Michael Ledford Email & Phone Number

Mishawaka, In, Us

Benton Harbor, Michigan, Us

Responsibilities: Executive product leader of $10+B North America kitchen appliance business, including launches, business cases, cost, regulatory, and existing business marketing; eight direct reports, the largest product team in North America- Launched 50+ new product lines across dishwashers, refrigeration, and cooking, resulting in multi-billion dollar share growth across multiple channels and retailer tiers, increased consumer star ratings, and trade customer balance of floor and sales- Strategically shifted the organization to market existing products as a growth driver by creating five year market share roadmaps for each category and restructuring cross functional team responsibilities to provide bandwidth, resulting in 40+ activations that impacted 2000+ stores with a 37% lift in sales on targeted products- Teamed with cross-functional leaders to overhaul the management system to enable a one-team mindset, efficient decision making, and senior leadership alignment, reducing organizational waste and aligning team metrics and goals to achieve company objectives- Turned around the unengaged culture of the kitchen product team by focusing heavily on talent development and high-performer recruitment, resulting in world class people leadership and engagement scores that led the entire commercial organization

Benton Harbor, Michigan, Us

Responsibilities: Product pipeline owner for North America laundry, including innovation, product lifecycle, competitive futuring, business case plans, and cost; four direct reports - Promoted to lead product strategy for Whirlpool’s largest single appliance category, the $4.3B laundry business- Championed consumer and shopper innovation based on consumer research and unarticulated insights, resulting in $460M+ of patented opportunities, including Maytag’s Pet Pro Washer and Dryer, and Whirlpool brand’s 2-in-1 removable agitator washer- Drove systemized approach to IoT that harmonized needs for brand, product, and engineering, resulting in funding of connected plan for 99% of laundry appliances- Pioneered creation of global marketing team that scaled 5-year innovation product pipeline across all international regions- Led top talent team of on-site and remote direct reports that is a genesis of talent promotion within Whirlpool, resulting in a people leadership score in top 1% of company

Benton Harbor, Michigan, Us

Responsibilities: Led five year product strategy development and execution for U.S. cooking business, with rotations in mass ranges, premium ranges, and microwaves- Grew profit, revenue, and market share in every category for five consecutive years- Led 48% increase in sales of the $2.3B microwave and range business Invented and launched the industry's first IoT connected microwave hood, resulting in nationwide retail flooring and a CES Design and Innovation Award- Created company-wide strategy for multiple underserved consumer markets, including Americans with Disabilities and Star-K, resulting in industry exclusive product offerings

Benton Harbor, Michigan, Us

Responsibilities: Enabled fact-based decision making by U.S. marketing and sales teams, developed annual budget, set and executed analytic priority; six direct reports, 20+ vendors- Headed continuous improvement of world class forecast methodology, increasing accuracy by 75% and locking in cost savings of 25%- Pioneered systems to measure healthy demand, predict market bubbles, pent-up consumer demand, price elasticity, marketing mix modeling, and localized market analysis - Drove analytics support for multiple winning legal cases at the federal and state level, including multibillion dollar fair trade cases- Headed brand expansion initiative, increasing flooring in 2000+ retail stores while partnering with retailers to maximize SKU productivity through consumer segmentation

Benton Harbor, Michigan, Us

Responsibilities: Customer facing sales person, advanced analytics, retail management, day-to-day promotion and inventory planning for top load washers and matching dryers- Achieved Whirlpool’s top annual national field sales ranking- Drove a 10 pt market share increase in laundry by teaming with the product development, production, and the sales force to execute the largest product launch in Whirlpool history - Partnered with key retailers to research and execute an innovative psychographic flooring strategy that drove consumer satisfaction, volume, profitability, and market share

Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, Us

Responsibilities: Consumer facing store leader for hard good and children's clothing; focus on sales, merchandising, and customer service- Headed highest rated departments in region based on audit and customer scorecards- Developed my love for durables and other lifetime consumer product- Deepened technical prowess and understanding of how products work- Expanded knowledge of how retail consumers shop and make purchase decisions- Accelerated understanding of big box retail merchandising during annual purchase cycles

Responsibilities: Serve physical and emotional community needs in urban and rural communities- Learned to speak, read, and write in the Spanish language- Led distinguished team of 16 full-time volunteers from diverse global background- Mentored and trained junior service missionaries

Mba

Bachelor, Marketing

Associate, Business