Miki Racine Berardelli

Chief Executive Officer
Class of 1988

Miki Racine Berardelli grew up in Sycamore, IL and graduated from Sycamore High School in 1988. Miki is the daughter of Norman Racine and Diana Racine and the youngest of their four daughters. Her father Norm was also raised in Sycamore where his father, Miki’s grandfather, started his law practice after graduating from law school. Her grandfather learned about the wonderful town of Sycamore from his father, who sold farming equipment across the Midwest and believed Sycamore was the most special place he had ever visited.

Miki attended Southeast Elementary School, Sycamore Middle School and then Sycamore High School where she was actively involved in Pom Poms/Dance, French Club, Speech Team and participated in school plays. She was a competitive swimmer and diver for many years and a team member of the DeKalb County Swim Team. She also worked at Colonial Ice Cream, making sundaes, shakes, and scooping cones for the residents of Sycamore.

Miki spoke to the SHS Class of 2017 Scholars where she shared that while she was a good student in high school, she was not a scholar. She began to thrive in her college years, which continued into her early career and throughout graduate school. Miki earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa as a member of the Honor Roll and a master’s degree from Northwestern University where she graduated with a straight-A report card and truly hit her stride of ambition. She attributes much of her success to the work ethic she learned from her parents! Miki started her “working” career at the age of nine as a newspaper delivery girl for the Daily Chronicle!

Miki started her career in marketing, holding positions in the Chicago area at McMillan Associates and Experian North America, and then later moving to Columbus, OH to work for Limited Too. She then moved to New York City and landed a job at Ralph Lauren where she rose through the ranks to become Senior Vice President of Marketing, leading the multi-channel marketing strategy for all retail divisions. She then joined Tory Burch as their first Chief Marketing Officer and was responsible for global Marketing, Public Relations and Digital Commerce and followed that experience as President, Digital Commerce & Chief Marketing Officer, EVP at Chico’s FAS in Fort Myers, FL where she oversaw the Digital Commerce business and Marketing strategy for Chico’s, White House Black Market and Soma Intimates. Miki moved back to the tri-state area to once again work in her beloved New York City and joined KIDBOX — the first kids’ style box offering cool brands, amazing savings and a mission to clothe one million children in need — as Chief Executive Officer in 2016. She continues to innovate and evolve as a brand leader and marketer, but is most importantly focused on building a brand with the best company culture ever and a social mission at its core.

Miki has been recognized as a “Top Women in Cross- Channel Retail,” as one of Brand Innovators “Top 50 Women Brand Marketers,” as a “Ten of Tomorrow” by Women’s Wear Daily, and received the “Silver Plaque Award” from the National Retail Federation for her contributions to the retail industry. Among several industry and company board positions, she also served on the inaugural Google Retail Advisory Council and has been featured in globally recognized publications including Forbes and the Huffington Post.

Miki is extremely grateful for her career and success in business. She is proud to serve as a woman CEO at a time when there are still too few women in executive level positions. She believes in being humble, hard-working and appreciative toward those who have helped her along the way, qualities she learned growing up in Sycamore. She spends time mentoring others as a way of “paying it forward” and giving back. Most of all, she remains one of Sycamore’s biggest fans and credits our town with providing her with the foundation that gave her the courage to be ambitious and relentless in her life pursuits. Miki has remained extremely close to many of her hometown friends who have been fiercely loyal and unwavering in their support and not a year has gone by without a visit back home.

While Sycamore always remains close to her heart, Miki now lives in the suburbs of New York City with her husband Christopher, her two sons, Max and Vic, and a yellow lab named Lou.