Speakers

Uwe Stueckmann is a titan in the marketing and branding industry. In his former role as EVP
and Chief Customer Officer of Loblaw Companies, Uwe oversaw one of Canada’s largest
marketing budgets in support of multiple brands and banners.
Uwe’s marketing experience is both broad and deep; from managing the iconic Shoppers
Optimum and PC Optimum programs, to launching Loblaw Media, to management of the
iconic President’s Choice brand, Uwe’s influence on Loblaw Companies – and in fact the
entire retail landscape – is profound.

Patrick Rodmell is a renowned change agent for retailers worldwide, helping his clients drive
substantive brand and financial performance improvement for more than 20 years.
Patrick leads Rodmell & Company, a consulting and creative agency headquartered in
Toronto, Canada, with clients throughout North America.
From supermarket retailers throughout North America, to fashion retailers in Dubai, to the most
prestigious beauty care brand in the world, Patrick has provided strategic planning, branding,
marketing, and creative leadership in virtually every retail sector.
Patrick has been asked to share his perspective on marketing, branding and the future of retail
at countless international conferences and through leading business and retail publications.

Steve Mossop is the executive vice-president of Leger’s Vancouver office and leads a team of 20+ researchers in B.C. serving public and private sector clients with full-service market research solutions.

Most recently, Steve was the president of Insights West, which Leger acquired in late 2021. Insights West offered insights-driven solutions via leading-edge tools and normative databases and had 15+ employees and $3M+ in billings annually in the 10 years it operated. Prior to this, Steve was at Ipsos for 17 years and managed 30+ client service staff in multiple cities after starting his career at the Angus Reid Group and TNS.

Steve has released over 700+ public opinion polls on politics; topics from bridge tolls to bike lanes; support or opposition to environmental, social and policy issues; employee satisfaction; social media habits and COVID-19 impacts. He has correctly predicted the outcomes of over 25 elections over his career.

His accomplishments include launching Insights West to be the fastest-growing B.C. market research company, winning Business in Vancouver’s Top 40 Under 40 award in 2006, and winning BCAMA’s 2001 Marketer of the Year Award. Steve was chair of the BCAMA’s Senior Executive Program for 4 years and was a member of Vancouver EO for 5 years.

Steve is a frequent public speaker and media personality in British Columbia, making regular appearances on a wide variety of media outlets as the spokesperson for Leger and in the past for Insights West and Ipsos. Steve holds a BBA degree from Simon Fraser University with a concentration in marketing.

Rachel is well known for her leadership and entrepreneurial achievement as Founder & CEO of
Canadian jewelry brand, Hillberg & Berk. The company started from her kitchen table and was
named to honour her great-grandmother, Hilda Bergman. With fourteen stores across Canada, and
global Ecommerce operations, Rachel has grown the H&B brand that continues to attract
international attention and demand. Rachel’s business successes have included a showing at The
Oscars, a deal on Dragon’s Den, partnerships with Olympic ice dance champion Tessa Virtue, model
and activist Ashley Callingbull, Canadian influencer Jillian Harris, and two custom design
commissions for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Rachel has built a successful national brand with purpose and impact baked into the DNA. Since
inception, H&B has donated millions in financial and product contributions to partner organizations
who share the company’s mission to connect women to their power.
Rachel’s accolades and volunteer contributions over the years are impressive, as she passionately
works to recognize and empower women across Canada and around the world. Rachel was
awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for her volunteer work in 2012 and the Queen’s
Platinum Jubilee Medal in 2023, was named an Ernst and Young class of Winning Women in 2015,
was named one of XL’s Canada’s Top 40 under 40 in 2017, was named one of Women’s Executive
Network Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women in 2016 and 2017 and received the Women
Entrepreneurs of Saskatchewan Celebration of Achievement Award in 2018.
As a notable alumna from the University of Regina, Rachel received an Honorary Doctor of Laws
Degree in 2022, and supports the Saskatchewan community by generously funding several
scholarships that empower young women. Rachel volunteers her time as an Honorary Captain of the
Royal Canadian Navy and on the national board of Dress for Success Canada.
More recently, Rachel has been very open about her cervical cancer journey, in hopes that it might
encourage other women to access healthcare and undergo regular pap testing, and she channels
this passion into advocacy and philanthropy for medical innovation for women’s health through
Women Leading Philanthropy in Saskatchewan. Rachel is married to her best friend, Zlatan, and is a
proud mom to three children.

As chief communications and public affairs officer, Polly Tracey leads the organization’s public relations, internal communications, community investment, sustainability governance, events, influencer strategy, corporate communications and government relations functions.
With experience across North America, Europe and Asia – spanning some of the world’s best-known brands including American Airlines, Sony Music and Honda – Polly is known for driving creativity and innovation, while guiding companies through periods of significant growth and change. As the founder and executive sponsor of the Best Buy Green Team and the Mentorship and Acceleration Program (MAP) for Black and Indigenous entrepreneurs, she catalyzes cross-functional groups to solve challenges with an enterprise mindset and collaborative approach. She was named Communicator of the Year by the Public Relations and Communications Association (Europe’s largest and most influential communications’ body) for 2013 – 2014, was a judge for PR Week’s Global Awards in 2019 and was named one Ragan/PR Daily’s Top Women in Communications in 2020.
A strong believer in positivity breeding productivity, Polly embraces challenges and relishes building effective strategy to help brands stand out and to enhance employee and community sentiment.

David Lui is the CEO and a partner of Unity Brands Inc., a company he co-founded with Joe Mimran and Frank Rocchetti. Unity Brands recently acquired Kit and Ace, where David also serves as CEO.

David has an extensive background in retail with over 30 years of retail and marketing experience and is known for his award-winning brand transformations, e-commerce and digital knowledge along with his passion for scaling businesses.

He has worked and led many retail brands including Esprit, NYGÅRD, Mark’s, Sport Chek and most recently, he was the CEO at KORITE International. In 2022, he was ranked 11th in the Global CEO Awards. His portfolio includes being named CEO of the twelfth Fastest Growing Company in Canada’s PROFIT100, First for Fastest-Growing Company in British Columbia, Canada, winner of the BDC Young Entrepreneur Award, and a Business in Vancouver Forty under 40.

David holds an MBA from the Ivey Business School at Western University.

Michele leads the group that’s responsible for sharing the MEC brand with the world. A dedicated people leader, she’s known for her ability to build strong culture as well as strong teams. She’s been a proud MEC member for ages, and she brings a depth of skills in brand strategy, creative and operations to her role.
Before MEC, Michele led marketing at top-tier retail brands going through periods of rapid growth (including Arc’teryx and Aritzia). As a leader who’s also a creative at heart, she believes in the power of good storytelling and leading with high-quality creative to elevate a brand.
One of her favourite aspects of her work is how it links with her love for the outdoors. She’s an avid backcountry skier, downhill mountain biker and trail runner, and she spends every opportunity planning adventures outdoors.

Ashley is a loving wife and mama to her baby girl Francesca aka “Frankie.” Born and raised in Vancouver, BC, she was an educator for the better part of a decade before co-founding Smash + Tess with her mother in 2016. Ashley graduated from Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, BC with two Bachelor Degrees in English and Education, along with a Masters in Education.

Now a resident of Los Angeles, Ashley started Smash + Tess after finding a void in the loungewear market. She attended the summer fashion program at Conde Nast in London, UK, and the rest is history!

As Managing Director of Smash + Tess, Ashley oversees everything from designing to financial planning and forecasting, to dreaming up fun and creative marketing campaigns. Under Ashley’s vision and management, Smash + Tess has grown exponentially and transnationally, both in market share and public notoriety. Ashley is passionate about creating clothing for women that celebrates and encourages femininity, strength, and comfort- while, of course, never sacrificing beauty or fashion.

Adam Luck is a digital agency leader with 20+ years driving results for clients and agencies alike. Adam focuses on understanding client challenges/opportunities and assembling talented people to help solve the problem collaboratively. Currently Adam is serving as the Managing Director, Canada for DAC, an international digital performance agency recognized by Forrester as one of the top Performance Marketing Agencies globally. Previously Adam has worked at some of Canada’s finest media and creative agencies including Initiative, Reprise, Grip Limited, and Cossette. Adam is an HBA graduate from the Ivey Business School at Western University.

Marc leads KPMG Ignition, KPMG’s hub for innovation and emerging technologies, including digital twins and Generative AI. He has had the good fortune to work with clients across public and private sectors in North America and across Africa, giving him a unique perspective on technology and innovation as forces for good.

Kevin brings over 25 years of sales and insights experience in Consumer Packaged Goods.

Through his 23 years at PepsiCo, Kevin had the opportunity to work across food and beverage categories and to manage and work with customers across all channels. His experience at PepsiCo includes 7 years leading the Category Insights Team for beverages, where he collaborated with retailers to implement insights-led solutions to drive joint business plan results.

Kevin’s mandate as Senior Vice President of Consulting Services is to work with Environics Analytics’ (EA) clients and strategic partners to help them become more data-driven, leveraging deeper insights and practical applications that get measurable results. This includes leveraging clients’ first-party data in combination with EA’s databases (including big data) to better understand and profile customers, quantify the market potential, locate high-value prospects and activate the insights across the enterprise, including in digital and traditional media.

Kevin holds degrees from Queen’s University, the University of Windsor and York University.

Michael is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide.

Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon and all major podcast platforms.