Biography: Jules Pieri

Jules is founder and CEO of Daily Grommet–where she spends her days with a team of passionate Grommet hunters.   It’s an community-powered e-commerce business that does a video review of one consumer product a day.  The company is based on the premise that people are increasingly thoughtful about the products and experiences they buy–and that they especially like to support “little guy” companies.  Jules believes that knowing the back story of a product–its invention, or craft, or social benefits, or environmental impact, or technology, makes its experience much richer and even deeply meaningful. As an industrial designer, Jules has lived and breathed these product stories her whole career. She was previously President and C.O.O. of Ziggs.com, Vice President of Strategic Planning at Stride Rite Corporation and Director of Strategic Marketing and Licensing at Keds Corporation. She also worked with Playskool as a long term product strategy consultant, and was a Vice President at Design Continuum. She lived in Dublin from 2001-2005, where she consulted to Irish consumer brands.  She still can’t believe she left that beautiful country and people. As a consumer products expert, she considers her core competency to be cultural anthropology; in other words, figuring out why people do the things they do, and making businesses and products that respond to the needs and longings of real people.  She only wishes this expertise was more effective for painlessly raising children! Jules studied Industrial Design, Graphic Design, and French at the University of Michigan, and people tell her she was the first designer to get a Harvard MBA. She lives in suburban Boston with her husband and three sons.  Jules continues to enthusiastically study the French language and never turns down an invitation to hike or go see a play.
My Website http://www.dailygrommet.com/