We transform and scale premium
brands,
from strategy to guest experience.

We partner with ambitious businesses entering their next stage of growth - and build the brand they need to get there.

— Why Your Here

Your next stage of growth
requires a brand built for it.

Every business reaches a point where the next stage of growth demands a different kind of strategy and leadership. Upper Story steps in when the business has evolved, the market has moved, and the brand hasn’t caught up.

How we work together.

— The Problem

The moments that bring
businesses to Upper Story.

— Our Approach

Built from the
inside out.

For more than fifteen years, Upper Story has led brand, digital, customer experience and growth from inside some of North America's most respected premium retail, fashion, hospitality and consumer brands.

We've worked with leadership teams across premium international brands to restructure the function of brand and marketing — leading innovation across product development, retail expansion, new markets, technology adoption, employee retention and recruitment, and operational excellence, so the brand is alive and present across every customer touchpoint.

Because that's where transformation actually happens. Not in a strategy deck. In the everyday decisions and operations that employees and customers see and fee

Brand & Marketing Leadership Across

  • Black background with the word 'ARTZIA' in large, white, stylized uppercase letters.
  • MOXIES logo in black and white.
  • Logo of Joey Restaurants with a simple wine glass icon above the text.
  • Lululemon logo in black and white.
  • The text 'KIT + ACE' in white on a black background.
  • HSBC logo with a black and white geometric symbol and the text 'HSBC' in white letters.

In The Press

Featured in Vogue, ELLE,
The New York Times, E!News
Refinery29, National Post,
The Globe & Mail,
CTV News, Global News
and more.

— The Experience

  • $500M+

    In international premium brands transformed

  • $16M

    Owned $16M budgets; generated 250M targeted impressions on a lean national campaign

  • 15+

    Years of experience working with billion dollar brands.

  • 100%

    New store openings at 100% higher sales than average locations.


— The Impact

  • 120%

    Social-media YoY growth in one year.

  • 20,000%

    Email subscribers grown in three years (2,500 → 500,000).

  • 20%

    Gift-card sales up 20% in one year.

  • 100%

    Online conversions up 100% in one year.

Cydney Shapiro helping Vancouver founders clarify their brand, strengthen their strategy, and grow their businesses.

— The Methodology

The Upper Story way.

Anyone can create a brand playbook. Far fewer have rebuilt and pivoted international brands to surge brand presence and sales. That only happens when your brand positioning becomes an operating model — driving product and service decisions and every guest experience, across every touchpoint.

Every Upper Story engagement follows the same proven, inside-out transformation methodology, connected to four critical drivers of long-term growth.

Ready to build a brand that scales
across your entire business.

Let's audit your customer and employee touchpoints to find where alignment can unlock your next phase of growth.