Management Team

Ciaran Long

Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer

Ciaran Long joined us in April 2021 as our CFO. Mr. Long is a strategic leader with over 20 years of experience developing and managing high performance, cross-functional teams geared toward driving organizational growth and change. Immediately prior to joining a.k.a. Brands, Mr. Long served as Chief Financial Officer at Samsclub.com, a multi-billion-dollar omnichannel business, and Vice President of Finance for Membership, Marketing and Supply Chain at Sam’s Club, a division of Walmart, since November 2017. During his seven-year tenure at Walmart, Inc. he held numerous leadership positions within Walmart’s eCommerce division between September 2014 and 2021, including Vice President Finance – Merchandising, and Vice President of Finance – Supply Chain, Customer Care and Payments. Mr. Long joined Walmart after Co-founding CleanGrow, a company that developed new sensor technology to measure key water quality parameters, where he managed the company from April 2009 to August 2014. Mr. Long is a qualified Irish Chartered Accountant.

Michael Trembley

Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President of Operations

Michael Trembley joined us in September 2020 as CIO & SVP of Operations. Mr. Trembley brings more than 20 years of experience in leveraging technology platforms and leading operations in eCommerce, retail and digital consumer services. Prior to joining a.k.a., Mr. Trembley served as Vice President of Product Management at Macy’s from April 2018 to March 2020, where he led the evolution and scaling of merchant and vendor technology platforms and was the business and operations owner for drop-ship and marketplace businesses. Before Macy’s, he spent thirteen years at Walmart in a variety of roles between January 2005 and March 2018. Most recently, Mr. Trembley served as the Vice President of Marketplace and Partner Services for Walmart, where he led the strategy, platform development and operations of the third-party marketplace and drop-ship businesses from March 2017 to March 2018. Mr. Trembley currently serves as Board Advisor to Brand3P, helping leading brands deploy eCommerce and marketplaces retail strategies. He received a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Arizona, Eller College of Management.

John Gonneville

Vice President of Strategy and M&A

John Gonneville has been a part of our team since 2018 as a member of the co-founding team at Summit. In July 2020, he joined us full-time as VP of Strategy and M&A. As an investor at Summit, he focused on consumer and eCommerce and deployed over $300 million of equity in proprietary deals. Mr. Gonneville played an integral role in our formation, including identifying and executing the investments in Princess Polly, Petal & Pup and Rebdolls. Before joining Summit, Mr. Gonneville began his career at Barclays Investment Bank, where he advised on capital raising and M&A transactions from 2014 to 2016. Mr. Gonneville holds a B.S. in Finance and Information Systems from Boston College.

Emily Goldberg

Head of Corporate Communications

Emily joined a.k.a. Brands as the Head of Corporate Communications in May 2021. Emily is an experienced strategic communications professional and has worked both in-house and at global agencies. Emily joined a.k.a Brands from Prosek Partners, where she was an Associate Vice President focused on corporate communications and public relations strategies for complex and special situations. Prior to Prosek, Emily was a Manager of Financial Communications at Macy’s, Inc. where she was responsible for executive communications, investor messaging and corporate public relations. Before Macy’s, Emily worked at Brunswick Group, where she advised clients on communications strategies for M&A transactions, financial communications and IPOs in the retail, consumer and financial services sectors.

Kenneth (“K.C.”) White

Chief of Legal and Head of People

Kenneth (“K.C.”) White joined a.k.a. Brands as Head of Legal in June 2022. K.C. is a strategic leader with over 15 years of experience providing legal, operational and strategic advice to business leaders and colleagues. Prior to joining a.k.a. Brands, K.C. served as Vice President, Legal at Viant, a publicly traded digital advertising company. At Viant, he was responsible for providing business and legal guidance on a wide variety of subject matters, including commercial transactions, IP portfolio management and enforcement, and labor and employment strategies and issues. Before Viant, K.C. served as VP, Business & Legal Affairs at Ethika, a leading San Clemente-based lifestyle brand. At Ethika, K.C. drove complex commercial transactions and operations that advanced critical corporate goals during a period of rapid company growth. Prior to Ethika, K.C. served as VP, Associate General Counsel at Allianz Asset Management of America, the parent company of PIMCO, one of the largest asset managers in the world, and provided business and legal advice on various corporate governance, finance, investments, insurance and marketing and advertising matters.