Hanold Associates Launches Retail and Luxury Goods Practice
October 5, 2021 – Chicago-based Hanold Associates HR & Diversity Executive Search has launched a retail and luxury goods practice and named Lisa Butkus as the practice leader. Hanold Associates has led numerous high-profile searches for members of this industry, including finding HR, diversity and other leaders for brands like Abercrombie & Fitch, Beautycounter, Dick’s Sporting Goods, JC Penney, Patagonia, Tailored Brands and more.
Ms. Butkus specializes in recruiting executive-level HR leaders across industries, with a core focus on fashion, luxury brands, retail merchandise and the broader consumer industry. She has a background and perspective on the retail and luxury goods, having spent six years in luxury retail. After graduating with a degree in apparel merchandising, she spent several years as a buyer before transitioning into recruiting and eventually executive search. Ms. Butkus sits on the advisory committee for Indiana University’s retail merchandising program and has also led discussions on DE&I for the program and industry.
“Starting out on the sales floor and learning the flow of a stock room has been critical to building on my career in retail,” said Ms. Butkus. “My understanding of what’s going on in the industry has allowed me to better work with industry executives to identify strategic leadership needs and work closer with people vs. product.”
Ms. Butkus recently weighed in on trends in the industry related to diversity, equity and inclusion for an article published on the Business of Fashion website. With equity and inclusion at the forefront of national conversation and public policy, the fashion industry is scrambling to hire diversity leaders. But in their haste to address years of falling short, companies must be careful not to do more harm than good.
“It’s important that you’re not tacking it on to someone in HR because you think you need to just ‘have DEI,’ but you’re investing in the work and that person is going to have the resources and horsepower to take on that work.” Ms. Butkus said.
“Are you ready for the diversity that you seek? If you are, what happens after you hire this diverse leader; what happens after you continue to build your diverse talent pool?” she asked.
Hanold Associates clients include Zoom, Domino’s Pizza, Under Armour, Patagonia, Gucci, Kohler, REI, Live Nation Entertainment, Dick’s Sporting Goods, McDonald’s, Kellogg, Apollo, Blackstone, TPG, L Catterton, Electronic Arts, Fiat-Chrysler, SC Johnson, eBay, Moderna, Hillrom, Great Place To Work, Fossil, Vail Resorts, AbbVie, Carnival Corp., Biogen, Allstate, Bridgestone, Wikimedia, ClubCorp, Nike, Abercrombie & Fitch and Ford Motor Co., among others.
