AAPN (Women) Stories

We all have a story to tell. Here are just a few ...

 

 Sue Strickland  Kim Macaulay  Daniella Ambrogi

Sue C Strickland
Executive Director, AAPN

I grew up in rural Georgia when there was a sewing factory in almost every town; my mother made all my clothes (even my first wedding dress); and girls learned to sew in high school. More

Kim Macaulay
Business Development Executive

I grew up in Northern New Jersey. As a young girl in the mid-sixties, my father took my sister and I to work for a day in the summer, long before “take your daughter to work” was a thing. I still remember the excitement I felt crossing the George Washington Bridge riding into Manhattan.  More

 Daniella Ambrogi

VP Marketing, Lectra North America

I’m responsible to manage a team of marketers for all our three verticals: Fashion and Apparel, Automotive and Furniture for US, Canada, Mexico and Central America. I’ve been in this position for 2 years; previously I was the marketing director for Lectra South America. I’ve been with the company for 7 years. More

Hebe Schecter

April Bracco

 Christa Hagens

Hebe Schecter

President & CEO, Kaltex America

I am originally from Argentina. I came to the US with my husband to study for couple of years and then return home. Twenty-five years later, I AM home in NJ with my husband Alex, and my kids Sebastian, Martin and Victoria and our beloved dog.  More

 April Bracco

Licensing/Project Manager, Kaltex America & Revman Int'l, a Kaltex Co

In 1998, I graduated from Ramapo College of New Jersey with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Shortly after graduation, I  moved to South Carolina, where I found a job with Revman International.  More

 Christa Hagens

Regional Commercial Manager, Avery Dennison

I’ve been working for Avery Dennison for 15 years in various roles. My main focus has always been our products and our customers. What I love most is that this industry is constantly changing and evolving... More

 

Jennifer Knight 

 Courtney Cruzan  Jill Coleman

Jennifer Knight

President & CEO, American Woolen Company

I’m from Macon, Georgia though spent a good deal of my childhood in Connecticut so consider myself half-Yankee to my mother’s dismay.  I’m also third generation in the textile industry.  My grandfather was CFO & Treasurer of the Bibb Company, a large home furnishings manufacturer and my dad later became CEO of the same company.  That was back in the days of big textiles in the South.  More

 

Courtney Cruzan

 


A natural networker and business maven with a long history in the textile and apparel industry, I am focused on building business relationships and making the entire US supply chain successful.  More

 Jill Coleman

Business Development Director, Alvanon


I started out in the Kmart Management Program, based in Atlanta, GA. I knew this would be a stepping stone for better things to come. Understanding Retail Operation and how things were merchandised, how to deal with employee relations, understanding the use data would be key in my career.   More

Chelsea Whittle

 Deborah Richert  Jean Marie Scutari

Chelsea Whittle

Account Manager
Avery Dennison

I’m a born and raised Texan with a passion for the apparel industry. I’m energized by the face pace and ever changing demands and possibilities. I spent 5 years with JCPenney as part of their world-class sourcing organization. I am now an Account Manager for Avery Dennison.  More

Deborah Richert

NA West Marketing Manager-Textiles
Hyosung USA

Growing up in a small town in southern Oregon in the 70’s, the reality of sports was truly like “Friday Night Lights” the fictional television series of what every town lives for: Friday night football. It’s not just about football, it’s the sharing of community and camaraderie through sport regardless of age, gender or race.  More

Jean-Marie Scutari

VP Business Development & Marketing
Southern Textile Network

My career journey started with a passion for sewing and designing clothes when I was very young. I was just always intrigued with all the different types of fabrics that were in the fabric stores, especially in New York City. To this day, I still enjoy researching many distinctive fiber blends, constructions and colors that I can get my hands on.  More

Jennifer K Jones

 Jennifer Mason  Pam Peale

Jennifer K Jones

Sales & Marketing
Contempora Fabrics

I am super proud of the video we made recently at Contempora Fabrics. Our President, Ron Roach, approached me just a couple months into my time at Contempora to be the point of contact on this project. The entire project was something so far from anything I had ever done, but I combed the internet for inspiration, met with our “thinktank” on this project, and worked with the script writers on numerous edits to fully convey our vision.  More

Jennifer Mason

CFO
Revman Int'l & Kaltex America

I grew up in a small town in West Virginia the youngest of 3 girls.  My parents insisted that we “go away” to college so I attended Clemson University where I earned a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering.  I quickly determined that wasn’t the career path for me, so I got an entry-level office job and went back to school to take some business classes. That office job was at Revman International, Inc. More

Pam Peale

Director of Sales, North America
DeSL

I studied fashion design and after designing children's wear for a couple of years, I found myself working for a technology company. I have stuck with this industry, but really like the software side being able to provide solutions.  More

Lynne Sprugel

 Deb Trout  Pamela Denichilo

Lynne M Sprugel

Vice President & Managing Director - International Sourcing Operations

Academy Sports + Outdoors

Growing up in the Midwest in Kansas City, MO, there was not much cultural diversity at the time. In 7th grade, my Social Studies class studied other cultures and countries and I loved it. In 9th grade, I took a Spanish class that opened my eyes and led to a quick week in Mexico City during that summer. My passion was born ... I knew I  wanted to do something "international."  More

 Deb Trout

Director of Business Development for North America

r-pac International

I am new to the apparel industry, just 2 years young. I joined r-pac International as the Director of Business Development for North America in April of 2016. The AAPN event was my introduction into the world of Apparel. My role at r-pac is to build a team of professional Global Account Executives that excel at exceeding customer expectation and delivering solutions to their ever changing landscape as it relates to trim and packaging.    More

 Pamela DeNichilo

Chief Product Development & Innovation Officer

Tegra Global

I’m the Chief Product Development & Innovation Officer for Tegra Global, a leading manufacturer of performance, sports and team apparel. I joined Tegra in November of 2017 after spending 12 years at Mast Industries developing and cost engineering for the Victoria’s Secret brand. After spending 25 years on the retail brand side, the move to the factory side has proven to be an exciting change in my career. I love working with the top brands and helping them create solutions for the product they are developing.  More 

Elisa Torres de Suarez

 Sheilagh Wilson  Karen Epple

Elisa Torres de Suarez
Marketing & Innovation Manager

George C Moore Company

I was born in El Salvador, but ever since I was 8 years old I have been exposed to many different cultures because I lived with my family in the United States for several years and I have had the opportunity to travel to more than 20 different countries. This taught me to be more tolerant and to appreciate the uniqueness in everyone and specially the uniqueness of my home country, El Salvador.  More

 

 Sheilagh Wilson

My entire career of over 25 years has been dedicated to designing and manufacturing Textile related products in apparel, footwear and the wearables.

I went from buying, to designing product, to sourcing & manufacturing. In my latest role I crossed over to a tech company that develops textile wearables. My success has been to keep reinventing myself, change with trends, and think outside of the box.  More

 Karen Epple

Director Fabric Sourcing

Target

My most notable achievement in my career is standing up the fabric sourcing capability at Target. I literally started as a one person team in Minneapolis and built the team into a major competitive advantage for Target, with team members in 6 global offices. More

Avery Davis

   

Avery Davis

Production Manager

Haggar Clothing Company

One of my most memorable career accomplishments was being a recipient of the Haggar Golden Crown Award. The is a monthly award given to an employee who is recognized for going and above and beyond to achieve a goal. I will never forget that day! I was so pleasantly surprised and had no idea I would be chosen for the award. The award was presented to me by my supervisor in front of the entire company.  More

   

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