J Lawrence
SENIOR COMMERCIAL EXECUTIVE | REVENUE LEADERSHIP, $180M+ P&L & ENTERPRISE AI STRATEGY | TEAM DEVELOPMENT, PARTNERSHIPS & CLOSING
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About
Senior corporate executive fluent in designing and implementing AI strategies for enterprise, revenue leadership, and developing exceptional high-performing teams, holding an MIT Sloan certificate in AI strategy with projects spanning machine learning, computer vision, robotics, digital twins, and simulation, a Harvard Business Review certificate in process optimization, Google data visualization certification, HubSpot certification with Salesforce fluency, and a Six Sigma Black Belt graduating in 2026, built on 14 years inside a $26B top 15 privately held company.
Trusted at the top of the enterprise: selected 1 of 23 from 23,000 employees for the flagship leadership program, served on a 5-person special project team that designed onboarding software and talent development for the entire workforce, presented the project charter directly to the CEO and board of directors, championed a $5M technology investment pitched to the CEO, and shaped enterprise AI adoption strategy on initiatives evaluating warehouse automation and smart-glasses technology. Owned P&Ls from $56M to $180M+ leading revenue organizations of up to 57 through 2 Sales Directors and 6 Area Managers, moving a market’s revenue growth from #9 to #2 nationally in 24 months, delivering +27.8% revenue and +24.7% gross profit growth, designing 40 monthly quotas and incentive structures for a $93M organization, and personally running the weekly pipeline inspection and forecast challenge cadence.
Closes at the highest level: carried an individual quota for eight years before leading, then never stopped, serving as executive sponsor on multi-year cycles with national retail, hospitality, and e-commerce enterprise buyers including Costco, Marriott, and Hilton, closed through the multi-millions, sitting in hundreds of executive meetings a year with the CEOs of 350+ supplier relationships, opening hundreds of new accounts every year, signing 3,200+ targeted customers onto a proprietary analytics platform, a strong negotiator who builds trust and knows how to get a yes.
Develops people as a signature: workshop curriculum authored, quiz and video-based programs, hundreds of vendor training sessions, train-the-trainer presenter for 150 executive leaders, coaching that produced 7 promotions in a two-year period with 3 into the broader enterprise, an AI image-to-data capture program personally designed and piloted, workflow automation co-designed across thousands of accounts and 100+ users, 1,000+ events produced, and pricing, deviation, and communications governance for an entire market.
Earlier chapters: ran a 13-state region for an international importer, growing it into the company’s largest revenue contribution at 24% of total revenue with minimum +15% growth every year, CEO-direct with principals across Europe and South America; a five-year advisory practice serving Credit Suisse, Citi, and Lululemon; and a 2002-2005 semiconductor tenure spanning the company’s growth from a $22M valuation to
Experience
Vice President - Southern Glazer's - Phoenix, AZ
(2024 - 2025)
$180M+ P&L | 57 direct and indirect reports | 2,800 accounts | 350+ supplier relationships | Multi-site market
- Held full P&L ownership of a $180M+ business unit and led a team of 57 direct and indirect reports, building the annual plan, defending it to finance, and owning organizational structure and resource allocation through multiple reorganizations.
- Defined and executed the multi-year strategy that moved the market's revenue growth from #9 to #2 nationally among top-tier markets within 24 months, redesigning team structure, portfolio priorities, and operating cadence.
- Served as enterprise gatekeeper for all pricing and programming decisions, quantifying the financial impact of every investment before approval, and as a key marketing stakeholder determining marketing strategy and investment.
- Selected to the enterprise’s national AI think-tank task force; co-founded a national development program advancing women across the organization through mentorship pairings, training cohorts, and events, building the leadership pipeline.
- Governed 350+ institutional partnerships end to end, including international principals, with negotiation, performance standards, quarterly business reviews, and executive-level communication across borders and time zones.
- Built the KPIs, dashboards, and executive business reviews behind investment decisions, designed incentive compensation across the sales organization, and developed the talent pipeline that produced 7 promotions, 3 into the broader enterprise.
Sales Director - Southern Glazer's - New York, NY
(2020 - 2023)
$93M portfolio | 30 direct and indirect reports | 3,800 accounts | 75 supplier relationships
- Selected to a 5-person CEO special project team that designed and piloted an enterprise onboarding and talent development program for a 23,000-person workforce, presenting the project charter directly to the CEO and board of directors.
- Directed a $93M portfolio and a team of 30 direct and indirect reports across 3,800 accounts and 75 supplier relationships, delivering +27.8% revenue growth, +24.7% gross profit growth, and +3% market share.
- Led the organization through severe market disruption and recovery, rebuilding staffing and coverage plans, deploying third-party agencies and contingent labor to flex capacity, and evaluating in-house versus outsourced delivery as conditions shifted.
- Personally led the largest enterprise relationships, including Costco, Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt, through complex, committee-driven cycles into long-term, recurring-revenue agreements.
- Led solution development for an enterprise software initiative end to end: requirements, build-versus-buy analysis, vendor RFP and selection, proof-of-concept direction, and a CEO-level ROI business case.
- Served as sponsor and donor coordinator for 100+ events, securing B2B charitable donations, producing galas and cause campaigns, and negotiating landmark partnerships with Madison Square Garden, Yankee Stadium, and Tao Group.
- Standardized planning cadence, reporting, and performance frameworks across four area teams, creating consistency in how decisions were escalated, documented, and resolved.
Area Manager, New York Metro - Southern Glazer's - New York, NY
(2011 - 2019)
$74M peak portfolio | 1,100 accounts | 150 supplier relationships | Eight consecutive years of growth
- Advanced through eight years of progressively larger scope, delivering +17% revenue and +16.4% gross profit growth through disciplined account management, performance standards, and coaching cadence.
- Pioneered enterprise CRM adoption and digital transformation across the salesforce, owning rollout strategy, change management, and user enablement to establish pipeline visibility, data integrity, and forecasting accuracy.
- Designed and launched a scalable hiring and development framework for the business unit, reducing turnover by 20% and developing field representatives who advanced into management.
- Built deep client relationships across New York’s luxury market, developing personalized programs that drove loyalty, retention, and expanded share of wallet in every key account.
- Directed key account management and strategic account planning across a complex portfolio, identifying competitive displacement opportunities and negotiating incremental contract value.
Commercial Advisor and Keynote Speaker - The Melini Group - New York, NY
(2015 - 2020)
Executive advisory and keynote practice | Credit Suisse, Citi, Lululemon
- Delivered keynote presentations and executive case studies to senior leadership teams at Credit Suisse, Citi, and Lululemon on commercial strategy, organizational performance, and growth frameworks, translating complex operating models into clear recommendations for C-suite audiences throughout a concurrent five-year advisory engagement.
Regio - Evaton Inc.
Sales & Marketing leadership | International premium wine & spirits importer | 13-state U.S. region



