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Richard A. Baker
Hudson’s Bay Company
Governor and Chairman
Richard Baker is the Governor and Chairman of the Hudson’s Bay Company. The Hudson’s Bay Company was established in 1670 and is the oldest continuously operating retail company in North America. Hudson’s Bay Company operates Lord & Taylor in the United States and The Bay, Home Outfitters and Fields in Canada.
Mr. Baker along with his father, Robert Baker, are owners of National Realty and Development Corp. one of the largest private owners of shopping centers in the United States. Additionally, Mr. Baker is the executive chairman of Retail Opportunity Investments Corporation (ROIC), a REIT listed on the Nasdaq Exchange. Its focus is to acquire retail properties on the east and west coasts of the United States.
Mr. Baker is a graduate of Cornell University where he sits on the Advisory Board of both the Real Estate Program and Hotel School.
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Julie Flakstad (‘99)
Blow
Founder and Creative Director
With an international career in marketing, Julie has held a variety of positions at major corporations including IBM, American Express, PING Golf, Telenor and Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining Blow, Julie worked seven years at both IBM's Armonk, NY headquarters and in Paris, France. Her roles included developing and executing marketing programs in over 20 countries including China, Spain and Brazil as well as managing global advertising for IBMs small/medium business division. Her broad brand experience extends across advertising, demand generation programs and sponsorship strategies. Julie holds an MBA from Columbia Business School ('99), with a major in entrepreneurial studies and marketing and a B.A. from Hamilton College ('93). She lives in Old Greenwich, CT with her husband and two children Felix & Hanna. |
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Adam Saper
Eataly North America
Chief Financial Officer
Adam Saper is a New Yorker that wants to be an Italian. His childhood was shaped by summers in Italy where he became enamored with the food and the people. After he graduated from Columbia, he boarded a plane to Florence to learn the language. A year later, he was back in New York with Italian roommates, but not nearly enough quality Italian food. He decided to solidify his entrepreneurial experience as the Director of Business Development for a growing medical devices company. The job often brought him abroad and, by chance, brought him back to Italy by way of Oscar Farinetti’s “Eataly.” He wanted to give his hometown an opportunity to experience the energy and the quality of this unique Italian marketplace. So, he and his brother put their Italian to good use and forged a partnership to create the first ever Eataly North America. |
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Amy Shecter
C.Wonder
President
Amy Shecter is President of C. Wonder, a newly launched retail concept developed by J. Christopher Capital, venture capital and retail holding company owned by Chris Burch.
Ms. Shecter oversees the overall direction, product strategy and growth nationwide.
Before joining J. Christopher Capital, Ms. Shecter acted as Vice President Global Retail at Tory Burch where she assisted with the shaping of the global retail platform for expansion. Ms. Shecter joined Tory Burch from Cole Haan where she held the position of Senior Vice President, Direct to Consumer. During her tenure she was responsible for re-energizing the brand and directing the strategy for global growth. Under her leadership, the brand increased profits achieving four consecutive years of growth.
Earlier in her career, Ms. Shecter played an integral role in the launch of both Mexx U.S.A. and Juicy Couture and held positions at Donna Karan International, Diesel, and Venator Group, where she worked on Kids Foot Locker and Lady Foot Locker.
Throughout her two decades of executive leadership, Ms. Shecter has been praised as a best-in-class global merchant, a dynamic general manager and a marketing powerhouse whose guidance and leadership has been instrumental to the launch and continued successes of more than 500 retail stores.
Ms. Shecter began her career at Bloomingdales after completing a B.S. in Marketing at University of Massachusetts, Amherst. |
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Ketty Pucci-Sisti Maisonrouge (Opening Remarks)
President, KM & Co.
Adjunct Professor, Marketing Department, Columbia Business School
President, The Luxury Education Foundation
Ketty Pucci-Sisti Maisonrouge runs a firm specializing in Luxury Innovation, KM&Co., assisting luxury firms and start ups in branding, financing and long term strategies. She is also the co-founder and board member of two start-ups, Savelli and TheStashBox, a Board Member of the luxury brand J. Mendel, and sits on the Advisory Board of the LSG Holdings. Ketty Pucci-Sisti Maisonrouge joined the Columbia Business School faculty in 2004 and teaches the Master Class “Marketing of Luxury Products”, which is the only class focused on the luxury industry in the current curriculum. She is also a Visiting Professor at IE Business School in Madrid (Spain).
Ketty Pucci-Sisti Maisonrouge was born in Italy and grew up in Switzerland and France.
Her broad background includes a degree in Business Administration from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques and a Masters Degree in Law from the Sorbonne. In the US, she completed course work for a Master’s degree in Italian Renaissance Art at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts.
In 1988, Mrs. Maisonrouge founded Ketty Maisonrouge & Company, Inc (KM & Co.), a marketing and communications firm specializing in the areas of fine arts and luxury goods. Her extensive client list includes Chaumet, Christofle, Damiani, Trussardi, Puiforcat, the Italian Trade Office, Hermès, Escada, and La Biennale des Antiquaires. In addition, Ms. Maisonrouge launched an antiques store in Washington, Connecticut, specializing in 18th century European art, and created Vieux Livres d’Europe, a rare book company.
Concurrent to her duties with Ketty Maisonrouge & Company, Ms. Maisonrouge served as the permanent US Representative of the largest French auction house Tajan, and of the Comité Colbert, an association of over 70 French Luxury companies until the organization closed its representative office in January 2004.
In addition to being a member of the board of Action Against Hunger, and Kips Bay Boys’ and Girls’ Club, and National Dance Institute, Ms. Maisonrouge is President and co-Founder of the Luxury Education Foundation.
She was awarded the title of Chevalier de l’Ordre National de Mérite by the French government in 2001, and the title of Chevalier de Legion d’Honneur by the French Government in 2009. |
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