How Carhartt’s Andi Donovan Leads Purposeful Growth Across Wholesale and B2B
In this episode of Women in Retail Talks, Women in Retail Leadership Circle Managing Editor Marie Albiges interviews Andi Donovan, senior vice president of wholesale and Carhartt Company Gear at Carhartt, a global premium workwear brand established in 1889 with a rich heritage of developing durable products for workers on and off the job. Listen in as Donovan describes the Carhartt brand’s history and core values to be in service of the hardworking consumer (1:35), her primary responsibilities to balance scale with brand integrity (3:20), and launching Carhartt’s B2B uniform business (4:40). She shares the surprises that came with leading that expansion (5:50), her career journey that led to her current role (9:20), and how she maintains professional relationships (12:20).
In addition, Donovan discusses best practices to keep her team motivated and engaged (15:20), celebrating wins with her team (17:15), how she recharges outside of work (18:40), and what she’s most excited about for Carhartt in 2026 (19:50). Lastly, she touches on the workwear brand’s takeback program Reworked (21:40), her favorite Carhartt gear (22:30), the company’s more than 50 percent female leadership team (23:45), and the coolest job site visit she’s been on with a customer (24:50).
Andi Donovan is a dynamic and strategic executive with 30 years of experience in strategy, finance, operations and business development. She has worked with a variety of companies – public, private, and family-owned. Andi currently leads two of three Carhartt’s business units – North American Wholesale and Carhartt Company Gear (uniform business) which accounts for 75 percent of Carhartt’s $2B in total revenue. In her ten years at Carhartt she has led distribution, logistics, demand planning, customer service, and corporate strategy. Some of Andi’s career highlights at Carhartt include doubling the size of the wholesale business, launching and scaling Carhartt Company Gear, and building the consumer insights and corporate strategy discipline.
Prior to joining Carhartt she served as Managing Director at Root, Inc (a part of Accenture) where she successfully guided companies like Disney, Gap, Inc., and Starwood hotels in the creation of customer-centric growth strategies. Prior to Root, Andi served as the SVP of merchandise planning as well as the VP of finance at Borders Group, Inc., a $4B revenue publicly traded company where she had experience reporting directly to the Audit Committee. Her work experience also includes multiple leadership positions at Gap, Inc. including Director of Finance. Andi holds an MBA from the University of Michigan, a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from Indiana University, and practiced as a Certified Public Accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers. Andi is originally from the Chicago area and now resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan with her husband Brian and their four children.
Date: November 11, 2025
Credits: Andi Donovan
Duration: 26:51
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