Brand Guarde

I created this company because I am passionate about fighting for the things that matter in life.
I started my first business with $400 and a dream of being able to provide a better life for my family and be present for them. After a couple years of hard work and dedication to that dream, we saw our first venture grow to a multiple 6 figure business that allowed me to work from home and watch our little girls grow up. This was possible largely due to the exposure and tools the Amazon platform gave our business.
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I have also experienced the pain and frustration of seeing those dreams threatened by doing business on Amazon. Our company has battled counterfeiters and unfair blemishes to our reputation while also navigating the shifting rules and confusing seller support. As we have worked to overcome those challenges, we have gained valuable insight into the processes and strategies necessary to succeed on Amazon.  We want to offer this experience from the trenches of e-commerce to help other businesses take control on Amazon and turn this marketplace into a channel of strength.​

Co-Founder

Legacy Market

I began dabbling in e-commerce with a dream of working from home and spending more time with my family. We started out primarily selling on Amazon.com in January of 2015. In our first year, my business partner (wife) and I were focused on learning about selling products online and mastering the Amazon platform. In year 2 we began to really grow our business, and by implementing some new strategies we able to grow to almost 250k in revenue in 2016. Best of all, my dream became a reality  when I left teaching in August 2016 to focus on Legacy Market, and I have loved every minute I get to spend with my family.  We are excited to work with new partners and expand in to new markets. We are poised to make 2017 the best year ever!

Owner

Hammond High Magnet School

I have the awesome privilege of helping educate students at an accredited World IB School. I love interacting with all different types of young people and inspiring them to think about the world from a different angle. I get to challenge seniors to learn wise financial principles and develop healthy money habits so that they avoid common pitfalls and have more options for the future. My Biology class constantly investigates how and why nature works the way it does. I so enjoy seeing the process of discovery take place. My vision is to see young people gain an appreciation for continual learning so that they can reach their full potential.

Biology and Financial Math Teacher

5 Stones Media, LLC

We help businesses target new customers and engage with current customers to drive action through Website Design, SEO, Social Media Management, and Email Marketing. Our mission is to see businesses thrive by becoming a strategic marketing partner.

Marketing Maestro

SLU Baptist Collegiate Ministry

Successfully planned and led a group of ten students on a three-week mission trip to East London, South Africa in June 2011.

Working with groups on the leadership team to plan and execute various events for the ministry.

Set up promotional displays on campus and actively engage college students with information about upcoming events.

Student Ministry Intern

Is your E-Com team struggling with maintaining MAP pricing or cleaning up 3p resellers online?  

If you are like many of our clients it can feel next to impossible because:
A) You don't have a great way to accurately track pricing and resellers online (especially big catalogs)
B) No one person owns the initiative or if they do it's an add on responsibility
C) You don't have a clear process to tackle the problems that gets results  

We have helped E-commerce teams for some of most respected brands regain pricing and distribution control online (Amazon, Walmart, and the across the internet).
 
We help them implement a 5 part LASER Framework:

• Legal Foundation for Enforcement (Reseller Policies / MAP Policies)
• Automated Monitoring via our Brand Guarde tracking software
• Seller Investigation and Identification
• Enforcement Module or Team (Physical letters, Email, Phone Calls) 
• Reporting key insights through your dashboard, email notices, and regular meetings

To learn more visit: www.brandguarde.com

Specialties: 
MAP Monitoring and Enforcement
Unauthorized Seller Removal
Brand Protection on Amazon and Walmart
Unauthorized Seller Investigations 
Distribution Strategy Consulting
Reseller Policy Creation
Amazon Brand Registry,
E-commerce strategy consulting

Learn more at www.brandguarde.com

Joe Kovacs

LG Electronics

🔸 Leading full lifecycle product and category activities for LG’s emerging business unit
• NPI & sustaining development for smart home product categories including air quality, floor care, & consumer robots
🔸 Creating internal buy-in and delivering product vision to global executive stakeholders 
• Driving NPI product definition, planning, and execution
• Translating product roadmap into detailed requirements for global cross functional teams 
• Serving as the North America central resource for design, engineering, manufacturing, marketing, and sales 
🔸 Responsible for pricing, promotion and category growth strategies 
• Identifying product gaps and pain points to improve UX and provide incremental customer value
• Defining key user experiences, product positioning, and market fit for emerging smart home products

Sr. Product Manager - Emerging Products

iRobot

🔸 Led iRobot’s efforts in the development of new and adjacent product categories to expand product offerings, increase customer basket size, and add value to iRobot’s LTFM
• Reported to the VP of New Business Product Management 
• Analyzed competitive product offerings to generate competitive assessments, points of differentiation, and competitive response strategies for new products
🔸 Built new-business product vision, roadmap, and strategy from concept to commercialization
• Ensured alignment through all aspects of the product lifecycle 
• Worked with a cross-functional team of UX, ID, Engineering, Software, Sales, Marketing, and Supply Chain
🔸 Owned all aspects of new iRobot initiatives from P/L to positioning and drove development progress on new programs through iRobot’s milestone pipeline
• Established global pricing strategies factoring in business needs, customer needs, and the competitive landscape to offer a holistic customer value proposition for new products
• Assessed strategic fit, identified consumer needs, built go-to-market plans, and developed in-depth business models to gain internal program buy-in with executive stakeholders
• Partnered with design and research teams to synthesize themes for guiding product development

Product Manager - Product Strategy & New Product Development

🔸 Led the Americas go-to-market commercialization process for new iRobot product lines
• Tracked and monitored cross-functional team deliverables through new commercial process improvements to ensure cross functional alignment leading up to new product launches
• Partnered with product management and product marketing to define consumer-facing value propositions and key benefits for new products in the Americas making sure specific end customer needs are met
• Internal champion of creative excellence and on-brand communications for consumer-facing material
🔸 Built best in class digital consumer experiences across key retail e-commerce platforms including Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Target and Costco to increase customer engagement and overall buyer experience 
• Worked with internal key account managers and external retail account teams to develop marketing strategy and positioning for successful new product launches 
🔸 Streamlined data workflows from the internal product, engineering & logistics teams for seamless integration into our product data hub
• Built an automated solution for cross functional teams which populated a central repository for product based specs

Marketing Manager - Americas Retail Go-To-Market Lead

🔸 Supported the development and execution of retail marketing activities within the U.S, CA, & Latin American markets that delivered premium point of sale experiences on-line and instore
• Created enhanced consumer experiences through enriched content and targeted marketing tailored by retail account and promotional period
• Expanded in-store and online merchandising for a variety of Fortune 500 retail partners such as Best Buy, Target, Costco, Walmart & Amazon maintaining brand consistency between different marketplaces
• Worked with internal teams to build robust go-to-market strategy for new products – enabled cross pollination of GTM activities between regions and countries 
• Established annual marketing plans and operating budgets with key stakeholders ensuring we remain within budget guardrails 
• Managed all aspects of the robot display budget, inventory, and ordering from the iRobot China team that effectively delivered on product launch commitments with in-store retail partners
🔸 Leveraged brand and global marketing teams to coordinate production and execution of all regional marketing assets
• Maintained brand consistency of merchandising, product collateral, and online marketing materials
• Managed the full funnel concept through to execution process for North American marketing programs

Associate Marketing Manager - Americas Retail Execution Team

Velcro Companies

🔸 Analyzed SKU assortment & merchandising strategies to maximize returns for key accounts
• Strategized & executed a national Home Depot POG reset across 2,000 stores
• Achieved 15% YOY sales growth from implementation nationwide
• Streamlined assortment offering with SKU rationalization enhancing overall customer experience
🔸 Provided strategic insights to marketing & sales through competitive retail analysis
• Developed high-level analytics dashboards for cross-functional teams to access and leverage for decision making
• Tracked various internal KPI's (SKU level sell through & pricing, digital product messaging & imagery health) and tracked competitive offerings to influence strategic decisions

Global Strategy Analyst - Consumer Products

🔸 E-commerce asset management
• Maintained consistency of brand messaging & marketing content across all major retail channels
• Increased internal e-commerce brand metrics from a failure rate of 30% to 90% in 6 months
• Built & implemented Amazon A+ enriched content pages that provided a richer online customer experience
🔸 Facilitated collaboration & coordination between all global regions within the consumer business unit
• Built global product spec database for sales team to leverage for account meetings and product set up

Global Marketing Coordinator - Consumer Products

Lion Brothers Inc.

🔸 Aided in the relocation strategy for bringing off-shore manufacturing back to the U.S
• Provided data analysis, strategic planning, & logistics for manufacturing processes

Operations and Logistics Intern

CNH Industrial

🔸 Worked in the retail finance division managing deal proposals exceeding $500,000. 
• Developed valued relationships with customers, dealers, & sales managers 
🔸 Assessed financial metrics for Agriculture & Construction equipment sales in all of the UK

Financial Analyst Intern

Marketer turned product manager, with a passion for new technology and a core drive to solve customer problems with thoughtful design. Highly collaborative, engaging and innovative product development leader with over 9 years of combined experience in consumer products, IoT, and robotics. Unique balance of qualitative and quantitative skills that drive forward progress of new products through the development pipeline. Successful track record of inspiring others around new products and consistently exceeding internal and external customer expectations.

🌎 Dual citizen - U.S & U.K

Skills:

📍 Product Vision & Strategy 
📍 Road-Mapping 
📍 Hardware Product Development 
📍 JDM / ODM / CM Development 
📍 Global Supplier Management 
📍 Competitive Analysis
📍 Business Case Development
📍 Technical Collaboration (ME, EE, ID) 
📍 Cross Functional Leadership 
📍 Go-To-Market Planning 
📍 Product Marketing 
📍 Operations & Supply Chain
📍 Process Improvement & Automation

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The Battle

Joe Kovacs

Samuel R. Hodgkinson

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