Kimberly Lee Minor

I've been in the retail industry for 35 years, where I served as an executive with several major brands. I was president of Band Deer, London Fog, Joe Boxer, Bongo, and Rampage, and I worked at Bath and Body Works as a C-suite executive. In September 2023, I was asked by the board to become the CEO of my current organization, WACRA. Today, I do a lot of speaking engagements where I'm talking to teams and founders to give them information, support, and inspiration. I do a lot of team mentoring to up-and-coming leaders in the retail and branding space, and especially to founders, because women are becoming more and more part of that entrepreneurial industry and small business owners. I spend a lot of time helping them because I was a retailer and I know what it takes to do business with big retail. I also know how to help them with building their P&L and their assortments. As the leader of WACRA, we do a lot of work around building networks and offering support through networking events. We have a big summit every year where we bring together experts to help retailers and founders grow their business professionally and personally. We also focus on mental health, and while I'm not a mental health provider, I do spend a lot of time doing the research and finding the people to help the community. We have events and members across the United States and in Canada. I also have an academic background - I was an adjunct at the Ohio State Fisher College of Business, where I also served as the Executive Director for Career Management. My focus really is on people developing their skills and workforce development and career development.