10×conversion-rate upside identified in the existing US business — against apparel-industry benchmarks. The growth lever was hiding in plain sight.
Role & scopeAs Brand & Growth Lead, I led US-market scaling and investor readiness — operating as a hands-on partner to the founders across brand, growth, e-commerce, hiring, and fundraise preparation.
- Brand & growth strategy · Investor materials & pitch
- E-commerce UX/UI redesign · Mobile-first rebuild
-Channel mix & customer acquisition · Creative direction
-Hiring & team management · Retail / wholesale exploration
TTSWTRS is a Ukrainian fashion brand with a distinctive aesthetic and a notable cultural following. In summer 2022, the brand was scaling into the US market and preparing for its next funding round. I joined as Brand & Growth Lead with a mandate to lead the US scaling and ready the company for the raise — operating as a hands-on partner to the founders across brand, growth, e-commerce, hiring, and investor preparation. The engagement ran five months. The scope widened along the way: what began as brand and growth work became a fractional operator role across six functions, as the path to scale and the path to investment proved to be the same path.
ContextThe opportunityOn arrival I sized the upside in the existing US business. The numbers told a clear story — not of a brand in trouble, but of a brand whose commercial engine was running well below where its cultural traction could carry it.
C O N V E R S I O N
~10× Improvement opportunity against apparel-industry benchmarks — a multiple, not a margin.
P A I D S P E N D
Re-allocatable. A meaningful share of paid spend could be redirected toward conversion-driving channels and creative.
M O B I L E
~90% Of traffic was already mobile, with the path-to-purchase yet to be designed mobile first.
B R A N D
Cultural traction and editorial presence already established — the brand wasn’t the gap, the engine was.
The fastest path to both scale and a stronger raise ran through the same work. Strategy and execution had to run in parallel — neither could wait for the other. The mandate widened into a fractional operator scope: brand, growth, e-commerce, investor materials, hiring, and business development, all moving in concert with the founding team.
The OutcomeBrand & Growth StrategyCo-developed the brand and growth strategy that became the company's investor-facing narrative. Positioning, channel mix, creative direction, and customer acquisition aligned into a single operating thesis — not parallel streams. Adopted into pitch deck + revised business plan. E-Commerce Rebuild
Mobile-first UX/UI redesign, conversion thoughline. Led the full redesign across home, mobile, checkout, menu structure, and product surfaces — with the founders, the e-commerce team, and the creative team. Anchored on a single operational call: mobile-first, matched to the audience already there. Conversion became the through-line every page had to earn.Investor Readiness
Pitch + business plan prepared, beta outreach planned. Co-developed the pitch materials and revised business plan, prepared the founders for beta investor conversations, and structured the outreach plan. The growth thesis on the wall became the growth thesis in the room.Operator Scope
Talent hired, developers sourced, retail + wholesale surfaced. The mandate widened with the work. Recruited and managed e-commerce talent, sourced developers to support the rebuild, and explored LA retail and wholesale expansion in parallel with strategy and fundraise. The role became fractional COO in everything but the title.
