Sharon A. Lessard has joined Gensler as the Lifestyle Studio Director in the firm’s Atlanta office. She will lead all activities of the office’s retail studio and will focus on creating a culture of design that emphasizes inspiration, openness, collaboration, knowledge and recognition, while ensuring design projects are focused on client needs.
Over the last 25 years, Sharon has held many critical positions in the retail industry, including starting her own design business – Share, LLC. Prior to that, Sharon served as Group VP – Brand Store Design & Experience and Chief Design Officer at SUPERVALU Retail, Vice President of Visual Merchandising for Bath & Body Works, Director of Visual Presentation at Victoria’s Secret and various senior positions in design at Best Buy, Inc., most notably, Sr. Director – International leading the design and development of the 1st store outside of North America.
Sharon sits on the VMSD Editorial Advisory Board. She is the former President of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Chapter for the Retail Design Institute and a former Board Member for the Jungle Theater. While at Best Buy, Sharon held key leadership roles within Wolf Organization (Women’s Leadership Forum) and Customer Segment Advisory Committee. She has also worked with M.E.S.A. (Mentoring, Encouraging, Supporting and Achieving) to provide mentoring, encouragement, and support to women to help them achieve their professional and personal goals.