Alisa Peterson

Experience

• 

  Moodswings / WORLDS

  Fractional COO / VP, Merchandising & Venue Operations

  Jul 2022 - Jul 2026

  Global immersive entertainment startup that creates cinematic music and visual experiences designed to reduce stress, inspire connection, and elevate emotional well-being. The company produces large-scale, projection-based shows hosted in planetariums, theaters, and immersive venues, combining music, art, and storytelling into a multisensory experience. Its flagship productions, including Astronomica and similar formats, are performed across a rapidly expanding international footprint. Operating as a remote-first, globally distributed organization, WORLDS partners with venues across multiple countries while maintaining a lean central team and a large network of on-the-ground representatives who execute live experiences.

  • Scaled global live operations from concept to execution across 60+ cities and 4 countries, rapidly launching 40 cities in 90 days through a fully remote operating model.
  • Built and led a distributed workforce of 200+ venue representatives, including hiring, training, and implementing a regional management structure to drive accountability and performance at scale.
  • Designed and operationalized the company’s end-to-end venue execution model, standardizing processes across ticketing, guest experience, staffing, and show delivery.
  • Created the company’s merchandising function from the ground up, including product strategy, sourcing, e-commerce site, warehouse/distribution, and in-venue retail operations.
  • Launched private label product lines within 4 months, establishing new revenue streams and enhancing the guest experience.
  • Implemented systems and tools to support scale, including Airtable, Deputy, WhatsApp, and mobile POS, improving communication, scheduling, and real-time show execution.
  • Spearheaded operational restructuring into regional pods, increasing efficiency, reducing oversight gaps, and improving execution consistency across markets.
  • Led cross-functional coordination across sales, marketing, systems, and production, ensuring alignment between ticketing, venue readiness, and on-the-ground execution.
• 

  1800Flowers

  Senior Director of Merchandising

  Jul 2012 - Feb 2020

  Brought in to lead merchandising and product strategy for a high-volume gifting business, owning P&L and driving growth through assortment optimization, new product development, and SKU rationalization. Delivered measurable gains in revenue, margin, and operational efficiency through cross-functional execution.

  • Drove 5 consecutive years of record sales and profit, delivering the highest profit contribution (21%) across the enterprise.
  • Built and scaled Everyday Gifting to 18% of annual revenue in 3 years, creating sustained growth outside of peak seasonal periods.
  • Led SKU rationalization initiative, significantly improving productivity, reducing complexity, and increasing operational efficiency.
  • Owned end-to-end P&L and assortment strategy across 1,000+ SKUs, optimizing product mix, pricing, and inventory performance.
  • Implemented a company-wide personalization strategy adopted across multiple brands, enhancing customer experience and conversion.
  • Established scalable merchandising frameworks and best practices through leadership of the Merchandising Excellence Council.