Theresa Reed

The Stable, part of Accenture Song, is the world’s largest Modern Commerce Agency. Essentially, we connect brands and consumers across all channels. I’m the SVP of DTC Growth at The Stable, responsible for building solid partnerships that generate new opportunities for growth within the DTC ecosystem.

I’d say I’m a relentless optimist, tenacious — some may call it stubborn, but I like to think of it as strength with a purpose. I tend not to become intimidated by challenges or change.

Being authentic and self-aware are strong leadership qualities. These create strong collaboration and communication within your team and help foster trust. I think excellent leadership is about developing the people around you: trusting, empowering, and enabling them to contribute their expertise.

One of my greatest professional achievements has been building a completely bespoke digital practice within a large publicly traded company. I identified a gap and need in the market, and within our client base, this was the impetus. Building the practice from ground zero (zero partners, zero leads, zero revenue) had its obstacles. I ran into a lot of “no” and “this will never work,” etc. Despite the challenges, we were able to grow the practice. We produced solutions and stayed focused on listening to the needs of our partners and clients. One win at a time quickly grew into multiple wins, expanding teams, and increasing revenues. When I left the organization, the digital practice was producing over $200 million in revenue and proudly representing many Fortune 500 brands.

I’ve always been passionate about causes geared toward helping children that do not have the support or resources needed. I’ve been a big supporter and contributor to Girls Inc., an organization which helps girls in the local community navigate barriers that some take for granted. Empowering girls to be trailblazers and aiding them with solutions to strive in uncertain circumstances is invaluable. I believe when we provide girls with education and opportunity, they’re more likely to rise up to become a powerful force for change.

Challenges obviously vary per brand, depending on vertical and where they are in their growth and maturity. For eCommerce brands, some of the biggest challenges are conversion and retention — converting visitors to paying customers and keeping them as customers. It costs brands way more to acquire new customers than it does to retain them and selling to an existing customer is much easier than it is to a new one. This goes to show how important customer retention and loyalty really are.