• Lead the creative team in the conceptualization and design of packaging, trade show displays, retail, merchandising and marketing collateral both in print and digital media. • Build design strategies with partners and provide creative solutions that are both new and relevant to the industry by identifying market trends and finding opportunities.• Collaborate and work directly with Disney as a licensee partner and a client in the creation of packaging, retail and merchandising solutions for the company’s most profitable product lines such as Frozen, Disney Princess, Moana, etc., ensuring brand consistency under the strictest of guidelines. • Oversee the team’s work to comply with industry regulations and specifications as well as delivering the most cost effective and innovative packaging solutions. • Manage project deliverables and adhere to budget restrictions.• Clearly communicate goals, strategy and tactics of each project to the creative team as well as pitch the team’s solutions and progress to clients, executives and partners. • Foster positive relationships between creative teams and other departments by working together in joint effort to find the best results. • Manage every portion of the approval process between internal and external partners, while ensuing alignment at every milestone of the design and production process.• Prioritize tasks, manage resources and ensure excellent creative output under demanding deadlines of multiple projects.• Provide hands-on design help and support to the team as needed.• Participate in internal and licensor brainstorms actively providing recommendations for the development of new concepts for both product and packaging.• Organize and art direct talent and product photo shoots for packaging, sales and online use. • Drive staffing and retention of talent.

• Collaborated with stakeholders to generate the strategic vision for the company’s product lines. • Responsibilities ranged in a variety of roles from planning, scheduling, costing, designing, concepting, sketching, materials researching and sourcing to supervising manufacturing. • Directed a design team and jointly created and designed new and exciting plush toys, kids’ apparel, accessories, catalogs, flyers, photography, advertisement and website graphics. • Coordinated the sampling of product throughout production with partner companies overseas. Traveled to various parts of China on multiple occasions, worked directly with sample makers and suppliers while keeping budgeted allowance.• Managed production quality, ensuring high standards were met. • Designed hundreds of plush toys that have been and continue to be sold in more than 50 cultural attractions, souvenir boutiques, grocery stores, drug marts, toy stores and gift shops throughout out the US, Mexico, and Europe. • Collaborated with buyers and sales teams directly developing custom and promotional plush toys and accessories.

• Creative designer entrusted to effectively expand a series of home décor and toy craft kits for girls, designing product, branding and packaging. • Revitalized and rebranded classic and evergreen product lines by creating concepts, sketches, branding elements such as logos, patterns, and mock-ups. • Prepared and provided mechanical files with technical specifications, control drawings, material and deco specifications for product samples and production. • Specialized in designing packaging that worked with the product and acted as a selling point. Created layouts, die-lines, blisters, graphics, logos and branding.

• While working on graduate studies, instructed and taught first year design students the fundamentals of design, concepts and processes, through problem-solving studio projects and basics of computer design in Rhinoceros, Studio Max and Adobe programs. • Researched and self-taught cutting-edge concepts and design solutions to improve the learning experience by creating the custom class material that I used to teach the students.