Todd and Jannetta Litzman to Receive Gift for Life’s 2023 Industry Achievement Award

April 11, 2023 — Gift for Life, the gift and home industries’ sole charitable organization, today announced that industry veterans Todd and Jannetta Litzman will be honored with its 2023 Gift for Life Industry Achievement Award on June 21, 2023, in Dallas, TX. Gift for Life’s Industry Achievement Award, which has been presented at Gifts & Decorative Accessories’ Retailer Excellence Awards (REA) since 2009, recognizes overall excellence and contribution to the gift and home industry – whether as a thought leader, standard-bearer or overall industry influencer. “I cannot think of more deserving recipients of Gift for Life’s Industry Achievement Award,” said Ari Lowenstein, chair of the Gift for Life board. “Todd and Jannetta are trailblazers. They have served the gift and home industries for more than 25 years and pioneered much of the technology that forms the foundation of our wholesale ecosystem today. Their continuous and dedicated engagement with agencies, reps, brands and buyers alike is reflected in the tools they've built to support all stakeholders involved in the sales process. Everyone in our industry has been touched by their work and benefited from their many contributions.” Jannetta Litzman is the EVP of Finance and HR for MarketTime and former co-founder and CFO of Brandwise, Inc. Her career started in the telecom industry as an executive with AT&T in sales and marketing. After earning her master’s degree in Business Administration at the University of Denver, she took the plunge into entrepreneurialism when she started a Home Décor and Accent Furniture Showroom. While attending numerous trade shows as a buyer, she identified a technology gap in the wholesale gift and home industries. As a result, she and her husband and business partner, Todd Litzman, co-founded Showroom Solutions, which later came to be known as Brandwise, Inc. Prior to its acquisition by MarketTime, Brandwise was the largest SaaS provider for the wholesale gift and home industry for more than 25 years. In addition to her corporate roles, Jannetta also served for 12 years on the Gift for Life board. Todd Litzman has over 30 years of experience owning, managing and operating technology companies. Todd was a Co-founder, President and CEO of Brandwise/Showroom Solutions before selling Brandwise to MarketTime in 2021. Currently, as President of MarketTime, Todd is intimately involved in working with customers to ensure that the software and services meet needs, and that the customer success team continues to provide extraordinary service. He has always been very involved with the industry and was previously the President and Chairman of the Gift and Home Trade Association (GHTA) Board and now serves as a general board member and has served on other boards across the various industries that MarketTime serves. “We are honored to be nominated by the Gift for Life board for this most coveted industry award,” said Todd and Jannetta Litzman. “When we created our technology company to help this industry, we had no idea how deeply we would connect with our customers and how much our technology would positively impact their business and personal lives. It is this sense of purpose and responsibility that drives our team forward every day. Throughout our 25-year journey, we have made so many lifelong friends and special memories. We humbly accept this award and celebrate it with all our team members, business partners, customers and industry friends who have supported us throughout the years.” The 2023 Gift for Life Industry Achievement Award will be presented to Todd and Jannetta Litzman at the 72nd Annual Retailer Excellence Awards (REAs), on June 21, 2023 at The Southside Music Hall at Gilley’s Dallas. Donations in celebration of Todd and Jannetta Litzman will benefit World Central Kitchen’s worldwide crisis-related hunger relief efforts. Donate at https://donate.wck.org/REA2023. Since 1951, Gifts & Decorative Accessories has been celebrating the best of the best in seven retail categories: Specialty Store, Multiple Locations, Visual Merchandising, Store Events, Store Design, Social Media Outreach, Online Initiatives, and Socially Responsible. Awards are also presented to Manufacturer of the Year and Sales Representative of the Year. Information, nominations and registration for the 72nd Retailer Excellence Awards is available at https://www.retailerexcellenceawards.com/. Gift for Life was founded in 1992 by a small group of gift industry professionals responding to the tragic loss of friends and colleagues as a result of AIDS. Since then, Gift for Life has raised nearly $6M for AIDS research and education, and HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment with charity partners AmfAR (American Foundation for AIDS Research) (1992-2007) and DIFFA: Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS (2008-2020). In 2021, with COVID-19 temporarily causing cancelation of in-person events at industry markets, Gift for Life pivoted towards online digital events with a specific emphasis on COVID-related hunger relief. In 2023, the all-volunteer organization will continue to support programs that address hunger relief. More information is available at www.facebook.com/giftforlife. Founded in 2010 by Chef José Andrés, World Central Kitchen (WCK) uses the power of food to nourish communities and strengthen economies in times of crisis and beyond. In 2020, with COVID-19 straining traditional food security safety nets like school feeding programs, city services and food banks, WCK pivoted to safely distribute individually packaged, fresh meals in communities that need support and launched the Restaurants for the People program to scale nationwide. This program meets critical needs on two fronts: buying meals directly from restaurants and delivering them to Americans who need help. To date, the program has worked with 2,500 restaurants to serve over 12 million restaurant meals and have disbursed more than $135 million dollars directly to restaurants owners in 400 cities across 35 states. For information, visit www.wck.org. MarketTime is the largest provider of B2B omnichannel commerce solutions in North America uniting retailers, brands, and sales teams. MarketTime’s solutions are the only fully integrated hybrid SaaS and cloud-based applications available to stakeholders anywhere and anytime that fulfill three key needs: making product discovery and ordering easier for buyers; making organizing and sharing information intuitive and secure for sellers; and saving time and money for all ecosystem participants. The company facilitates more than $4 billion in orders annually for more than 300,000 retailers, with over 300 sales agencies and 7,000 sales representatives utilizing the platform. www.markettime.com