III. Summary
If it’s business,
it’s personal
Creative entrepreneur, creative service provider, co-pilot of dreams
Human connection determines business success because businesses don’t buy things, people do. Working with diverse stakeholders, I develop multi-channel marketing strategies and use my creative writing and design experience to produce the work, or hire and manage teams to create empathetic and storytelling-based campaigns that achieve defined business goals. My process – listen; ask questions; define objectives & goals; build trust; research; imagine; evaluate; produce; deploy; measure.
Partner at Digital Surgeons (DS), New Haven CT
Former Director of Account Services
Initiated Account Services procedures for start-up digital agency and helped grow the company from under $1M to over $6M revenue in 3 years
Defined jobs, interviewed, hired, and managed account managers
Modeled management standard for agency leadership – be kind, teach, listen, support, challenge, give credit, take responsibility, and improve together
Created standards for writing proposals with scope of work, timeline, and budgets; creative briefs; client reporting; and internal, post-delivery project evaluation
Edited agency documents to reinforce goals of jargon-free writing, and clear definitions of technical terms
Researched, selected, and negotiated contract for project management (PM) software
Developed PM training for agency staff, monitored, reinforced, dealt privately with resisters, and rewarded staff when 3 weeks of 90%+ participation was achieved (roughly 7 weeks)
Modeled communication and relationship building for all staff, emphasizing the fine line between friendly and familiar
Brand Building at iDsusco, and as former VP, Brand Development at Digital Surgeons
Work directly with start-ups and established businesses to create or refresh brand identity for B2B, B2C, and government agencies:
- renamed & positioned Borderfree (international ecommerce PaaS) for IPO, $400M merger
- refined business-partner brand for EMC2 (big-data, cloud tech, hardware), acquired for $67B
- created campaign for New Haven’s home-buyer program, increased conversion 233%
- built brand, with naming, for award-winning start-up, Arccos Golf, passive tech appUse primary source customer data, create surveys, & conduct interviews to define markets
Develop brand strategies for integrated digital and conventional marketing plans to introduce and deploy brand consistently across all channels
Develop content strategies with defined themes, style, and calendar for omni-channel publishing of original articles, social media posts, videos, and advertising
Humanize brands with storytelling & relatable language focused on helping, solving, entertaining, and connecting
Content creation: write and design website content, articles, email campaigns, landing pages, social media posts, advertising, videos
Experience:
Leadership and management, mentoring, account services, project management, creative writing, graphic design, public speaking, webinar/distance learning creation, video & still photography, video & photo editing, design-education curriculum development, non- profit orgs founder & board member, international travel, West Hartford Plan & Zoning Commission
Education
MFA, Syracuse University, Newhouse School: Advertising Design
BFA, University of Connecticut, Dramatic Arts: Playwrighting
Volunteer
Architecture Resource Center (ARC) Est. 1992 – Founding board director of national award-winning design education non-profit organization. ARC uses elements from architecture and engineering to create design activities that reinforce students' math and science learning. Currently, I am responsible for maintaining brand standards across all digital and print communications, creating marketing and website content, fundraising campaigns, and our board of directors expansion plan.
Teen Cultures Connect (TCC), Co-founder and board director – In April, 2016, TCC made it possible for 72 people (14-year-old baseball players – 18 boys – and their families) to travel to Holguin, Cuba for a week of playing baseball with local Cuban teams. April 2018 marked a third trip to Cuba with the weeklong program expanded to include baseball, ballet, and other cultural experiences for boys and girls, with their families, in Havana & Matanzas.
Connecticut Architecture Foundation (CAF), Past president (2 of 9 years) & board director – AIA/CT’s non-profit organization dedicated to funding architecture education programs, and scholarships for exceptional students attending either Yale or the University of Hartford Architecture Schools. CAF's stewardship of the endowment includes growing the funds through investing and fundraising activities.
West Hartford, CT Plan & Zoning Commission – Served as an alternate commissioner 2010-2011