Lena Hilliard
5.0
(6)
Studied at Columbia Business School
Works at Colgate-Palmolive
Successful clients at
Available tomorrow at 8:30 PM UTC
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About Lena
Hello and welcome to my profile! I’m Lena, a 2025 MBA graduate from Columbia Business School. During my MBA, I also spent a semester abroad at HEC Paris, gaining an international perspective on business and leadership. My professional experience spans roles at Amazon, Macy’s, and Walmart eCommerce, where I developed expertise in strategic marketing, vendor management, and data driven decision making. I began my post MBA career at Colgate Palmolive through their Global Management Development Program and have already worked as a Brand Manager across the Minneapolis and Johannesburg offices. Throughout my career, I’ve built a strong track record of driving sales growth and optimizing marketing strategies. I now leverage these experiences to help aspiring MBA candidates craft compelling applications and position themselves competitively for top programs. I also have firsthand experience applying through The Consortium and Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT), and my network includes graduates from nearly every top MBA program in the U.S. and France. Whether you’re looking for guidance on essays, interview preparation, or overall application strategy, I’m here to support you through the process. Let’s connect and make your MBA goals a reality!
Why do I coach?
I coach because I know firsthand how powerful the right support system can be. Throughout my own MBA journey, I was fortunate to have an incredible coach though MLT and mentors who guided me through the application process, helped me refine my story, and pushed me to present the strongest version of myself. I truly believe I wouldn’t be where I am today without that support. That experience motivates me to pay it forward. The MBA application process can feel overwhelming, and having someone who understands the journey and can provide honest, strategic guidance can make a huge difference. My coaching style is very transparent and candid. I’m honest about the realities of the process and the outcomes you can expect. I’ll give you clear feedback, but I’ll also talk to you like a friend, someone who genuinely wants to see you succeed and who will support you through the highs and lows of the application journey. You will be able to ask me anything. For me, coaching is about creating the same kind of supportive, honest environment that had such a meaningful impact on my own path.
Work Experience
Associate Brand Manager
Colgate-Palmolive
September 2025 - Present
CDO Rotation (Minneapolis, MN): Target Team working to implement a Promo AI dashboard Global Rotation (Johannesburg, SA): Oral Care premium strategy.
Global Development Intern
Colgate-Palmolive
June 2024 - August 2024
Completed a 10-week internship that culminated in presenting new pricing and sizing recommendations for Colgate Total, that would have improved estimated margin dollars by $2.5M, to senior leadership. Analyzed Nielsen data and developed a forecasting model to project margin fluctuations resulting from changes in toothpaste ounce sizes and retail prices. Nielsen Data
Advertising Campaign Manager
Amazon
March 2022 - July 2023
Owned the full process of managing store creation requests, collecting assets, designing and activating brand stores on the Amazon website, and linking sponsored ads to their online pages. Analyzed brand assets, writes copy, and utilizes Figma and Photoshop to optimize UX and design online brand stores. Assisted in creating standardized templates, which reduced store design time by 30% to an average of 2 hours. Created 183 online stores which drove a combined $66K in advertising revenue and $1.7 Million in sales from the program’s official launch in May 2022 to May 2023. Figma (Software) and Salesforce.com
Vendor Manager
Amazon
December 2020 - March 2022
Managed all pricing, merchandising, catalog, and general issues and facilitated a positive external relationship with 15 vendors that drove a combined total of over $30 million in annual sales on Amazon in 2021. Negotiated improved freight, damage, and advertising spend contract terms for 20 vendors to increase free cash flow by $287K for the 2021 fiscal year.
Category Manager
Walmart
August 2019 - December 2020
Analyzed historical selling and current trends in relation to sales goals. Used data to drive purchasing decisions for $2million dollars in product and more than 1,000 SKUs for spring and summer women’s swimwear. Drove +68% year over year comp and ended above plan by +33% during the 2020 swim season. Identified bestsellers by analyzing KPI’s such as sell-through and conversion rates, and net profit percentages to select items to recommend to the site merchandising and marketing teams for influencer and marketing campaigns. Boosted high-performing items to the front page of the website. Researched category items to identify which best aligned with digital campaign themes and provided recommendations for placement in campaigns. Conducted small-batch testing of approximately 200 items and monitored sales results. Presented testing outcomes to the category manager and recommend deeper buy if items performed well. Develop detailed titles and copy for over 1,000 styles per season to improve SEO. Provide edits to product names and images. Product view rate increased 4%, and SEO hit rate increased 22% from the start of the 2020 swim season. Managed relationships with over a dozen vendors. Led market meetings, negotiated costing and unit minimums, set up items, troubleshot technical issues, and submitted and tracked purchase orders to ensure shipments arrived on-time to fulfillment centers. Researched relevant competitors and identified high-performing brands to target as Marketplace and owned sellers and presented findings to the category manager. Onboarded 10 brands in one year, including Juicy Couture, YMI, and Dolce Vita.
New Product Development
Macy's
July 2018 - August 2019
Evaluated weekly business financial reports and presented to senior leadership. Showcased the top and bottom-performing sellers based on units sold, turn percentage, and average unit retail. Analyzed data and suggested updates and adjustments to similar products for the upcoming season. Worked on a cross-functional team with design, technical, and international vendors to develop 20 new styles per month. Utilized current business trends and historical selling information to drive design decisions. Participated in weekly meetings and collaborated on content creation, sample requests, pricing, and order arrivals. Analyzed Alfani’s plus size ticket prices compared to 10 other brands in the modern lifestyle division and presented findings to the product manager. Collaborated with the product manager and developed a plan to partner with vendors to adjust products, reduce first costs, and drop jacket retails by $10 to better align with competitors. Conducted brand website audits for quality assurance, ensured proper product execution, and identified discrepancies in descriptions and prices to improve overall customer experience. Recommended top-performing products and chose big bets to send to the marketing team to create online promotions and in-store banners.
Education
Columbia Business School
Master of Business Administration - MBA
2023 - 2025
Activities and societies: Columbia Beauty Club, Spirits Club, Black Business Student Association, Marketing Association of Columbia
HEC Paris Business School
Master of Business Administration - MBA, Marketing Track
2024 - 2024
Exchange Program
George Washington University
Bachelor's, International Business
2014 - 2018
Grade: Magna Cum LaudeGrade: Magna Cum Laude Activities and societies: Women's Leadership Program - Globalization, Economics, and Business Cohort Equal Justice Policy Leader - Roosevelt Institute @ GW, Secretary - Black Student Union, Study Abroad Peer Advisor, Guest Writer - ACE Magazine
6 Reviews
Overall Rating
5.0
Lena has helped Leland clients get into University of California, Los Angeles