Alex Willcock

Business leader, Designer, Entrepreneur, Global soul, Idea generator, Inventor, Musician, Parent, Potential employer, Web guru

CEO VisualDNA October 2006 – Present (6 years 8 months) I founded VisualDNA because I saw an opportunity to change the relationship between commerce and consumers – to put consumers in control and give them the opportunity to say what it is that they want and need and for commerce to respond accordingly. It seemed to me that eventually, users will want to be fully in control of all their data and I wanted to provide them with a means of doing this easily. My background is retail and I had seen the compelling and often extraordinary patterns that exist in a consumer's buying behavior. I was inspired to create a visual method for people to tell the story of their life and connect them with the things that they wanted and needed. The business began in earnest when I launched a simple site that enabled people to profile themselves and get some personality feedback. I sent out less than 40 emails to friends to promote it and in less than 6 weeks we had over 1 million users and rapidly another 10 million and now, over 150 million. I have been fortunate to have been joined in this journey by a team of incredible people and am very excited about the huge opportunities that exist for us right now. CEO and Founder The Nest 1999 – 2005 (6 years) I founded The Nest with Rachel Marshall and Russell Pinch in late 1999. We set out with a simple but big vision - to bring about positive change in commerce through creativity. I invested my own funds and we were profitable within the first four months. We were fortunate to build a team of amazing people around us which has since become a family-like group that now extends all over the world. We worked with many famous brands including Selfridges, Harrods, Tesco, Cadbury's, Michelin, Lancome, Richard Rogers Partnership, Neal's Yard Remedies and many many more. Apart from the incredible team of people we built here, the thing I am most proud of is the 27 metre light sculpture I designed with Russell Pinch for the Eden Project in Cornwall. We sold The Nest to St. Luke's advertising agency after about 6 years of much fun and enjoyment. Creative Director Conran May 1996 – November 1999 (3 years 7 months) In this role I was responsible for the creative output of the Conran buying team and Conran Studio - a team of product and graphic designers that produced design work for the retail and restaurant businesses as well as external clients. It was in this role that I headed up the development of Conran Collection, a range of branded products. We worked with some of the world's leading manufacturers to create a vast array of luxury products, many of which are still on sale in the Conran Shops still today. The external work we worked on during this period was very diverse, the work I am most proud of is the re-branding of Lancome International, brand development for Michelin and the re-design of British Airways Concorde where we designed everything from the cutlery and glasses to the carpets through to the menus. It was in this role that I also founded the company's Corporate Social Responsibility initiative. This culminated in the foundation of an educational trust and school in India for children that had been working in the metal industry. It was visiting this school that led me to resign from my post at Conran and start a communication business committed to positive change. Buying and Marketing Director The Conran Shop April 1995 – May 1996 (1 year 2 months) I joined The Conran Shop initially as Buying and Marketing Director. In this role I built up a team of extraordinary buyers and designers that worked together to lead The Conran Shop to its most profitable ever period. We concentrated on developing beautifully designed products and creating an environment in the sotres that was full of energy and excitement. General Manager Country Road January 1990 – April 1995 (5 years 4 months) General Manager of the Home Division During my time with Country Road I built up the Home Division to a total of 27 stores across Australia and New Zealand. We developed our own brand of over 1,200 SKU's across a large variety product categories including textiles, ceramics, glassware, accessories, gifts and furniture. We launched the first ever range of eco-friendly textiles in Australia and opened concessions in department stores across the country.

I trained first as a Violinist and then a Cabinet Maker and I still love playing and making things, in fact I am never happier than when doing both - but probably not at the same time...