Speakers

Mr. Baram has spent over 16 years in the consumer products and entertainment and media industries. In 2007, Mr. Baram co-founded the private equity firm VMG Partners, which has become an industry leader in investing and growing marketing-driven, branded consumer product companies. VMG collaborates closely with entrepreneurs and management teams to provide capital, resources and strategic guidance that accelerate growth and raise brand awareness. VMG has raised over $2 billion in capital to date; its current and past portfolio companies include leading brands in the food, wellness, sports nutrition, personal care, beverage, and pet categories, among others, such as Drunk Elephant, Natural Balance Pet Foods, Justin’s Nut Butters, Vega, Solid Gold Pet Products, Kind Healthy Snacks, Quest Nutrition, Pirates Booty, Waggin' Train Pet Treats, Pretzel Crisps and many others. Mr. Baram currently focuses on all aspects of the Fund's investment strategy, execution and portfolio company management, as well as leading its unique partnerships with media companies in the entertainment industry to provide marketing support to VMG portfolio companies.

Prior to co-founding VMG, Mr. Baram served as President and COO of The Firm, the leading talent management and film/television/music production company in the entertainment industry. During his more than nine year tenure in that role, Mr. Baram and his partners at The Firm helped develop and manage the careers of many of the industries' leading artists, including Cameron Diaz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Snoop Dogg, Martin Scorcese, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Timberlake, Criss Angel, and many others. In his role at the Firm, Mr. Baram also raised over $50 million in private equity capital from investors such as Thomas H. Lee and Bain Capital and acquired numerous other talent management and production companies.

During his tenure at the Firm, Mr. Baram also helped lead The Firm’s innovative consumer products group which combined entertainment marketing with owned-and-operated consumer product brands. This included the acquisition of Pony International and the dramatic growth of the sneaker and apparel company and its successful sale in 2003. Mr. Baram has also executive produced over 100 episodes of television and is a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Prior to joining The Firm, Mr. Baram was a partner at the law firm of Alshuler, Grossman, Stein & Kahan from 1991 to 1999 and previously practiced law at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker.

Mr. Baram received his J.D. with Honors from Harvard Law School and graduated Summa Cum Laude from Boston University with a B.A. in Economics.

Nanette C. Heide is a partner in Duane Morris’ Corporate Practice Group, Co-Chair of its Private Equity Division and team lead of the firmwide Private Equity Industry Group. She is also Senior Advisory Partner to the firm's Fashion/Retail/Consumer Branded Products Group.

Ms. Heide has significant experience handling complex transactions and providing general corporate counseling. She regularly represents private equity and venture capital investors, multinational and domestic corporations (public and private) in a wide spectrum of corporate finance transactions, including private equity and venture capital investments, mergers and acquisitions, institutional private placements, cross-border transactions, debt and equity structuring transactions, joint ventures and strategic alliances. She also has formed and structured private equity and hedge funds.

Ms. Heide is a member of the firm's Partners Board. In 2018, 2019 and 2020, Mergers & Acquisitions named Ms. Heide one of the Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A. She previously served as general counsel and chief financial officer of two technology companies. She is a graduate of Washington and Lee University School of Law, where she was editor in chief of Washington and Lee Law News, and is a graduate of West Virginia University.

Bill is responsible for originating new investment opportunities, diligencing new business opportunities, structuring transactions and working with our partner companies. 

Bill has spent more than 15 years focused on the global consumer and retail sectors. Prior to joining TSG, Bill served as Managing Director and Head of Consumer/Retail Mergers & Acquisitions at Jefferies. While at Jefferies, he also served as Co-Head of the Global Junior Resource Initiative for the Investment Bank. With a focus on advising high growth businesses, his clients have included Morphe Cosmetics, Elemis, Amplify Brands (Skinny Pop), Kendra Scott, PetIQ, Too Faced, and Varsity Brands.  In 2019, Bill was recognized by The Deal as Consumer/Retail Dealmaker of the Year.

Prior to Jefferies, Bill was a Managing Director at Gleacher & Company. He began his career working in the Consumer, Retail & Healthcare Group at J.P. Morgan.  Bill received a BA, with honors, in Government from Georgetown University.

Erin Edwards joined TZP Group as a Partner in July 2020.  Prior to TZP, Erin spent 10 years at North Castle Partners, a private equity firm focused on consumer investments that benefit from healthy living and aging trends.  During her time there, Erin focused on originating, executing and monitoring investments across a wide range of sub-sectors in the consumer industry including food and beverage, vitamins and supplements, sports nutrition, beauty and personal care, and fitness.  Erin worked closely with the executive management teams and stepped in as interim-CFO on several occasions to help those teams maximize shareholder value. Prior to joining North Castle, Erin was an investment professional at AEA Investors, where she focused on the execution and monitoring of investments across various B2B and B2C segments, and Insight Venture Partners, where she sourced, executed and monitored various investments across the software and technology verticals. She also worked as Director of Corporate Development at Acronis Software, where she helped lead various financial and strategic initiatives.

Erin graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Economics.

Katie Harris Storer joined Blackstone in 2020 and is a Principal focused on consumer growth equity investments.

Prior to joining Blackstone’s Growth Equity team, Katie was a Vice President at The Carlyle Group focused on U.S. buyout investment opportunities in the Consumer, Media & Retail sector. Previously, Katie worked at Wellspring Capital Management, a middle-market private equity firm in New York and at Deutsche Bank, where she focused on the consumer and retail sectors.

Katie received an M.B.A from Harvard Business School and a B.S. in business administration from Washington & Lee University.

Simon is a Principal in our Strategy and Transactions practice based in New York and serves as Grant Thornton’s National Managing Principal for the Retail industry. He focuses on bringing the firm’s Advisory, Audit and Tax services to private equity and corporate clients and has worked on more than 200 transactions on both the buy-side and sell-side across a broad range of industry sectors in North America and Europe on deals ranging in size from $5 million up to $30 billion. Simon is our Consumer Products and Retail Transaction leader and has led teams including financial, tax, IT, HR, insurance and operational due diligence. He has broad experience working across the Consumer and Retail industry and PE clients have included Eurazeo Brands, Mistral Equity, Tengram, TZP Group, Vintage Capital and Alleghany Capital. Corporate clients that Simon has worked for include Franchise Group Inc, Estee Lauder, Church and Dwight, Target, Vitamin Shoppe and Dicks Sporting Goods and he has recent experience of working with SPAC’s. Simon's specialization includes QoE and profitability analyses, net working capital and net debt analysis, review of financial projections, cash flow modeling and purchase agreement consultation. Simon also has experience of cost savings and synergy analysis, merger integration, carve-out transactions, restructuring, refinancing transactions and IPO readiness. 

Mr. Benjamin is a managing director in the Harris Williams Consumer Group who focuses on branded consumer products, consumer services, specialty retail, and retail healthcare. He has advised a diverse group of publicly traded and privately held companies on mergers and acquisitions, capital raising, and strategic advisory assignments.

Prior to joining Harris Williams, Mr. Benjamin was an associate in the Consumer Investment Banking Group at BB&T Capital Markets. Mr. Benjamin’s prior experience also includes work as Equity Research Analyst at Morgan Stanley and Bear, Stearns & Co., Inc. where he followed a variety of footwear, apparel & accessories vendors and retailers, as well as leisure goods companies.

Mr. Benjamin earned an M.B.A. from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and a B.A. in Economics and Government from the University of Virginia, where he was a Jefferson and Echols Scholar. Mr. Benjamin is a member of the CFA Institute and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. Mr. Benjamin lives in Richmond with his wife and two children.

Stephen joined Topspin in January 2008 and is a member of the investment committee. Stephen brings over 20 years of investing and operating experience and was instrumental in building the infrastructure and the success of Topspin Consumer Partners' private equity business. During his tenure with the firm, Stephen has covered a wide range of consumer-focused industry verticals with significant experience in specialty retail, health, and wellness and juvenile products. 

Stephen began his career with Bain and Company, where he focused on business services and manufacturing firms. Following his tenure with Bain, Stephen left to support the executive leadership team of Spherion Corporation during a multi-year turnaround. 

Stephen received his BS degree in Mechanical Engineering with highest honors from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2000, where he was President's Scholar, and received an MBA from Harvard Business School in 2007, where he wad a George F. Baker Scholar, and helped support the Chair of Finance Department in the development of the a new course focused on private equity finance. 

Stephen M. Wyss, CPA, is a partner at CohnReznick serves as the Firm's Consumer Industry Leader. He has more than 15 years of accounting experience working with companies of all sizes, from start-ups to international Fortune 500 companies.

Stephen provides audit and accounting services to clients in a variety of industries including retail and consumer products, apparel and fashion, media and entertainment, manufacturing, and life sciences. He has specific expertise in merger and acquisition transactions, public and private debt and equity offerings, and auditing internal controls over financial reporting.

Prior to joining CohnReznick, Stephen was a partner and the leader of the New York Retail and Consumer Products Group at a large national accounting firm.

Consumer & B2B CEO and Board Director with experience across enthusiast industries: apparel, optics, footwear, toy, learning, sporting goods, outdoor, industrial services, diet/weight loss, home decor, convenience store, etc.

Demonstrated history of turn-around and growth acceleration. Skilled in P&L Management, Digital, Brand Loyalty, Marketing Management, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Management, and Mergers & Acquisitions. Strong brand professional with a MBA focused in Marketing and Corporate Strategy from Duke University, Digital Strategy, Harvard Business School 

Matt Jordan has over 30 years experience in helping direct-to-consumer companies improve the way they reach and interact with customers and improve the efficiency of their operations.  Matt is currently acting CEO of Covercraft Industries – a source of protection products for automobiles, RVs, boats, and other enthusiast segments.  Previously, Matt was CEO of two of the nation’s largest companies in the automotive aftermarket – the Aftermarket Performance Group and Eckler Industries.   Prior to returning to his love of classic and enthusiast cars, Matt worked for in the collectibles market as the leader of new business development for The Bradford Group, COO of the Hamilton Collection, and Director of European Operations for Franklin Mint.  Matt also serves on the board of directors for Extra Mile Brands.

Justine is a Managing Director in the Consumer & Retail Investment Banking group at Stifel, a leading global growth-focused investment bank based in New York.  Justine is responsible for the teams coverage of the Apparel, Accessories and Luxury sector as well as covering many Digitally Native brands and Ecommerce/Internet Retail platforms.  Justine has transaction experience across other consumer industry segments including juvenile products, beauty & personal care products, leisure, food, retail, agriculture and home products.

She joined Stifel from Alantra, an investment bank where she was a Managing Director covering US Consumer and Co-head of Personal Care globally. Prior to Alantra, she was Global Head of Consumer & Luxury at BDA Partners, a global investment bank focused on cross-border transactions with Asia, and a Director at DC Advisory Group in London.

She is a founding Board Member & Investor in Exponent LLC, a New York based networking organization established in 2017 focused on promoting woman in finance in the middle market. 

She was selected as one of the “Most Influential Woman in Middle Market M&A 2019” by Sourcemedia,  received a “40 under 40” award from M&A Advisor 2013,  “Top 50: America M&A Dealmaker” by Global M&A Network in 2013; and included as Acquisition Finance’s “2014 Dealmakers of the Year’.

Justine graduated with a B.Com and Postgraduate Diploma in Accounting from Rhodes University, South Africa,  and started her career in public accounting at KPMG in Cape Town and London. Justine currently lives in Scarsdale, NY, with her husband and two boys.

Brett Haslam has over 23 years of experience in Retail, Supply Chain Strategy, and Consulting.  With his strong skills and experience in creating and implementing Supply Chain strategies and Lean-focused improvement practices, he has developed solutions across multiple industry verticals (Manufacturing, Retail, eCommerce, and Wholesale).  He is a recognized by his peers as a leader with a passion for efficiency and collaboration.

Brett has a unique perspective as he has experience as a solution practitioner, implementer, and a strategic designer of supply chain solutions.

On a personal note, Brett and his wife of 26 years, Alyson, an epidemiologist with a PhD from the University of Georgia, are the parents of an amazing 22-year old son and a wonderful daughter in law, both of whom are currently in school working on their business degrees.  When he is isn’t remodeling homes, he loves to swim, bike, run, and enjoy outdoor activities.