I’ve found that my real successes have come at times when I had the freedom to pursue my passion to differentiate and set our team apart from the pack. I’ve had the good fortune to be in this position at a number of critical times and have seen our efforts to de-commoditize cause company(s) sales, margin and profitability increase substantially in each case. The end result in each case was greater value for stakeholders.At Loftex Home, our team navigated changing business and geopolitical currents both within the the U.S. and globally, always with the generous support from our ownership and factory team. The two constants in our world have been an intense focus on delivering innovation in the form of sustainable product and factory operations, and a dedication to providing our major retailer customers a stable delivery platform. This allowed them certainty of quality and delivery in a world that otherwise provided nothing but uncertainty: trade wars, pandemic, disrupted supply chains, and gyrating commodity component costs among others. The impact and benefit of our strategic focus has been enjoyed by all stakeholders, sustaining and improving our reputation, and delivering a major market-share increase from 2016 to now.Previously, with a major publicly traded vertical home textile manufacturer based in India, I used a combination of branding, innovation and product segmentation to differentiate us from the herd of manufacturers selling finished product by the pound. This led to a 6-year growth run from $4m to $120m in sales, with higher than industry margins.At a mature 3rd generation family-owned home fashion company, I guided the company through an intense focus on efficient pick-pack distribution, using technology, modern distribution systems and organizational change. We delivered total order flexibility faster than our competition, with no added cost, all while improving our sales and margins over time. Our retail partners in turn enjoyed increased sales, space and inventory productivity.In another instance, I joined a consumer products company that had grown explosively with one customer on the back of a major product innovation. By leveraging product ideas across new categories with internal and licensed brands, we were able to position ourselves as a provider of constant newness, setting us apart from established suppliers. We gained new business development placements at 6 major retailers within the first year and half, despite established competition. We increased sales and reduced customer concentration risk.