Meet Stefanie Erica Hammett- Co-owner and SVP of Operations for OmniiX, an organization of passionate online retail specialists leveraging merchandising, eCommerce, and shopper marketing experience.
Prior to coming to the agency side of the business, Stefanie spent a decade thriving in roles at Kellogg’s or Smithfield Foods across e-Commerce, Sales Operations, Business Management, and Account Management Sales. Just out of undergrad and before getting her MBA, she spent 3.5 years in the USVI in marketing.
It all began when she got intrigued by eCommerce as a consumer, observing the opportunities for expansion, growth and driving a very different way of life as the world was becoming technologically advanced. As a professional in the CPG industry, Stefanie was blown away by having the foresight to see the disruption eCommerce was going to create. She wanted to be a bigger part of this field in a professional way- and so she made some important changes in her life.
Her venture OmniiX is an eCommerce agency with roots in managing brands on Amazon and other platforms. The agency recovers fees for brands selling on Amazon through its product known as ChargeGUARD. Passionate about the product and maximizing profitability for her clients, Stefanie revives her productivity out of the organisation by engaging in activities like mountain biking, yoga, rollerblading, hiking, etc. with her family and pet.
When she began with the venture, she identified herself as an early online food shopper and would consistently notice brands she was touching professionally that needed to improve their eCommerce presence (like most non-digital native brands at this time). She says:
“I started looking at different approaches, researching methods, reading industry articles and developed micro-business plans around eCommerce expansion for the companies’ brands. Then, internally, depending on the audience, I would push discussions around expanding eCommerce. Finally, enough of the conversations and business planning took that I was able to indirectly work on our eCommerce presence. Finally getting the go-ahead to work in this space at my organization was thrilling!”
Later on, Stefanie reached a point in her life where the only thing she knew she wanted was ‘change’. She felt as if the options available for her were endless (fortunately) but any path I would chose was going to come with a lot of sweat and unknowns. To commence with this, she indulged in some soul-searching to really get behind the kind of change that was going to come. From practising meditation on a regular basis, getting deeper into yoga and researching about a lot of different career paths, she took the time to understand where she wanted to intentionally direct her life; and when she had reached a point of clarity, the new changes came into being.
She is currently inspired by Courtney Stanton, who she finds to be a powerful leader. “She is breaking into emerging spaces blending science and CPG, and she has such a high business acumen; she is just impressive. Also, I look towards my Dad for a lot of grounded business advice. He always impresses me with his research and ability to listen while providing solid, succinct advice, ” she says.
For all the women who aspire to be entrepreneurs one day, she believes that there are two focal points in one’s life- the first is being a student and the second is confidence. According to her, a few humbling moments helped her quickly understand that learning is a life-long pursuit with changing goals. She says, “For confidence, that final minute before you walk out onto a stage to speak/perform or just before walking into the meeting room to lead a strategically important meeting, the only voice is your own; it better be a positive and confident voice.” Other qualities she finds professionally useful include flexibility, resourcefulness, being efficient, patience and communication.
As she looks back, she believes that one must figure out their value system and then figure out their ‘flexibility around their value system. “Do the pre-work, be flexible and stay aligned with your foundation. I wish I would have understood others trying to explain this to me at a younger age. But now that I have come such a long way, I now realize how important it is to be prepared in advance,” she says.