Alexandra Wilkis Wilson
Entrepreneur, board director, advisor, angel investor, author and public speaker
Topic Categories:
- Co-founder, CEO and President of the on-demand service app GLAMSQUAD
- Co-founder of Gilt, an innovative e-commerce company offering luxury lifestyle products and experiences
- Former Chief Merchandising Officer andHead of National Sales for Gilt City and Head of Strategic Alliances
- Named the 2010 Ernst & Young Metro New York “Entrepreneur of the Year Award for eCommerce” and Crain’s “The Next Generation: Emerging Leaders Under 40” in 2009
- Previously worked at Bulgari, Louis Vuitton, and Merrill Lynch
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Alexandra Wilkis Wilson is an entrepreneur, board director, advisor, angel investor, author and public speaker. She has established herself as a pioneer, leader and deal-maker in digital commerce, retail, merchandising, sales, business development and marketing. She has a proven track record building and operating early stage, fast growing consumer facing businesses and creating powerful brands.
Alexandra is Co-Founder and Strategic Advisor of GLAMSQUAD, the leading mobile beauty services company. She was CEO of the startup from 2014 to 2016 and led the company through rapid growth and raised $24M in venture capital.
In 2007, Alexandra and a founding team conceived of and built the ecommerce sensation, Gilt. Alexandra became a prominent leader, initially as Chief Merchandising Officer, in what was one of the fastest periods of hyper growth in Internet history. Throughout her 7+ year tenure at Gilt, Alexandra took on merchandising, sales, business development and marketing responsibilities.
Before co-founding Gilt, Alexandra managed retail operations at Bulgari, overseeing 15 North American stores. Before working at Bulgari, Alexandra managed Leather Goods Sales Planning for Louis Vuitton North America. She had previously worked at Financo for the late retail guru Marvin Traub, former Chairman and CEO of Bloomingdales. Alexandra began her career working for 3 years in investment banking at Merrill Lynch.
Alexandra holds a B.A. from Harvard College, where she graduated magna cum laude, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. She speaks five languages and has studied, lived, and worked internationally in Latin America, Europe, and Japan.
Alexandra is on the Board of Directors of Perry Ellis International (Nasdaq: PERY). She has served on the non-profit boards of: Dress for Success Worldwide, The National Retail Federation Foundation, Women’s Forum, Inc and Fashion Group International. She is an active fundraiser for her alma maters The Brearley School, Phillips Exeter Academy, and Harvard University.
Alexandra, together with Gilt co-founder Alexis Maybank, is the author of the New York Times bestselling book By Invitation Only: How We Built Gilt and Changed the Way Millions Shop (Portfolio/Penguin).
Most companies and individuals can benefit from incorporating innovative and entrepreneurial thinking and action in the workplace. No matter if you work at a startup or in a big corporate environment, innovation leads to growth, success, job retention and loyalty among employees at all levels. In this presentation, Alexandra explains why it is critical that companies incorporate and welcome innovation and creativity from all levels of an organization.
Everyone can benefit from a powerful network. But where do you begin building successful personal and professional relationships… and how can one leverage an existing network? Visiting chapters from her bestselling book, By Invitation Only: How We Built Gilt and Changed the Way Millions Shop, co-authored with Alexis Maybank, Alexandra explains why it’s important to help others whenever possible in order to build good karma — because what goes around truly does come around.
It is critical to build a compelling and consistent brand when launching a consumer facing business. But how can you do this with minimal marketing dollars? In this presentation Alexandra offers tips and insight into getting the word out about your business idea, product or venture even with minimal startup funding. She examines why some brands succeed while others fail and offers hints on how to build your brand quickly yet effectively.
Building a team is one of the most critical things you can do to drive results within a business, whether you’re working in the startup or corporate environment. Referencing examples from her own experiences as an entrepreneur, advisor and angel investor, Alexandra examines teamwork at every level of the game, using the Myers-Briggs Test as one of many frameworks for building a high-performance team.
As a frequent and celebrated speaker at women’s organizations, Alexandra is particularly adept at encouraging women to become leaders and find their true potential in the global workplace. Sharing firsthand experience as a leader and entrepreneur in her own right, she shares stories of working in male-dominated environments including investment banking and the luxury sector, as well as the barriers she shattered in her own endeavors at Gilt and GlamSquad.
It is no secret that most startups fail — how can you prime your start-up for success from the get-go? It’s about creating an entrepreneurial culture and results-oriented working environment that attracts the best talent in the business. It’s also about taking a disruptive idea and turning it into a viable business, employing entrepreneurial thought along the way. Delving into some of the stories and themes in her bestselling book By Invitation Only: How We Built Gilt and Changed the Way Millions Shop, Alexandra shares tips on how to start, grow and scale a successful business.
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