about…
Starsea Deoss is a strongly motivated, hard-working, and passionate creative. Over the course of her career, she has become a highly skilled visual merchandiser, trusted brand builder, an accomplished leader, mentor, + coach, and overall well-rounded artist. Her career has primarily been rooted in visual merchandising, creating presentations that celebrate newness while championing brand strategies + enhancing customer experiences. A successful leader in this space with a proven track record of consistent improved sales metrics. More recently her career has expanded to encompass more levels of brand building to leverage additional depths of her Marketing background. Taking on additional roles + responsibilities and managing in-store marketing concepting + briefing. She is a fierce leader, remaining authentically herself, challenging the status quo, encouraging collaboration, and advocating for diverse perspectives + inclusivity. Fueled by care, connection, curiosity, + compassion, and an overall craving to continuously learn + grow, her creativity + partnership knows no bounds.
Starsea’s experience is vast, encompassing work within both Apparel + Accessories and Home + Hardlines. This work also spans across both specialty retailers + big-box corporations. Her visual merchandising, styling, + marketing career portfolio has included working for well-known brands such as: Puma, Life Is Good, Aveda, Charlotte Russe, Tommy Hilfiger, + Target Corporation. While at Target, Starsea has also been able to work with multiple partner brands such as: Hanes/Champion, UMBRO, Studio McGee, Hearth + Hand by Magnolia, Tabitha Brown, Disney, Marvel, and more!
As an individual who has never had less than 2 jobs at a time, and continuously looks for additional ways to positively impact her community + build relationships with others, Starsea’s career path has been two-fold: expanding past just merchandising + marketing and into brand management, promotion, + event coordinating! Her portfolio includes brand management + promotional work for Feathered Friend Brewing. In addition, she has started her own LLC to coordinate, host, + run music events in her hometown. While these music showcases are only a few times a year, each production aims to bring community together, provide a safe-space for all, and raise money + awareness for Mental Health! Starsea’s portfolio also showcases a slew of additional creative outlet projects that fill her cup, inclusive of: painting, mixed media art, photoshoot set design + execution, wedding photography, product styling, logo design, + more!
In addition to Starsea’s over 16 years of experience in retail merchandising, and 3 years of brand management, event coordinating, + promoting experience, she is proud to hold a Bachelor’s Degree as well. This degree is a Bachelor of Science in Fashion Merchandising with a focus in Visual Merchandising and Marketing, from Bay State College in Boston, MA.
…getting personal!
A little more about Starsea on a personal level… she is a:
daughter • fur-baby mom • sister • auntie (of 8) • friend
artist • painter • dancer • choreographer • entrepreneur
merchandiser • creator • innovator • influencer
nature nut • wanderer • adventure seeker • explorer
east coast girly • beach enthusiast • waterfall chaser
emotional • empath • compassionate soul • virgo • vegan
music lover • concert fanatic • festival goer • free spirit
event coordinator • elder emo • music cruise obsessed
new travel addict • fresh passport stamp collector
summertime sweetheart • hot over cold • fan of bright colors
glitter gal • confetti connoisseur • goofy soul • silly goose
authentic • genuine • caring • kind • understanding • loving
multi-tasker • dedicated employee • loyal + honest human
What are people saying about Starsea?!
...a true joy to work with...
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...a bright light on our team...
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...always gives her all...
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...makes the complex simple...
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... truly a master of her craft...
...a true joy to work with... • ...a bright light on our team... • ...always gives her all... • ...makes the complex simple... • ... truly a master of her craft...
“Starsea leads with optimism and brings “full potential” to all that she encounters. She embraces perspectives, insights and empathy to build relationships, creating presentations that are best in class for the brand, product, store experience and guest engagement. She is a tremendous asset to any team!”
-Kolby Veenstra, Senior Director Visual Merchandising A&A, Target
“Starsea is the epitome of what you look for in an amazing visual merchandiser! Not only can she apply the science to her methods, but the attention to details and creativeness are what make her stand out amongst others. She is one of the most talented and dedicated visual merchandisers I have ever worked with. It's been an absolute joy to work with her!”
-Ngan Tran, Senior Visual Merchandising Manger Special Projects, Target
“Starsea is one of my favorite partners to work with. She is an incredibly reliable source for all things Performance and Visual Merchandising. Her in-depth knowledge of the business and passion to create an elevated guest experience makes it easy to work with her. Her attention to detail and ability to recall things from transition to transition is incredibly valuable to me as a partner. She is detail oriented and incredibly nimble. She always takes the time to meet with me when I need help, and explains things in a way that makes the complex, simple. Her creativity and ability to problem solve is fueled by her knowledge and expertise. Her positive attitude is the icing on the cake. She handles challenges with poise and has a way of grounding everyone in a constructive fashion that reminds us that we are all on the same team. It takes a special person to be able to maneuver high pressure situations and deliver the results that she does. I truly value every interaction I have with her.”
-Desiree Miller, Senior Marketing Manager, Target
“Starsea is an absolute joy to work with and is a phenomenal peer. Starsea has a true passion for visual merchandising, which is evident in the strategy and recommendations she brings to our merchants and designers. She has a tremendous grasp of the All in Motion Brand and consistently finds ways to create the best in store experience for our Guests. Starsea is also a bright light on our team and her enthusiasm helps to make even the most difficult assortment updates easy to solve!”
-Meran Kreibich, Senior Sourcing Manger, Target
“I've had the pleasure of working with Starsea for 2+ years on the Performance business and can confidently say that Target's store experience would not come to life nearly as well as it does without her expertise and knowledge! She is truly a master of her craft within the Visual space and is always on top of her game. She is a whizz in problem solving, and always puts the guest mindset and store team member's mindset first.”
-Megan Moynagh, Men’s Performance Buyer, Target
“Starsea is one of the most thoughtful and collaborative thought partners at the Performance Roundtable. She was a critical component of bringing All in Motion ($1B Brand) to life in 2020 and independently led the division through [all] cycles of transitions across 4 genders. The amount of outfitting was complex, the color flow standards new, and an adjustment to fixtures threw the assortment off after it was confirmed.
Through all of the volatility and change, Starsea showed up as a committed and thoughtful visual leader. Her key strengths are:
Extremely detailed communication
Solution oriented in the face of challenges
Resilient and adaptable to changes in the assortment as well as team members and leadership
Starsea has been a grounding force for the Performance Team and her mastery of the product has enabled the team to rely on her to showcase the assortment with inspiration and ease. Her strong support of the Division is recognized at the Associate Buyer to VP Level leadership and she is a critical component of the team's success!”
-Juliette Najjar, Director of Performance, Target
“I have had the pleasure of working with Starsea Deoss for about three years on the Women's Performance team at Target Corporation. She has been one of my favorite cross functional partners to work with thus far in my career. Her knowledge of visual merchandising has been instrumental for total performance as we launched a new owned brand in 2020, updated our assortment as a reaction to COVID-19, and as we plan for future cycles. She is curious, action oriented and collaborative. One thing I really value about Starsea is her courage- she is not afraid to ask questions or challenge the status quo if that means improving the business. She always keeps the Guest top of mind, and she is always collaborative when making crucial decisions. Most importantly, she has given me support both professionally and personally, especially during the racial tensions that occurred in Minneapolis last year. Her tenacity is unmatched and she is an asset to Target.”
-Funmi Ajagbe, Women’s Performance Buyer, Target
“I’ve had the privilege of working with Starsea across both VM and RBX, and she has consistently been an incredible peer and mentor. She’s a natural leader who leads by example— thoughtful, empathetic, and always grounded in purpose. Her creativity, strategic thinking, and ability to build meaningful cross-functional relationships are just a few of the qualities that make her such an asset. Starsea approaches every challenge with care and precision, brings fresh ideas, and consistently goes the extra mile.”
-Tricia Borchert, Visual Merchandising Associate, Disney, Target
“Starsea approaches her work with a deep level of thoughtfulness. She has a strong ability to get to the root of the problem / task. The work she brings forth (both in ideation and final results) is quality work that consistently balances the “art and science” of our jobs. She is a true visual merchandiser at heart and it shows through her work. Starsea comes up with multiple solutions and is able to show different ways of how to get to where needed allowing for ideation points with multiple final results. She is someone you can count on to provide strong outputs that continue too take ideas to the next level. One of Starsea’s strongest behaviors is within Connection - celebrating peer and team successes. She is always the first person to submit recognition (that is meaningful!) during moments of opportunity and loves to support the wins within execution or results, whether she supported the work or not. Starsea is also someone who continuously supports business councils, shares newsletters, and has been part of value pillars in the past to help improve and curate moral on the team.”
-Kylee Williams, Senior Visual Merchandising Manager, Target
“I've had the pleasure of working with Starsea multiple times at Target. She's a very talented visual merchandiser, but also a joy to work with. Her visual merchandising expertise is best in class and she always comes up with creative solutions to bring different products together to tell a story. She's also a great partner and is open to feedback and helps collaborate to come up with the optimal solutions not only for the visual aspect of the assortment but also to help protect key volume drivers and drive sales. I wouldn't hesitate to have her on my team, she's not only very talented but also very positive and happy to work through solutions! Starsea is an awesome visual merchandiser and is also a team player!”
-Julie Burnett, Senior Buyer Home Innovation, Target
“I'm so grateful to work with Starsea! The ability to approach the business from multiple perspectives can be a challenging skillset, but Starsea consistently showcases her categories from both an art & science lens, while still maintaining her creativity. That is a tough thing to do! Starsea has a strong understanding of the product lifecycle and that shines through in all of the conversations she has with the various stakeholders needed to move forward on projects. Starsea is creative, passionate, positive, asks questions, and quickly becomes the expert in all business she takes on. Thanks for all you do!”
-Casey Rohan, Senior Business Partner Space + Presentation Team, Target
“Starsea is passionate about delivering innovative presentations for the guest and does this by being a strong collaborator. During our time working together, she consistently demonstrated exceptional teamwork skills, always willing to lend a hand and collaborate effectively with the teams she worked with. Starsea has shown a strong willingness to learn about the sales and business impacts in order to deliver a presentation that helps to propel the business while delivering a great experience for the guest and the stores. Starsea and I have built a strong partnership that has allowed us to challenge each other in order to deliver the best results for the guest and I have really valued this!”
-Shradha Oza, Director of Merch Buying Home, Hearth + Hand and Kitchen, Target
“Starsea is a wonderful cross-functional partner in the Home business! She does an incredible job building beautiful & impactful presentations for our guests. Starsea is collaborative, proactive, and curious. She goes above & beyond to ensure all partners are aligned, and she is a great problem solver. Starsea is a huge asset to Target and the Home team is lucky to have her!”
-Courtney Jones, Senior Buyer Home Innovation, Target
“Starsea is a collaborative partner that drives co-creation and 'dream big' thinking with merchant teams! She also does a fantastic job creating impactful presentations that support the financial and operational needs of the business. Starsea's ability to think creatively AND operationally is truly valued!”
-Kelly Breuer, Director of Merch Buying Stationery, Target
“I have gotten the opportunity to work with Starsea over the past 18 months. Starsea is an excellent cross-functional partner. She comes to the table with a wealth of knowledge on all things Visual Merchandising. She has a clear vision for how to make ideas come to life and excels at communicating this vision and bringing partners along. I have had the opportunity to work with many people in this space over the past 12+ years in this industry and Starsea is among the best if not the best cross-functional partner that I have gotten the opportunity to work with. Her attention to detail, drive to get things done, and creativity are among her biggest strengths in my opinion. Starsea never backs away from a challenge, and is always quick to take the appropriate people as partners when the situation calls for it. Starsea possesses many traits that make her an excellent Visual Merchandise professional, but above them all she is a great person and a true joy to work with.”
-Ian Wilson, Senior Business Partner Space + Presentation Team, Target
“Starsea blends her creative side with a strong pragmatic and process based approach that creates balance and easy to understand creative strategies. She values each stakeholders' opinions and ensures their voices are heard not only by her end result, but how she brings the work to life (through detailed updates and providing the right context to partners).”
-Brandon Knight, Director of Store Operations, Target
“Starsea is an exceptional partner who considers every aspect of the business to ensure that our store teams can execute the merchandising and presentation vision she designs. I consistently appreciate her willingness to ask questions to gain a deeper understanding of store operations, which helps inform her work. From developing solutions that are straightforward for stores to implement, to creating impactful presentations that entice our guests to shop, Starsea consistently demonstrates her high performance and expertise across all her partners, contributing to the successful delivery of Target’s mission.”
-Brett Guenther, Lead Business Partner Store Operations, Target
“Starsea was first my peer when I was starting in VM Home at Target. She gave me so much guidance on how the process works, how to build CFT relationships, and tips & tricks on visual merchandising. She not only was a huge help in showing me the ropes, but so kind and patient as I learned a whole new business. Secondly, Starsea became my manager and under this new position she elegantly shifted gears into a leader role. She gave sound reasoning to her peers on new ideas that would shake up the standard rinse and repeat methods. She did all of this with data driven logistics to further push teams into innovative tactics that would support the business, drive ease, consistency, and profit. She always gives everything her all with so much positivity around it. She has taught me so much, especially how to be kind even when things aren't going the way we had hoped and I'll forever be grateful for that lesson!”
-Kayla (Russeau) Donlin, Visual Merchandising Associate, Hearth + Hand and Kitchen, Target
“I had the pleasure of working with Starsea at Tommy Hilfiger in 2013 as one of her sales associates.
I first met Starsea when I was 16 years old, working my very first job at another retail store next door. I would spend my lunch breaks walking around the Tommy Hilfiger outlet store, and nearly every time I went in to look around at the new styles, Starsea would almost always be working. She always made a point to say hello and learn a little bit more about me, and I thought to my self, “wow, this supervisor provides such exemplary customer service — she is so authentic, warm and kind.”
After a few weeks of me visiting on my lunch breaks, Starsea finally said to me, “you should apply to be an associate at our store!” I was so flattered by this, thinking that this really seemed like someone I would enjoy working for. I submitted my application right away, and luckily, I got the job. From that point forward, Starsea became one of my supervisors, and it was during this time that Starsea helped shape me into the hard worker that I still strive to be today.
As a supervisor, she always spoke to me with the utmost respect, compassion, and patience; she quickly took on the role of a mentor, and never spoke down to me or made me feel like there were any power dynamics on our team. She found creative ways to motivate me and allocated tasks that played to my strengths. I think back to one example of in particular, where she would assign me to complete our seasonal vision boards for the store; knowing that I was artistically inclined and that I would enjoy this task so much, while making it feel specially chosen, just for me.
As a leader, she also struck the perfect balance of providing constructive feedback, while also celebrating my victories. I remember receiving many “GREAT” notes from Starsea, where a manager would write a compliment or an example of a time when an associate went above and beyond on a piece of paper and tape them to their lockers. I receiveed many heartfelt notes from Starsea, and I kept these notes from her for many years after moving on from Tommy Hilfiger — even bringing them with me to college and taping them to my work desk as a reminder to always do my best.
More than ten years have passed since I started working with Starsea, and yet, all of these beautiful moments remain with me to this day. I am eternally grateful for Starsea for leaving her mark at such an integral time in my life; I was fortunate to have someone like her from an early age help shape my perception of what a good boss should be, and she is a ray of light wherever she goes! Any professional office or team would be so lucky to have her, and there are many of us who feel this way!”
-Ashley Riley, Sales Associate, Tommy Hilfiger
“I worked with Starsea Deoss at Tommy Hilfiger from 2013 - 2015, at the time she was head of the women’s department and also took charge of our visual merchandising throughout the store. Starsea is a great leader, helped run out employee team building exercises, had a great eye for detail, and used her extensive knowledge of fashion to help our associates become better at servicing customers. Starsea was a wonderful addition to our work family, and given the opportunity I would definitely work with her again.”
-Emily McBride, Sales Associate, Tommy Hilfiger
“Starsea was a phenomenal boss whose leadership qualities greatly influenced our team’s success. Her attention to detail and exceptional organizational skills ensured that every project was executed flawlessly. She consistently encouraged innovative thinking, always seeking the most effective ways to deliver outstanding presentations. Beyond her professional expertise, Starsea fostered a supporrtive and motivational environment. Her caring demeanor made her a pleasure to work alongside, inspiring us all to strive for excellence. It. is this unique combination of professionalism and approachability that sets her apart as a remarkable leader.”
-Alexa Perrotti, Assistant Manager, Charlotte Russe
“Starsea is a great manager. She is very organized and puts everything she has into her work no matter the hours. She is very dependable and when there was a situation she was needed for, she was there.”
-Natasha Byers, Sales Associate,
Charlotte Russe
“Starsea is an incredible leader! It was a pleasure learning from and working for her at Charlotte Russe. She is organized, determined, and unafraid to take on new challenges. She is also a great teacher, always took the time to show and explain what she wanted out of you. She knows how to keep the fun days productive and the bad days fun.”
-Marylin Fogg, Assistant Manager,
Charlotte Russe