Key Takeaways:
- SESO’s 2026 Young Leaders list features seven executives age 40 and under from Skullcandy, AFTCO, Glik’s, Marsh Wear, and Black Diamond Equipment.
- Honorees are driving measurable results in ecommerce growth, supply chain efficiency, and brand expansion across surf and outdoor companies.
- Family legacy, mentorship, and community involvement stand out as common threads across this year’s nominees.
Each year, SESO asks for your nominations for the top leaders ages 40 and under to watch in the surf, outdoor, and active lifestyle spaces.
And for the second year running, the depth and breadth of talent was undeniable. From ecommerce to marketing and operations to merchandising, the nominations we received underscored the dynamism and the promise of emerging leaders.
Below, you’ll find our list of seven impressive people to keep an eye on as they bring fresh ideas, courageous projects, and creativity to the action sports, outdoor, and active lifestyle industries.
Evin Catlett, 40, VP Ecommerce and Growth Marketing, Skullcandy
Skullcandy CEO Brian Garofalow praised Evin Catlett’s impressive sales wins: she increased sales in her channels by more than 100% in three years. Plus, Catlett led her team to re-platform Skullcandy’s global ecommerce sites in just 90 days (which, Garofalow noted, prompted Shopify to do a case study on her success).
Catlett’s team has worked with both product and marketing departments to align on merchandising and creative, amplifying Skullcandy’s biggest stories and those products, in particular, which are distributed exclusively to specialty retail. All of the growth she’s driven has allowed her to increase her team’s size by 3x, even in the face of challenging market conditions.
Finally, Catlett also launched Skullcandy’s first loyalty program, which increased both AOV and retention while delivering a better consumer experience.
Jeremy Glik, 30, Women’s General Merchandise Manager, Jr. VP, Glik’s
Jeremy Glik is a fifth-generation member of the family that started Glik’s, a Midwest chain of boutiques founded in 1897. He’s long known that he wanted to join the family business, but cut his teeth first in merchandising and product in Boulder, Colo., before moving home to St. Louis, Mo., to pursue his dream.
At Glik’s, his first priority, in tandem with his cousin, Elliot Glik, has been to build the company culture, with an implementation of its mission, vision, and values. He’s also made an impact by running a management group meeting for the past four years, which aligns the teams on their strategic initiatives.
Jeremy has also introduced new tech solutions to streamline processes and workflows. His initiatives have included building out dynamic reporting and analytics tools, developing a homegrown planning system, digitizing the company’s buyer training program, and leveraging AI to build a biweekly all-store transfer process.
Outside of his work, Jeremy is an avid photographer and traveler with a penchant for ski days and time with friends and family.
Elliot Glik, 32, Merchandise Manager Young Men’s, Men’s Active, Jr. VP, Glik’s
Since joining Glik’s in 2020, Elliot Glik has helped guide the Young Men’s and Men’s Active merchandising amid change and challenge, including the global pandemic and a shake-up in the surf industry. Throughout it all, Glik has helped the family business navigate and adjust its brand assortment accordingly.
Like his cousin, Jeremy Glik, Elliot Glik is a proactive executive in the family business, meeting new challenges as they arise. While his primary focus is on merchandise, for example, he’s currently also working on new real estate for the company, which includes lease negotiations, new store planning, and an overall vision for the direction of the business.
Elliot has also worked alongside Jeremy in building company culture. He’s taken on the planning of events like office field days, where the company gets together for outdoor activities. He’s also led creative change; he’s helped build the Glik’s 1897 private-label brand, growing the 1897 active line in the process.
Charity is another key priority for Elliot. He’s helped get the company involved with the Little Bit Foundation, where he sits on the young leaders board, as an event sponsor for their Big Fun golf tournament, and organized a Glik’s team for the foundation’s annual charity run.
Casey Shedd, 38, President, AFTCO
Casey Shedd joined AFTCO in 2012 as an ecommerce director. He’s been steadily rising through the ranks ever since, becoming President in 2019. In his six-plus years at the helm, his colleagues credit him with modernizing and expanding a 68-year-old family business while staying true to its core values.
“Casey Shedd represents the next generation of leadership in the outdoor industry, blending heritage with innovation,” said Lauren Biggs, Production Director, AFTCO.
Under his leadership, she said, AFTCO continues to embed mission into its business with its longstanding 10% Pledge: the company and Shedd family commitment to contributing 10% of company profits to environmental sustainability. Over the past 20 years, AFTCO has contributed more than $9 million to fisheries conservation, habitat restoration, and marine science.
Shedd is also active in helping to shape and guide the broader industry through his work with the American Sportfishing Association.
“His ability to balance commercial success with meaningful environmental impact makes him a standout leader in the surf and outdoor space,” said Biggs.
Andrew Carter, 40, Chief Operating Officer, Skullcandy
Another industry Skullcandy standout is Andrew Carter, who’s known as AC, a 15-year veteran of Skullcandy. After serving as VP of Operations, he was promoted to COO, and now oversees Supply Chain, Logistics, and Sales Operations teams.
According to company CEO Brian Garofalow, Carter streamlined and de-risked Skullcandy’s manufacturing base through multiple iterations of geographic and political headwinds.
Carter has had a number of other impressive achievements and made notable innovations, said Garofalow, including:
- Led his team to increase product margin with both value engineering and supplier negotiations.
- Architected and executed a first-of-its-kind, end-to-end strategic partnership with a global logistics provider, which saved significant freight costs, reduced time to market, and de-risked spot-market shipping price fluctuations.
- Increased profitability for Skullcandy and its customer base by beating all benchmarks for on-time-in-full product delivery, keeping inventory flowing through to end consumers.
And all that by the age of 40.
Logan Roberts, 37, Founder and VP, Marsh Wear
Fishing captain Logan Roberts founded Marsh Wear in 2010 from his attic, turning a lifestyle-driven idea into a nationally recognized brand now carried by more than 400 retailers.
Based in Charleston, South Carolina, the brand is infused with the culture of the place. It blends fishing, hunting, and surf lifestyles designed to speak to a new generation of outdoor enthusiasts.
“Under Logan’s leadership, Marsh Wear has expanded beyond its Southeast roots while maintaining authenticity and strong growth,” said Lauren Biggs, Production Director, AFTCO. (AFTCO acquired Marsh Wear in 2017.)
Biggs also lauds Roberts for cultivating community around the brand and supporting conservation through events and partnerships that connect people to the water. Some of the company’s non-profit partners, for example, include Captains for Clean Water and Lowcountry Land Trust.
“Logan is an avid fisherman, hunter, and surfer,” said Biggs. “His ability to scale a brand without losing its cultural core makes him a standout leader to watch.”
Natalie Flowers, 34, Director of Digital Marketing, Black Diamond Equipment
When Natalie Flowers isn’t pursuing epic adventures on skis, boats, or beyond, she’s driving growth at Black Diamond Equipment through new, cross-functional initiatives and innovation.
In the three and a half years that she’s served there as Director of Digital Marketing, one of her biggest projects was adding QR codes to every Black Diamond product, which has boosted the acquisition of customer data and broken down silos between wholesale and retail channels. Once customers register their products with the code, the company can now view that customer, segment and message them through ongoing, tailored communication. The codes also offer customers more value with post-purchase guides on how to get started with the gear and how to care for apparel. Flowers worked with teams across product, sales, ecommerce, and marketing for this coordinated, multiyear effort.
Earlier in her tenure, Flowers also helped facilitate platform migrations, like moving the consumer website to Shopify, which has been credited with enhancing the customer experience and improving conversion rates.
Finally, another key leadership project she spearheaded was revamping Black Diamond’s seasonal go-to-market planning. She facilitates workshops for the full ecommerce, marketing, and product teams where they build out detailed marketing plans for the next season. The workshop has been a game changer for team alignment and creating powerful marketing plans.
