Ahead of the in-person show, Licensing International named six licensing professionals “Rising Stars” after being nominated by their peers and recognized for their contributions to the global brand licensing industry.
“We are thrilled to shine a spotlight on the talented young professionals who will become the future leaders of our global brand licensing community,” says Maura Regan, president of Licensing International.
This year’s award recipients will be honored during the Hall of Fame Induction and Rising Star Awards on Dec. 7 at the Gotham Hall in New York City. Read about each Rising Star below.
Julia Cruse is the senior manager of licensing at Warner Bros. Discovery Global Consumer Products. She began her career at Iconix Brand Group, where she worked with Peanuts and Strawberry Shortcake. In her current role, Cruse licensees and new business across HGTV, Food Network, and Animal Planet brands and sub-brands. She also manages licensees across the toy, home, quick service restaurant, and food categories.
Zach Fiegel is the director of global partnerships and media at the National Basketball Association (NBA). He’s part of a team that manages the NBA’s global merchandising partnerships in the apparel, headwear, basketball, and e-commerce categories, working with partners including Nike, New Era, Wilson, Fanatics, Outerstuff, and Mitchell & Ness.
Melanie Kaplan is a licensing manager at Sesame Workshop. She’s been at the Workshop since 2020, manages the customization and print-on-demand business, and oversees the marketing and product development across a variety of categories in North America, including apparel, accessories, footwear, health and beauty, food, and infant. Kaplan works directly with brands to elevate Sesame Street through collaborations, most recently with Pair Eyewear, Under Armour, Pottery Barn Kids, Hanna Andersson, and Hedley & Bennett.
Arianna Marks is the deputy general counsel at Beanstalk. She’s responsible for representing high-profile celebrity and corporate clients in all matters relating to brand equity and extension, as well as enforcing and protecting clients’ intellectual property rights. Marks leads negotiations and drafts international commercial agreements for licenses, publishing, sponsorship, marketing, vendors, product, e-commerce, and advertising.
Based in the Ukraine, Tetiana Rubian is the CEO of Nerd Agency. In 2020, she gathered a team, acquired brands in the middle of the pandemic, and played a major part in closing licensing deals. Even now, regardless of the war in Ukraine, the agency continues to operate, acquiring new properties, making new deals, and launching products. Nerd Agency went international and is now focused on the Central and Eastern Europe market.
