Jay Highland

EVP, Creative

As EVP, Creative at WD Partners, Jay is both an orchestrator of teams and a catalyst for innovation. His 30 years of retail brand experience encompasses all phases of the retail strategy and design process, solving clients’ real-world business problems via big ideas in brand-right concepting, prototyping, and scaled implementation. He has collaborated with many of the world’s premier brands across North & South America, Europe & the Middle East, and Asia/Pacific, including Nike, Starbucks, The Home Depot, Target, Verizon, Whole Foods, Hershey, Walmart, and Sweetgreen. An avid world traveler and always-curious consumer, Jay connects the dots of global experience and delivers inspiration and provocation to push teams toward new ideas and innovative solutions.

Jay’s work has been recognized by numerous industry publications, including Fast Company, Design:Retail, and VMSD, and he was honored as an industry Design Influencer in 2019. He is a featured speaker with appearances at industry events such as IRDC, EuroShop, X/SPECS, Design:Retail Forum, and NRF. Jay sits on the VMSD Editorial Advisory Board.

A weekend activity that resets me: Backyard hangs with close friends, preferably next to a bonfire and with several good bottles of wine, washes away the stresses of the week and replaces with some excellent laughs.
My ideal way to unplug: A die-hard Red Sox fan, a favorite backdrop is listening to the radio broadcast during the entire season. The rhythm of the game, the banter between the broadcasters, the ambient noise of baseball—all of it is summertime nostalgia in the best way,and requires me to slow down to take it all in.
Weather permitting, I’m a serious walker. Pop in my headphones, tee up a podcast, and get out and just walk… 30 minutes or 2 hours, it’s my active downtime with no doomscrolling.
The habit I never skip: Because I travel a fair amount, I always try to “add a day” to a trip whenever possible to see something new, have a great meal, go to a show, experience local culture. Either with coworkers, friends, or family… or even solo, it’s a good reminder that it’s a small world but a lot to see.