevant, personalized experiences at scale.”

Isaac Korn

Title: Senior Director, Innovation
Company: Perry Ellis International

"We don’t pursue technology for technology’s sake. We adopt it to solve real problems and enhance specific workflows. Our focus is on practical innovation; leveraging tools that drive efficiency, creativity, and scalability. We love partnering with...

… startups, not just as users but as collaborators, helping shape their products to meet the evolving needs of our business and the broader industry.”

Jacqs Carroll

Title: Director, Digital Product
Company: Authentic Brands Group

"There is a rapidly widening gap between evolving consumer expectations and the stagnant state of e-commerce. Consumers are increasingly accustomed to highly personalized interactions driven by generative AI algorithms, tailoring feeds to their individual...

… preferences. However, e-commerce experiences, for the most part, resemble those from two decades ago. We are actively working to address this challenge, and I am particularly excited to see what the e-commerce landscape will look like even in the next five years.”

Katie Buczek

Title: Senior Director, Ecommerce
Company: Randa Apparel & Accessories

"Forecasting for seasonal businesses on Amazon is notoriously difficult; I've personally experienced this challenge for years. However, I'm incredibly proud of the business growth Randa Apparel & Accessories has...

… achieved in the last few years. We’ve excelled by providing excellent content and PDPs, dominating advertising, and collaborating with the Amazon buying team to secure inventory.”

Aylin Nazlim

Title: Director, Program Management & PMO, Global Online LACE
Company: The Estée Lauder Companies

"It will be interesting to observe how consumers utilize AI tools for searching, and how it will evolve the world of Brand.com. They are increasingly searching for products...

… within AI platforms like OpenAI and Google’s AI-enhanced search. This shift is expected to significantly alter the current landscape.”

Kelly Chu

Title: Director, Strategic Initiatives
Company: Calvin Klein

"What excites me the most about retail is the constant evolution of the industry. I transitioned from investment banking to internal corporate strategy to drive change from within and...

… to lead initiatives from proposal through execution. It’s been rewarding to make an impact in an industry that I’m passionate about and that is deeply connected to my everyday life.”

Olga Alpeter

Title: Director, Marketing (Qtips & Canada)
Company: Elida Beauty

“We’re focused on making sure our brand reflects the people who use it. At the end of the day, you don’t choose Q-tips because of who we are, but you choose our brand...

… because it fits who you are. Our goal is to show up for consumers in the moments that matter, whether it’s beauty or first-aid or building miniature figurines. Q-tips is the Robin to your Batman in every obsession – always ready, always reliable no matter how you use them.”

Nitin Tyagi

Title: Director, Technical Product Manager
Company: Tapestry

"Gen AI has created one of the biggest shifts in consumer behavior that's reshaping ecommerce. As leaders, our job is to harness that potential and translate...

… technologies like conversational AI, text to image and video etc. into scalable capabilities that solve real customer and associate problems and create delightful experiences for them”

Madisen Theobald

Title: Global Director, Social Creative
Company: MAC Cosmetics

“YouTube Shorts has quietly overtaken TikTok in Gen Z video views and yet many brands still treat it as an afterthought. I encourage marketers to go beyond a ‘rinse and repeat’ strategy...

… of simply repurposing TikToks. YouTube offers a uniquely powerful, creator-led ecosystem with massive untapped potential. A personal anecdote that continues to shape my perspective: my mother, a third-grade teacher, tells me that nearly all her students dream of becoming YouTubers. That’s a clear signal of where attention is going and where brands need to show up with intention.”

Amber Bazdar

Title: Director, Visual Merchandising, North America
Company: New Balance

“Retail doesn’t stand still—what worked yesterday might not land today. That’s why I push myself to stay curious, keep experimenting, and bring fresh ideas to the table every day. The scoreboard...

… resets to 0-0 each morning, and we get a new opportunity to shape the customer experience. For me, it all starts with my team. I’m committed to our associates because great experiences begin with them. When we lead with creativity, support one another, and stay focused on excellence, that’s when real innovation shows up—in every display, every store, and every moment we create.”

Golda Painten

Title: Director, Digital Marketplaces
Company: Marquee Brands

"I don’t chase momentum — I build it. I turn complexity into clarity, moving fast on what works. During the tariff changes, I broke down white space opportunities by...

… brand, category, and even keyword — ready to move the moment competitors pulled back on ad spend.”

Lisa Whittaker

Title: Senior Director, Digital Marketing
Company: Shake Shack

“My approach to achieving excellence as a digital marketer is to always look around corners and build campaigns nimble enough to adjust when, where, and how as needed. Second, always build a learning agenda

… and identify the unknowns upfront that you want to answer. Even if a campaign doesn’t perform as expected, you still take away valuable learnings. Use that to strengthen your future campaigns.”

Allen Lo

Title: Senior Director, Marketing Analytics & Customer Growth
Company: Carter’s

"I’m most proud of leading initiatives that deepened our ability to listen to our customers—leveraging robust marketing technologies powered by a CDP with 360° customer profiles, integrating...

… with the channels they shop, and applying analytics and AI to better anticipate and meet their needs.”

Heaven Schydlowsky

Title: Director, Digital Product & Ecommerce
Company: MERIT

"Excellence comes from grounding my decisions in both empathy and analytics. I'm constantly asking why, staying close to the customer, and building with purpose and scale. I believe...

… the best digital experiences are those that feel both elevated, intuitive, and frictionless.”

Kristine Ayala

Title: Director, Social & Influencers
Company: RoC Skincare

“I’m excited about how quickly beauty is evolving, especially in digital and influencer marketing. There’s so much room to tell better stories, connect with people in real and genuine

… ways, and try new platforms and formats. I love that my role puts me right in the middle of that, building partnerships, testing ideas, and turning trends into strategies that actually move the needle.”

Jean-Marc Lacroix

Title: Director, Ecommerce
Company: Stetson

"Fashion is going through a huge transformation, and clients are leading the way. We need to understand clients’ expectations and sentiment to build our product...

… offerings and design services for them. As an industry, we need to understand that building loyalty starts with being loyal to the brands we lead and the clients that have loved them for years.”

Brooke Palandro

Title: Director, Copy & Content Strategy
Company: Supergoop!

"There's a common misconception about the benefits and applications of AI from a creative and brand storytelling perspective. AI should be viewed as a tool, not a cure-all solution. It cannot fully replace a creative team or strategic thinking...

… AI can supplement human effort by generating ideas and contributing to brainstorming and exploration. However, the final output from AI will never possess the same level of thoughtfulness or intentionality as something created with a human touch.”

Michael Fulton

Title: Senior Director, Data Science & Analytics
Company: PVH

"We make data actionable by answering the 'So What?'. It's not just what we find in the data, but how can we put the data in the hands...

… of our business stakeholders so they can make more efficient and quicker decisions.”

Nicole Goldbaum

Title: Director, Consumer Insights
Company: Tapestry

"I think they're going to be so much change in the industry, but what's most exciting and important is that, beyond that is helping Tapestry build a really...

… consumer-centric organization, having the focus be on the consumer, and bringing the consumer to the forefront, all backed by data and insights.”

Kyla Hanrahan

Title: Director, Brand Strategy Harry’s Labs
Company: Mammoth Brands

"I consider it a huge accomplishment to be in the role I’m in today, because it’s something I never would have predicted. I started my career as a brand and innovation strategist...

… and am now applying those skills and frameworks to an M&A context, which is an atypical path to say the least. I’ve gotten to build brand thinking into how we identify and assess investment opportunities, which helps to differentiate us in the market and bring efficiencies to our decision-making.”

Dovi Meyer

Title: Director, Innovation Strategy
Company: American Eagle Outfitters

"I’m excited about the continued rollout and refinement of true omni-channel experiences across our brands. As AI becomes increasingly impactful in the customer journey, I see a...

… future where we can deliver truly personalized shopping experiences—tailored to each customer—both in-store and online.”

Danielle Zwernemann

Title: Director, Licensing
Company: Nicole Miller

"The retail landscape is evolving and diversifying, with traditional retail slowing down, stores closing, companies and retailers re-strategizing. On the other hand, the off-price market is currently attracting a cross-generational...

… customer base. The off-price market is growing bringing in younger shoppers who enjoy the “treasure hunt” aspect of discovering products in these stores. The key is to understand and map out how customers are currently shopping and meet them where they are shopping.”

Jing Chen

Title: Director, Digital Marketing
Company: The Estée Lauder Companies

"I partnered closely with our commercial teams, key retailers, and media partner Tencent to develop a new digital program focused on driving sales among Chinese travelers. This tripartite...

… collaboration was one of the first of its kind in duty-free and helped establish a scalable media model that is now being adopted across APAC as a core conversion-driving tactic.”

Aaron Katz

Title: Director, Acquisition Marketing
Company: Authentic Brands Group

“The most exciting shift I see day to day is the convergence of brand and performance marketing. Creative, media, and measurement are aligning not just for quick wins, but to build...

… lasting brand equity. The growth playbook is evolving fast, and I’m energized to be at the forefront of shaping what comes next.”

Meghan Crane

Title: Director, Market Insights
Company: PVH

"I believe that there isn’t a single source of data that tells the full story—it takes multiple data points to uncover meaningful insights and drive action. Retail is evolving by the minute, and addressing...

… merchandising and marketing needs is becoming increasingly critical. Data brings the ‘science’ to shaping product assortments, as well as informing marketing strategies and distribution decisions.”

Sarah Vickery

Title: Director, Consumer Insights
Company: Tapestry

"I believe it’s crucial to stay curious and try new approaches. Consumer behavior is changing rapidly. We are constantly testing and learning from new tools, platforms, and...

… technologies so we can meet our Gen Z consumer where they are and continuously deepen our understanding of their preferences.”

Makeda Deccu

Title: Head of Omnichannel, North America
Company: Philipp Plein

"Excellence begins with ensuring that every channel works together to serve the client seamlessly. My philosophy is built on clarity, consistency, and curiosity. Clarity means that..

… every team and partner understands the vision, the objectives, and the client promise. Consistency ensures that the same level of service, speed, and attention to detail is delivered whether a client is shopping in store, online, or moving between the two. Curiosity pushes us to constantly challenge the status quo, explore new tools, and discover more efficient ways to connect channels and anticipate client needs.”