VISION MEETS EXECUTION
Great ideas.
Great products.
Lasting impact.
I connect creative vision with commercial strategy to build products consumers choose, brands people trust, and businesses that grow.
Consumer Product Executive
Design Leader | Brand Strategist
BARBARA CLARKE-RUIZ
Creative vision. Business conviction.
30+ years building products, brands and businesses for some of the world’s most recognized consumer companies.
A career alongside the world’s most recognized brands
01 / COMMERCIAL IMPACT
Creative product. Measurable performance.
Creative instinct.
Commercial discipline.
Great products begin with understanding people. Great businesses turn that understanding into something the market values.
Design is where my work begins. Consumer insight, product strategy, merchandising and commercialization connect it to business performance.
$750M+
Seasonal business responsibility across six Walmart Athletic Works divisions
2% → 26%
Target-consumer penetration for Kohl’s Tek Gear, in approximately six weeks
$40M+
Retail sales generated through Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods during a major business initiative
02 / SELECTED IMPACT
The opportunity. The work. The outcome.
The thinking is creative.
The results are commercial.
From global retail scale to building a brand from its first idea. A connected perspective on the problems products and brands can solve.
01 / SCALE
Walmart Athletic Works
Six divisions.
One clear vision.
Leadership of a national athletic business with $750M+ in seasonal responsibility.
The opportunity: An athletic business spanning six divisions within one of the world’s largest retailers.
What I did: Led Walmart’s Athletic Works business, connecting consumer needs with product and design leadership.
The product / solution: An athletic product offer managed across six divisions, with a connected view of the consumer and the business.
The commercial impact: $750M+ in seasonal business responsibility across those six divisions.
02 / CONSUMER INSIGHT
Kohl’s Tek Gear
2% ⟶ 26%
A sharper understanding of the target consumer translated into measurable change in approximately six weeks.
The opportunity: Tek Gear’s penetration within its target consumer stood at 2%.
What I did: Applied consumer insight, product strategy and design leadership to better address that audience.
The product / solution: A consumer-informed product and design direction for Tek Gear.
The commercial impact: Target-consumer penetration increased from 2% to 26% in approximately six weeks.
03 / BRAND BUILDING
EleVen by Venus Williams
From a vision.
To a brand.
A partnership with Venus Williams to take EleVen from the initial concept through commercialization.
The opportunity: Translate a brand vision into a consumer product business.
What I did: Partnered with Venus Williams, connecting design and product development with the work of building a brand.
The product / solution: EleVen by Venus Williams, developed from concept through commercialization.
The commercial impact: Brought the brand from an initial idea to market, connecting creative ambition with commercial execution.
04 / DESIGN LEGACY
adidas International design teams
An original.
Before Originals.
An American design perspective on international teams in France and Germany, helping pioneer the Trefoil collection.
The opportunity: Connect the U.S. consumer perspective with an international design team and adidas’ brand heritage.
What I did: Was selected to represent the U.S. on design teams in France and Germany, helping pioneer the Trefoil collection.
The product / solution: The Trefoil collection, bringing design, sport and consumer culture together.
The commercial impact: The collection became an incubator for adidas Originals, extending the work into a lasting brand platform.
A broader perspective across consumer products, retail, sport and culture.
03 / HOW I CREATE VALUE
See the opportunity.
Shape the product.
Build the business.
A connected view of the entire product lifecycle. The right questions at the beginning. The right decisions all the way to market.
Experience should keep evolving. I use AI and emerging tools thoughtfully across research, design, development, sourcing, marketing and commercialization—alongside the judgment built over 30+ years.
Find the unmet need, understand the consumer, and identify the space your business has permission to own. Connect research with the judgment to recognize a meaningful opportunity.
Consumer opportunity · White space · Product strategyTranslate a strategic direction into meaningful products. Align creative teams around the consumer, the brand and the business opportunity, from the first idea through development.
Design direction · Product development · Team leadershipConnect what a brand stands for with what it brings to market. Shape assortments, pricing and a product story that make sense to the consumer and the business.
Brand development · Assortment strategy · Retail positioningBring the pieces together—from sourcing and manufacturing to marketing, retail execution and partnerships—to turn product potential into a business that grows.
Sourcing · Retail execution · Partnerships · Brand growth30+
YEARS CONNECTING
CREATIVITY & COMMERCE
BARBARA CLARKE-RUIZ A global perspective
04 / MEET BARBARA
The designer.
The strategist.
The builder.
Design is where my career began.
It’s still how I see possibility.
For more than three decades, I’ve turned ideas into products, products into brands, and brands into businesses.
My career has taken me from living and working in France, Germany and Italy to executive leadership with responsibility for significant retail businesses in the United States. That journey taught me to see a product through every lens: the creative idea, the consumer, development, merchandising and the work of bringing it to market.
I bring that perspective to every business I help build. And I know the founder’s side, too. Building Lick You Silly Pet Products has made the decisions I advise on deeply personal.
LIVED, WORKED & CREATED ACROSS
France / Germany / Italy / United States
05 / WORK WITH BARBARA
Consulting & advisory
Your opportunity.
Our next move.
Senior perspective and practical direction for founders, CEOs and consumer businesses—at the decisions that shape what comes next.
Strategic Advisory
For founders, CEOs and consumer brands seeking senior-level guidance. Clarify the opportunity, strengthen the proposition and set a focused direction for growth.
Consumer opportunity · Brand direction · Growth priorities
Design, Product &
Commercialization
Connect the consumer opportunity to the product and the path to market—from concept and design through development, sourcing, assortment, pricing and launch.
Concept to product · Sourcing · Go-to-market
Fractional Leadership
Senior product, merchandising, brand or commercialization leadership during growth, transformation or transition. Bring direction to the work and alignment to the team.
Team leadership · Transformation · Execution
Brand Growth &
Retail Strategy
Help established brands strengthen positioning, refine assortments and prepare for retail expansion. Connect the brand promise with commercial choices.
Positioning · Assortments · Retail expansion
Consulting through BCSWIRL, my consumer product strategy and brand development consultancy.
06 / EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP
Creative vision.
Executive perspective.
I’m open to select executive leadership opportunities where design, product, consumer insight, brand strategy and commercialization intersect.
From the creative team to the retail business, I bring a connected understanding of the decisions that shape products, people and performance.
WHERE I BRING PERSPECTIVE
- Product & consumer-business leadership
- Design & creative leadership
- Merchandising & assortment strategy
- Brand, commercialization & growth
07 / IDEAS WORTH SHARING
On stage. In conversation. On camera.
Host.
Speaker.
Brand storyteller.
The perspective of a designer. The experience of an executive. The firsthand understanding of a founder. I bring that combination to conversations about the products, brands and businesses shaping our lives.
CONVERSATIONS I CAN BRING TO YOUR AUDIENCE
- 01 Consumer Products & Entrepreneurship
- 02 Turning Ideas Into Market-Ready Products
- 03 Product Innovation & Commercialization
- 04 Women in Leadership
- 05 Building Brands Consumers Believe In
- 06 Retail, Sport & Consumer Culture
My work through Sport Culture Advisors also connects brands with sport, culture, partnerships and consumer communities.
08 / FOUNDER SPOTLIGHT
Lick You Silly Pet Products
FROM GLOBAL BRANDS TO MY OWN
I’ve sat on
both sides
of the table.
The scale of an established business.
The conviction to build one from the beginning.
A consumer need.
A founder’s instinct.
Around seven years ago, my dogs, Pepper and Chili, helped me recognize an opportunity for cleaner, high-quality treats. That insight led me to found Lick You Silly Pet Products.
Building the brand has meant making the decisions myself—developing the product, finding suppliers, navigating manufacturing, shaping packaging and pricing, and reaching customers through Amazon, DTC and retail. The journey has also included Amazon’s brand-building programs and hospitality partnerships.
I understand the complexity of global organizations and major retailers. I also understand what it takes to turn a personal conviction into a consumer business.
Amazon
Top 2% seller recognition
Cosmopolitan
Named Best Dog Treat
09 / START A CONVERSATION
Let’s build
what’s next.
A leadership opportunity. A brand ready for its next chapter. A conversation that deserves a bigger stage. Let’s explore what we can build together.