Strategy, Marketing, Business Development, Product Innovation, Culture Transformation Advisor

Charlie has a track record of taking companies and new brands or ones that have been ignored or mistreated and building or revitalizing them.  For 40 years he has formed and motivated teams to do the hard work that begins with deeply understanding what their company’s brand stands for and then carving out a winning strategy and business plan to win against its competitors in the markets it competes in. 

A marketer by training, Charlie has a passion and reputation for quickly spotting market gaps and identifying product, branding, and distribution opportunities for leveraging company assets. To achieve this, he has put together a “toolbox” of the skills needed to address issues of product development, channel, merchandising and pricing for both prestige and mass market brands. 

For Charlie, establishing a clear company/brand identity is critical. Once this is clear to the entire organization growth can be achieved by investing wisely and courageously. On his personal website www.cflawrence.com he has written several position papers on what causes brands and companies to decline or stagnate. His analysis points to solutions that balance short term needs against long term sustainable viability.

These skills were developed over his career in marketing, product development and brand management functions leading to general management, advising, and leadership roles at fortune 500 and private equity backed companies including GE, Coleman, Masco, Brunswick and Workrite Ergonomics.

Most recently Charlie was the Chief Operating Officer of the iconic Shop-Vac the global market share leader and inventor of the wet-dry vacuum. New owners recruited Charlie to revitalize and turnaround a bankrupt business. In under two years he was able to completely transform the company into a profitable, customer centric and performance-based culture. These results were accomplished through strengthening of the leadership team and  transforming the culture through improved communication, team-based collaboration, process creation and fostering an entrepreneurial customer first culture. New product development investment was invigorated and over a dozen new products were introduced leading to a return to profitability in just over twenty-four months after losing money for nearly ten years.

Charlie is a 1993 graduate of Webster University in St Louis with a MA in Marketing and has a BA in Psychology/Marketing from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania.

Board Experience:

  • Knape & Vogt LLC
  • Lycoming Foundation
  • Lycoming Chamber of Commerce
  • Office Ergonomics Research Council
  • Manufacturing and Technology Alliance
  • Chief Marketing Officer Council
  • Boy Scouts of America