It’Sugar, a specialty candy retailer in North America with 96 retail locations, has announced that Ashley Mady has joined the company as vice president, brand development.

In this newly created senior leadership role, Mady will oversee the company’s visual merchandising, private label, licensing, public relations and marketing efforts. She will be charged with establishing the creative direction to support It’Sugar’s short-term and long-term growth strategies.

“We are very excited to have Ashley join our leadership team,” says Jeff Rubin, chief executive officer, It’Sugar. “She is an extremely dedicated and talented professional who I am sure will help catapult It’Sugar to the next level, and beyond.”

Mady joins It’Sugar from Basic Fun!, a toy company in Boca Raton, Florida where she served as the head of brand development. At Basic Fun! she created proprietary brands, worked with internal teams to drive innovation and led the company’s promotional and digital efforts across all brands and product lines. Prior to joining Basic Fun!, Mady founded and helmed brand licensing and creative agency, Brandberry, where she spent nearly a decade launching new IP from the ground up and refreshing established brands. Brandberry served as the creative agency for It’Sugar creating style guides, private label packaging, store graphics and web content from 2011-2014.

From 2014-2020, Mady held the position of president of the global non-profit Women In Toys, Licensing and Entertainment. She currently sits on the board of The Toy Association, where she is the committee chair for The Genius of Play, a nonprofit resource that promotes the power of play for healthier and happier kids.

“Ten years ago, I walked into an It’Sugar store and fell in love with the brand,” says Mady.  “It was a brand I had to get my hands on, and when I did, I loved every second of it. The possibilities of where It’Sugar can go are limitless, and I can’t wait to see all we accomplish.”