These 2 Technology Trailblazers Earned Gift for Life’s 2023 Industry Achievement Award

Gift for Life, a charitable organization made up of volunteers in the gift and home industry, will be honoring industry veterans Todd and Jannetta Litzman, co-founders of Brandwise which was acquired by MarketTime in 2021, with its 2023 Gift for Life Industry Achievement Award.

The Litzmans will accept the award on stage during Gifts & Decorative Accessories’ Retailer Excellence Awards (REA) on June 21, 2023, in Dallas, Texas. The 72nd annual gala will take place at the Southside Music Hall at Gilley’s Dallas.

Gift for Life’s Industry Achievement Award, which has been presented at the REAs since 2009, recognizes overall excellence and contribution to the gift and home industry – whether as a thought leader, standard-bearer or overall industry influencer.

“I cannot think of more deserving recipients of Gift for Life’s Industry Achievement Award,” said Ari Lowenstein, chair of the Gift for Life board. “Todd and Jannetta are trailblazers. They have served the gift and home industries for more than 25 years and pioneered much of the technology that forms the foundation of our wholesale ecosystem today. Their continuous and dedicated engagement with agencies, reps, brands, and buyers alike is reflected in the tools they’ve built to support all stakeholders involved in the sales process.  Everyone in our industry has been touched by their work and benefited from their many contributions.”

The Road to Technology ‘Trailblazers’

Jannetta is the EVP of finance and HR for MarketTime and former co-founder and CFO of Brandwise, Inc. Her career started in the telecom industry as an executive with AT&T in sales and marketing. After earning her master’s degree in Business Administration at the University of Denver, she took the plunge into entrepreneurialism when she started a home décor and accent furniture showroom. While attending numerous trade shows as a buyer, she identified a technology gap in the wholesale gift and home industries. As a result, she and her husband and business partner, Todd, co-founded Showroom Solutions, which later came to be known as Brandwise, Inc. Prior to its acquisition by MarketTime, Brandwise was the largest SaaS provider for the wholesale gift and home industry for more than 25 years. In addition to her corporate roles, Jannetta also served for 12 years on the Gift for Life board.

Todd has more than 30 years of experience owning, managing, and operating technology companies. Todd was a co-founder, president, and CEO of Brandwise/Showroom Solutions before selling Brandwise to MarketTime in 2021. Currently, as president of MarketTime, Todd is intimately involved in working with customers to ensure that the software and services meet their needs and that the customer success team continues to provide extraordinary service. He has always been very involved with the industry and was previously the president and chairman of the Gift and Home Trade Association (GHTA) Board and now serves as a general board member and has served on other boards across the various industries that MarketTime serves.

“We are honored to be nominated by the Gift for Life board for this most coveted industry award,” Todd and Jannetta said in a written response. “When we created our technology company to help this industry, we had no idea how deeply we would connect with our customers and how much our technology would positively impact their business and personal lives. It is this sense of purpose and responsibility that drives our team forward every day. Throughout our 25-year journey, we have made so many lifelong friends and special memories. We humbly accept this award and celebrate it with all our team members, business partners, customers, and industry friends who have supported us throughout the years.”

Gift for Life and Gifts & Decorative Accessories are asking for donations in celebration of the two honorees; all donations will go to benefit World Central Kitchen’s worldwide crisis-related hunger relief efforts. Donate at  https://donate.wck.org/REA2023.

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Since 1951, Gifts & Decorative Accessories has been celebrating the best of the best in seven retail categories: Specialty Store, Multiple Locations, Visual Merchandising, Store Events, Store Design, Social Media Outreach, Online Initiatives, and Socially Responsible. In addition to honoring the top retailers in those categories, awards are also presented to Manufacturer of the Year and Sales Representative of the Year. Any store wishing to enter the awards should fill out the form now, before the April 18 deadline.