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OUR TEAM
LEAH WAHBA
CO-FOUNDER + CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Leah Wahba is Chief Executive Officer of ARIZE, partnering with clients to build and transform businesses. For the last 20 years, Leah has been responsible for building brands on a global scale, architecting growth strategy and spearheading business and marketing initiatives from concept through execution in both domestic and international environments. Leah creates multichannel brand experiences across platforms, including strategic collaborations to drive growth and awareness. She also identifies best-in-class partnerships, building relationships to achieve corporate goals and gain market share. She has established a track record of setting and executing corporate and brand growth strategies, creating and sustaining innovative initiatives.
Most recently, Leah led Pinnacle Principle, a consulting firm driving value creation through brand leadership, acquisition and development across a variety of industries and sectors. Prior, Leah was Chief Communications & Strategic Development Officer of Camuto Group, an industry leader in the design, development and distribution of fashion footwear, handbags, apparel, accessories and fragrance. Throughout her tenure, Leah led strategy, business development, marketing and communications across the enterprise, encompassing a portfolio of over 50 national, celebrity, proprietary and private label brands.
Leah began her career at MBI Inc., a consumer products and marketing company for clients such as Coca-Cola, Disney, the National Football League, Major League Baseball and the United States Postal Service. At MBI, Leah drove growth by prospecting new category opportunities and directing the development and marketing of brand extensions for flagship programs.
Leah is on the board of the Father’s Day Council and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government from Harvard University. She was recognized by Footwear News: 40 Under 40 (2018) and the CMO Council as the CMO Rising Star (2016).
EVAN BERKLEY
CO-FOUNDER + PRESIDENT
Evan Berkley, President of ARIZE, is an accomplished executive in the consumer goods, retail and brand strategy space, with over 25 years of experience leading organizations and accelerating businesses and brands, and is currently utilizing his expertise and extensive network to consult for a range of companies in and around the luxury space.
Most recently as CEO of Mr. Christmas, a 90 year old industry-leading seasonal home décor brand, he led a company turnaround, investing in the business and driving the growth verticals over 5 years, culminating in a successful private equity transaction for this previously family-held business, and in the process created significant value for all shareholders.
Prior, Evan spent the first 20 years of his career serving in several leadership roles including most recently Executive Vice President at Jacmel, one of the country’s largest jewelry and accessory companies. At Jacmel, Evan was responsible for driving the company’s strategy and teams focused on sales, product development, inventory planning, licensing, merchandising, new business and brand development, and was part of the executive team leading over 1000 global employees and managing 30+ national, celebrity and proprietary brands.
Evan has served on the Board of Directors of several for profit and non-profit organizations including Luxury Brand Holdings (Ross-Simons), Luca + Danni, Cancer Support Community, Crossroads4Hope, Jewelers for Children and the Qurate Vendor Advisory Board.
Evan holds a Bachelor of Science & Business Administration from Bucknell University, where he met his wife Andrea, and currently lives in Westport, Connecticut with their 3 children.
PAIGE GILL
MANAGING DIRECTOR – FASHION + RETAIL
Paige P Gill, Managing Director of Fashion + Retail is a respected and transformative leader with an extensive 28-year history within the Retail Industry. She has excelled in elevating roles and responsibilities across Women’s, Men’s, and Children’s businesses with broad experience driving teams to success in apparel, accessories, intimates, and cosmetics. Paige possesses a proven track record in creating strategic business initiatives in private and national brands across Department, Specialty, and Off-Price stores, offering a comprehensive understanding of regional footprints from small town to metro markets, delivering consistent year over year growth strategies throughout her tenured history.
Previously as Vice President and Divisional Merchandise Manager at retailers such as Big Lots, Stage Stores and Francesca’s, Paige’s customer-centric approach to building value driven strategic plans across multi-channel platforms by leading financial and assortment planning, brand development and trend identification delivered year-over-year revenue growth and profitability gains. Her buying experiences at JCPenney and May Department Stores served as instrumental building blocks early in her career.
As an agile, influential, and collaborative leader, Paige casts visions within the broader scope of an organization to bring internal, external, and cross-functional teams on board to deliver goals. She thrives as an enthusiastic and thoughtful leader, consistently inspiring teams to surpass expectations and achieve remarkable results while developing and elevating individuals to their highest potential.
Paige is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Science in Retail Merchandising, Textiles and Apparel. Paige has executive leadership training in the Estee Lauder Companies Global Leadership Program and The GAP Partnership’s The Complete Skilled Negotiator. Paige and her husband, Brian, live in Houston with their two children.
COLIN HAGEN
MANAGING DIRECTOR – LICENSING + BRAND PARTNERSHIPS
Colin Hagen, Managing Director – Licensing, Business Development + Brand Partnerships, is a dynamic leader in brand management and intellectual property strategy with over thirty years of experience driving transformative revenue growth and global market expansion in the consumer and sports product industries.
Most recently as Senior Vice President of Global Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at Marquee Brands, Colin secured new business revenue and territory expansion with a comprehensive global licensing strategy across three key brand pillars – home, fashion and active/outdoor. Colin was responsible for business development for 13 brands including Martha Stewart, Sur La Table, BCBGMAXAZRIA, Ben Sherman, Body Glove and Motherhood Maternity securing strategic licensing agreements that generated over $100 million in new revenue. Colin worked directly with key retailers in all sales channels to drive brand presence through increased category distribution. Additionally, Colin was responsible for strategic partnerships driving diverse revenue streams through third party brand relationships across the portfolio. By building brand resonance and expanding consumer audiences, Hagen drove seven figure sales with partners like Volvo, Booking.com, Skechers, Etsy, FTD, and Liquid Death, launched the Martha Stewart “Good Things” and “Motherhood Loves” badge programs, and created the Sur La Table Culinary Journeys travel excursions and Sur La Table Dinner Series.
Prior to Marquee Brands, Colin was an original team member at Sequential Brands Group, working across the portfolio to drive revenue and shareholder value for the publicly traded brand management firm across key brands such as Jessica Simpson, Ellen Tracy, Caribbean Joe, Heelys & DVS.
Previously, Colin worked for two of the most recognizable brands in the world, Major League Baseball and the National Football League. As the Vice President of Licensing at Major League Baseball, he was responsible for business development and retail marketing for the hard goods category where he secured the largest licensing deal in MLB hard goods history and pioneered the MLB Authentication Program, which utilized advanced technology to create a robust verification system, generating over $20 million in annual revenue and setting a new certification standard in the collectibles market.
While with the NFL, Colin was responsible for the hard goods category, player licensing programs and was a member of the Board of Directors of the NFL Quarterback Club. He was voted the second most influential person in the collectibles industry and was the third recipient of the John Stromman Innovator Award. Additionally, he served as the President of the Sports Card Association (SCA).
Colin holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Tufts University, and currently lives as an empty nester in Fairfield, CT with his wife Karen.
BILL HACKETT
MANAGING DIRECTOR – SPORTS + OUTDOORS
Bill Hackett, Managing Director – Sports + Outdoor, has over 30 years of experience in retail, wholesale, licensing, and brand building. Bill’s experience encompasses sporting goods, sports licensed products, athletic sportswear, traditional sportswear, urban sportswear, outdoor apparel, workwear, and dozens of licensed categories across a wide range of brands.
As a retailer, Bill rose up through the ranks of the May Company at Lord and Taylor in the men’s tailored clothing business and was a buyer on the men’s collections team leading efforts for the premier retailer within the portfolio. Bill then led these efforts at Modell’s Sporting Goods, managing the sports licensing and sporting goods teams. Bill was at Modell’s during the focus on ‘Rebirth’, a full repositioning of the retailer’s image. Under Bill’s leadership an inspiring brand offering and elevated product range helped to raise the store’s positioning in the marketplace. The ‘Hot Markets’ that Bill directly managed drove significant profitability and sales, and captured cornerstone wins for the NY Yankees (2009), the Boston Bruins (2011), NY Knicks – Linsanity (2011), and NY Giants (2012) working in partnership with the professional sports leagues.
Bill led US sales teams for prolific and powerful brands like Nautica, Sean John, and Everlast. He was directly involved in strategizing product assortments, pricing, strategic planning, and in-store presentations in varying capacities all while managing the retail relationships, sales performance, and gross margin/profitability.
Bill also led licensing efforts at Iconix for the men’s brands inclusive of Umbro, Starter, Pony, Roc Nation, Ecko, Zoo York, Modern Amusement, and Ed Hardy. Later he took on the role of leading the sports brands within the Iconix portfolio, adding notable brands Danskin and Ocean Pacific. The range of the categories Bill managed within his product segments included apparel, headwear, cold-weather accessories, hosiery, footwear, consumer electronics, and fragrance.
Before joining Arize, Bill partnered with Tharanco Group to build a men’s and women’s outdoor crossover apparel brand under the name HI-TEC and sold the brand to a wide range of retailers inclusive of Macy’s, Kohl’s, JCPenney’s, Tractor Supply, Costco, and Amazon. Bill’s vision of the 100% technical and performance crossover concept was built from the bottom up leaning on the brand’s rich history in footwear.
VISION
industry-leading
multi-generational
integrated
track record of
history of
RELATIONSHIPS
EXPERTISE
STRATEGIES
ACHIEVEMENT
RESULTS
VALUES
INTEGRITY
EXCELLENCE
HARD WORK
GRIT
CURIOSITY
always doing the right thing, even when no one is looking
it’s not good enough, it’s outstanding
we are diligent and driven to excel in everything we do
we get things done in the face of challenges
we strive to learn and fearlessly accomplish our goals
WE ACCELERATE COMPREHENSIVE + SUSTAINABLE GROWTH BY:
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