Donna Geary is the founder and Executive Director of Impact Visual Merchandising. For the past 16 years, Donna has consulted with clients in the retail, tourism, museum, attraction, service, wholesale and banking sectors.

Donna embarked on her retail career over 25 years ago, working in sales and management for textile stores. A love of design was paramount in her decision to study Fashion Design and Merchandising at Ryerson Polytechnic University, which lead her to further specialize in Visual Merchandising with studies at Centennial College and George Brown College in Toronto, Ontario. Following an apprenticeship in the field, Donna joined the Hudson Bay Company where she spent eight years in senior marketing management for several regions of Canada. She broadened her department store experience years later, when she joined the re-structuring team of Woodward's stores in Vancouver, as Director of In-Store Marketing.

In 1989, Donna foundeded her Toronto-based consulting firm (formerly known as DGA Visual and now re-named Impact Visual Merchandising), which operates with the mandate of assisting retailers, developers, manufacturers and service-providers with best-practice marketing advice and solutions. While her primary focus is on consulting with clients large and small -- from strategy to implementation -- Donna also develops training materials and conducts retail workshops and seminars.

In 1997, Donna authored her first book and video, entitled Maximizing Store Impact: A Retailer's Guide to Profitable Visual Merchandising, published by Ryerson Polytechnic University. The book is now used as a course text in Community College and University Retail Management programs. A firm believer in life-long learning, Donna has since completed an MBA, with a Major in Marketing from Concordia University. She has instructed courses in Marketing, Visual Merchandising and Business Communications at Ryerson University, The International Academy of Merchandising & Design, CLDC in Brazil and Fleming College in Peterborough, Ontario, where she now resides. Donna Geary is an accredited member of the Society of Visual Merchandisers, a worldwide organization of professionals dedicated to establishing a standard of excellence in the field.

She has served on several boards, including post-secondary academic advisory positions, the Greater Peterborough Area Economic Development Corporation, the Women’s Business Network of Peterborough and she contributes time and talent to numerous charitable and educational causes. Donna’s personal passions include kayaking in the beautiful Kawartha Lakes, parenting her amazing son, fitness, teaching, traveling, reading, writing and sharing both serious and silly insights, some of which you will find in our “Cool Stuff” link.