Brandon Stranzl took a long, hard look at Sears Canada’s opportunities to better service its customers after taking the helm at Sears Canada Inc. as CEO and Executive Chairman in 2015, and created a disruptive and effective path to achieving change through technology and retail innovation. 

In just a short year and a half Mr. Stranzl has reconceived Sears Canada as a brand, strengthened senior leadership, launched Sears Canada’s digital innovation hub, Initium, and developed a new customer-obsessed concept store format.

His background in financial portfolios and hedge fund management facilitates Brandon’s out of the box, start-up approach to business.

Stéphane Bérubé has close to 20 years of experience in the beauty industry. After obtaining a Business Administration degree from Université Laval in Quebec in 1996, he started his career in Toronto in an international consumer goods company.

In 2002, he joined L’Oréal Canada as a Marketing Director for the Maybelline New York brand, where he contributed to the success of the brand’s partnership with Star Académie, which earned the team the “Marketer of the Year” award in 2003. He then moved on to become Brand Director for L’Oréal Paris in 2005 and became General Manager two years later. Amongst his various achievements, he initiated the brand’s successful partnership with the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

In 2013, Stéphane Bérubé was named General Manager of Media and Innovation for L’Oréal Canada. In this role, he oversaw L’Oréal Canada’s media investments and negotiations, as well as experimentations and large-scale corporate sponsorships. In his current role of Vice-president Chief Marketing Officer, he is now in charge of expanding e-commerce, remodelling the company’s consumer approach and strengthening its presence in the digital ecosystem.

Scott Adel currently serves as Head of Omnichanel for menswear e-tailer Frank & Oak. He is a seasoned retail sales and operations professional whose main responsibilities include leading their omnichannel efforts, store operations and growth strategies, and developing and overseeing the execution of the in-store customer experience. Scott is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) in good standing who has built an extensive 15-year retail career integrating technology and business processes in unique ways to drive engagement and business growth.

Kristy started her career in retail with leading cosmetics brands in the U.S. and Canada, including Clinique, Prescriptives, Stila, and Philosophy for over fifteen years. Throughout her experience in the cosmetics industry, as both a makeup artist and manager, Kristy oversaw event planning, inventory control, sales strategies, team building and training.  Relocating to Canada in 2003, Kristy shifted gears and worked in executive recruiting for a few years, but went back to sales and eventually became a VP of Marketing where she oversaw SEO, SEM, PPC, direct mail and email campaigns, lead generation, conversion, user experience and account management.  With this wide range of experience and skills she was ready to start something that would bring together her talents and be part of the sharing economy at the same time.  Along with her business partner, Rent frock Repeat came to life, allowing women all across Canada to RENT a new designer dress for a fraction of the retail cost.  Becoming an entrepreneur to a collaborative consumption business that disrupts the retail norm has taught Kristy countless new skills and lessons and gives her a chance to make an impact on women, the environment and the retail landscape. 

Joanna Griffiths is the Founder, CEO and inventor of Knix Wear, one of the fastest growing companies in Canada and globally in the intimate apparel space. Knix Wear launched in winter of 2013 and three short years later Knix Wear has become a leader in active intimate apparel. The company holds the record for the most-funded fashion project in Kickstarter history and the most-funded women’s project with over $1.6M in product pre-sales for Knix Wear’s 8-in-1 Evolution Bra. The ever-expanding product line is available in over 500 retail stores across North America and at www.knixwear.com.
 
Griffiths has been profiled in Forbes, Fast Company, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Dragons’ Den among other media outlets. She holds an MBA with distinction from INSEAD and won the Business Venture Competition and the Women’s Award for Entrepreneurship – securing the initial capital to start the business. She sits on the advisory board for Master Card’s Youth Entrepreneurship Strategy and has a passion for mentoring other young female entrepreneurs.

Gillian Stein is the CEO of Henry’s, the largest specialty imaging retailer in Canada.   Under the tagline “Canada’s Greatest Camera Store” she is leading the transformation of the traditional retailer to a true omni-channel specialty business that prides itself on listening to its customers and the community.  Born and raised in a retail environment, Gillian began working with the Henry’s team early on in her career in retail and has worked across a  number of functions giving her a thorough understanding of the inner workings of the business. 
 
Prior to joining Henry’s full time, Gillian worked within the global responsible investment research firm, Sustainalytics, and has held numerous positions in the public sector as well as the United Nations.  Gillian has a Master’s degree in International Development from the University of Sussex in England, a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of McGill and is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

Johnny has been in the digital, CRM and email marketing space for over 10 years. He currently heads all email marketing initiatives for Indigo Books & Music Inc., which also includes the Chapters and Coles bookstore banners. Prior to Indigo, Johnny worked for Dell managing their consumer segment email program for over 4 years reporting into both the North American CRM group and separately to the marketing unit.

Email marketing is something Johnny is very passionate about because of its unique ability to help enrich a customer’s lifecycle for brands through meaningful and impactful communications. Email can drive acquisition, retain valued customers, increase brand loyalty, promote cross-category shopping, leverage real-time action-based behaviors and much more.  He believes to deliver meaningful communications, integration of the right technology, data & marketing platforms are needed.

With a background in Fashion and eCommerce, Lauren's career has focused on creating digital brand experiences by combining technology, design and content. With a Bachelor of Management from Dalhousie University and an Associate’s Degree in Fashion Marketing from Parsons The New School for Design, Lauren spent five years developing her career in New York City, working with brands such as Calvin Klein, Stella McCartney and Nicole Miller. In 2014, Lauren joined Roots Canada as Director of Omni-Channel Commerce, and is responsible for overseeing the eCommerce and creative Marketing teams in the development of a strategy to grow online sales and increase customer engagement.

Shaeleigh Afton has been committed to innovation in e-commerce since completing the Fashion/Business program at Humber College, Toronto. From the outset of her four-plus year career at Gotstyle Menswear (and the beginning of their  journey in e-comm), she has  demonstrated a relentless dedication to creating the ultimate customer experience. Her focus on  wallet-less payment and mobile app development for the brand are at the forefront of technology, utilizing her unique skill at reading and understanding retail behaviour and patterns – both online and in brick & mortar locations. She effortlessly merges creative and business driven concepts to present content that is engaging, sharable and sales-orien ted. Shaeleigh's success is based on her  singular vision and experience, and her ongoing willingness to learn and improve.

Brad Davies is the Director of eCommerce at Grand & Toy Limited, an Office Depot Inc. company which is one of North America’s largest online retailers. Brad has nearly 20 years of working in e-commerce, primarily in the B2B space. Since joining Grand & Toy in 2006 he has been part of an online evolution through digital marketing, sales enablement, analytics, merchandising and development of a website that grew from an online catalogue to its newest iteration in responsive design. Grandandtoy.com delivers accountability and control to a broad audience in the B2B space while leveraging the best practices and expectations of the B2C space.

Celine is currently Manager of Pricing Decision Support at Walmart Canada where she helps merchants use big data to make better pricing decisions.

Celine joined Walmart Canada after graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University. She was part of the fourth cohort of the D.A.R.E. rotational leadership program where she spent 9 months rotating throughout the business learning about the fast-paced world of retail before taking on a buying position on the ladies “athleisure” apparel desk.

Outside of the office, Celine is a fitness and nutrition enthusiast and is passionate about millennial women’s career development. She combined these passions to found Smart Girls Sweat, a “sweatworking” (networking + working out) event series is designed for career-driven young women who want to network, develop professionally & maintain a healthy, active lifestyle.

Amy is an e-commerce professional with strong analytical skills specializing in product management and project analysis in an agile world, using an iterative approach to large projects, focused on increasing conversion and moving KPIs.

Formerly heading up three teams at Zappos, focusing mainly on a platform migration and introduction of online exchanges as a new feature, she was recruited by Tempur Sealy in early 2016 to tackle another platform migration and enhance their overall digital experience.

Tony Long is a Marketing Technology innovator with over 20 years of global leadership of initiatives that combine marketing, technology and commerce. His diversified background includes founding one of the first “Silicon Alley” web development shop in the mid 1990’s, consulting on digital marketing projects across numerous industries, serving as senior leadership with tech and non-tech start-ups, and heading marketing initiatives for clients across the US and Europe that included major retail, banking, consumer products and sporting franchises.

Prior to joining Kimberly-Clark, Tony served in leadership roles in several prominent digital agencies as well as being SVP of Sales & Marketing of Revell-Monogram, the global toy & hobby brand. While with WhittmanHart he won WebAward honors for Consumer Goods Standard of Excellence (Black & Decker Site Redesign) & Automotive Standard of Excellence (Harley-Davidson Bike Builder). He is the author of “Data Is Currency”, an early exploration into the way data and content are fungible assets that companies need to leverage for competitive advantage.

Trisha specializes in Etsy's offline activations and community events. She's responsible for partnerships across Canada, often focused on connecting Etsy artists and their products with notable retailers such as Drake General Store, Frank + Oak and DavidsTea. She has also managed several Etsy marketplaces including those at the One of a Kind Show, WayHome Music + Arts Festival and Calgary Stampede. Outside of Etsy, Trisha co-founded Souvenir, a series of pop-ups and now permanent design shop in Toronto's west end where she consults on product curation.

Shem is currently leading all revenue generating activities at StickerYou.  Shem and the team are driving a roughly 70% Y/Y growth with approximately 90% of the revenue being generated from exports outside of Canada.  StickerYou is a Toronto based ecommerce/technology company that creates custom die-cut stickers, labels, decals, temporary tattoos and other ‘sticky products’.  StickerYou is a Worldwide leader in low run custom stickers and label products.  Previously Shem was with HP where he led e-Business and Ecommerce for Canada and Latin America, as well as being a partner in an email marketing start-up. 

Jennifer is a leader in multi-channel Marketing strategy, and has spearheaded countless initiatives to support the industry, most recently, the introduction of Smartmail Marketing™ to the marketplace. She joined Canada Post in 2006 and has led teams of experts who bring hands-on marketing experience and knowledge to a wealth of customers, agencies and industry partners across the country. Jennifer and her team have also developed business-building marketing initiatives to inspire marketers, agencies and industry partners, show the art of “what is possible” and to drive multi-channel business growth for Canada Post, across both Smartmail Marketing and eCommerce services.  In her current role, she is focusing her efforts on promoting industry best practices and marketing initiatives, and providing the education, platforms and support that help marketers act on insights to maximize their ROI.

As eBay Canada’s managing director, Andrea Stairs leads the Canadian strategy and operations of one of the world’s largest online marketplaces and Canada’s second largest e-commerce business. In this role, Andrea is responsible for cultivating eBay’s community of Canadian users -- from individual consumers to established brands and retailers -- and for overseeing all of eBay’s Canadian functions, including product management, marketing, business development, and public and government relations.

Andrea was most recently head of marketing for eBay Canada, managing the brand’s marketing strategy and execution. She was also instrumental in launching eBay’s French-Canadian website and in leading the eBay Motors team in Canada.

Greg Zakowicz has more than 10 years of experience in email, mobile and social media marketing. He regularly provides commerce marketers with in-depth analysis of their marketing programs, including recommendations for improvement, best practice support and implementation guidance and execution. Zakowicz often speaks on webinars and at ecommerce events such as IRCE, Fashion Digital New York, SIA Snow Show and ROI Revolution Summit. He has been published by top retail and marketing publications including Multichannel Merchant, Internet Retailer, Total Retail, Retail TouchPoints and ClickZ and is a regular contributor to Bronto’s Commerce Marketing blog. You can follow him on Twitter at @WhatsGregDoing.

As an expert in retail and all things ecommerce, Jim brings over 15 years of experience in online marketing and cross-channel programs for top retail clients. From strategic vision to implementation, Jim has led clients to successfully meet aggressive revenue and performance goals. His articles can be found in publications such as DMNews, ClickZ, TotalRetail and Multichannel Merchant. He has spoken at numerous industry events including IRCE, ROI Revolution, eTail East and Magento Imagine and has been featured in Forbes, USAToday and NPR’s Marketplace.

Marty Yaskowich is the VP of Retail Customer Development at iQmetrix. In a career that spans more than 20 years, Marty was most recently the EVP, Chief Innovation and Growth Officer for advertising agency DDB – leading the digital division, Tribal Worldwide. For more than 11 years, Marty played a key role in pitching to the C-suite of Clorox, Uber, Canadian Tourism, and McDonald’s, among many others. He was also the lead strategist for the recently-launched online insurance company Sonnet. More than 15 years ago, he worked with an interactive retail company in Windsor, Ont. that developed dealership kiosk and employee training technology for General Motors and Daimler Chrysler US.

Before life in marketing and technology, Marty was a sports and news reporter (and part-time broadcaster) for three daily newspapers in Canada.

Shane is a Senior Account Executive at SourceKnowledge, a leading ad tech company in Montreal, Canada. Shane’s main role is managing accounts for various Fortune 500 companies and ensuring that all clients maximize their performance potential through data driven campaigns. He works closely with brands, agencies, app publishers, ecommerce and SaaS companies in order to integrate them into the full-stack marketing platform, Engage©, which gives marketers the tools they need to identify, recapture, convert and measure their audiences.

Amanda Bourlier is a senior research analyst at Euromonitor International, conducting multinational market intelligence studies on sectors including retail and consumer payments in North and South America.  Her projects analyze business landscapes as well as economic and political conditions to identify consumer trends and market developments.  Amanda’s work is featured in Euromonitor’s flagship syndicated research offering, Passport, which is used by Fortune 500 companies, leading banks and consultancies, and institutions of government and higher education worldwide. A graduate of the University of Michigan, her professional interests include international strategy and the effect of politics on business environments and consumers.

Born in Johannesburg, Lindsay migrated at a very young age to Toronto where she graduated from York University in Political Sciences. After graduation, she started working in retail for Levi’s where she learned the ropes of brick and mortar businesses and acquired customer service skills. After brief brush with the financial world where she made stock trading for her clients, she moved to Montreal and started her own business: A directory for moms who were making products from home and needed to be found (a first encounter with Local Marketing).

After working for different startups (including the one that bought her directory), Lindsay landed a sales position at SweetIQ in January 2016. With her understanding about how Local Marketing works and a natural disposition to help people, Lindsay thrives by offering solutions to her clients and building long lasting and nurturing relationships.


Lindsay sees Local Marketing evolving into an omnipresent tactic. “It will no longer be seen as an option, but as a necessity” – and marketers, brands and agencies are now understanding its real value. In a couple of years, and with the help of technology, we will see a seamless integration between what happens online and the actions consumers take offline. Her advice for her team: Act. Don’t wait. If something’s not working, take action, do something. That last email you send at the end of the day might be the one that makes a difference. You’ll see Lindsay exploring activities for her kids in the city and running “near me” searches for the best restaurants in town

A proud Canadian, Asif is a renowned global speaker, author and serial entrepreneur.  He is currently focused on working as a consultant and venture capitalist to the location-based marketing services community.  In support of this, Asif recently formed the Location Based Marketing Association - an international group dedicated to research and education in the space. 

Prior to launching The LBMA, Asif built 4 start-ups and worked with companies as diverse as Limited Brands, IBM, Baxter Pharmaceuticals, Molson-Coors, BestBuy, American Airlines, Cineplex Entertainment, ING Bank, Vroom & Dreesman and L’Oreal. You can catch Asif’s weekly video podcast - This Week In Location-Based Marketing.

An avid technology evangelist, Asif also holds a degree in economics and management sciences from the University of Waterloo, is a adjunct professor at Penn State University, and can be found on Twitter @AsifRKhan

Brock has over a decade of experience evaluating and overseeing the implementation of customer-centric technologies to enhance operational processes that drive exceptional customer experiences.

As a systems analyst with Club Assist, the world’s largest roadside automotive services provider, Brock was tasked early on with responsibility for the North American implementation of the firm’s global ERP deployment. With a focus on building long-term strategic partnerships with both internal and external stakeholders he was able to build innovative new ways to service customers using mobile and cloud technologies. Within six short years, Brock’s innovative technology approach to service customers resulted in his promotion to Vice President Global IT.  His responsibility spanned the globe with oversight of all technology for 500 staff members, 3,500 contracted service providers; which provided unrivaled service to 60 million automotive club members.

Currently as ShipTrack’s Senior Vice President Sales, Brock has global responsibility for the firms’ revenue objectives and it is his close customer relationships that are key to ensuring Shiptrack’s development program responds to market demands.

Alex de Bold is the co-founder of ChickAdvisor, Canada’s first product review platform. As the technology and marketing leader for this digital platform that has been used by over 11 million consumers, Alex has been the man behind the curtain, developing the platforms now being used to power the company’s two new communities, XYStuff.com , and soon-to-be launched, FamilyRated.com.

Most recently, Alex created AskAPro, a real-time, omni-channel messaging system that allows consumers to ask real people their specific product questions and receive on-the-spot feedback and recommendations, regardless of location or medium. In partnership with L’Oreal, AskAPro ran its first successful pilot program in April 2017. Prior to ChickAdvisor, Alex worked as both an entrepreneur and as a consultant with Tier-A brands across North America. He started his career while in his third year of university with the launch of his first business, ProfessorJones, one of Canada’s first e-commerce companies.

A creative project manager and detail-oriented professional, Megan specializes in eCommerce and omni-channel market research to build robust conferences. From program writing to onsite execution, she enjoys collaborating with speakers for their insightful presentations and meeting as many attendees as possible. Often asked how she keeps up her infectious energy up onsite, Megan credits yoga, jamming to Beyoncé, and entertaining her newborn son.