Brenda Ruby Email & Phone Number

Rockville, Maryland, United States

Responsible for helping to create and maintain the success of this $2.5M store through outstanding hospitality, conscientious staffing, careful inventory management, and community engagement. Duties and successes include: • Achieved a Great Places to Work result of 96% in 2022, 94% in 2023. • Raised our store Net Promoter Score with a current rating of 90%. • Embody and communicate vision and mission of company to staff. • Manage a staff of 8-18 people. • Track key performance indicators to monitor staff productivity and customer satisfaction. • Troubleshoot problematic and potentially problematic customer situations to ensure customer retention. • Organize and implement staff training with a focus on providing top-tier customer service, sales follow-up, and guidance on how to meet customer needs and solve problems independently. • Oversee staff training for all areas of operations. • Actively take part in all aspects of human resources and staffing within the store, including interviewing potential employees, completing new-hire paperwork, creating schedules, and implementing discipline. • Participate in the annual budgeting process and quarterly/monthly financial review meetings. • Hold monthly all-store meetings; conduct leadership meetings with sub-managers. • Troubleshoot software and computer issues. • Cultivate new partnerships for events and programs aimed at increasing store traffic. • Plan a multi-faceted event schedule aimed at different customer types.

Rockville, Maryland, United States

Rockville, Maryland, United States

SPOKES Magazine was a publication of BIKE VIRGINIA - Circulation: 25KPRODUCTION LEAD/MANAGING EDITOR: • Directed the full production life cycle for five yearly editions. • Managed the production of the editorial content and magazine design. • Negotiated and administered advertising contracts. • Oversaw an interdisciplinary team and facilitated the teamwork required to energize and coordinate writing contributions from a continually changing writing force. • Collaborated with Bike Virginia and other bike tour event coordinators across the region to identify topics of interest to the bicycling community. • Planned the design, layout, and articles for each publication. • Established and tracked the writing/design schedule to meet the printer’s requirements. • Completed all final layout and editorial tasks and readied the product for commercial color printing. • Coordinated the final commercial printing and distribution of the magazine. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS/GRAPHICS DESIGN: • Authored one or more articles in each SPOKES Magazine edition; provided blog content. • Developed original logos, web banners, and other graphics. • Provided photo editing for photographic inserts for magazine, web articles, and advertising. • Ensured the compatibility and accessibility of all written and graphics materials for multiple platforms, browsers, and mobile devices.SOCIAL/MARKETING: • Helped to manage social media accounts. • Coordinate the push of blog posts and other communications out to Bike Virginia Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram feeds. • Assisted with marketing and managing email lists through Constant Contact.

Washington D.C. Metro Area

• Oversaw and approved all printed and electronic communications of this 3000+ member association which organizes 20+ special events and 1000+ rides annually.• Coordinated a clear, consistent, and engaging communication strategy to both promote these events and recruit the hundreds of volunteers needed to run them.• Coordinated event-specific communications, identifying and closing gaps in event planning.• Managed and maintained a social media presence (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), resulting in a 70% increase in member engagement in a ten month period.• Created effective email marketing campaigns, resulting in an average open rate of 43%.• Planned content, wrote, edited, proofed, and managed production process of monthly newsletter.• Compiled master list of events for newsletter from fourteen different coordinators.• Designed and coordinated printing of promotional materials (postcards/catalogs/flyers).• Photographed events for electronic and print publication; edited using Adobe Photoshop.• Maintained website.• Collaborated with the Executive Committee to select a new website contractor; worked together on site redesign to improve functionality and increase visitor engagement.

Frequent contributor to this quarterly publication serving cyclists in the mid-Atlantic region (circulation: 25K). Responsible for: article development, interviewing multiple sources, photography, destination travel writing, and crafting personality pieces.As of Summer 2016, additional duties include design and layout of this 4-color publication.

Bethesda, Md

As Production Manager and Graphic Designer for Woodbine House, a small publisher that produces educational materials for the special‐needs community, I designed and managed all printed pieces, including award-winning books and promotional materials, as well as helped conceptualize and create a web and digital presence. Creating products and managing the workflow for a small publisher requires a flexible mindset, creative problem solving, and the ability to work with every department. In producing anything, it was essential to maintain a consistent style and their brand as a leading voice in the special-needs community for thirty years. • Designed and produced award-winning publications and visual information materials for this niche publisher specializing in educational materials for the special-needs community.• Developed and maintained the production schedule; specifically, designed and coordinated production of 8 – 11 new titles yearly, 20 – 35 reprints yearly, and all marketing collateral.• Worked closely with the editorial department to ensure effective communication of complex topics focused on an awareness of the intended audience and product functionality.• Advised and collaborated with the marketing department.• Created digital and print promotional materials including catalogs, brochures, posters, pamphlets, booklets, web banners, and web pages. • Designed and produced two main catalogs yearly (circulation 35K+) and 1-4 theme-specific catalogs/brochures yearly.• Procured freelance services; established and maintained vendor relationships.• Managed extensive archive of subject-specific art, procured through contributors and stock photography.• Designed original website and managed redesign.• Developed and implemented plan to enter the ePub market, creating a new revenue stream.• Exercised full budgetary authority for the department; managed $125K yearly budget.

College Park, Md

• Coordinated the production process at this internationally-circulated tri-annual academic journal.• Set and maintained the production schedule, meeting deadlines by effectively collaborating with typesetter, copy editor, graphic designer, and printer while acting as liaison between authors and board of editors.• Planned and implemented yearly $12K promotional campaign, designing and creating visually compelling promotional materials, including brochures and ads.• Edited, proofed, researched, and fact-checked accepted manuscripts.• Trained and supervised part-time employees.• Managed a working budget of $100K; compiled business and tax reports.

Master Of Arts - Ma, Communication Design

B.S., Journalism