Founder's Story & Speaker Bio
Who's On the Case?
Trusted Counsel & X-Functional Integrator
Adam is a global omnichannel choreographer of go-to-market strategy, eCommerce and wholesale sales, brand, product, and organizational strategy...MacGyvering growth and unsticking executives in need. He currently provides executive consulting to established companies and startups, specializing in revenue acceleration, go-to-market strategy, organizational development and leadership neuroscience.
Mysteries not Problems
Having begun his career as a curiosity-driven management consultant that saw mysteries instead of problems, he drove strategic growth for global Fortune 500 companies while leading analyst teams at a boutique strategy consultancy. He has since spent the last 20+ years leading senior management teams in the outdoor/active products, healthy lifestyle, consumer electronics and Learning & Development industries. He merges business acumen, emotional intelligence, human-centered design and grit to commercialize creativity, driving sales and profitability, authentic brand experiences, product management excellence, organizational culture, and holistic stakeholder value.
Consistent Sales & Profitability Growth
Adam has led growth for top consumer brands, serving on executive management teams leading business units, sales, product, marketing and research. He recently led sales teams and direct revenue channels as a General Manager at Timbuk2 Messenger Bags and Nutcase Helmets. While at Timbuk2, he created a Consumer Electronics division and launched the leading messenger bag brand into Apple, Best Buy and brand-aligned top-tier consumer electronics retailers within 7 months of starting. While at Nutcase, he doubled the size of the eCommerce business in his 1st year of leadership.
Human Centered Design & Empathic Mentor
Prior to Timbuk2, Adam ran global product management at Lowepro, a $100MM+ premium outdoor brand. While there, he led his team in sustaining 20% YOY organic profitable growth, driving 20-30% of annual revenue from new product. All this despite a global recession and exponential disruption of the 40-year-old brand’s core competency, camera bags. His foremost joy at Lowepro was launching the Optics Series for nature enthusiasts, traveling the world as a new birder to solve debilitating user problems.
Advisor to Fortune 50 on Market Disruption
In 1999, Adam entered the burgeoning natural products market, following successive promotions within the strategy consulting and competitive intelligence sector to work for purpose- and values-driven business. In moving from Washington, DC to San Francisco, he was tapped to lead market research at SPINS, the leading provider of market insights to the natural products industry during a revolutionary period of organic growth and mainstream CPG M&A activity.
Cultural Intelligence & Retail Accountability
Adam then led global marketing and product planning for a $300MM+ leading private label and licensed (e.g., Columbia Sportswear Company, Disney, NFL) camping gear manufacturer. There, he drove innovation and built a new product roadmap and management organization that shined a light on his team’s talent and transformed family camping experiences. He presented new product and strategy to senior management at key accounts such as Walmart, Dick's Sporting Goods, Target, and Costco, growing market share, consistently earning vendor-of-the-year awards, and boosting profitability in a commoditizing industry.
Growing the Good-Monetizing Values
Deriving his passion and energy from nature, and outdoor recreation, Adam has advanced social ventures and philanthropies that get kids outdoors and hook them for life with nature. He's served as interim-CEO to a leading B Corporation. In addition to his consulting business, he currently serves multiple Board of Director and Board Advisory roles for social- and environmentally-focused businesses.
Back in the USSR - Global Business Expertise
Adam received his MBA in International Business from the Thunderbird School of Global Management, where he produced global innovation challenges. He holds a BA in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia. Adam accredits his parents for nourishing his curiosity bug in ushering him off to the Soviet Union at age 10, performing a musical about peace with a half-Soviet cast. Today, he continues that life apprenticeship in connection and communication, deriving growth from distress tolerance, as he and Stephanie raise 2 boys. Gas: Sweating-it-out in mother nature, live music festivals, exploring >60 countries, and copious varieties of beer, wine & oysters!
