Tess Roering and Jimmy Pitaro Join Rhone Board
Rhone Announces Two New Board Members
Rhone bolsters its leadership team with the appointment of Athleta and CorePower Yoga veteran Tess Roering and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro
Stamford, CT – March 25, 2024 – Rhone, the performance lifestyle brand dedicated to championing mental fitness, today announced the appointment of Tess Roering, who previously held executive leadership roles at CorePower Yoga and Athleta, and Jimmy Pitaro, ESPN Chairman, to its board of directors.
Roering and Pitaro join Nate Checketts, CEO & Co-Founder of Rhone; Dave Checketts, Managing Partner of Checketts Partners Investment Fund; Jon Owsley, Managing Partner at L Catterton; Simon Hill-Norton, Investor & Co-Founder of Sweaty Betty; and Carras Holmstead, Investment Partner at Palistar Capital & Co-Founder of Rhone, to Rhone’s board of directors.
“We are thrilled to announce the addition of Tess and Jimmy to Rhone’s board,” said Nate Checketts, CEO & Co-Founder, Rhone. “As we prepare to launch our women’s collection, Tess brings incredible expertise in brand and marketing from her time at Athleta and CorePower Yoga and Jimmy is a top industry thought leader that brings unmatched experience in sports and consumer products industries. The addition of Tess and Jimmy will help bring us to new heights in 2024 and beyond.”
Roering has over two decades of experience in leading brand and marketing efforts at top companies. Most recently, Roering served as Chief Commercial Officer at CorePower Yoga where she doubled the brand's studio count and drove 2.5x revenue growth over 5 years, played a key role in the sale from L Catterton to TSG Partners and oversaw the Real Estate, Construction, Design, Facilities, Customer Experience, and Chief Marketing Officer responsibilities. Before her role at CorePower Yoga, Roering served as first ever Head of Marketing at Athleta. In her role Roering grew revenues from $150mm to $500mm, opened the brand's first 100 retail stores, drove multi-channel growth by creating Athleta’s first marketing & creative platform, “Power to the She,” and propelled the brand from a catalog and web business to a true omni-channel business.
"The Rhone team has built such a compelling performance lifestyle brand for men,” said Tess Roering. “I am thrilled to be a part of bringing Rhone's fantastic product and focus on mental fitness to a broader audience."
Pitaro is an industry leader at the intersection of media and technology, bringing decades of experience. He currently serves as Chairman of ESPN, where he has full global responsibility for the ESPN business. This includes the management and supervision of the company’s full portfolio of sports content, products and experiences across all of Disney’s platforms worldwide. Under Pitaro’s leadership, ESPN reached creative rights agreements with the NFL, UFC, SEC, NHL, MLB, PGA Tour, NCAA, La Liga, Wimbledon and more. He has also led ESPN to remarkable viewership success, achieving record audience engagement across events and studio shows, plus digital and social platforms. He has helped build ESPN into the preeminent digital sports platform, leading initiatives like the launch of the successful streaming platform, ESPN+, while introducing numerous technological innovations to enhance the sports fans’ experience. Before ESPN, Pitaro worked in various leadership positions across The Walt Disney Company, including as Chairman of Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media. Prior to his Disney tenure, he worked at Yahoo, where he rose to head of media. While there, he set long-term strategy and executed growth-driving initiatives for Yahoo's media properties, including Yahoo Sports, Entertainment and Music.
“I have long admired Rhone’s commitment to quality and am honored to have been selected to the board to help drive their continued growth,” Pitaro said. “They have an impressive operation and I look forward to collaborating with other leaders to impact positive change.”
The appointment of Roering and Pitaro to Rhone’s board comes in the lead up to the launch of Rhone’s first women’s collection, debuting in May. Roering and Pitaro will both play a pivotal role in Rhone’s continued success and be invaluable assets for Rhone as they enter a new chapter of their brand, bridging the gap between being a men’s brand to a brand for everyone.
About Rhone
Founded in 2014, Rhone is a performance lifestyle brand dedicated to championing mental fitness. Engineered for optimal style, comfort, and performance, our clothing is designed to enhance every aspect of the active individual's life. Led by brothers Nate & Ben Checketts, Rhone is fueled by a clear vision: positively impacting lives through a commitment to mental fitness, inspiring community, and crafting performance-driven products. Rhone's purpose is straightforward yet impactful: to inspire those who challenge themselves in their relentless pursuit of progress. In addition to a robust E-commerce business and a strong wholesale presence, Rhone currently has 15 retail stores across the U.S., all of which are used for building community through various initiatives such as the brand's signature Mind & Muscle events. More information can be found at www.rhone.com