Nikki Rode
Verified Expert in Sales
Sales Expert
Denver, CO, United States
Toptal member since October 14, 2025
Nikki is a brand strategy and marketing leader with 15 years of experience in driving growth and building brand loyalty for apparel, skincare, beauty, health and wellness, and CPG brands. She has extensive experience in new market expansions, new brand and category development, rebranding, and high-growth categories. Nikki is an entrepreneurial leader who excels in both startup and highly matrixed environments, working with strategies for DTC, B2B, wholesale, eCommerce, and retail sales.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- B2B2C
- Brand Management
- Brand Marketing
- Brand Strategy
- Business Development
- Go-to-market (GTM) Strategies
- Product Strategy
- Retail & Wholesale
Work Experience
Co-founder and Lead Creative Director
Eleventh House Studios
- Partnered to launch a branding and marketing studio designed to help CPG and health and wellness service brands launch and grow.
- Developed the brand and GTM strategy for a pregnancy-friendly skincare line. Project included the complete brand development, brand governance, DTC launch strategy, development of product roadmap, and a three-year plan to launch in brick and mortar.
- Led the design and creative team through a complete eCommerce strategy and design, including the Shopify Plus website framework, UI/UX optimization plans, search engine optimization (SEO) strategy, and digital merchandising strategy.
Brand Management and Marketing Lead
Gains Intermediate
- Led the intermediate portfolio for Prestige Labs by defining and implementing the brand vision, strategy, positioning, product development, marketing, brand governance, and growth plans for their premium nutritional supplements.
- Led the rebranding of Prestige Labs by defining the brand vision and mission, overhauling aesthetics and marketing, and creating a long-term assortment strategy, increasing the brand's NPS score by 300% from 2022 to the first half of 2024.
- Built the brand strategy and eCommerce framework for Gymowners.com, a new Gains CRM launching in 2025. Used competitive analysis and current user feedback to create a brand positioning and brand guidelines that received a 90% sentiment score.
- Drove $1 million in cost savings by restructuring marketing budget to eliminate ineffective paid media initiatives, consolidating eCommerce platforms, and reducing COGs through supplier management and improvement of operational efficiencies.
- Created three new growth channels in 2024 that drove a 35% topline lift in Q2 from Q1. Spearheaded the launch of Prestige Labs in Canada, launched Prestige Labs on Amazon, and developed and launched a wholesale strategy.
- Generated the largest marketing campaign in company history for Black Friday/Cyber Monday 2023, resulting in a 300% year-over-year (YOY) increase in holiday topline and a 300 bps increase in profitability.
- Increased AOV by 40% and cart size by 10% from Q4 2023 to Q2 2024. Optimized the pricing strategy and website user experience through the introduction of new product page functionality, customizable ordering, and expanded payment options.
- Managed marketing, eCommerce, and operations teams. Oversaw high-level management of all agency partners, including ownership of their selection and scope, while providing support to teams who manage day-to-day agency relationships.
Manager, Global Brand Strategy and Marketing Innovations
Rodan + Fields
- Led the GTM strategy and omni-channel campaign execution across digital, growth, loyalty, paid media, social media, influencer marketing, and public relations for new brand and product innovations, as well as ongoing marketing initiatives.
- Grew new user enrolment by 10% YoY by evolving the social media optimization (SMO) strategy. Built an integrated social strategy focused on lifecycle and user-generated content (UGC).
- Achieved or exceeded all new product launch sales goals while decreasing marketing spend by 15%. Built digital educational tools, resources, and new functionality, which allowed for the reduction of high-cost printed materials.
- Established a $20 million annual partnership strategy where the first year of partnerships exceeded all sales goals by 20%.
- Led the brand partnership program, driving partnership strategy through sourcing and contract negotiation, GTM planning, end-to-end cross-functional team integration, forecasting, and sales management.
Manager, Marc Jacobs Beauty Global Brand Strategy and eCommerce
Kendo
- Oversaw global B2C, DTC, and wholesale brand and sales strategies for Marc Jacobs Beauty, developed activation plans for product launches, and drove assortment and sales strategies for the brand-owned website.
- Built a digital brand strategy to maintain a consistent brand voice across all channels, achieving a threefold increase in digital site, social, and email conversions over 12 months.
- Evolved the assortment for the hero product category strategically, increasing YoY sales for Q1 2020 by over 5% and marking the first quarter of positive YoY growth in two years, making it the top-selling eyeliner in all Sephora markets for 2020.
- Delivered over $1 million in cost savings in response to Spring 2020 global store closures. Reduced sampling and print spend strategically and shifted to an affiliate-driven UGC campaign for all 2020 new product launches.
Global Omni-channel Merchant, Old Navy, Toddler Girls
Gap
- Led, developed, and implemented long-range merchandising and investment strategies and processes for the Toddler Girls category, a $150 million business and the largest department within the Kids/Baby division.
- Grew Toddler Girls topline by 20% YoY and exceeded the 2019 annual revenue plan by 10%. Created and presented all department strategies to executive leadership and led cross-functional teams through implementation of in-season and long-term plans.
- Increased the 2019 profit by 300 bps from 2018 by strategically reducing markdown inventory by 20% and revamping Good-Better-Best category investment strategies.
- Utilized the market trend analysis to introduce a new product category that added an incremental $10 million in 2019 and $25 million in 2020.
- Led digital strategies for the division, handling strategic eCommerce testing, pricing, and promotion optimization, and managing digital product expansion strategies across the Kids/Baby divisions.
eCommerce Buyer and Merchandiser, Gap Europe Baby
Gap
- Managed the Baby category for Gap European business, which accounted for 50% of total Gap European volume.
- Delivered the largest sales year for a single division in Gap Europe's history for 2017. The Infant topline grew 110% YoY, and the category exceeded profitability goals by 500bps.
- Grew the customer base by 500% from July 2016 to 2018. Created and implemented a new customer acquisition strategy with a focus on market-specific SEO plans and an optimized cross-channel site experience.
Buyer, Kids' Apparel and Accessories
Amazon.com
- Managed the Kids' Apparel and Accessories category for Amazon's flash-sale site, MyHabit.
- Managed P&L and monthly OTB, oversaw 100+ vendor relationships, conducted financial negotiations, guided operational performance, and developed marketing and merchandising strategies and both short- and long-term category planning.
- Evolved the brand matrix by eliminating unproductive brands and introducing new classes into the assortment, which resulted in beating all profitability goals for 2015 and having the highest profit per unit since the company launched in 2011.
Product Manager
Target
- Managed the product development, sourcing, and production for all women’s sweater brands, overseeing a category of over $350 million.
- Managed the production execution of $150 million Liz Lange maternity business. Oversaw a matrix of ten global vendors and optimized margin profitability, inventory in-stocks, production lead-time, and delivery.
- Received a divisional award for implementing strategic and off-season production and design strategies in the women's sweaters category, resulting in $75 million in cost savings in the second half of 2014 alone.
Project History
Bourn Skincare Brand and Website Design
Led brand and go-to-market (GTM) strategy creation, which included a complete brand development, Shopify website design, direct-to-consumer (DTC) launch strategy, development of product roadmap, and a three-year plan to launch in brick and mortar.
Bourn Skincare is a pregnancy-friendly skincare line developed in partnership with OBGYNs and dermatologists that is launching in Q1 2026. I was hired to take the founder’s brand concept and develop it into an emotionally effective and compelling brand.
Gains Intermediate | Prestige Labs Rebrand
Recruited to rebrand Prestige Labs, which included defining brand vision and mission, a complete aesthetic and marketing overhaul, development of a long-term assortment strategy, and building a roadmap of site UI/UX optimizations.
As the Gains Intermediate portfolio leader, I defined and implemented the brand vision, strategy, positioning, product, marketing, brand governance, and growth plans for Prestige Labs’ premium nutritional supplements.
Prestige Labs Marketing and Sales Campaigns
Created three new growth channels in 2024, driving a 35% topline lift in Q2 from Q1, achieving the most significant Q4 holiday sales to date, and increasing average order value (AOV) by 40%.
While at Gains Intermediate, a private equity-backed startup portfolio with over $50 million in annual sales, I oversaw the Prestige Labs brand through new sales channel developments and a comprehensive marketing strategy revamp.
When I started at Gains, Prestige Labs was only sold through gyms and the DTC website. In 2023 and 2024, I launched the brand in Canada on Amazon and developed a wholesale framework, which resulted in a 35% topline lift in Q2 2024 compared to Q1.
In 2023, I led the team through a comprehensive marketing overhaul, focusing on creating a strategic, integrated campaign and reducing unnecessary ad spend during the holiday timeframe. By streamlining the promotional offers, strategically highlighting key products, and utilizing an influencer and affiliate strategy, 2024 holiday sales grew by 300% YoY with a 300bps margin improvement.
Education
Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration
The University of Colorado at Boulder - Boulder, Colorado, USA
Skills
Roles
Sales Development Representative (SDR)
Competencies
eCommerce
Other
Merchandising, Retail & Wholesale, Brand Management, Brand Strategy, Brand Marketing, Beauty Products, Apparel & Accessories, Product Marketing, D2C Branding Strategy, Product Branding, Website Redesign, Go-to-market (GTM) Strategies, Launch Strategy, B2B2C, Product Strategy, Business Development, Finance, Shopify Plus, HubSpot, Retail Merchandising, Nutrition & Supplements, Social Media Strategy, Global Digital Marketing Strategy, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Cold Outreach, Salesforce Sales Cloud, Business Administration, Marketing, Psychology, New Products, Retail Sales, Sales, Product Development, Product Design, Brand Partnership, Influencer Marketing, Social Media, Paid Media, Growth Marketing, Campaigns, Branding, Global Strategy, Retail Strategy, Pricing, New Product Development, Buyer Personas, Recruiting Sales, Profit & Loss (P&L), Global Sourcing, New Product Rollout, UX Design, UI Design, Product Packaging, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), Shopify Design, Rebranding, Sales Strategy, Channel Strategy
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