Jules spent her childhood days reading every single biography her Detroit elementary school offered, filling her head with gigantic ideas about how each and every person can impact the world. This inspires Jules as she leads the Grommet. She's building a Citizen Commerce-powered platform to help people support the kind of products that align with their interests and values. Jules' confidence in attacking seemingly impossible challenges was formed at a young age. Her first trip to Europe was not a mere visit...she moved herself to Paris right out of college. Similarly, she relocated her family of five to Ireland for the first half of this decade. Why? Why not?

The Grommet is Jules' third startup. Jules started her professional life as an industrial designer working for computer enterprises. She soon realized the majority of our economy is shaped by consumer products companies, so she followed the action over to consumer brands as an executive at Keds and Hasbro. Jules is told she is the first industrial designer to get a Harvard MBA, where she is now an Entrepreneur in Residence. Jules was named one of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs in 2013 and in June 2014, she was invited to launch The Grommet Wholesale Platform at the first-ever White House Maker Faire.

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.