Mr. Conroy has been a director and our President and Chief Executive Officer since 2012. Prior to joining Boot Barn, Mr. Conroy was with Claire’s Stores, Inc. from 2007 to 2012 where Mr. Conroy served as Chief Operating Officer and Interim Co‑Chief Executive Officer in 2012, President from 2009 to 2012 and Executive Vice President from 2007 to 2009. Before joining Claire’s Stores, Inc., Mr. Conroy was also employed by Blockbuster Entertainment Group from 1996 to 1998, Kurt Salmon Associates from 2003 to 2005 and Deloitte Consulting in various capacities. Mr. Conroy serves on the board of directors of Party City Holdco Inc. (NYSE, PRTY), a vertically integrated supplier of decorated party goods. Mr. Conroy also serves on the Foundation Board of Children’s Hospital of Orange County as well as the Foundation Board of Orange County School of the Art's. Mr. Conroy received a bachelor’s degree in business management and statistics and a master’s degree in business administration from Cornell University.
GREG HACKMAN, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Mr. Hackman has been our Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer since November 2021. He previously served as our Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Financial Officer from August 2020 through October 2021, and as our Chief Financial Officer and Secretary from January 2015 through August 2020. He previously served as our Chief Financial Officer and Secretary from January 2015 through August 2020. Prior to joining Boot Barn, Mr. Hackman was with Claire's Stores Inc. from 2008 to 2015 where Mr. Hackman served as Vice President of Finance and Global Controller. Before joining Claire’s Stores, Inc., Mr. Hackman served in a variety of financial roles, first at the May Department Stores Company, Inc. and then at Macy’s, Inc., for more than 20 years with responsibilities including financial planning, reporting and analysis, expense planning and payroll. Mr. Hackman also has experience in public accounting. Mr. Hackman received a bachelor of science degree in business administration from the University of Missouri.
Ms. Grijalva has been our Chief Merchandising Officer since July 2014. She joined Boot Barn in 1993 as Senior Merchant and has served in a variety of capacities since that time, including Vice President of Buying and Merchandising from 2004 to 2014. Prior to joining Boot Barn, she was employed by LeRoy Knitted Sportswear from 1981 to 1988 and Los Angeles-based Grunwald Marx Apparel from 1990 to 1993; her primary duties were line building and exclusive brand production. She received a bachelor of arts degree in communications from California State University, Fullerton and a master’s degree in business administration from the Argyros School of Business at Chapman University.
Mr. Hazen has been our Chief Digital Officer since March 2018. Prior to joining Boot Barn, Mr. Hazen was with Ring as the SVP of Commerce and Subscriptions from 2017 to 2018. Before joining Ring, Mr. Hazen was employed by True Religion as the SVP of Direct To Consumer from 2014 to 2017 where he oversaw both brick-and-mortar and digital channels. Mr. Hazen has over 20 years of experience in the apparel and footwear industry at companies including Kellwood, Nike and Fox Racing. Mr. Hazen also serves on the board of Canadian retailer Grafton Apparel, Ltd., a Blackstone Group company. He received a bachelor of commerce degree in management information systems from Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec and a master’s degree in business administration from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California.
Mr. Watkins has been our Chief Financial Officer and Secretary since November 2021. He has worked for the Company in a variety of roles since October 2014, most recently as our Senior Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations. Prior to joining Boot Barn, Mr. Watkins was the Vice President, Corporate Controller and Principal Accounting Officer of Mindspeed Technologies, a publicly traded semiconductor company. Prior to Mindspeed, he worked as an auditor at Ernst & Young for 12 years. Mr. Watkins is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of California and received a bachelor of science in accounting from Brigham Young University.
Mr. Love has been with Boot Barn since May 2014. He has served as our Chief Retail Officer since May 2022. He previously served as Senior Vice President of Stores from June 2018 through April 2022, after previously serving as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Merchandise Planning from April 2017 to June 2018 and Vice President of Merchandise Planning from May 2014 to April 2017. Prior to joining Boot Barn, Mr. Love was with Claire’s Stores, Inc. from 2010 to 2014, where Mr. Love served as Vice President of Merchandise Planning and Allocation. Before joining Claire’s Stores, Inc., Mr. Love served as Vice President Divisional Planning Manager for Kohl’s Corporation from 2008 to 2010. Mr. Love served in
a variety of merchandising and planning roles first at Federated Department Stores, then at May Department Stores Company, Inc. and Macy’s Inc