(PRESS RELEASE) MIAMI, FL — Innovative Eyewear, Inc. (“Innovative Eyewear” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: LUCY; LUCYW), a developer and retailer of cutting-edge smart eyewear and operator of the Lucyd and Nautica brands for smart eyewear, announces that it has added two eyewear industry veterans, with deep international experience, to its team.
Mr. Ekene Ofodile, a respected business leader with substantial experience in Global Sales, Sales Operations and Business Management, has joined the Company as Sr. vice president, sales and marketing. Mr. Ofodile has demonstrated an ability to work across all levels of an organization to develop high performance partnerships that drive profitable revenue growth.
Most recently, Mr. Ofodile served as the head of sales, North America for a portfolio of outdoor / work wear brands acquired from Honeywell International by Rocky Brands, Inc. From 2018 – 2021, he held the position of director of strategic account sales at Honeywell International’s Safety & Productivity Services Retail division driving global growth of footwear, PPE, hearing & vision protection products within high volume key accounts.
Mr. Ofodile previously served at Randolph Engineering Eyewear Inc.as its senior vice president, global sales & marketing, where he spent 4 years developing and executing strategic growth plans for the Randolph and Ranger Eyewear Brands. Prior to Randolph Engineering, Ekene spent 15 years at New Balance Athletics as head of international sales operations.
“I believe Harrison Gross & the Innovative Eyewear team are disrupting the eyewear industry with smart frame technology. I am thrilled to be joining the Company at this pivotal moment and look forward to contributing to its very bright future.” said Mr. Ofodile.
Ms. Jan Cory has also joined the Company as VP of Global Optical Sales and Marketing. With many successful years as part of the optical community, Ms. Cory will be charged with further developing this important channel of trade for Innovative Eyewear.
Ms. Cory began her optical career in frames at Bausch + Lomb where, after its acquisition by Luxottica, she spent 12 years. Her more recent experience is as CCO at I-deal Optics, Holdings, Senior Director at IDOC, US President at Silhouette International, and SVP of Sales for US and Canada at Viva/Marcolin.
Ms. Cory was named by Vision Monday as one of the Most Influential Women in Optical in 2015. She proudly serves on the Board of the Optical Women’s Association.
“Innovative Eyewear brings incredible innovation to eyewear. I am thrilled to share this cutting-edge technology with the ECP, (eye care professional sector) and I’m excited to be part of the future,” said Ms. Cory.
“We are excited and honored to add both Ekene and Jan to our team,” said Harrison Gross, CEO of Innovative Eyewear, Inc. “Their combined eyewear industry knowledge and track record of developing significant sales should help us rapidly scale our smart eyewear business in both retail optical and non-optical channels worldwide.”