Karen Herman is CEO of Gustie Creative, the leading Disruptive Retail solutions provider for brands, businesses, agencies, real estate firms and nonprofit organizations. She works with owners, operators, and stakeholders to create exceptional design, marketing and retail solutions that engage, educate and sell products and services. Completed projects range from under $1M to over $330M. Clients include Calvin Klein, Inc., KPMG, The New York Athletic Club, New York Palace Hotel, MediaPost and Zimmerman Advertising. In 2013, Karen founded Gustie Creative, a boutique design and strategy firm that specializes in Disruptive Retail. In 2015, She designed the highly innovative Live Media Trading Room for Zimmerman Advertising in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Her latest venture is Founder of Create Disruptive Retail, a mobile design platform that offers Disruptive Retail resources, solutions, and an online community, for the global user.
She is the author of “Solutions for Disrupting Disruption, The Essential Guide for Brands and Businesses” and “The Definitive Guide to Disruptive Retail Workbooks.” Karen hosts DisruptShop Workshops online and offline and supports design innovation as a member of the RetailWire BrainTrust and contributing writer to Simply the Best Magazine. Karen has been interviewed or quoted in Forbes, HFN Digital, NPR Marketplace, Independent Retailer, Mashed, Off-Price Retailing, RetailWire, SHOP Podcasts, South Florida Business Journal and Voyage MIA. She was recently named one of the Top 101 CEOs in the Retail Space by Best Startup US.