Cindy Swain-Tulba

I lead and scale global eyewear brand and product portfolios, operating across licensed, owned, and private-label environments with responsibility spanning brand strategy, commercial growth, and enterprise-level product development. With 25+ years’ experience, I’ve built, repositioned, and grown global eyewear brands across lifestyle, sustainability-led, and industrial safety segments. My work sits at the intersection of brand turnaround, founder-led brand creation, portfolio leadership, USA market development, private label strategy, and systems transformation. Since 2020, I’ve held senior leadership responsibility across multiple strategic brands while also operating at head-of-function level within New Product Development (NPD). At O’Neill Eyewear, I rebuilt the brand from a COVID-impacted base operating at 59% of budget to nearly threefold growth, delivering strong year-on-year performance and exceeding royalty minimums. Growth was driven through disciplined range architecture, USA account development, omni-channel strategy, and global travel retail expansion. In parallel, I lead brand and product management for Caterpillar Eyewear, a global industrial and safety eyewear brand with complex compliance requirements. Since 2020, the brand has delivered sustained, budget-aligned growth and expanded across optical, sun, and RX safety categories, including CSA-certified programs and employer-led safety initiatives across the US, Canada, LATAM, and international markets. Alongside licensed and owned brands, I hold senior responsibility for the company’s private-label eyewear portfolio, leading end-to-end product strategy and delivery for direct accounts across multiple markets. During COVID, I co-founded and launched Botaniq, a sustainability-led eyewear brand, building it from concept to national retail and early travel retail distribution. Alongside brand leadership, I currently co-head the NPD function, with direct management of a team of six and responsibility for the end-to-end implementation of a global PLM system, including governance, rollout, and training. I’m known for calm, decisive leadership through complexity and the ability to scale brands, teams, and systems without diluting brand integrity. I’m selectively engaging with Head of Product, Director, or VP-level opportunities. Expertise Brand Turnaround & Scale • Portfolio & Multi-Brand Leadership • Private Label & Direct Accounts • NPD & PLM Transformation • Global Product & Range Strategy • USA Market Development • Sustainability-Led Strategy • Safety & Regulatory Development