Gabriel Carlson Email & Phone Number

Los Angeles, California, United States

Los Angeles, California, United States

Los Angeles, California, United States

Supporting the company at large with strategic and tactical consultation across all segments and brands, product design & development, and related business activities and processes.

Los Angeles

• Responsible for Design, Packaging, Development, Inventor Relations, and Planning. Hired to transform the collection of M&A companies into a Global organization and build a US led Toy Division.
• Global leadership of D&D capabilities, transforming a collection of independent international teams into a global D&D organization, all while being remote due to Covid.
• Established and institutionalized best practices and processes, empowering strategic alignment and effective collaboration across global locations.
• Formed a Planning Department; created a corporate calendar, defined and deployed a development process supported by a digital schedule and tracking system, identified and trained employees to track and maintain the.
• Built a planning system around Monday.com to have a ‘single source of truth’, automate the process, allow real-time reporting, and drive access and responsibility down through the org.
• Responsible for Inventor Relations; driving innovation across the company, forming and maintaining relationships, making deals, and seeing concepts through execution.

El Segundo, California, United States

• The consistent pick for strategic leadership and change management at Mattel including global organization strategy, product design/development, ideation/invention, R&D, process development, team building, brand.
• Alignment of capabilities across the organization to drive consumer-first product innovation, design, & development.
• Developed ‘Mattel Methods’ playbook of methodologies designed as a process guide on how to functionally approach product creation & development.
• Introduced Value Stream Mapping to streamline product development & manufacturing.
• Designed 3-day New Employee Onboarding program that encapsulated culture, collaboration and end-to-end process of toy development at Mattel.
• Drove reduction of manufacturing cost in Matchbox die cast vehicles by 16%, ensuring the ability to hold SRP for 5 years.

• Transplanted business across the country, constructed new teams, and resuscitated struggling brands through strategic content, product, and marketing change.
• Moved Thomas & Friends and Fisher Price Friends business from NYC offices to El Segundo.
• Built new teams, coordinated the transfer of institutional knowledge and assets, and established new partner relationships in ~ 3 months.
• Developed Toy Story 4 product, which launched in 2019 and was the #1 Boys Action Figure line for Months after Movie premier generating hundreds of millions of dollars since launch.

• Built a startup company within a company, applying practicality to magic and producing innovative/inventive and FUN product, creating new business methodologies to get to market faster with higher margins.
• Starting from scratch, with no budget and a team of 5, we delivered new toys to shelf in < 8 months.
• Our first item sold out 70K units in 24 hours on Black Friday.
• Annual revenue beat historical records in year 3 with varied product lines targeting best in class licensed product for value channels and mass.

• Developed new IP, revived and re-launched nascent IP, forged new content partnerships based on consecutive and collaborative product and content development.
• Re-imagined & re-launched ‘Polly Pocket’, which quickly rose to the #2 girls’ property and continues to be a multi-million dollar brand YOY. Projects with JJ Abrams were drafted and kicked-off, packaged & out-licensed.

El Segundo, CA

• First Mattel GM with oversight of multiple categories and functional capabilities, constructed first ‘layered leadership’ organization, leadership of both girls AND boys’ organizations.
• Pioneered a partnership with Netflix property DinoTrux. Launched a full product line for Fast & Furious franchise.
• Invented/launched a new collectable brand MyMinnieMixieQs.
• Pitched and won the Pixar Cars 3 license, built the launch line, exceeded $500M+ in revenue.
• Revitalized heritage brand Matchbox with refined branding & messaging.
• Improved process and operational efficiencies and established a culture with a focus on delivering FUN.

El Segundo, CA

• Creative lead developing a variety of brands and categories, specifically patented disruptive “never before seen” innovative product, allowing entry into new categories, or the re-imagination of old categories and new.
• Design and development of roughly ~50-100 SKU’s and ~$250MM in global sales annually.
• Awarded 12 utility patents for innovative and novel product and mechanisms, with some still in review.
• Established a digital development process to shorten timelines, decrease costs and improve quality.
• Traveled to Asia an average of 8+ times annually for direct development and production oversight.
• Successfully built organic brands and innovative items in a variety of categories on a seasonal basis by identifying and applying emerging trends and new technologies. Categories included Innovation, Electronics.

Bachelor Of Science (Bs), Product Design

Bachelor Of Science (Bs) Coursework, Mechanical Engineering