The Future of Retail & E-Commerce

Vanessa LeFebvre is responsible for Adida's overall commercial strategy in North America, including wholesale, owned retail, and e-commerce. Prior to joining Adidas, she was president of Lord & Taylor.

Vanessa has nearly 20 years experience in the retail industry. She began her career as an executive trainee with the May Company (parent of Lord & Taylor at the time) in 1999. Over the course of 10 years with Lord & Taylor, she was moved up through several buying assignments in Ready To Wear to Divisional Merchandise Manager of Modern and Contemporary Sportswear in 2005.

Before returning to Lord & Taylor, Vanessa worked for a number of retailers including, TJX, Macy’s and Daffy’s. At Macy’s, Vanessa was the principal architect of Macy’s Backstage division, where she was responsible for all aspects of the business. She grew the division into a multi-concept operation, including store within store concepts, during her tenure.

Robert Dowling is founder and CEO of Hudson Cutler, an integrated marketing company focused on helping clients address their business challenges and opportunities. In addition to his work with leading brands including Nike, Samsung, L’Oreal, and BMW, Robert is a recognized expert in cannabis marketing. He has launched and grown brands including 1906 and TheraCann, supported Irwin Naturals, Kahner Global and Cannabrunch, the Cannabis Investment Summit, and has been involved with legalization advocacy, license submissions and crisis management. Robert was recently included in the Holmes Report’s list of the industry’s top 25 innovators.

Brian Dammeir is the President, North America for Adyen. He’s been with the company since March 2015, previously acting as Adyen’s Global Head of Product. He has previously held product-focused roles at Airbnb and Google. At Adyen, Brian oversees all North American operations where his team supports merchants on their global and domestic payment ambitions in-app, online, and in-store.

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