Elisa Wickstrom

We aim to distribute technical assistance and capacity building through partners and existing resources to support the connection and scaling of food enterprises. Food entrepreneurs make up the backbone of the local food economy. Successful food entrepreneurs engage with various networks, facilities, programs, and service providers, but the path is often disconnected and overwhelming. Guidance and resources provided by governmental agencies, institutions, programs, and service providers are key for business development, but they are often disconnected, duplicative, and misaligned with the needs of small and mid-sized enterprises.

Instructor for Getting Your Recipe to Market (GYRM) program for F&B entrepreneurs. Specialize in online & hybrid course instruction, liquid syllabus development, new business strategy and product management.

Strategic Advisor to CPG businesses as they scale up from commercial kitchens to facility build-out & co-packing, including process improvement, sourcing, targeted COGs reduction, supply chain planning, 3PL, operations management, wholesale strategies, distribution, product launch, packaging design, and compliance.

Launched Award Winning CPG brand, including recipe development, brand strategy, marketing strategy, packaging design, production planning, operations management, inventory management, ingredient sourcing, and forecasting.

Co-Founded education-focused design firm providing consulting services and design solutions to retail and non-profit sectors.

Strategic services firm focused on digital innovation for Fortune 1000 companies, acquired by WPP in 2007. Managed team of 20+ Experience Designers, increased retention, managed resourcing, project health, training, and mentorship.

Product Design & Architecture reporter for The New York Sun. Covered design openings and architecture happenings in the greater NYC area, including Philip Johnson’s Glass House, Guggenheim renovations and exhibit openings including at the Cooper Hewitt and USB Gallery.

In-house architect at the University of Virginia balancing campus expansion and maintenance with UNESCO site. Conceptualized and managed campus way-finding systems, architectural competitions, and building maintenance backlog.

Invited member of IBM’s internal think tank, The Institute for Business Value, which researched and developed POV documents for the consulting practice. Partnered with The NRF (National Retail Foundation), Architecture and Design firms to develop IBM’s Store of the Future project which established IBM’s position on the future of the customer in the retail environment. Analyzed market conditions and customer response to new digital in-store initiatives for major retailers. Designed kiosk experience, researched and co-wrote white paper presented at annual NRF conference for C-Level Executives.

Worked closely with Sephora team to translate in-store design and branding to online experience. Designed first cascadingnavigation system for Sephora.com as well as interactive make-up tools. Evaluated usability tests and customer purchasing patterns as well as corporate and in-store design strategies to inform online user experience. Interviewed internal stakeholders, analyzed feedback to inform redesign of content management system. Partnered with internal marketing, creative, and editorial teams and coordinated efforts with existing backend systems of other LVMH properties to reduce company-wide online operating costs.