Karen Herman is CEO of Gustie Creative, the leading Disruptive Retail solutions provider for small-to-medium size businesses, creative agencies, real estate firms, nonprofit organizations and economic development teams, across the US and around the world.

For the past two decades, Karen has worked with owners, operators, and stakeholders to create exceptional design and marketing solutions that actively engage and educate clients and customers. Completed projects range from under $1M to over $330M, in the US and abroad. Clients include Calvin Klein, Inc., KPMG, New York Athletic Club, New York Palace Hotel, MediaPost and Zimmerman Advertising, among many others.

Karen is a passionate entrepreneur. In 2013, she founded Gustie Creative, a boutique design and strategy firm that specializes in Disruptive Retail. In 2015, Karen designed the highly innovative Live Media Trading Room for Zimmerman Advertising in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Karen’s latest venture is Founder of Create Disruptive Retail, a mobile design platform that offers Disruptive Retail resources, solutions, and an online community, for the global user.

Karen is the author of “Solutions for Disrupting Disruption, The Essential Guide for Brands and Businesses” and “The Definitive Guide to Disruptive Retail Workbooks.”

She hosts DisruptShop Workshops online and offline and supports design innovation as a Judge for Shop! Design Awards, a member of the RetailWire BrainTrust and a contributing writer to Simply the Best magazine.

Karen has been interviewed or quoted in Forbes, HFN Digital, NPR Marketplace, Independent Retailer, Mashed, Off-Price Retailing, RetailWire, SHOP Podcasts, South Florida Business Journal and Voyage MIA. She was recently named one of the Top 101 CEOs in the Retail Space by Best Startup US.