AMBITION Advisory Board

Cynthia Helsley is a highly accomplished Senior Operations Executive and Entrepreneur with more than 20 years of success in the retail, wholesale, and manufacturing industries. Leveraging extensive experience as a talented visionary and cross-functional collaborator, Cynthia is a valuable asset for small to mid-size companies of similar sectors seeking expert assistance with generating revenue, infrastructure, building out a channel strategy, or ecommerce.  Her key areas of expertise include sales strategy, process improvement, and talent management. She is a creative problem-solver, strategist, and thrives on success. 

Cynthia is Co-Owner of Modfountain.com, a startup of modern, minimalist steel fountains created by New York and Los Angeles based sculptor, Randy Bolander. Cynthia is restructuring the website, creating a comprehensive marketing and sales strategy targeting landscape architects and developers, and creating a business plan including financials. 

She was recently Chief Operating Officer of Dogeared, a manufacturer of handcrafted jewelry. Cynthia was recruited to build infrastructure and a sales channel strategy to drive online, international and wholesale sales for this underperforming 26-year-old company. She led the company through a complete restructure and managed 10 Directors, overseeing 90+ employees. She created and managed a $25M P&L budget. During her tenure, Cynthia revamped the supply chain and introduced an outsourced production model, resulting in a 30% increase in productivity and 98% fill rate during the peak season. She improved the gross margin by 4% and reduced finished goods inventory $900K, purchase order controls, and narrowed SKU count. She saved $1.4M+ in overhead by reducing headcount, renegotiating contracts, and outsourcing. Prior to that, she was Senior District Manager at Barnes & Noble. She led a $110M flagship district and developed a new strategy to reposition the business and launch retail products. Cynthia provided leadership and direction for 750 employees. She increased sales $7M within first 18 months. 

She holds an MBA, Marketing from Pepperdine - Graziadio Business School. She attained a BA, Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles. Cynthia is a Fundraiser for the American Red Cross and Member of the Board of Directors for ambition.org. She is a former Member of the Board of Directors of West Edge Sculpture Exhibit, former Director and Head of Fundraising for West Seattle Garden Tour, and Volunteer for Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King County. In addition, Cynthia is a former Advisory Board Member for AHRC New York City. She speaks English, French, and Spanish.