Gary M. Bleasdale

Full Stack Shopify Expert

São Paulo, São Paulo
gary@garybleasdale.com • 5515981012944 • https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-bleasdale/
Gary M. Bleasdale

About me

The most recurrent characterization I've received is that I am a man who 'gets things done'.

I've worked across many different domains and projects, rapidly achieving successful results - this is possible because I care deeply about what I do (I like German word 'Sorge' to describe this feeling), and am laser-focussed on improving my skills and on learning as much as possible.

I've been working as a Shopify developer for the past 3+ years, after spending 5 years in managerial roles in Programmatic advertising .

During these three years, I've been lucky enough to work on, and lead, complex, high-impact projects, and learn from amazing colleagues in the eComm space.

Work history

  1. Alpargatas

    Shopify Tech Lead for Havaianas North America

    -

    Responsible for all development work for Havaianas USA, including managing release cycle, new features for both Theme and Apps, Backend Integrations, Backend Extensions, Performance, SEO, Analytics, bug-fixes, CI/CD. Also, offering technical support for other Shopify stores served by the company.

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    • Appointed Tech Lead based on successful performance in two previous major projects.
    • Daily interface with the US business team, receiving requests, refining requirements, consulting, troubleshooting and providing timely updates on status and release timelines.
    • Architect solutions, with an eye on scalability, maintainability, extensibility and user-friendliness (both DX and UX) across both Themes and Custom Apps.
    • Project Management, by turning the result of the previous two processes into well-defined cards, and then supervising the progression of the cards to ensure adherence to deadlines and quality standards before release.
    • Hiring, managing and mentoring over four other team-members.
    • Still spend around 70% of my time actively contributing to Havaianas' various codebases, which include Shopify themes and custom apps, as well as configuring the store itself.
    • Recognized by the Head of DTC for Havaianas North America for significant improvements in development team responsiveness, speed, and release quality.

  2. Alpargatas

    Head Shopify Developer for Havaianas North America

    -

    Main developer responsible for migrating Havaianas USA from Salesforce to Shopify. Built a brand new theme for the brand, designed by renowned agency 1R, built the integrations with the mission-critical platforms like the ERP, PIM, Returns, as well as integrations with analytics and content platforms , and mentored the team of 4 who worked on this project, who were unfamiliar with Shopify.

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    • Head Developer for the migration of Havaianas North America's eComm, from Salesforce Cloud Commerce to Shopify
    • This was a key corporate project, whose progress was tracked by C-level executives of Alpargatas S.A. (Havaianas’ holding company, + U$S 200 million in yearly revenue). Upon completion, the project was directly recognized and praised by the global CEO, and by VP of North America
    • Played a critical role in knowledge transfer and project success by mentoring a team of three developers with no previous Shopify experience, accelerating their onboarding to the new Shopify store.
    • Led the development of a brand-new, mobile-first Shopify theme from scratch, collaborating with a leading LA design agency 1R to align with VBI and UX principles.
    • Architected and developed a configurable, embedded custom app which integrates and syncs mission-critical external systems with Shopify: Orders, inventory and prices (with SAP S/4HANA ERP), product imports and updates (with Akeneo PIM) and Returns (with Narvar).
    • Collaborated with senior management and stakeholders to determine viability of the whole project, define needed resources, define timelines, and outline the steps in a Gantt Chart for a successful migration

  3. Alpargatas

    Shopify Developer for Havaianas LATAM & APAC

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    In-housed all Shopify store management and development, which up until that point had been done by an agency. The successful in-housing of Shopify expertise within the company was a key factor in allowing the subsequent migration of Havaianas' two biggest stores, Brazil and USA, to Shopify.

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    • In-housed all 10 Shopify stores which were being handled by an agency, initiating the creation of a hub of Shopify knowledge and expertise within Havaianas, which was critical for the later migration of Havaianas North America and Brazil to Shopify 12 months later
    • Transitioned into a direct role within Havaianas upon request from Havaianas LATAM's Digital Manager, assuming responsibility for the internal management and development of their Shopify platform, marking a significant career advancement based on performance at Buda Digital.
    • Selected by Senior Management to deliver a presentation on Shopify for a technical, non-Shopify-specialist audience, showcasing expertise and communication skills.
    • Served as the "go-to" technical expert for over 10 independent distributors in the LATAM region and integrated with the internal Havaianas interface for the APAC region, managing diverse workloads and ensuring a consistent brand experience.
    • Played a key role in planning the subsequent migration of Havaianas North America, collaborating with senior management and stakeholders to scope resources, define timelines, and outline steps for a successful migration.
  4. -

    Offered client-facing theme development support, such as bug-fixing and feature-building, for various of Buda's clients, including Havaianas, Mahta and Queijos Ipanema.

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    • Provided dedicated support for a diverse client portfolio, primarily focused on Havaianas Latin America (excluding Brazil), as well as VC-backed startups like Mahta.
    • Led the resolution of critical technical issues, ensuring optimal functionality and user experience across multiple Havaianas Latin America e-commerce platforms.
    • Served as the central point of contact for all Shopify-related inquiries, effectively communicating technical solutions to the Product Owner for Havaianas LATAM, Mahta, and other stakeholders.
    5. Show 9 more

    1. São Rafael Farm

      Agri-Entrepreneur

      -

      Managed two harvests of Japanases Squash on a 10Ha farm, from hiring farm hands, pest control, all the way to selling the end product in the world's third-largest wholesale food market, the CEAGESP in São Paulo.

    2. Infinia Mobile

      Country Manager Brazil & Argentina

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      Opened Infinia's Operations in Brazil after a successful launch in Argentina, and worked with clients such as Hyundai and Vivo.

    3. Infinia Mobile

      Country Manager Argentina

      -

      Opened Infinia's Operations in Argentina, and worked with clients such as Burger King and Claro.

    4. Headway Digital

      Director of Programmatic Ad Ops LATAM

      -

      Managed a team of 15 programmatic traders, responsible for over U$S10,000,000's worth of ad buys across LATAM.

    5. -

      Built Dentsu's prestigous Amnet Programmatic Trading Desk in Argentina from the ground up, mentoring hirees who later went on to great success in the industry. Microsoft, General Motors and Honda were some of our clients.

    6. Accuen

      Trading Manager

      -

      Promoted to Trading Manager, and made responsible for managing the Virgin account, worth over U$S 20,000,000 per annum, as well as managing and mentoring a team of two traders

Languages

I am a native English speaker, and speak fluent Portuguese, as well as fluent Spanish.

Projects

A collection of production-grade projects that have made significant impact, collectively generating over U$S 20,000,000 in revenue.

Havaianas Theme v2: North America

Live Active

North American eComm for legendary flip-flop brand, Havaianas

Released 2024 Updated May 2025
Type: Shopify 2.0 Theme My contribution: Head Developer, part of a team of 4 developers. Revenue enabled: > $10,000,000 p.a.
View Project

Havaianas North America Integrations

Live Active

Integrations with all mission-critical external systems for Havaianas North America

Released 2024 Updated May 2025
Type: Custom Shopify App [Embedded] My contribution: Architected & developed entirely Revenue enabled: > $10,000,000 p.a.

Havaianas North America Discount Functions

Live Active

Allow Havaianas to create discounts which go beyond Shopify's native functionality

Released 2025 Updated April 2025
Type: Custom Shopify App [Extension-only] My contribution: Architected & developed entirely Revenue enabled: > $10,000,000 p.a.
View Project

Havaianas x Buda Theme: LATAM

Archived

First Shopify theme made for Havaianas LATAM

Released 2022 Updated 2022
Type: Shopify 2.0 Theme My contribution: Bug fixes and feature building. Revenue enabled: > $10,000,000 p.a.
View Project

Union Neil Homepage 2.0

Live Active

v2 of Union Neil's homepage

Released 2022 Updated May 2025
Type: Corporate Homepage My contribution: Developed entirely Revenue enabled: > R$ 1,200,000 p.a.
View Project

Union Neil Homepage 1.0

Archived

v1 of Union Neil's homepage

Released 2022 Updated 2023
Type: Corporate Homepage My contribution: Developed entirely Revenue enabled: > R$ 1,200,000 p.a.
View Project

Queijos Ipanema Theme

Archived

Queijos Ipanema's Shopify Theme

Released 2022 Updated 2022
Type: Shopify 2.0 Theme My contribution: Built homepage & content section (blogs, posts, various marketing content pages) Revenue enabled: N/A
View Project

Other Work

Education