Esse Younts Email & Phone Number

Cincinnati Metropolitan Area

She created 50+ exclusive furniture collections for Frontgate, 35 of which have been featured on covers for the retailer. She currently leads design direction and vision for Outdoor Furniture at Frontgate.

Cincinnati, Ohio, United States

• Contracted designer to lead key furniture initiatives with proven expertise in the industry, reporting directly to VP of Design.• Collaborate with merchandising partners and factory’s to create final products.• Global expertise in outdoor manufacturing techniques, used as consultant for many important products to bring them to production.- 13 years outdoor furniture design experience. - 7 years indoor furniture design experience.

New York City Metropolitan Area

• Lead all design, sourcing and sampling initiatives for Grand Basket, the third largest manufacturer for Home Depot outdoor furniture, reporting directly to the CEO. Responsible for overseeing designers and 20-person sampling and sourcing teams at +4 factories in multiple countries.• Passionate collaborator with merchandising teams and company executives. Gained more engineering expertise, business negotiation skills, and adherence to quality specifications.• Forecasted trends and all material selections, traveling to international design trade shows. • Increased business in all accounts as the definitive liaison between all departments and Asia to coordinate best practices and overhaul inefficiencies, resulting in 40% increase in sales year one.

Cincinnati, Oh

• Passionate collaborator with merchandising teams and company leaders within high-end retailer to quickly understand vision and objectives to design: resulting in over 300+ successful furniture and accessory products for both the outdoor and interiors space• Combined ability to ideate and hand sketch concepts on the fly + produce detailed technical factory-ready designs with mastery of advanced CAD programs including Solidworks, Keyshot and Photoworks, as well as Pencil, Pen, marker, and Wacon Cintiq Tablet Sketching• Deep understanding of manufacturing capabilities and quality. Extensive experience communicating standards and problem-solving with vendor partners. Extensive travel overseas• Lead designer on Martyn Lawrence Bullard partnership, designing and tracking development to completion of outdoor and interiors furniture and accessory collections • Lead all outdoor design initiatives, producing 29 new collections of outdoor products in two years• Present new collections and design process at seasonal company-wide styleouts • Efficient and deadline-sensitive: deliver all projects on or before due dates, happiest when managing multiple projects • Mentor student designers and manage Frontgate Design Internship Program

Newport Beach, California And Shenzhen, China

• Led all design, sourcing and sales initiatives for 3i, the largest manufacturer for Lowe’s outdoor furniture, reporting directly to the CEO. Responsible for overseeing 5 designers, an 8-person sourcing team and 20 sales managers. Hired new workforce to establish new business to enhance and expand market presence• Lived in China 60% of the year, working directly in factories to ensure design execution while managing accounts, production and routine audits. Working knowledge of Mandarin language• Gained engineering expertise, business negotiation skills and adherence to quality specifications• Forecasted trends and all material selections, traveling to international design trade shows • Increased business in all accounts as a liaison between all departments to synergize efficiencies throughout the company, resulting in 10x increase in sales. 3i won Best Vendor Award from Lowe’s.

Greater Los Angeles Area And Linhai, China

• Managed private-label outdoor design collections from concept to production for clients including Home Depot, Lowes and Target for the largest outdoor furniture manufacturer in the world• Created and presented samples to buyers across a wide variety of designs based managing a team of 4 designers• Lived in China 80% of the year to create, oversee, and ensure quality of samples with Yotrio’s sales team as well as to collaborate with European and US design teams to gain global industry furniture market knowledge• Traveled to Maison et Objet and Spoga to scout trends and source innovative materials • Designed seasonal trend books and presented to buyers on 15+ trend presentation trips annually

Madison, Wisconsin Area

• Designed outdoor furniture for the Tommy Bahama license and specialty markets. Created and presented original designs to buyers, traveling to Asia to source new materials and present samples. Assisted the Graphics Team in fabric selections based on the client’s needs. Worked directly with Tommy Bahama brand and furniture design to ensure the brand was represented appropriately.

Working with the Milwaukee Sailing Center to create my senior thesis. I created a sailing seat for people with disabilities. It is a seat that contours to the body, therefore someone in a wheel chair will be able to go sailing in a comfortable and attractive way.The Milwaukee Sailing Center and Milsco sponsored the project

Bachelors Of Fine Art, Industrial Design With Minor In Graphic Design, 3.85

Activities and Societies: • Creative Fusion: Donner yearly event selected to be design advocate student speaker chosen by faculty. 1 of 2.

College Credit, Drawing / Painting

Activities and Societies: Painting Drawing Sculpture Graphic DesignI attended pre-college here which was a four week program.