Kathleen is currently the Vice President of Media for Michaels, the nation’s largest Arts & Crafts retailer.
In this role, she oversees Michaels ~$120 million Marketing investment including Michaels’ paid media
spend, agency relationships, digital content, app growth, marketing technology, and analytics. Over the
past six years, she has overhauled the media function at Michaels driving the marketing team to become
a modern, digital marketing leader. She and her team have increased marketing generated revenue for
the company 52% on investment down 27% through digital transformation, media innovation, and
ongoing campaign optimization. In 2021, her team and Michaels creative agency, R/GA, were awarded
the Cannes Silver Lion in Business Transformation for their work on the digital transformation of the
Michaels brand and its contribution to Michaels $5 billion private equity buyout.
Kathleen grew up in a media family as her father’s family was in the printing business and her mother’s
family was in the radio business in Texas. She was also a highly competitive athlete. Kathleen
continued her academic and athletic pursuits at the University of Alabama where she was part of the
University Honors College and captained the University of Alabama Women’s Soccer team. Kathleen led
her team to its first ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament and graduated from the Honors College
Cum Laude with a BA in Communications and a minor in Spanish. She earned Academic All-
Southeastern Conference honors all four seasons and was named one of four finalists for the Paul
“Bear” Bryant Scholar Athlete of the Year award her senior year, the University’s top academic honor for
NCAA Division 1 Athletes. In 2017, Kathleen was named University of Alabama’s “Outstanding Alumna
in Advertising” for her award-winning work on the Walmart brand.
After a several years working in the radio industry, Kathleen earned her Master’s in Business
Administration (MBA) from the University of Texas McCombs School of Business. She was named a
Loomis Presidential Scholar and concentrated her studies in Strategy and Marketing. Kathleen chaired
the McCombs Admissions Committee and served as the President of the Advisory Board for five years
after graduation. She received the McCombs Leadership Award for outstanding service and contribution
to the Business school.
Upon graduation, Kathleen joined Walmart US as part of the Marketing organization and later held roles
in Walmart International and Walmart.com. She began her career on the advertising team where she
worked closely with The Martin Agency to produce Walmart’s award-winning advertising campaigns.
She later became Chief of Staff to Walmart’s CMO, working on key customer insights projects, the
company’s strategic partnerships with key digital partners like (then) Facebook and Google, and
Walmart’s evolving brand comms architecture. Next, she worked as the Chief of Staff to Walmart’s then
International CEO, where she authored countless strategy and leadership presentations for investors
and the Walmart Board, led overseas trips for global stakeholder meetings like Walmart’s presence at
the World Economic Forum in Davos and the Africa Regional WEF, many M&A scouting trips through
Asia and Africa, and produced the International Shareholder’s Meeting which hosted over 4,000
associates from 37 countries globally. In her return to Marketing, she led Walmart’s second brand
transformation to become a true Omnichannel retailer. Leading the Omnichannel and Mobile marketing
teams, she helped the company shift its competitive focus to Amazon and helped launch some of its first
digital / mobile features like Free 2 Day Shipping, Walmart Pay, and Pharmacy and Money Center
Express lanes.
In 2018, Kathleen and her family relocated to DFW as she transitioned into her current role at Michaels.
