Mike Shepard Email & Phone Number

Ft. Lauderdale, Fl

As their logistics consultant, I am leveraging my time in the industry to augment a strong team and am focused on helping this rapidly growing healthy skin care products company with their product testing, Canadian compliance, warehousing, shipping, and systems integration. As their tag line reads, it's not enough to be natural...it also has to work! And, what started with a simple concept: provide healthy skin care products using the purest organic and clinically-proven natural ingredients to drive real results is now proving that you don't have to sacrifice your health for beauty. As an added bonus, Acure Organics' products help support breast cancer awareness and environmental causes.

The winds of change are blowing, and going forward my focus will be on property management, development, and real estate investing. I will keep my foot in the 3rd Party Logistics and work with the clients I have relationships with, but going foward my primary focus will be overseeing approximately twenty four properties in various stages of development - and hopefully adding more.

Avram Worldwide offers its customers end-to-end supply chain management solutions including global, national and regional transportation, warehousing and distribution, logistics, and technology services. The geographic focus of Avram Worldwide includes the United States, South Africa, Europe and China. Avram Worldwide is a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) in the United States. Additionally, Avram Worldwide is establishing a joint venture with Vunani Limited to be called AVS Logistics, which will be a Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) entity in South Africa, in order to expand into the Emerging Markets. Our operating subsidiaries include Transportation Management, Warehousing and Fulfillment, and Trade Services. Avram Worldwide and its subsidiaries will operate in a non-asset based environment as it relates to services, facilities, and equipment. Avram Transportation will commoditize the transportation services of various carrier providers in lieu of investing heavily in vehicle and trailer fleets. With regard to logistics, warehousing and fulfillment, we will lease the facilities and equipment instead of owning, allowing us to control cost as volumes and business demand fluctuate. From a technology perspective, we will utilize a software-as-a-service model combined with a built-in demand support structure again allowing for greater cost control and higher more consistent profit margins.

I develop national accounts for this California direct mail & fulfillment provider and have worked with many of the top companies in the travel & hospitality industry.

Hired to manage day-to-day sales & marketing, I quickly took over all departments to include IT, accounting/finance and operations. Initial efforts focused on stabilizing client relationships and normalizing pricing & service delivery.Later, as Sr. VP/GM and in what was in the end a corporate turnaround, I took this company from losing money to a stable / growing concern and expanding it nationally. With the job encompassing a full reorganization to include closing a non-performing advertising division, working with legal to effect a cram-down/clean up the balance sheet, and re-establishing all pricing / strategic relationships with top accounts – all while developing new products and services and moving to south Florida to establish a beachhead in this travel and hospitality-rich destination. Once on the ground, I built a sales operation from scratch, to include creating demand, building infrastructure to support it, and integrating the operation with our Midwest partner and west-coast-headquarters distribution center.I was heavily involved with engineering the sale of the company, and in the transition it was my role to develop national accounts by providing clients with value-added and consultative leadership, understanding their return on investment objectives, developing a consistent and pro-active means of communicating with their customer, and delivering all of the above cost-effectively. I was further responsible to sell/develop the AllPoints Communications network of industry specific strategists, consultants and niche service providers giving our small company the ability to provide comprehensive, value-added solutions to those seeking a national footprint of integrated services.

Starting in San Francisco with this $30+ million banquet firm, I was tapped to open the Los Angeles operation and market a new 1,000 passenger banquet facility – the companies’ largest. My personal sales success led to landing both American Airlines’ 100 Wagons – their top annual national incentive for business partners, and one of the highest profile fundraisers ever for the Los Angeles Lakers. Raising our profile to this level brought us to the attention of a Mississippi riverboat casino company and the vessel was sold at a huge profit.

Starting as the managing editor, I was given day-to-day control within six months of being hired and was one of a small number of employees offered a position when this publication was sold and relocated from California to Florida. I grew my role to encompass advertising sales & print production to include responsibility for our print partner, R.R. Donnelley.

B.A., Economics & Latin American Studies

Education record