Strategic guidance for one of America's fastest-growing privately-held companies until its acquisition by Emerald Exhibitions in 2022. Recognized on the Inc. 5000 list for five consecutive years (2016-2020). Wholly-owned properties include MJBizDaily, Hemp Industry Daily, and MJBizCon: the global trade show for cannabis industry professionals, and the fastest-growing convention in the U.S. since 2012.

Guided company growth, business strategy and organizational leadership for the B2B journal of record for the legal cannabis industries and its associated trade shows. • Company Growth: In 7 years, grew the business from a bootstrapped work-from-home startup to $35M in annual revenues and 90 full-time staff. Over the same period, doubled the company’s flagship trade show annually, going from 400 to 36,000 attendees and from 16 to 1,300 exhibitors. Success in business growth was recognized by inclusion in the Inc. 5000 list (2016-2020) and top honors in Trade Show Executive Magazine’s Fastest 50 list (growth in attendance, exhibitors and/or blended growth, 2016-2019). • Business Strategy: Established a synergistic business model where independent, unbiased B2B journalism serves as the foundation to gather a highly-qualified audience of peers seeking to do their jobs better who then convert to customers, attendees and exhibitors. Established MJBizDaily as a foundational resource for entrepreneurs, executives and financers of legal cannabis businesses to growth their own businesses, creating an affinity for the brand which continues to benefit both the audience and the company. Served as the chief public representative of the brand, engaging in 50+ media interviews and public appearances each year.• Organizational Leadership: Championed development and maintenance of a company culture where people like what they do, and they like who they do it with. Quickly recognized the likely impact on the COVID-19 pandemic on the company and helped guide business strategy to ensure long-term success through the highly uncertain and quickly changing landscape. Instituted an “Industry Giveback” donation program providing approximately 1% of company revenues annually to social justice initiatives, legalization efforts, and pro-environment programs in the cannabis industry.

As a member of the Executive Committee, I took a lead role in guiding the ongoing operations and strategy of the largest and most influential organization representing privately-owned trade show companies. Executive Committee achievements included serving as Treasurer during the financially-strapped COVID period, leading the search committee for a new CEO, and guiding the new CEO through his first year in the role. As board member, I advised and consented on the organization’s activities, including special projects and financial allocations for those projects. Engaged in ad-hoc committee assignments as needed.During my entire time on the board, I advocated for the viewpoint of the smaller, entrepreneurial show organizers in an industry dominated by a handful of large corporate organizations.

Managed workforce capacity in CitiMortgage facilities during the 2008-09 financial and credit crisis. Directed activities related to a 23% reduction of staff and condensed footprint from 11 sites to 3, then brokered within the reduced footprint to secure seats for 1500+ FTE supporting a sudden increase in volume for mortgage collections, refinancing and loan modification groups.

Directed the headcount location strategies for 2 lines of business encompassing 11,500+ staff across 11 primary and 50+ supporting North American locations. Project-managed site closures of 11 facilities in 2008 for annual expense saves of $19.8 million and improved seat utilization in 4 strategic sites by an average of 15%.Oversaw strategic headcount reduction activities for partner businesses encompassing 1700 employee impacts over 2½ years in phased announcements. Coordinate planning, execution and tracking of severance activities among human resources, business operations, and facilities. Mentored junior team members on business analysis and project management skill development and overall career advancement. Led an employee team to address culture concerns.

The Management Associate program rotates high-potential talent through three functional assignments over two years, requiring and building expertise in People Management, Business Analysis and Project Management in the Financial Services industry.• Redesigned workflow for onboarding new business group accounts for the Diners Club charge card, shortening processing from 50+ days to 10 days with no expense increase through prioritizing tasks and redeploying existing resources. • Guided daily call-center operations including joint responsibility for monitoring staffing levels, optimizing dialer efficiency and maintaining productivity of over 250 call-center agents to complete an average of 30,000 outbound collections calls daily. • Led a team of 15 senior call-center Operations Managers to minimize business risks in advance of a national work process audit. Directed process changes at 13 sites, monitored progress against plan, and presented results in director-level meetings. Activities improved self-audit pass rates by 70% for targeted areas. • Directly managed 30 line employees. Secured month-over-month improvements ranging from 5-20% in individual and team performances through training and development, while holding each employee responsible for attendance, performance and conduct. • Implemented new shifts with a 50% increase in evening and weekend hours to accommodate changing business needs with minimal employee complaints.• Planned and directed a facility reorganization for over 500 call center agents and associated management to integrate a 10% staff increase into the same physical space.

A UK-based marketing communications agency, Protean Marketing specializes in the electronics manufacturing capital equipment industry. Reported to President and Managing Director of the US Division. • Designed and executed marketing campaigns for 7 clients ranging from $100 million multinational companies to unfunded start-ups. • Prepared and presented pitches to potential clients and campaign concept proposals to existing customers. Worked directly with executive-level staff at client companies to develop long-range marketing strategies. • Managed multiple vendor resources as an outsourced workforce to complete client deliverables on schedule and on budget. Screened and selected vendors, assigned projects according to strengths and abilities, and managed deliverables. • Interacted daily with Europe-based staff to execute against client goals across multiple geographies, including adjusting content for language and cultural sensitivity. • Developed strategic direction for Protean’s US division in partnership with agency executives.

PBI is a business-to-business media company engaged in trade magazine publishing, business information services, conferences and trade shows. • Directed all marketing activities for 3 B2B newsletters with content on leading edge technologies. • Managed strategic planning and budgeting in partnership with the editor and publisher for each publication. • Directly managed marketing budget of approximately $150,000 per publication.• Developed and conducted every component of 4 direct-mail campaigns and a renewal solicitation series for each product every fiscal year.