Mindy Grossman, Bill Brand, Peter Ruben & Judy Schmeling

Mindy Grossman
Title: CEO, HSNi
Years in Cable: 9
Education: Manhattanville College, George Washington University
Best Advice in 7 Words or Less: Believing in yourself is a transformational power.

Bill Brand
Title: President, HSN & CMO, HSNi
Years in Cable: 20
Education: BA, Science, Ohio University

Peter Ruben
Title: EVP, Affiliate Relations, HSN
Years in Cable: 25
Education: MBA, UCLA Anderson School of Business
Best Advice in 7 Words or Less: If you don’t ask, you don’t get.

Judy Schmeling
Title: COO & CFO, HSNi
Years in Cable: 20
Education: BS, FSU
Best Advice in 7 Words or Less: Remain flexible & adaptable; listen to yourself.

Led by this forward-thinking executive quartet, HSNi added yet another winning year to its shopping cart. Overall 2014 sales increased 7 percent, with digital sales jumping 13 percent. Grossman’s fearless mandate to disrupt and innovate across all facets of the company sets a high standard for the rest of the team, including Brand, who added the role of HSN president last July. Under his leadership HSN now reaches 5 million active customers, an all-time high for the company. Ruben has overseen an impressive year of cable and satellite distribution, including a new relationship with ION Media Networks, and provision of necessary equipment to 1,000 affiliates to receive the HSN Live digital signal. Schmeling spearheads the operational aspects in the areas of broadcast distribution and merchandise planning—two areas of HSN’s business that are unique to TV retailing.

Grossman
If I had a show on YouTube it would be called… “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up!” Seriously, every day at HSN is an adventure!
My favorite newfound hobby: Paddleboarding
Favorite vacation spot: Nihiwatu in Sumba, Indonesia – Magical!
Favorite TV show as a kid: “Dark Shadows”
My favorite business/motivational book: Give and Take by Adam Grant

Brand
Favorite screen: Any screen showing HSN, which is just about any screen out there.
Apple iWatch or Rolex? iWatch 2+
Which character would I most want to double-cross me on “Game of Thrones” and why? John Snow. So I could transform his style into a line of clothing on HSN.
Dish I can make and that would impress a celebrity chef: My Pork Momofuku would impress my friend HSN Chef Curtis Stone

Ruben
I watch most programming on this device: Samsung 55-inch Smart TV.
Biggest cable innovation: TV Everywhere. I watch a lot of TV on my iPad.
What’s your favorite screen? My iPad!
My favorite newfound hobby: My wife has gotten us hooked on playing bridge.
If my office produced a viral video, the background music would be… “Happy” by Pharrell Williams
Favorite vacation spot: Vail, Colo.

Schmeling
I watch most programming on: TV
What’s your favorite screen? iPad
If I could interrupt Kanye West just once, I would tell him… please be respectful!
I wish Congress would just… compromise.
If my office produced a viral video, the background music would be… “Uptown Funk” with Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars
Favorite vacation spot: St. George Island, FL
Favorite TV show as a kid? “The Brady Bunch”