I am so excited to have Brittany as our new contributor here on Shoebizness.com. Brittany replied to an email I sent out asking for help from the industry and she has a lot to offer our readers! Brittany is so enthusiastic about footwear and she loves to stay on top of what’s going on. For busy people like me and a lot of you, having her will be so helpful as she will keep us in the loop of all the current trends. Welcome Brittany and thank you for your time!! -Julia

Hello! My name is Brittany McGinley and I am very excited to join the shoebizness.com team; contributing articles on emerging global product trends, intriguing new product developments, and new developing materials for footwear applications.  I began my career in the footwear world with PUMA where I worked with increasing responsibilities within the global product management team for the international business – focusing on the women’s category.  My responsibilities included trend and concept identification, appropriate last, color and material selection, and product lifecycle management on a global basis. While at PUMA I learned the tough hurdles of product management & production, as well as honed my skills in bringing relevant and targeted products to the commercial market. For the past 1.5 years I have worked as a Project Manager with my family’s boutique consulting firm in the Philadelphia area, after a family situation obligated me to return to my family business. While I am happy I have helped my family since my return, I have always felt a longing to return to the footwear industry, and have kept in close contact with many of my  industry colleagues. I am excited to be able to share my on-going findings and involvement with the rest of the footwear community. I currently live outside of Philadelphia, PA but I travel all over the world!

I am heading overseas soon, so I will be bringing you my first contribution! I am looking forward to it!

-Brittany