Working with Marcus Lemonis

Upon his initial sign-on with Marcus Lemonis of CNBC’s hit show The Profit, Joseph was responsible for the launch and development of the Marcus Lemonis Fashion Group brand, a portfolio/agency of expanding e-commerce, wholesale, and retail fashion businesses owned & operated by Lemonis. For 3 years, Joseph has helped launch multi-label brand showrooms in NYC and Los Angeles, a creative agency, oversee advertising campaigns, audit & rebuild emerging businesses, and manage strategic partnerships with the likes of Lemonis’ other businesses Camping World, Gander (Mountain) Outdoors, Sweet Pete’s, Zoe’s Chocolate, and more. Externally, Joseph managed relationships with partners at WWD, T-Mobile, Chase, and more.

One of the first projects was Printed Village, a global community of artists competing in themed monthly design challenges for a chance to have their prints manufactured on apparel and sold to major retailers. Joseph was integral in its success, taking charge to re-engage its community, rebrand, upgrade its creative & digital strategies, direct PR & communications, and manage promotions for live events with artist Donald Robertson (Drawbertson) at Yale, and designer Mara Hoffman at Parsons.

Simultaneously, Joseph worked to grow Inkkas Worldwear, a footwear business acquired on The Profit specializing in vegan materials, Peruvian textiles, and artist collaborations, with a charitable component of planting a tree for every purchase. Around this time, Flex Watches was introduced to the group through the show, giving back 10% of sales to specified charities with each purchase. Eventually, Joseph would manage PR & communications for the launch of the Inkkas/Flex Star Wars collections.

When women’s fashion brand and wholesaler Susana Monaco signed with MLFG, Joseph got right to work in helping to manage operations and press for the launch of her fashion show filmed for the finale of The Profit. From there, he guided the team through best practices, content creation, and marketing strategies.

Soon after their appearance on The Profit, Joseph began to direct DiLascia, a wholesale graphic t-shirt brand known for its LAX - JFK iconography. After completely auditing the brand’s visual identity, Joseph & the team worked to build its e-commerce presence, produce a new content strategy, manage celebrity & influencer relations, and direct licensing partnerships with Pepsi, Sesame Street, TMZ, and MTA. Eventually, Joseph conceptualized a new custom business model, allowing users to customize their tees using digital technology, rebranding & splitting into two new concepts: Jetset Tees and Selfie Clothing.

During another season of The Profit, Lemonis picked up a struggling swimwear business Swim by Chuck Handy, which would rebrand to become Siloett, a resort & accessories line for all sizes, powered by independent print artists sourced through Printed Village. Joseph was integral in mapping out the brand identity & creative direction, content production, e-commerce setup, and trade show event design. Additional independent labels launched include a.M Marcus Anthony and The Line, both of which Joseph was responsible for creative directing.

Retail became a major focus within the fashion group. With the initial acquisition of high-end retail chain COURAGE b on The Profit, Lemonis later acquired a contemporary denim retail chain The Blues Jean Bar - also on camera, which rebranded to become Denim & Soul. Later, a single-location contemporary retailer, RUNWAY, would join the group and expand to multiple upscale markets. Finally, a new contemporary high-end departmental concept store would open called MARCUS. After its initial success, all former retail chains quickly renovated and rebranded to follow in its path and become MARCUS - now with locations in Aspen, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, NYC’s Meatpacking, and Palm Beach, to name a few. Over the years, Joseph was responsible for the overall creative & brand marketing operation across all retail stores. During this time, Joseph directed seasonal campaigns & event partnerships with the likes of Beyonce’s photographer Daniela Vesco, artists JGoldcrown and Sarah Raskey, Tesla, Modern Luxury, and more.

Off-priced retailers also became a focus with the launch of both Final Sale and Sample Sale (outlet stores at former Scoop NYC spaces) in NYC, Chicago, & the Hamptons; UNION73 (fast fashion) in Chicago, Jacksonville, & Minneapolis; and childrens’ retailer Kool Kids (appeared on The Profit) in Baton Rouge & New Orleans.

When Lemonis began working with cashmere brand Minnie Rose, Joseph directed the launch of a collaborative new business, Threads of Privilege, a new streetwear-inspired cashmere label. In addition to branding, art & creative direction, Joseph guided the team through both studio look book & lifestyle campaigns, content creation, PR & communications, social media, event execution, and more. Around the same time, Lower East Side streetwear retailer & clothing brand Faded Royalty appeared on The Profit, where Joseph would offer creative & operational support incremental to the development of the business. Lastly, Joseph began working on Ellison Eyewear in the middle of filming for their episode of The Profit, granting him the task of creating a brand launch event that would be televised for the show, in addition to providing general creative & art direction, retail merchandising strategy, and more.

Joseph continues to work with Marcus Lemonis as he expands his portfolio of businesses in a variety of industries.