Reboot Podcast Episode #26 – Finding Your Business Soulmate – with the Grommet Co-Founders

Jules Pieri is Founder and CEO of the product launch platform The Grommet. The company’s “Citizen Commerce” platform is reshaping how consumer products get discovered, shared, and bought. Jules started her career as industrial designer for technology companies, and was subsequently a senior executive for large brands such as Keds, Stride Rite and Playskool. The Grommet is her third startup, following roles as VP at Design Continuum and President of Ziggs.com (sold to Reputation.com). She completed her undergrad degree, summa cum laude, at the University of Michigan and people tell her she is the first designer to graduate from Harvard Business School.

Jules is frequently tapped to speak on consumer trends and technologies, social media, design, and entrepreneurship and has done so at many institutions such as HBS, SCAD, and MIT, and at conferences such as South by Southwest, and in media outlets like NECN, NPR, and FOX. She is an Entrepreneur in Residence at Harvard Business school.

Early in her career she worked as an industrial designer at Sagem S.A. (Paris), and Burroughs (Detroit). She was also a graphic designer at Data General (Boston).

She lives near Boston and is the mother of three sons who look like they are going to be solid citizens. Phew.

Fast Facts

• University of Michigan, BFA Industrial Design, Graphic Design
• Harvard Business School, MBA
• Design Continuum, Vice President of Sales
• Stride Rite, Vice President of Strategic Planning
• Ziggs.com, President and COO
• Avid hiker, theatergoer, and rescuer of greyhounds

Someday a business book will be written on why trust is the most important asset one can build in a company. And when that book is written, Joanne will be a central case study subject. In her every action, Joanne is working to deserve the trust of the Grommet community. She is personally driven by the idea of creating a business with deep purpose – one that is stitching together transparency and community to serve up meaningful, adventurous stories around products. Joanne continually raises the bar of what it means to be a great Grommet and to have a company holistically reflect the values it represents. Which translates for our Makers to: “I have your back.”

Joanne has extensive experience creating and launching consumer products and spent over 20 years at Stride Rite Corporation where, as Vice President of Product Development her career culminated in a company turnaround, achieving a record $385mm business in a single year and 11 straight quarters of improving sales and profitability. Joanne loves building things in a team setting and thrives in fast paced, creative environments.

Given Joanne’s flawless inner compass and courage, it’s no surprise that her great grandmother was the first woman in Massachusetts to hold a motorcycle license. Joanne is breaking new ground too, in reinventing how products are launched. And she does it with caring and trust, running on all cylinders. In June 2014, Joanne was invited to the first-ever White House Maker Faire to launch The Grommet Wholesale Platform, connecting Makers with Main Street Retailers.

Fast Facts

• Grew up in Lynn, MA and is the first woman in her family to attend college
• Simmons College, BA Retail Merchandising and Business
• Vice President of Product Development – Keds Corporation
• Mother to 3 wonderful boys and Sydney the dog
• Loves ‘Camp’ – a place on the lake in Maine
• Favorite saying: “I push big rocks up steep hills and I love it.”