# Hayley Somerville > Product Management & Innovation Consultant. Inventor. Startup investor & advisor. Location: San Francisco, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/hayleysomerville Product Management and New Product Innovation. Extensive training and practice in Design Thinking. Passionate about creating products and experiences that make people's lives better. Specialties in both Software and CPG. I lead cross-functional teams to success on multi-million dollar global product lines as well as start-up-level product development. With a deep curiosity and empathy for my users & stakeholders I help drive more useful user research, more outcome-aware product design, and more streamlined tech implementation, while ensuring alignment across roles. White Space Innovation: From the fuzzy front-end to putting value-added products on the shelf, I leverage user experience and business objectives to conceive of, develop, and launch innovative new products, improving product value from both the consumer and business perspectives. A Masters in Product Innovation (IPD) from Carnegie Mellon combined with over 15 years with L'Oreal Group, GE, IBM and start-up consulting, gives me the skills and experience to foster innovation that leads to market growth. ## Work Experience ### Sr. Product Management Consultant @ Fantasy Jan 2022 – Present | San Francisco, California, United States Bringing fantasy products to life for major US and International Clients - Work includes Vision, Strategy, Design, and Build of: agentic AI products/features, consumer-facing apps and websites, internal employee sites, AEM, loyalty strategy, future-focused POCs, and more. ### Founder @ Product Therapy, LLC Jan 2022 – Present | San Francisco, California, United States Consulting services for product needs -Product Strategy, Roadmapping, User Research, Customer Journeys and pain points, KPI-setting, build vs buy decisions, Loyalty program strategy, product requirements, etc. ### Product Advisor + Fractional Lead PM @ AsqMe Jan 2023 – Jan 2025 | San Francisco, California, United States Supporting the creator economy by building AI-based product features and flows that allow creators to efficiently monetize their expertise while connecting more directly with their followers. ### Director of Product & Design, Customer User Experience + Marketplace @ Modsy Jan 2021 – Jan 2022 | San Francisco, California, United States ### Sr. Product Manager, Acoustic (prev. known as IBM Watson Marketing ) @ Acoustic Jan 2018 – Jan 2020 | San Francisco, California Establishing strategy and building products for the marketer of the future - infusing AI & Design Thinking to create and implement an inspiring, delightful user experience for both marketers and developers. Product Manager focused on growing our partner ecosystem by improving the end-to-end user experience. Building strategy to grow the experience based on market research, user research, sales/CSM insights, and business objectives. Leading global cross-functional teams of dev/engineering, design, support, sales/CSMs, services, marketing, and ecosystem partners. Product Vision, Roadmap Prioritization, Agile Practices, Cross-functional Influencing, Passion for Creating Great User Experiences, User Research, Public Presentations ### OpenIDEO San Francisco Chapter Leader @ OpenIDEO San Francisco Chapter Jan 2017 – Jan 2019 | San Francisco Bay Area Re-designing a community experience for people who want to change the world with design thinking. Leading and facilitating workshops, design challenges, special talks, and group experiences focused on designing solutions while learning and honing skills in user research, ideation, prototyping, and strategy. Creating partnerships with local entities like General Assembly and Lyft to expand our reach and make a real impact in the community. ### Advisor & Consultant @ Hire an Esquire, Inc. Jan 2016 – Jan 2017 | San Francisco Bay Area Product and Service Innovation and Design: Advising and Consulting Developed stakeholder insights, product-market fit, implementation map for VIP program to improve client perception & increase platform engagement to build+maintain a more elite brand. Crafted major investor pitch w/ CEO for strategic new digital product showing value proposition, market size, investment, growth trajectory. ### Project Client: Product Manager @ NUK USA LLC Jan 2014 – Jan 2015 | Pittsburgh, PA - Carnegie Mellon University Commercialized Product: https://amzn.to/2ZAZOdz (4.5 stars on Amazon) Nuk's Gerber Graduates hired our Strategic User-centered Design Team to create a profitable new product for them focused on "toddler feeding...addressing mother and toddler needs, desires, and complex interactions." Our patented "Healthy 2-in-1 Snacker" is a success story for combining design thinking + business strategy + design for manufacture to create a new category addressing unmet needs of parents. Though our process, we quickly developed and proved a concept convincing Nuk to fast-track the new product for Feb 2017 commercial launch by their Gerber Graduates brand. ### Head of Matrix Development -- Senior Manager @ L'Oréal Jan 2012 – Jan 2014 | New York, New York Led the Development Team for Matrix, a $100MM professional salon brand, the largest in L’Oreal’s Professional Products Division - 3 direct reports This combination Product Management/Product Development role is where all aspects of the launch of a new product come together. Success depends on an ability to communicate effectively with disparate groups (marketing, creative, R&D, sales, suppliers, production plant, etc). Even more important is to be able to lead and influence those same teams who did not directly report to me. Directed cross-functional teams across 10+ L’Oreal departments (purchasing, manufacturing, creative, R&D, marketing, etc) and worked concurrently with 40 outside suppliers to consistently develop, manufacture, and launch innovative, high-quality haircare and styling products, delivered on-time and at the right cost. Exceeded division P&L goals with the the largest-ever relaunch of Biolage, achieving cost reduction of 18% over 118 SKU’s, balancing cost of goods with potential market impact, product design vs production cost, and being a strong partner to both marketing and manufacturing. Designed and piloted supplier partnership project with major supplier (CCL) to improve communication, service, quality, cost, and time-to-market, helping make L’Oreal-CCL partnership one of the most respected in the group. In addition to this, final 8 months in the role also included being the Development Lead for the MINDS project - a global, company-wide initiative to strengthen the product development process through training and specialized software. This role involved creating, implementing, and executing a training regimen for all 4 Development Divisions in the Americas, as well as continual user testing and feedback in order to continue to improve the product and the experience for our users. ### Development Launch Manager @ L'Oréal Jan 2009 – Jan 2012 | New York, NY Managed operational commercialization of new product launches for Redken, L'Oreal Professionnel, Mizani, and others under L'Oreal's Professional Products Division. Driving timing, cost, and quality of new products from formula conception to availability of the finished product in our distribution centers, I owned the responsibility to make profitable products in the fastest time possible. Intense collaboration with R&D and Marketing drove us to create high quality, effective, consumer-centric products, and close partnership with Supply Chain and manufacturing teams brought our product conceptions to fruition and out on the market. Responsibilities in Development include creating and driving the overall project timeline, managing component selection, coordinating supplier choice with the Purchasing team, matching colors for components, costing different options for marketing, and providing them with the best technical and aesthetic solutions for their launches, while coming in at a competitive cost and launching quickly to market. We worked hand-in-hand with Creative to design products that were not only aesthetically pleasing, but useful and manufacturable. Notable product launches: Redken Clean Brew, Redken new heat styling line, including Duo-Shield dual tube, Matrix Biolage restage (in US salons April 2014), Matrix Color Insider, Redken Chromatics, and many more. ### Product Launch Manager - Manufacturing // (FR) Responsable Cellule de Lancement @ L'Oréal Jan 2007 – Jan 2009 | Montreal, QC, Canada Responsible for the new product launch success in manufacturing and supply of Redken and L'Oreal Technique Professional Treatment products (color and texture), as well as Soft Sheen Carson Retail products. Managed the Launch and Reformulation coordination between marketing, the component supply, the production floor, and the market supply group for 3 brands concurrently: Redken, L’Oreal Technique, and SoftSheen Carson Managed three people (component supply planners); setting priorities, teaching logistics methods, guiding towards self-sufficiency, mentoring, and working with them to solve issues resulting from the SAP implementation, artwork availability, quality issues, and other daily tasks. Prepared Logistics Material Master and Bills of Material data in SAP for production and supply. Handled 3 separate production transfers from 2 other L’Oreal plants, coordinating the demands and necessary info from marketing, quality, component suppliers, prior production plant, purchasing, finance/accounting, and the Market Supply group. Worked with Master Scheduler to keep stock levels within acceptable range, working to reduce batch sizes when Days of stock are too high, and to pull-forward production when stock is too low. Established relationship with suppliers when necessary to be able to manage supply when issues arise from transfers, SAP implementation, late artwork, etc. ### Engineer - Designing a Future-Focused, Flexible Manufacturing Plant @ L'Oréal Jan 2006 – Jan 2007 | Franklin, New Jersey Designed expansion strategy for skincare and makeup manufacturing plant based on stakeholder interviews with marketing, sales, and logistics to project market and technology shift 5 years in the future. Stakeholder-input was collected from multiple functions (plant logistics, brand operations, marketing, market supply logistics, technical packaging) and multiple L'Oreal brands (L'Oreal Paris, Maybelline, Garnier) to agree on an (estimated) detailed product break-down for a 5-year outlook - a first-time, successful collaboration that gave us a novel and never-before-accomplished look at the future of our skincare/makeup plant. Using the 5-year forecast, as well as a dimensioning analysis of the current situation, I designed a structured plan for modularization of our plant to improve our situation immediately, and in a direction that would allow us to keep our momentum as our units evolved into the 5-year picture. Finally, I created and executed a training program to teach production engineers and senior management how to use the same program to modify the plan each year as new trends and innovations entered the horizon, allowing the plant to be an ever-growing, flexible, future-oriented production plant. ### Process Expert @ L'Oréal Jan 2006 – Jan 2006 | Franklin, New Jersey Managing and implementing the industrializing of brand-new formulas for our consumer skincare lines. My work in this position combined my Chemical Engineering skills with people management, where I would work directly with the hourly staff of batch processors on the production floor to create and test the first industrial batches of all new skincare projects. _______ Successfully launched and perfected the first production of innovative new skincare formulas - including L'Oreal Revialift and Collagen Filler and the American launch of the (at the time) brand-new Garnier Skincare. Each project started with the formula (ingredients) from our R&D team and the small-batch process (recipe) from the Corporate Industrial Quality (CIQ) team. Using knowledge of the raw materials and the first-draft batch process from CIQ, I would create and program an industrial batch process for each new formula we launched. I was then responsible to attend the first production batch of that formula and test it at key heating/cooling/mixing points, adjusting the batch instructions as necessary to create a product at the desired consistency and aspect, as specified by marketing and R&D. If needed, I would attend subsequent batches, further refining the process. I would work directly with the batch processors, drawing on their experience and knowledge to contribute to creating an efficiently-produced, high-quality, consistent product. When quality issues surfaced, I worked with with the CIQ and R&D teams to draw on our collective chemistry and production knowledge to determine the possible cause(s) and recommended solution, and then my responsibility was to test solutions first on the bench, and then in full-production to ensure the issue had been solved. ### Supply Chain Logistics - Associate Master Scheduler & Canada Liaison @ L'Oréal Jan 2005 – Jan 2006 • Achieved and maintained consistently high service levels with both US and Canada, reaching 100% service fulfillment rates regularly based largely on relationship of trust developed with distribution Center and Canada sales force, as well as communication improvements between Logistics, IQ, Shipping, and the production floor. • Worked to establish ground rules and practices with new Consumer Products Market Supply Logistics (MSL) group, and presented a solution to MSL to reduce both US and Canada inventory while improving service. • Managed Launch for Redken UV Rescue Launch ## Education ### Masters of Integrated Innovation for Products and Services (MII-PS) in Integrated Product Design Partnered with MBA Program Carnegie Mellon University - Integrated Innovation Institute ### Bachelors in Chemical Engineering (with focuses in biochemistry and engineering design) Penn State University ### Certificate (partial) in Furniture Design and Interior Space Planning Parsons School of Design - The New School ### Minor in Biology Penn State University ### Study Abroad in Scottish and European Studies The University of Edinburgh ### Landmark Forum in Advanced Course, Self Expression Leadership Program, Communications Curriculum Landmark ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hayleysomerville - Website: http://hayleysomerville.com - Website: https://asqme.com/@producttherapy --- Source: https://flows.cv/hayleysomerville JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/hayleysomerville/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-08