The Talent Studios Recruits Chief Marketing Officer for Summit Golf Brands
August 15, 2024 – As organizations become more complex and power shifts from producers of goods and services to consumers, the chief marketing officer’s job of planning and coordinating marketing activities has become more challenging — and much more influential. The Talent Studios recently recruited Thomas De Stio as the new chief marketing officer of Summit Golf Brands. Jeremy Cohen, Kelli Telling, and Heather Porter led the search assignment. Mr. De Stio is an accomplished and passionate leader with a history of building and scaling digital and global Ecommerce businesses, consistently delivering double and triple-digit growth.
Previously, Mr. De Stio was head of digital and ecommerce at LoveShackFancy. Before that, he served as vice president, worldwide digital & ecommerce with TOM FORD. Prior to this, Mr. De Stio was director of digital, Loro Piana, LVMH. During his career, he has also gained experience serving in various senior positions with Tod’s Group, Gucci, Luxottica, Lacoste, and ADR Media Integrators.
“I’m eager to contribute to the growth and success of this incredible company, which is home to iconic brands,” said Mr. De Stio.
Headquartered in New York City, Summit Golf Brands sells the authentic golf apparel and high-performance sportswear under its collection of brands: B. Draddy, Zero Restriction, Fairway & Greene, and EP New York. In addition to direct digital commerce, Summit Golf Brands’ distribution spans across 25 countries and over 3,500 leading country clubs and resorts globally.
The Talent Studios is a business-to-consumer focused retained executive search firm, working across consumer technology, digital commerce, four-wall commerce & service businesses, iconic brands, entertainment, media & content and consumer services. Its vertical focus includes: fashion & apparel, food & beverage, beauty & personal care, lifestyle brands, action sports, fitness/wellness, creator economy, media & content, digital and physical consumer services (healthcare, FinTech, education, two-sided marketplaces). Its clients include: Apollo Global Management, Advent International, Andreessen Horowitz, Bain Capital, L Catterton, Red Bull, Mattel, Disney, Burton Snowboards, Restoration Hardware, Pure Barre, TOMS Shoes, Boardriders, Aston Martin, Fanatics, Health-Ade Kombucha, SmartyPants Vitamins, Lulus.com, Edmunds.com, Philz Coffee, and Public Goods.
Mr. Cohen co-founded The Talent Studios in 2011 following early search experience at global executive search firm DHR Global, where he served as a principal in the firm’s retail/consumer and private equity practices. He has led pivotal leadership searches that have propelled privately held clients through growth to exit, as well as large scale transformation and performance enhancement at large public companies and brands. In addition to search, Mr. Cohen assists clients with performance management and assessment strategy.
Ms. Telling is co-founder and managing partner at The Talent Studios. She began her career in General Electric’s emerging leaders’ program and was a business unit operator at GE Lighting. Ms. Telling went on to lead technology product development at several venture-backed companies in Silicon Valley. Thereafter, she moved into successive management roles at Deloitte Consulting. Ms. Telling has substantial experience conducting leadership searches in finance, technology and marketing, and is a talent contributor to the Transworld Business publication.
Ms. Porter is a seasoned executive search professional currently serving as an associate partner at The Talent Studios. With a career spanning over a decade, she has honed her expertise in the field, specializing in the execution of executive searches across various functions. Her portfolio includes over 100 searches, encompassing roles in finance, operations, sales, marketing, and senior leadership.
Chief Marketing Officers
Current business landscape demands have only increased the contribution from CMOs, according to the latest research report from Forrester and Heidrick & Struggles. The survey found that CMOs are building strong relationships with the head of product and research and development to prepare their organizations for digital disruption.
“We see CMOs moving beyond functional expertise to assume responsibility for driving overall growth within their organizations,” said Sheryl Pattek, vice president, CMO executive partner at Forrester. “They are evolving into key strategic partners on the executive team and know that collaboration with the rest of the C-suite will be instrumental to their success.”
Here’s a sampling of recent chief marketing officer searches taken from the Hunt Scanlon Media archives:
The Millard Group, which focuses on building executive teams for venture capital and private equity backed growth stage technology companies, has assisted in the placement of Sheridan Orr as the new chief marketing officer of Language I/O in Cheyenne, WY. “2023 marked a pivotal moment of expansion and visibility for Language I/O,” said Heather Shoemaker, founder and CEO of Language I/O. “With an amplified global marketing presence under Sheridan’s leadership, we are thrilled about the transformative potential of our 2024 roadmap to reshape how organizations connect across languages and geographies.” Ms. Orr is an experienced marketing executive specializing in International go-to-market strategy, performance marketing, crafting powerful product and brand stories, and leading high performing teams for B2B SaaS companies. She previously served as a managing partner at The GTM Collective and was the chief marketing officer of Built In for over three years.
Mercedes Chatfield-Taylor and Sarah Scheer of Artico Search have assisted in the recruitment of Dee Anna McPherson as the new chief marketing officer of Flock Safety. “Over the past year, Flock Safety has attracted an executive team with proven experience building the top-tier technology companies in their respective markets, and our current position as a multi-product, multi-market company reflects this breadth of expertise,” said Garrett Langley, Flock Safety’s founder and CEO. “As our new marketing leader, Dee Anna’s leadership positions us to make even greater significant strides toward leading the way into a safer future.” Ms. McPherson brings strong marketing expertise to the Flock Safety team. She most recently served as CMO at Invoca for the past three years, where she played a pivotal role in positioning the company as a leader in AI-powered conversation intelligence.
TurnkeyZRG has been retained by the Chicago Fire Football Club to lead in its search for a chief marketing officer. Allie Crone led the assignment. Coming off a record-breaking 2023 Season, Chicago Fire is seeking a data-driven and agile leader to join the executive team. Acting as brand steward, this role is responsible for developing and implementing branding, advertising, media, and promotion activities to generate ticket sales, leverage corporate partner collaboration and garner increased awareness and interest for the Club locally and globally. Additionally, the role will oversee marketing/brand strategies related to the Chicago Fire Foundation, Fire Pitch (recreational soccer facility), youth and recreational soccer and other Club endeavors, and will serve as the club’s primary liaison to the Major League Soccer marketing department and Soccer United Marketing ensuring the Chicago Fire remains connected with important initiatives and partnerships at the league level.
Related: Winning Strategies For Scale-up CMOs
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
