Impact 21 sets the bar high in convenience with Lucia Romanello Crater. As a sales and marketing leader, with an exceptional executive-level network, Lucia is charged with leading Impact’s Convenience Store Business Development. Her 30+ years in the convenience store industry, with a track record and proficiency in driving growth and market share gains, serves her well in this role. She specializes in developing new business connections, recruiting, and training superior achievers, and closing innovative and profitable sales.
While at Impact 21, Lucia played an instrumental role in the update of the NACS / Impact 21 Certified Convenience Advanced Category Management online training series. She and the Impact 21 team conducted the certification training live and onsite during the NACS Show in 2021 and 2022. Lucia and the team have tailored the program to meet the individual needs of clients and facilitated the Category Management training program for their organizations.
She is a founding member and current officer of the Network of Executive Women in the Consumer Products Industry (NEW). Lucia was named one of the Top Women in Convenience at the Senior Executive Level by Convenience Store News Magazine in 2014 and given the Best of the Best Leader Award in 2016 by NEW. She is one of the Executive Co-Chairs of the NEW, now NextUp, team who worked to build a new region in the Nashville market.
Lucia served on the NACS Retail Board and NACS Supplier Board on which she was Chairman of the Manpower, Membership, and Exhibitor Advisory Committees. Initially elected Vice Chairman of the Board followed by Chairman Elect, Lucia was ultimately elected Chairman of the NACS Supplier Board.
Prior to joining Impact 21, she was the Director of Convenience at Jack Link’s, where she successfully led the implementation of Go-to-Market strategies to surpass top line sales budgets while delivering the bottom-line gross profit budget. As Director of Sales, Convenience at KIND Healthy Snacks, she was instrumental in driving convenience store market share. Most notably, Lucia was Director of Sales, Convenience at US Nutrition where she developed and directed the strategy to raise the profile of the MET-Rx brand to the #1 High Protein product in the channel. Her Convenience Store career began at GSP as Vice President of Sales where she built key retailer relationships that led to the company’s focus in the channel.
Born in Connecticut, growing up in New Jersey and Richmond, VA, and graduating from James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia, Lucia now calls Nashville, TN home. She gives back to her communities through volunteer work and lending her voice to her church choir. She was awarded the Richard Llano Service Award for her contributions of time and talent from Jesuit High School in her former hometown of Tampa, FL. She passes her strong work ethic and values on to her son, James, who is the Senior Product Director at Kythera Labs. Lucia’s philosophy behind it all - “Don’t quit.”