Who we are

DPN represents advisors on demand, connecting the right people to the right clients, projects, placements and opportunities.

Elaine Rubin

I am a business innovation leader and community builder with 30 years of experience in identifying & capitalizing on emerging growth opportunities for CPG, DTC, retail, solution providers, investors, media and associations that support them.

A cross channel, cross disciplinary, multilevel systems thinker, I have the courage, knowledge and experience to create business value, drive innovation, digital monetization, growth of customer, sales and market share including experience with M&A on both the buy and sell side.

Grounded in today’s market reality, well versed in all aspects of business; marketing, merchandising, technology, supply chain, modern operations, I sit at the intersection of digital and physical, informed by data, and my experience as an executive at 1800flowers.com, iVillage, ibaby.com and Amazon, as a director on Moosejaw, Blue Nile, Smart & Final, National Retail Federation and DXL boards, and having advised and been inside hundreds of companies.

All this experience allows me to quickly identify gaps and opportunities, across the business or in a specific area and strategically align with goals to benchmark, optimize, improve and accelerate growth.

Sitting at the intersection of brands, consumers, employees, cultural and social issues, I bring a highly informed and fresh perspective to your business, not afraid to challenge the status quo, and passionate about driving profitable outcomes while doing good for people and our planet.

DPN Network

Our network includes consultants and partners working actively in the industries for which we serve. We have savvy experts with firsthand experience in planning, building and managing ecommerce, retail, and consumer brands.

Created in 2010, the Network initially had 50 prophets. DPN now has over 200+ individuals (prophets) and/or boutique firms (partners) who are certified and experts on demand – waiting to serve as part of a DPN project or independently as referral.

We continue to do the hard work of curating and certifying experts for our network. We select our network members from an exclusive pool of former executives and operators who now serve as independent consultants.

Membership is based on criteria, including strategic and/or operating experience, industry and channel expertise. Each prophet is rigorously vetted and certified to ensure our clients receive the best in their respective domains.

I am grateful to have developed a proprietary network of proven resources where we have successfully matched and staffed specialists to serve as advisors, interim leaders, consultants and executives for startups to enterprise brands.

Disciplines

The areas we specialize in: Sales, Marketing, Brand, Customer, Loyalty, Merchandising, Technology, Supply Chain, HR, Data, Insights, Sustainability, Environmental Impact, ESG, interdisciplinary complex cross functional programs, Cross Channel Customer Experience, Change Management, Market Growth