Alumna Erica Buxton Riding High as Chief Financial Officer for Razor USA
Chemical engineering alumna Erica Buxton has taken her experiences in product development and finance into leadership roles with Mattel, the startup EQtainment and now, Razor USA.
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology alumna Erica Buxton continues ascending the corporate ladder with her recent appointment as chief financial officer of Razor USA, a California-based company that specializes in the growing market for scooters and personal transporters.
Buxton, a 2002 chemical engineering graduate, is also executive chairman of the board of directors for EQtainment, a media and technology company that’s pioneering emotional intelligence educational games and content. She served as the company’s chief executive officer for nearly four years.
Previously, her skills were utilized in setting strategy for Mattel products, including a $5 billion retail portfolio with Barbie and Hot Wheels, and a fellowship with Unreasonable, an investment fund and global network supporting entrepreneurs who are hoping to change the world.
And, all of this has taken place since 2014!
Buxton says, “While I was studying engineering, I wanted to change people’s lives. I started my career in pharmaceutical research and development at Eli Lilly and Company. Then I went to business school (MBA in 2007 from the prestigious Harvard Business School) to broaden my horizons and see where that would take me. Every step along the way has been stimulating and interesting professionally, and quite satisfying personally.”
From its headquarters in Cerritos, Calif., Razor USA has found success designing and manufacturing electric and kick-propelled scooters, hoverboards and skateboards for riders of all ages.
Buxton joined with another Harvard graduate to create EQtainment in hopes of improving children’s social and emotional skills through entertaining games, books, popular music and the Q Wunder show, featuring “Q the monkey” as a vehicle to help children learn important life skills. Some of the toys were featured nationally in kid’s meals by Chick-fil-A restaurants and on segments of “Good Morning America.”
“My career has been focused in strategy and finance working with a variety of business units, brands and markets. Those roles required me to dive in to areas where I had little knowledge, get up to speed quickly and develop plans to address issues in new and different ways,” says Buxton. “In many ways, I did the same as an entrepreneur and now as an executive. My goal is finding new and different ways to do things. There are many things I know very little or even nothing about, but because of my background, I’m comfortable diving in and figuring out a plan to tackle whatever it may be.”
Buxton talks about her career path, being a leader of an entrepreneurial startup and successfully balancing work and life with three young children in a fireside chat interview for the Project Literacy Lab.