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Edge Retail Academy Updates Leadership Team
As demand for jewelry retail coaching grows, the company has established a dedicated business coaching leadership team.
The Edge Retail Academy has appointed and promoted executives to its leadership team, including, (from left) Ellen Gardner, Jennifer Motes, Mona Lisa Shaffer, and Cindi Haddad Drew.
New York—The Edge Retail Academy, a business coaching and analytics firm serving retail jewelers, is updating its leadership team, appointing new executives while promoting others.
“With growing demand for our coaching program among retail jewelers aiming to accelerate their growth, we’ve expanded our team with seasoned professionals who bring deep industry and coaching experience and a history of delivering results,” said Becka Johnson Kibby, CEO of the Edge Retail Academy, who took on the role late last year.
“These strategic additions enhance our leadership team and position us to deliver even greater value to our clients and the industry.”
As demand for jewelry retail coaching grew, the company established a dedicated business coaching leadership team, said Kibby in a statement to National Jeweler, with plans to hire an additional business coach.
Ellen Gardner has joined the company as vice president of business coaching. She has more than 25 years of business consulting and coaching experience, and has owned multiple businesses.
Previously, she was a consultant for soda shop chain Fiiz Drinks and cookie chain Crumbl, as per her LinkedIn profile.
Gardner has worked with business owners to improve financial and operational performance, and has led national training programs on scaling, forecasting, and return on investment.
Jennifer Motes, formerly a business coach with the Edge Retail Academy, has been promoted to senior director of coach development.
Motes has more than 30 years of experience in the retail jewelry industry, including store ownership, absentee ownership, oversight of multi-store operations, strategic merchandising, and developing high-performing retail teams.
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“With growing demand for our coaching program among retail jewelers aiming to accelerate their growth, we’ve expanded our team with seasoned professionals who bring deep industry and coaching experience and a history of delivering results,” said Becka Johnson Kibby, CEO of the Edge Retail Academy, who took on the role late last year.
“These strategic additions enhance our leadership team and position us to deliver even greater value to our clients and the industry.”
As demand for jewelry retail coaching grew, the company established a dedicated business coaching leadership team, said Kibby in a statement to National Jeweler, with plans to hire an additional business coach.
Ellen Gardner has joined the company as vice president of business coaching. She has more than 25 years of business consulting and coaching experience, and has owned multiple businesses.
Previously, she was a consultant for soda shop chain Fiiz Drinks and cookie chain Crumbl, as per her LinkedIn profile.
Gardner has worked with business owners to improve financial and operational performance, and has led national training programs on scaling, forecasting, and return on investment.
Jennifer Motes, formerly a business coach with the Edge Retail Academy, has been promoted to senior director of coach development.
Motes has more than 30 years of experience in the retail jewelry industry, including store ownership, absentee ownership, oversight of multi-store operations, strategic merchandising, and developing high-performing retail teams.
Mona Lisa Shaffer, formerly the Edge Retail Academy’s senior business coach, has been promoted to director of business coaching operations.
Shaffer also has more than 30 years of experience in the retail jewelry industry, with a focus on leadership and management, sales performance, team development, and inventory optimization.
The company has also hired a new business coach, Cindi Haddad Drew.
She joins the company with more than 40 years of experience in the jewelry industry, including owning and operating her own retail store.
She is the owner of Cindi’s Diamond & Jewelry Gallery in Foxborough, Massachusetts, as per her LinkedIn profile.
Drew is a former client of the Edge Retail Academy. She transitioned to a remote ownership model and helps other jewelry store owners do the same.
Sherry Smith, formerly vice president of coaching strategy and development at the Edge Retail Academy, recently left the company after 14 years, joining the consulting firm The Retail Smiths.
The Edge Retail Academy will be at JCK Las Vegas to share more information about its coaching programs.
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