The following story was written by freelance writer Deborah Reid:
When Niagara College alumna Lora Tisi (Fashion Arts, 1979) created the atmosphere for Northern Reflections in 1985, her inspiration was from summers spent at her grandparent’s cottage. Remembering the reflection of pine trees on the surface of a glassy lake, hearing the low wail of loons at dusk, the smell of a wood fire in the air, and living mostly in her bathing suit. It’s where she felt a deep sense of belonging.
She is a natural-born storyteller – a woman with a vision and the talent to convey it. The magic, she knows, is in the details. One of the best expressions of her commitment is how the change room doors at Northern Reflections slammed shut on a tight spring hinge like the screen door at a cottage. “I tried to make the experience of my childhood as real as possible,” said Tisi.
In the brand-defining sweats, there are more details to get right. Sweatshirts have two problems – the way the ribbing around the sleeves and waist blows out and the silkscreen image flaking. She found a technical maker and had six-dozen sweatshirts printed with the Northern Reflection’s logo. Packing them into her Chevette, she drove them to a store in Guelph. A few days later, they were all gone.
For Canadians, the success of Northern Reflections is no secret – within four years, a hundred stores would dot the country, followed by success in America. In nine years, Tisi rose from Buyer to Executive Vice President, and three years later, in 1995, she made the company President.
After 17 years, she left to become President of American Eagle Outfitters in Canada to grow its global platform. She was behind a strategy to launch 46 stores nationally in 108 days – starting with smaller regional malls and finishing with big stores at Yorkdale in Toronto and the West Edmonton Mall.
Tisi needed a vibrant story to appeal to young people and began recruiting college and university athletes as brand ambassadors, sponsoring wardrobes on hit television shows, and hosting in-store live music events. “We wanted to be the voice of the cool kid, and I learned a lot about amplifying that message,” she said.
Following her role with American Eagle Outfitters, she spent five years as President of RW&CO. Reaching men was the big challenge, and she recruited Canadian hockey players like Montreal Canadiens, P. K. Subban to help tell those stories. It’s a formula that tripled sales. It’s also the first time she recruited an Indigenous ambassador – Canadian model and actress Ashley Callingbull from the Enoch Cree Nation.
“We’re lucky in life if we’re part of one great team,” she said, reflecting on her 37-year career. “For me to have found three is incredibly humbling.”
Looking to create a legacy, Tisi focuses on giving, applying her knowledge as an international retail strategist to mentorship in Indigenous communities and growing a market for Indigenous products.
Her beloved paternal grandmother was a Six Nations Iroquois Elder, and she identifies as mixed-race Indigenous.
She is a board member for the Indigenous Advanced Education Skills Council (IAESC), an organization addressing the low graduation rate among young people – 36 percent compared to 72 percent in the Canadian population. Their ambitions are to grow Indigenous post-secondary institutes in Ontario -teaching curriculum free of colonial structure and a minimum of 50 percent Indigenous content.
“My goal is to be two ears and one mouth and interact in that proportion,” she said. “I seek first to understand and then find ways to give back.”
This story is part of a series featuring seven distinguished members of Niagara College’s alumni community, who have been nominated for Colleges Ontario’s prestigious 2021 Premier’s Awards.
