Two-time founder & award-winning designer. I talk about founders' mental health and the mindset to live a joyful life. I love fixing old motorcycles 🛵

I’m a two-time founder and award-winning design director with a proven track record of leading teams to successfully bring over 50 innovative physical and digital products to market.

With 20+ years of experience across startups, consultancies, and corporate settings, I’ve developed a holistic approach that combines creative design thinking, operational and manufacturing expertise, and emotional intelligence to drive innovation and team success.

Today, I serve as Director of Products at Grizzly Industrial, where I lead three brands: Grizzly, Shop Fox, and South Bend, overseeing product strategy, design, merchandising, pricing, logistics, and development.

In parallel, I continue to coach a select group of founders and leaders, placing emotional intelligence at the core of my work to empower better decision-making, stronger collaboration, and sustainable growth. 

I also write regularly:

Advise Myself → essays on emotional intelligence and personal growth

The Design Practice → essays on product management, design, and leadership


Originally from Argentina 🇦🇷 and now based in Bellingham, WA, I enjoy life as a dad, exploring the outdoors, and restoring old motorcycles 🛵 🏍️.

Career Highlights include:

 ➜ Founded and led two startups, including one exit in 2022.
 ➜ Directed the design and launch of 50+ products across industries.
 ➜ Earned 35 patents for innovative product designs.
 ➜ Exhibited twice at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), with one design in its permanent collection.
 ➜ Created products that won more than 75 major design awards.
 ➜ Founded and built a design consultancy serving global brands such as Crate & Barrel, CB2, Club Quarters Hotels, and Herman Miller.
 ➜ Established overseas manufacturing operations for multiple clients.

Manuel Saez

Independent Consultant

CommerceIQ

E-commerce SME (Sales/Operations/Advertising) bridging the gap between tech providers solution and brand gaps. Ability to communicate effectively from practitioner to C-Suite level is paramount to be successful in this role.

Leading strategic existing Accounts from the Sales AE perspective

Senior Director, Solutions Consulting & Sales (Hybrid)

Solutions Consultant Director

Director of Customer Success

Ferrara

Lead the Amazon Business for Ferrara

 All platforms across three categories

#1 Non Chocolate On Amazon

+300% growth from 2018 to 2020

Improved P&L margins YOY 

Creating Profitable Growth In A Dynamic 

Environement

Senior National Account Manager - Amazon

PepsiCo

Own the customer integration of supply chain/ops/go to market relationship with Amazon across all of PepsiCo's great brands!

eComm Sr. Customer Intergration Manager (Amazon)

Managing the operational customer relationship with top national eCommerce partners while integrating their distribution network across our great, "North American Nutrition,"​ portfolio. In a warehouse delivered environment we are making brands like, Quaker, Gatorade, IZZE, Naked Juice, and Tropicana available to consumers across the country at the click of a button.

A few of my key initiatives below:

         "Winning"​ in the national supplier of the eCommerce space for best in class service and SKU assortment

            Defined and implementing the strategic sourcing for best in class customer execution for top eCommerce customers by working through a large organization's different stakeholders with different objectives 

              Integrated strategic brick and motor customers into the Pepsico distribution network as they look to expand their online presence


                Driving business metrics by bringing together key stakeholders, executing process, and guiding decision making with data and intelligence

U.S. eCommerce Supply Chain Manager

o	Manage an onsite & remote (3PL) team of 9 consisting of transportation and inventory analysts who define the internal operations of fill rate and on-time delivery. Delivering 40 million + cases to 2k customers across all selling channels in the U.S.A and PepsiCo Latin America
o	Project’s; standardization of the PepsiCo chilled network by aligning all sites on LTL from order to ship,  pro-active cut notification for customers which is a first for PepsiCo warehouse network, and aligned the Latin America team and Bradenton on new international shipping regulations
o	Member of the, “Bradenton Logistics Leadership Team,” that aligns on strategy from time of receiving non finished goods, to the planning of production and finally the distribution of the product to ensure all customer needs are met and service exceeded
o	Created culture change with current team on becoming a proactive and lean department, aligning communication points and intelligence reporting
o	Key member of a cross-functional team that implements strategic order fulfillment during times of product availability or pivotal customer events

Customer Logistics Manager

o	Accountable for the high level transportation strategy of the national distribution network with a yearly volume exceeding 6 million cases, 30+ states, 150+ locations, and an annual spend of 6 million +
o	Managed relationships with all transportation carriers, pallet vendors, and 3PL labor. This included rate negotiations, implementation, and service 
o	Defined the logistics network while aligning with organizational growth strategies to reduce cost and improve service to customer. Projects completed for total savings; $650-700K, additional projects planned were canceled due to the breakup of the JV equaling; ~$175k, total savings just below 1 million. All projects included a high-level of cross-functional buy in and collaborative persuasion/decision making
o	Developed and implemented reporting to define future inventory positions allowing the organization to proactively achieve maximum life on the product and avoid potential cuts on customer orders (~50k+ cuts saved), and manage secondary market sales (2015 $125k)
o	As a people manager I was part of the team that created the organizations aligned metrics and key performance indicators
o	Accountable for KPI and project results for transportation network and inventory positions presenting weekly to senior leadership team including; VP of Supply Chain, CFO, and CEO.  Conduct financial analysis on projects pre and post implementation
o	Managed the warehouse and labor of three shifts as additional responsibility for the final months while the organization decided its future

Supply Chain Logistics Manager

o	Co-Manage the replenishment of  Sam’s Club chilled network consisting of over 600 clubs and 19 DC’s
o	Drove replenishment strategies via ownership of weekly 30/60/90 meetings with Customer Replenishment Managers, Sales, Demand Planning, Finance and Leadership in which we discussed KPI’s, innovation pipelines, merchandising, and full-cycle replenishment
o	Responsible for daily and weekly reporting/analysis to be used for cross-functional business success such reporting had resulted in an additional  $50K sell in of at risk transition product to Sam’s Club
o	Selected for a, “Muller Hyper-Care,” project in July-  2013 to build processes and best for business practices including; Accellos real time reporting, field to CSC communication, logistical networking, delivered a project wrap up presentation update to CSC Senior Leadership, and an ordering/shipping/consolidation process improvement presentation to Muller Quaker Dairy
o	Developed SOP’s and trained the team on systems  including GRS(JDA) and Accellos in order to drive execution in service and operations
o	Advised customer and field personnel on customer sourcing, special circumstance ordering, and transportation opportunities that have accounted for a YTD transportation cost savings of $56K
o	Lead on, “Bridge,” projects for CSC on Sam’s Club channel testing with Tropicana BU. Responsibilities include advising on replenishment strategy, order execution, and maintaining customer relationship

VMI Planner-Sam's Club Replenishment Team

VMI Planner Sam's Club Replenishment

Life Fitness

o	Responsible for managing the Life Fitness installation schedule and reverse logistic process
o	Effective communication with customer, sales, 3PL, and order management for a successful install
o	Co-managed a project for  at risk inventory across warehouse network with an end result of 50% reduced at risk inventory
o	Analyze data, reports, and dashboards to properly react to all aspects of best for business practices

Delivery and Installations (Project Manager Contractor)

Toys-R-Us

o	Responsible for implementation and all operational functions of the store including process improvement, driving inventory accuracy, labor efficiency, warehouse optimization,  maintenance, and sales performances
o	Source of training for all systems updates, warehouse enhancements, and general role responsibilities by conducting training sessions with supervisors to train their teams as well as the auditing of these applicable businesses practices
o	Accountable for a 12.7 million dollar P&L performance including store, “shrink,” inventory performance which beat budget  by $100K
o	Manage development and full-cycle people management of  store team consisting of 50 part-time team members and  six full-time direct reports with expedited training of over 100 seasonal employees
o	Project Manage both small and large scale projects with the largest being a bi-yearly eleven week implementation and execution of all floor updates per company direction and planogram integrity

Operations Manager (Assistant Store Manager)

Toys R Us

o	Managed back of house operations, including shipping and receiving of merchandise
o	Coordinate and maintained personalities when dealing with customers, and sales associates
o	Responsible for inventory accuracy, opening and closing duties, boost employee morale, customer satisfaction
o	Uphold and implement policies, processes, and procedures of Toys-R-Us

Department Supervisor

Sears

o	Responsible for being a source of knowledge for customers with all questions and concerns
o	Continued product knowledge training to remain up to date on all product updates
o	Assisted with administrative task as delegated in order to run a successful business 
o	Top ten in District 393 Extended Protection Agreement Sales in July (2009)

Appliance Salesmen

Independent Consultant | Ex PepsiCo, Ferrara and CommerceIQ

“eCommerce is not a channel, it is the evolution of commerce”


15 year career across sales, supply chain and retail media landscapes both at Brands (PepsiCo/Ferrara) and Tech (CommerceIQ). Driven by an intellectual curiosity to tackle the hard problems and improve the easy ones. Never shying away from the moments that require humility, leadership and expertise, I have been able to gain invaluable experiences at all stages of my career. Excited for, "what's next"!

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The Battle

Manuel Saez

Luke Balestri

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