I’m Terry Mettler.
I’ve had the privilege of leading some extraordinary projects both in a professional capacity & in the community over the course of my career.
I thrive in my ability to put all the pieces together to bring the vision of a project to life.
As a leader, I've driven projects across design, strategy, and operations management in consumer-facing spaces.
I love to construct agile frameworks that fuel creativity & collaboration. As I navigate ambiguity, I align goals and resources to maximize productivity.
What’s been most important has been the people and relationships I’ve fostered.
I have a contagious enthusiasm toward my work and enjoy getting others excited about our future projects.
Services.
I've become adept at juggling multiple roles, enabling me to swiftly add value through my diverse background in leading cross-functional teams and initiatives, product development functions and buying at major department stores at Fortune 500 corporations,
-
Create. Speed. Scale. I enjoy bringing together the right people, processes, and tools to amplify creativity and impact at scale.
-
Excel as a driver of best-in-class consumer-facing roles, leading design and strategic operations for large-scale, complex programs. I enjoy creating organizational clarity in environments of ambiguity, I align activities with short and long-term goals to achieve strategic business objectives.
-
Creating plans to have the right assortment of product at the right time and in the right location. My specialty is to develop strategies, pricing plans, and curate product selections using consumer insights and data analytics.
-
With my extensive experience, I specialize in planning and organizing projects, always prioritizing consumer-centric deliverables. This involves identifying and managing the project lifecycle, overseeing the design process, assembling the appropriate project team, and efficiently guiding them through all phases until project completion, while optimizing resources.
Cases Studies
Professional & Community Based Projects
Process | Collaboration | Strategy
HOI Concept Store Launch
Retail Innovative Shopper Strategy
Strategic Collaboration: Built a cross-functional team to create a “First Ever” Marketing Strategy for Retail Shoppers, aligning with Retail Concepts and a unique consumer experience. Shoppers created a positive last touch point for the consumer and a Branding moment as the consumer walked out of the store and down the street.
Data Driven Analysis: Leveraged consumer insights and data analytics to establish “right size” shoppers to increase the consumer experience at final check-out.
Operational Workflow: Established a baseline template system to scale across all retail store concepts for materials & sizing affecting all branded packaging across the enterprise.
Process Implementation: Design foundation became the benchmark for the Move to Zero Sustainability Initiative, eliminating single use plastic enterprise-wide.
Global ReBrand
A Foundational Rebrand Initiative
Global Brand Strategy: Successfully implemented a foundational comprehensive packaging strategy for apparel, footwear, equipment, and accessories.
Brand Voice Unification: Streamlined and unified the Nike brand voice and tone.
Visual Audit & Merchandise Management: Engaged the use of a visual audit to identify the scope and unit costs across all categories. Ensured that package structures merchandised in size across fixtures at the retail floor.
Operational Efficiency: The project yielded successful outcomes, including the baseline process guidelines & development of effective visual merchandising strategies, These processes and guidelines remain in use today
Consumer Excitement Capsule
Seasonal/New Store Opening
Leadership and Strategic Collaboration: Led and collaborated with the North America Marketing stores team to create, design, price, and execute an "opening weekend" shopper for LIVE doors, aligning seamlessly with the brand voice to enhance consumer excitement.
Forecasting: Secured alignment with the North America team to proactively forecast the usage for new stores throughout the year, ensuring optimal pricing and delivery commitments.
Supply Planning: Partnered closely with suppliers to define ordering guidelines, achieving the best pricing for the team and optimizing cost efficiency.
Cost Reduction and Sustainability: Successfully achieved a 12% decrease in the cost of the shopper while simultaneously introducing a reusable, sustainable product.
Seasonal Campaign Program
Sport Moment and Specialty
Strategic Platform Development: Drove the development of a systematic platform, aligning it with the updated brand look and feel of the One Nike Design ethos as reflected in the Strategic Shopper Strategy.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Leveraged my development and merchandising background to collaborate with vendors and the design team. Together, we re-skinned existing forms and introduced new materials, optimizing lead times and eliminating the need for extensive development and testing.
Creative Solutions for Marketing Teams: The deliverables provided tailored solutions for internal marketing teams, adding significant value to the initiative objectives by enhancing efficiency and effectiveness.
Sustainability
Move to Zero Initiative
Strategic Partnerships with Sourcing & Brand Teams: Partnered closely with Sourcing & Brand cohorts to drive leadership buy-in. Simultaneously navigated legal guidelines, compliance requirements, and cleared operational challenges.
Sustainable Narrative Collaboration: Collaborated with the writing and legal teams to successfully communicate Nike's Move to Zero Sustainable strategy through compelling narrative messages on tiered packaging.
Global Implementation: Launched the sustainable messaging initially on the "HOI" House of Innovation Flagship store shoppers. Later, successfully implemented the messaging on all shoppers globally as stores transitioned from plastic to paper, ensuring a consistent and impactful global approach.
Product Creation | Merchandising Operations.
Strategic Accounts
Exclusive Merchandise Programs (SMU)
Strategic Product Development & Visual Merchandising: Identified exclusive opportunities to create promotional products at key price points for 15 strategic accounts, enhancing market presence.
End-to-End Ownership and Management: Owned and managed the entire development process, from ideation and design partnership to costing, sample creation, and successful presentation to the accounts.
Collaborative Line Planning: Collaborated with the National Sales Manager to develop seasonal line plans and strategies, aligning product assortments with each account's unique strategy and financial goals.
Significant Business Growth: The program experienced substantial growth, contributing to 20% of the apparel business at the time and realizing a margin of 3 points above planned inline goals.
Community Impact Projects
-
Facility Management
Strategic Project Management: Strategically planned and executed visual and furnishing design projects totaling $3.0 million over a 7-year period.
Effective Collaboration: Developed strong contractor relationships to achieve project goals, ensuring seamless execution and high-quality outcomes.
Streamlined Facility Management: Established processes to streamline the management of the facility, enhancing the experience for both members and staff.
Board Leadership and Revitalization: Provided Board leadership that successfully guided an "at-risk" facility and membership to its current status as a healthy and vibrant chapter. Additionally, mentored Collegian officers to support their success in their one-year positions.
-
Fund Development
Leadership: Chaired a Capital Campaign at a local high school, leading efforts to upgrade all athletic facilities.
Community Engagement: Recruited and mobilized a team of 30 community members, garnering widespread support for the initiative.
Impactful Project Results: The success of the project highlighted the crucial need for upgrades, specifically turf fields, across the entire school district.
Fundraising Success: Successfully raised $2.5 Million over a 2-year period through collaborative efforts and strategic fundraising initiatives.
District-Wide Recognition: Acknowledged as the largest Public High School Campaign in the State of Oregon, setting a benchmark for impactful community initiatives.
-
Community + School + District Liaison
Community-Centric Leadership: Publicly elected to a cross-functional team, serving as a vital link between the community and the school Principal.
Strategic Facility Planning: Tasked with identifying and establishing priorities for immediate, short-term, and long-term facility needs at Beaverton Schools, ensuring a comprehensive approach to address diverse requirements.
Architectural Collaboration: Collaborated effectively with school architects to revise proposed plans for renovations & new build.
Financial Resource Reallocation: Successfully redirected saved funds towards other critical building upgrades, maximizing the impact of the initiative on the overall improvement resulting in substantial cost savings of approximately $1 million for the district.
Who I am and What I Stand For.
Relationships
Build and maintain strong collaborative relationships, both internally and externally, leveraging them to drive tangible business result.
Expertise
Process Strategy Team Collaboration Team Leadership & Engagement Process improvement & efficiencies Vendor Management & negotiations Program & Project Management
Problem Solver
Enjoy breaking down complex problems into manageable "chunks" to develop actionable plans, embracing progress rather than striving for perfection
Communication
innate ability to organize and effectively communicate thoughts both in writing and verbally, coupled with active listening skills..
Experience
10 years Program & Project Management 10 years Coach & Mentor 8 years PLM & Merchandising 7 years Brand Design Marketing Strategy 5 years Major Dept. Store Buyer
Big Wins
Stood up Nike Pkg. COE Framework/processes Global Retail shopper commercialization Global Digital shipping rebrands Global Sustainable packaging messaging Apparel/Equipment/Licensing Rebrand
What People are Saying.
-
Terry is a seasoned creative and retail packaging professional. She is a strategic thinker with amazing communication skills. This allows her to work effectively across different teams and align them to reach specific goals. I highly recommend Terry and would be thrilled at the chance to work with her again in the future.
-Antonella da Camara, VP, Client Managment Vivabox Solutions
I have worked with Terry on packaging projects. I am impressed by Terry’s work ethic. Her exceptional knowledge, problem-solving skills and attention to detail were instrumental in its success. I highly recommend Terry for her dedication, professionalism, and ability to deliver results.
-Amy Arenz, Global Branding & Packaging Developer, Nike
-
My working relationship with Terry was forged under a rebrand for Nike some years ago. At the time, the work was a design change our agency was creating for a single product launch but the visual language represented something more impactful for the brand. Over time, this became a wholesale rebrand reaching every type of labeling and packaging at the company. Our agency could not have done this without Terry. Terry sees the sweeping trajectory in the long game, she knows where the key connection points are for stakeholder alignment, she has a keen sense of brand systems, and knows what takes internal mechanisms to turn over new solutions and processes. Terry applied this groundswell technique to dozens of initiatives during the time we worked together. Terry inherently understands the value of cross-functional teams and she is very good at identifying and bringing in the right players. At the heart of what she does is connection. She provides that spark on the team that keeps the conversation going, the process active and the team engaged.
-Kelly Ongpin, Senior Account Manager, Brand Managment & Strategy