Women in Retail Leadership Circle Celebrates Empowering Female Execs

The Women in Retail Leadership Circle recently released its impact report, which highlighted key milestones over the past decade along with notable data points and several case studies touting the success of the organization’s members.

The Women in Retail Leadership Circle was founded by Jennifer DiPasquale and Melissa Campanelli, who had spent time talking with women retail leaders. “They regularly heard stories that while there were a lot of women working in the retail space, the number of women in the C-suite was actually dwindling,” the impact report noted adding that the first annual Women in Retail Leadership Summit took place in spring 2014. “The event was a smashing, sold-out success. Following the inaugural summit, it was decided to move ahead with the idea, and thus, Women in Retail Leadership Circle was born.”

The organization’s members include Jackie Ardrey, chief executive officer of Vera Bradley; Megan Crozier, executive vice president of merchandising at Sam’s Club; Michelle Cutter, vice president of e-commerce at REI; Sara Davis, senior vice president of retail at Lululemon; Courtney Graybill, vice president of personalization and customer experience at Kohl’s; Kim Miller, chief marketing and analytics officer at Saks Off 5th, and Anu Narayanan, president of Anthropologie, among many others.

The milestones include publishing the first Inner Circle newsletter in 2015, doubling the size of its advisory board in 2016 and doubling the size of membership size by 2017.

Aside from networking and community building via a member directory, member spotlights and events, the organization also offers members executive leadership development with ”WIRLC: On the Road” regional events and virtual exchanges as well the annual summit. The organization also offers members-only content including event coverage and research.

One of the case studies of members included AlanaKay Latiolais, the CEO and artist behind AlanaKayArt, who was described as successfully navigating the retail landscape while transforming her passion into a thriving business.

Lariolais’ journey began with a local pop-up shop at the Women in Retail: On the Road event in Dallas. There, her unique artwork caught the eye of an attendee, who connected her with an organization working on a high-profile project. The result? Lariolais’ designs were featured on 500 custom footballs distributed to premium ticket holders at the National College Football Championship game.

Lariolais was able to build on this success by leveraging networking opportunities at the 2023 Women in Retail Leadership Summit. During a 15-minute pitch meeting, she was able to secure a partnership with HSN. In May 2024, Lariolais launched a new lower price point brand on the platform, expanding her reach to a national audience.

Lariolais attributes these achievements to the support and networking opportunities provided by the Women in Retail Leadership Circle. She praises the organization for fostering a “high-caliber environment” that has been instrumental in her career growth and success.