Former FTD Chief Merchant Christina Cubeta on Putting Motherhood on Your Resume
In this episode of Women in Retail Talks, Women in Retail Leadership Circle Senior Editor Marie Albiges interviews Christina Cubeta, former chief merchandising officer and consumer division head at FTD, a leader in the floral industry for over a century with one of the largest florist networks in the world. Listen in as Cubeta shares what it was like joining a rebranded FTD after its bankruptcy in 2019 (1:25) and how she built trust with her new team (4:15). She discusses the importance of listening to her teams as well as transparently acting on employee feedback (7:15), and what she looks for in potential employees (9:25).
Cubeta discusses how she navigated executive leadership changes during FTD’s merger with From You Flowers (11:40), how she lead her teams through the integration (15:15), and the importance of owning your failure (18:40). She shares her atypical career path that led her to FTD (21:15), her approach to the mix of merchandising and technology at FTD (23:20), and her advice to parents re-entering the workforce after taking a pause from their career to grow their family (26:50). Lastly, she shares what she’s looking forward to, both professionally and personally, in 2024 (34:10) and her top advice for the next generation of female retail leaders to advance in their careers (35:20).
Cubeta is an accomplished executive with almost twenty years experience leading complex, global businesses and building strong company culture. She brings deep experience in both Consumer e-commerce and B2B. She’s built, and scaled, teams and businesses from scratch to hundreds of millions in revenue and profitability, as well as managed large P&Ls and driven profit and stability at the executive level for companies like FTD & Proflowers, Quantcast and Tribal DDB, leaders in their respective industries. Most recently as chief merchandising officer and consumer division head, she oversaw product development, merchandising, supply chain, site merchandising and consumer analytics teams, with P&L ownership, for the market leader in online gifting. She resides in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and four year old child. She is a champion for an equitable workplace and women’s rights.
Date: November 28, 2023
Credits: Christina Cubeta
Duration: 37:12
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