Executive Summary
Jeannie Shin serves as the Vice President (VP) and Executive Director of Marketing at CALPAK, a Los Angeles-based consumer travel and leisure brand specializing in luggage and travel accessories. With over seven years leading CALPAK’s marketing, Shin has played a pivotal role in transitioning the brand from a traditional luggage company into a highly successful direct-to-consumer (DTC) business, now further expanding into physical retail.
Professional Background
Title:
- VP of Marketing / Executive Director of Marketing at CALPAK
Location:
- Beverly Hills, CA / Los Angeles, United States
Tenure:
- Over seven years at CALPAK in senior marketing leadership roles.
Previous Experience:
- Held marketing and merchandising roles at Zomato, Vaunte, and Gilt Groupe.
- Specialized in branding, community engagement, partnership development, and integrated digital campaigns within fashion, lifestyle, and travel sectors.
Education:
- B.Sc., International/Global Studies and Art History – UC Irvine
CALPAK Company Overview
Headquarters:
- Los Angeles, United States
Industry:
- Consumer, Travel & Leisure
Employees:
- 51–200
Mission:
- CALPAK seeks to “bring unique utility and playful spirit to daily and faraway journeys,” inspiring customers to embrace travel and organization.
Key Developments:
- DTC Expansion: Significant growth through e-commerce; Shin led branded content, digital campaigns, and developed a high-lifetime-value customer base concentrated in Los Angeles (~1 million active users).
- Physical Retail Launch: Opened the first permanent brick-and-mortar store at Westfield Century City, LA, in December 2024, following learnings from a successful New York City pop-up (2019) and longstanding wholesale partnerships (notably Nordstrom).
Marketing Leadership and Initiatives
Strategic Achievements:
- Brand Evolution: Instrumental in CALPAK’s evolution from luggage to a diversified portfolio including baby bags, lunch bags, and travel accessories.
- Community Engagement: Developed in-person and livestream events to strengthen customer loyalty and feedback loops; highly responsive to real-time customer insights, leveraging the geographic proximity of HQ and store.
- Omnichannel Strategy: Integrated physical and digital retail experiences. Addressed limitations of online shopping (e.g., inability to convey product durability or tactile feel) using in-store experiential retail designs.
- Customer Education & Upsell: Created cross-selling and upsell opportunities by broadening product and category awareness—maximizing in-store touchpoints to drive attachment sales (e.g., travel cubes, makeup bags).
Key Tactics:
- Innovative Store Design: Executed with Gensler, the flagship store concept uses visual “windows of opportunity” to encourage exploration of a wide array of CALPAK products.
- Tactical Inventory Management: Launched Google real-time inventory listings for in-store stock visibility.
- Livestream & Social Content: Hosts regular livestreams, boosting engagement and fostering ongoing dialogue with brand advocates.
- Corporate Partnerships: Managed successful retail alliances (e.g., with Nordstrom, initially in-store and later online-only).
Organizational Influence and Team Structure
- Marketing and Design Team: Directly oversees marketing, design, social media, branding, and growth marketing professionals.
- Executive Reporting Line: Key decision-maker for creative, omnichannel, and retail strategies.
Notable Public Commentary and Media Coverage
- Recognized as a calm, hard-working executive who exceeds expectations (per peer endorsements).
- Featured in industry publications (Retail TouchPoints, Modern Retail), often discussing CALPAK’s adaptations in retail strategy, customer experience, and merchandising.
Direct Quote (2024):
> “We have about one million active users [in LA]. We wanted to focus on driving extra lifetime value and increasing brand awareness in our top city... Success is looking at those metrics within a specific mile radius from our store.”
> — Jeannie Shin, on CALPAK’s regional retail expansion
Actionable Insights
- Highly strategic, analytic, and responsive marketing leader: Shin prioritizes data-driven expansion and rapid innovation, especially in the context of DTC retail and omnichannel integration.
- Accessible and influential: Regularly interacts with end customers, both online (livestreaming) and in-store—the latter a direct pipeline for customer feedback and loyalty initiatives.
- Open to partnership and technology-driven solutions: Emphasis on systems (like real-time inventory, interactive shopping tools) that enhance customer experience, streamline operations, and drive conversions.
- Networked and experienced in the broader consumer lifestyle sector: Extensive background in digital and physical retail, with a history of successful collaborations across fashion and lifestyle brands.
Contact & Profile Links
- LinkedIn: [Jeannie Shin](http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeannie-shin-34ab744b)
- Media/References:
- [Retail TouchPoints: CALPAK’s Physical Store Launch](https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/topics/retail-store-design/calpak-embarks-on-new-retail-adventure-physical-stores)
- [The Org – Org Chart](https://theorg.com/org/calpak/org-chart/jeannie-shin)
Org Chart – Direct Reports (Sample)
Marketing and Design Team members include:
- Growth Marketing (Alexis Noblitt)
- Social Media Coordinator (Tally Solomon)
- Art Director (Shelby Taylor)
- Brand Marketing Manager (Danielle Hamlett)
- Director of Growth (Arthur Wong)
For engagement and partnership opportunities, Jeannie Shin is a key decision-making executive with deep expertise in omnichannel marketing, customer experience engineering, and growth strategy within the consumer travel goods sector.
