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Anna Briggs is head of partnerships at Settle, a payments solution for consumer brands.
(Editor’s note: This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.)
How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? I lead partnerships at Settle, which means I find opportunities to bring like-minded service providers and enablement tools onto the Settle platform to help brands optimize cash flow. Settle is a hub for e-commerce merchants to manage accounts payable, financing, and purchasing, so I look for partners who can bring additional value to those workflows.
One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile? I live in Austin, and there is a vibrant and supportive CPG community here. I get to go to lots of events, hang out with some of our partners in person, and meet local CPG founders. A recent fave is Funky Mello, a plant-based marshmallow cream. They’re also an alum of our partner SKU, the Austin-based CPG accelerator.
What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? We just released our new purchasing suite of tools, and it was really exciting to be involved. Maintaining visibility across the entire purchasing process is a huge pain point for our partners’ clients, so it was rewarding to deliver something valuable to their teams.
Which emerging retail trend are you most excited about right now, and why? I’m super interested in the resale space and tools that help brands drive value out of secondary markets for their products. There is an immense amount of waste in the retail industry, and I’m excited about platforms that incentivize consumers to shop secondhand, or sell their used items instead of throwing them away.
What’s your go-to coffee order? Cold brew with oat milk, preferably with a migas breakfast taco.
Worst piece of advice you’ve received? A boss at a former employer once told me “You need to wear more dresses if you want to be successful here.” A sleek pant is more my look, and I’m glad I decided to change jobs instead of changing myself. Leaving that role is what led to me jumping into the retail tech space, and I haven’t looked back since.
What was your favorite retail product when you were 15, and what’s your favorite retail product now? I have been on a true curly hair *journey,* so at 15 it was probably something like Frizz-Ease serum or something to help me tame the uncontrollable frizz I had at that time. Now I’m into silicone-free products and love everything Jonathan Van Ness is doing at JVN Haircare.