Testimonials

Dr Thomas Baumann - Chief Group Development Officer at Canyon Bicycles

“We had the pleasure to work with Grishma and received excellent services; well prepared all the time, excellent search and permanent to the point communication.

Working together with Grishma is one pillar of professionalism and success. Thanks!!”

Evelyn Doyle
Head of People & Culture International
Patagonia

"I started working with John over a year ago, retaining his executive search services for some of our key senior hires for Patagonia Europe; which he delivered on with great success. It’s been an absolute pleasure working with him. He is a true professional; knowledgeable and highly ethical. His knowledge of our industry, approach to the market and focus on customer service is faultless. John is committed to finding you the right person, he is also a great sounding board on all things HR. What I like about working with John is his flexibility, practical approach to conducting a search and his engaging style in dealing with all levels of stakeholders.

I would highly recommend John and his team at Fusion to any HRD within the outdoors/sportswear industry looking for a truly professional, customer services oriented, experienced search firm."

Michal Jedrzejko
Merchandising Director Wrangler

“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Grishma as a candidate looking for my current position. I’ve been impressed by her professionalism and her wealth of contacts in the apparel and retail industry. I appreciate her dedication in making sure that everything goes well during all steps of the process, even months after I was on the new job. Grishma communicates often with the parties involved, provides relevant information, and make sure every step of the process is smooth and efficient. She’s trustworthy, professional, and always follows through on her commitments.”

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Carina von Schrottenberg
PUMA, Head of Golf DACH

“I had the pleasure to work with Grishma while being recruited for my current role. Her approach and style was always very professional, discrete, to the point, supportive, reliable and available, mixed with the right attitude and dose of fun. She earned my full respect and trust and I highly can recommend her. Thanks, Grishma!”

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Katja Adrienne Erbe
GM Europe - The Athlete’s Foot

“The approach of John was very professional. He led a very structured and well-challenging process, which allowed myself to get a clear understanding and feeling of the opportunity from all aspects and view points. John is very available when needed, completely reliable as per any agreement or appointment and pleasantly fast in response to anything that comes up. I experience him as a real business partner, that is valuing all stakeholders in the process.

Next to all the serious and professional topics we had on the table, the humour and fun was always a great part of it. Recommended? Clearly 'yes'.”

Julie Redfield
HR Director
PON Bikes

“I've worked with John while at PON Bike, and he has been a terrific partner to me, and to our business leaders. He's taken the time to really understand our business needs, and our corporate culture so that he could recommend only top talent, and people who would understand and be able to thrive in our culture.

John came to a week long sales meeting in Austria, and spent full days and evenings everyday talking to our employees to get an understanding of them, as well as getting some great feedback to share with me about their views on talent development and other HR related issues.

John is a great partner and has brought us many great commercial leaders.”

Silvana Bonello – Vice President Operations VANS

“I've had the pleasure to work with Grishma as a client. What caught my immediate attention was her personality, authenticity and professionalism. Her approach has played a large part in my initial interest in the potential opportunity. Throughout our touch bases I have appreciated her pro-active communication and interpersonal connection. I feel Grishma very quickly "got" me and was a great facilitator in the process between me and VF. This move was an extremely pleasurable and smooth experience, in large part thanks to Grishma.”

Sebastian Weiland
Talent Acquisition EMEA
W.L. Gore & Associates

“I partnered with Grishma to hire a Global Leadership role for our Fabrics division. During the process, Grishma demonstrated sound market knowledge with a truly global reach to find the right talent, which was critical for us to be successful. She facilitated a deep dive briefing meeting to get a good understanding of our needs, and even more important, she adapted as the process moved forward through ongoing regular check-ins.

She communicated pro-actively and she really went an extra mile to meet our ambitious timeline. She also was fun to work with. Thank you!!!”

Robbert Hersman
Apparel Merchandising Director Europe - Columbia Sportswear

“I have enjoyed working with John when he was working on my recruitment for Columbia. John has been very good in the communication between the parties, and was very clear on managing expectations. And he helped me getting my job! I would recommend John for any recruitment work.”

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Yoann Regent
Kering, Sustainable Sourcing

“Grishma assisted in my recruitment on behalf of Kering. The whole process from start to finish was managed in a both very professional and very humane approach. Grishma was fully transparent, making the communication very easy and smooth. She was also very helpful with the preparation of each step alongside the process. All in all, a great professional and a pleasure to be engaged with.”

Olga Motolese
Head of International, French Connection

”I have known Grishma for quite a few years now and I couldn’t recommend her more! She is extremely professional, focused, reliable and at the same time a genuinely warm character, totally trustworthy and definitely one of the best recruiters I have ever had the pleasure to meet in our industry.”

David Ledouble

David Ledouble
General Manager EMEA
Sea To Summit

“I have had the opportunity to work with John twice in the past 8 years, both times as a candidate for searches Fusion was conducting for global brands in the Sport and Outdoor industry.

Comparing with various other recruiters I have worked with over the years I appreciate John’s strong listening skills and empathy. These essential HR skills enable John to naturally find a good fit between a candidate curriculum, personality and potential and a company culture and mission where the candidate will thrive.

Finally, John’s remarkable intimacy with the global sport and outdoor market makes him and Fusion a perfect go-to partner if you are looking for senior leadership profiles in our industry.”

Helen Crowley - Head of Sustainability - Kering

"John provided excellent service as a recruiter. Not only did he and his team find a top class range of potential applicants but he took the time to develop a deep understanding of the position, context and the type of person needed. He also has a great deal of knowledge and connections. He is patient and diligent and very personable. I would highly recommend working with him."

Kelley Brakstad
HRD - VF Corporation

"I highly recommend the Fusion team and in particular, Grishma Jashapara for Executive searches and for specific roles which are a challenge in the fashion market to fill such as Design. I have been working in HR in the Retail industry for 10 years and finding talent that not only can meet the highly sought after skills and experience requirements but also the right cultural fit is the biggest challenge.

Grishma & the team at Fusion bring passion to the roles, a sense of really understanding the granular needs of the business and the culture and being able to match those elements with talent in the market. I highly value Grishma’s approach and relationships in the market and that she can quickly evaluate both parties resulting in optimal and successful placements"

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Pascha Naderi-Nejad
Head of ASICS Lifestyle

“I had to the opportunity to work with John Copeland on recruitment for two very critical open roles in the lifestyle business unit at Asics. John's comprehensive search and interview process ensured we spoke to bench mark talent for the roles. He invested countless hours to find the perfect match not only in skills, talent and experience but also in cultural fit, which is imerpative to our business. John delivered superior results, finding two of the most exceptional talents in the the industry to join our team. Not only was the professsional experience working with John very rewarding but also the personal experience. John is a charsimatic, personable and authentic individual, whom I feel fortunate now to call a friend.”

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Stefan Solfors
Timberland, Retail Operations Director

“I had the pleasure of working together with Grishma when I got recruited by VF Corp/Timberland as Retail OPS Director. I have nothing but positive experiences from this - Grishma worked with an open and transparent approach without over promises. Happy to have had the opportunity to meet!”

Yvonne Swoboda
Director ESG /Sustainability
Canyon Bicycles

“Grishma has incredible people skills and managed my whole recruitment process in a very impressive way. Whilst being highly professional, she always made sure that the process is also engaging and fun. Grishma is a great communicator, full of passion and I highly recommend her. Thank you for this great experience Grishma!“

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Olivier Gay – Vice President and General Manager Kipling

“Working with Grishma was highly enriching. She has an incredible energy and enthusiasm. She understands perfectly the needs of strategic vision and smart and agile execution. A great experience for me.”

Darren Campbell
Footwear Director EMEA - ASICS

“John has been instrumental in me taking up my recent position in Amsterdam. Throughout the whole process John was on hand to advise and provide in depth knowledge not only of the potential role but more importantly the process of relocating myself and my young family. He even accompanied my wife and I over a weekend prior to taking the role in Amsterdam showing us potential areas to live and International Schools. Above and beyond what I would have expected from a recruitment company but his emphasis on making sure this move was right for us seemed his primary concern...I now see him as more than a professional contact but more a friend and will without doubt recommend him to my own network of friends! Many thanks JC.”

Mike Wallenfels
VP Sales - Hydro Flask

“I used John Copeland and Fusion Associates in performing our search for a GM of Hydro Flask Europe. Our focus was to find a uniquely qualified candidate that had extensive experience within the Outdoor Industry across Europe with the unique ability to build and manage a newly forming business.

John was able to find several qualified candidates through his extensive contacts and creating the excitement required for this new position.

I would use John and Fusion Associates again for future searches and recommend him to any brands looking for top talent in the European market.”

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Jan Schoper
Marketing Director, Lee Jeans

“Grishma is a high profile recruitment professional with extraordinary people skills. I very much enjoyed working with her when I was hired for an international Marketing Director role. Grishma knows what it takes to find the right solution for a given challenge and to balance well between tough decision taking, high corporate demand versus empathy towards the people. Besides, Grishma is a very pleasant and kind person with great sense of humour. I highly recommend her to any future business partner or company!”

Sylvia De Silva
Head of Ladies, French Connection

“I've had the pleasure of working with Grishma for many years. Grishma has a firm understanding of the market place and is very well connected. She is professional, has a warm personality and thorough in delivering information. I highly recommend Grishma.”