2014 Speaker Bios

Matthew Berglass is President of Berglass+Associates, an executive search firm serving the retail industry in both the pure-play digital space and traditional brick-and-mortar. Since joining the firm in 1994, Mr. Berglass has focused on helping retail, wholesale, and digital/direct companies evolve into seamless powerhouse brands. With such notable placements as Sharen Turney as CEO of Victorias Secret Direct, Michael MacDonald as CE O of DSW, and Jack Boyle as President, Merchandising, Fanatics, Mr. Berglass has demonstrated his expertise in matching executive talent with brands and retailers poised for growth. Outside of the office, Mr. Berglass is a registered USA Boxing Amateur competitor whose passion for giving back has included working with the not-for-profit educational support organization, A Better Chance, and encouraging the development of young and under-privileged athletes engaged in the sport of boxing.

Aaron Carpenter is Vice President of Marketing at The North Face, where he leads the development and execution of The North Faces global marketing efforts. Prior to his current position at The North Face, Mr. Carpenter was a tenured marketing executive at Levis Strauss & Co. He held many marketing positions throughout his 10-year career there, such as Director of Presence Marketing and Publicity and Vice President of Marketing, Licensing, and Online Sales. At The North Face, Mr. Carpenter oversees all elements of the marketing mix, including e-commerce, advertising, global advertising development, in-store marketing, PR, CRM, outdoor exploration, sports marketing, and global consumer insights. This includes oversight of The North Face athlete team, where he helps bring the Athlete -Tested, Expedition Proven mantra to life. Additionally, he lea ds The North Face brands efforts around outdoor participation and sustainability and is a board member for The Conservation Allianc e. Mr. Carpenter speaks English, Spanish, and Russian and resides in the Bay Area with his wife and two children. He enjoys climbing, skiing, mountain biking and running. He recently completed The North Face Endurance Challenge 50k race and has climbed Half Dome with Conrad Anker during an epic 24-hour adventure. Mr. Carpenter holds a masters degree in international marketing from the Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Davis.

Matt Hiscock began his career with Marks & Spencer, where he worked in a number of retail management roles for seven years before moving to the corporate offices. At that time, he worked on the retail expansion roadmap for two years, strategizing the future property needs for London. Soon after, Mr. Hiscock moved into the International Franchise Group at M&S, where he helped develop and manage the Middle East and Central Europe business for two years. In 2007, he joined French Connection as Head of Franchise, leading the business expansion in the U.K. and internationally. In 2008, Mr. Hiscock began working for ASOS as Head of Operations. In that role, he led the production, customer care, visual merchandising and international functions, moving full-time to the international business in 2009 as Head of International Sales. During this time, Mr. Hiscock led the rollout of standalone websites in the U.S., France, Germany, Australia, Italy, and Spain, which helped establish international revenues at more than 60 percent of total sales. In 2012, Mr. Hiscock became Director of International Sales, and subsequently relocated in late 2012 to New York to establish the U.S. incountry office and further develop the ASOS U.S. business.

Chris Murphy has been with adidas for almost seven years, starting in the e-commerce group as a consultant before moving into digital marketing, where he led the team for three years. He now serves as the Head of Brand Communications and Digital Marketing. He has held both global and regional management positions while at adidas. Mr. Murphy began his career in marketing in 1998 with a small dot-com startup in Hood River, Oregon. In 2001, he began consulting with online retailers and agencies on website development and online selling tools. In 2003, he returned to school at the University of Oregon to receive his M.B.A. in sports business. Upon graduation, he joined Lucy Activewear as internet producer. Mr. Murphy and his teams have received a number of industry awards and were named a viral video finalist at the 2006 Cannes Festival. The team has been recognized with the 2007 Best Use of Mobile Marketing Cross-Media Integration Award from the Mobile Marketing Association, the 2008 Overall Excellence Award from the Mobile Marketing Association, the 2011 OMMA award for Best Integrated Online Campaign, and the 2011 Footwear News Brand Marketing Company of the Year. Mr. Murphy has been a speaker at iMedia Brand Summit, ad:tech San Francisco, ad:tech Tokyo, the Mobile Marketing Association Forum, and Mobile Future Forward. He was a featured contributor to Googles Think Voices and is a founding co -chair of the Digital Collective. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife, Hilary, daughters, Lydia and Lulu, Labrador retriever, Lily, and his bicycles.

Emily Schuman launched Cupcakes and Cashmere in March 2008 as a way to share and encourage others to live a more fulfilling life through fashion, food, beauty, and interior design. Her aspirational-yet-attainable perspective has connected with an extremely loyal fan base, and her site has over 5 million page views a month. Ms. Schuman brings a refined, editorial view to everything she creates and inspires her readers through daily content and popular social media channels. In August 2012, she released her first book, Cupcakes and Cashmere: A Guide for Defining Your Style, Reinventing Your Space, and Entertaining with Ease, which became a national bestseller. She has partnered with several prominent brands on projects including designing a limited edition bag for Coach and acting as the exclusive guest blogger for Este Lauder for the past two years. Ms. Schuman got her start in media at Cond Nast, working at Domino and Teen Vogue magazines, where she learned the importance of journalistic integrity, high quality design, and cultivating a dedicated audience attributes that ultimately became the building blocks for Cupcakes and Cashmere.

Andrea Wasserman serves as Chie Executive Officer of Sole Society, a leading e-commerce site providing high quality, on-trend shoes, handbags and accessories at affordable prices. Ms. Wasserman, a 13-year retail veteran, has a proven track record as an exceptional operator, innovator and leader. Prior to her role at Sole Society, Ms. Wasserman worked as National Bridal Director of Nordstrom, where she spearheaded the repositioning of Nordstrom's multichannel bridal brand. At Nordstrom, Ms. Wasserman introduced approximately two dozen new vendorsincluding Vera Wang and Bliss by Monique Lhuillier and a made-to-order business model as well as establishing strategic business development partnerships, including Nordstrom Weddings x Etsy Weddings. Additionally, she created and led the digital strategy for NordstromWeddings.com and the Nordstrom Wedding Suite Blog. In this role, Wasserman managed a cross-functional team of approximately 150 employees and enlarged the Nordstrom footprint from 18 doors to 46 doors. Prior to her role at Nordstrom, Ms. Wasserman worked in retail finance and consulting for companies including Merrill Lynch and Telsey Advisory Group. Ms. Wasserman, a New York native, received her M.B.A. from Columbia Business School at Columbia University and her B.S. in policy analysis and management at Cornell University. She enjoys volunteering for various womens and retail mentoring programs at her alma maters, as well as traveling toand shopping incities worldwide. Ms. Wasserman currently resides in Los Angeles.