Cheryl Lester, Mba Email & Phone Number

Birmingham, Al, Us

Birmingham, Al, Us

Unlocking revenue and cost savings gains by leading transformative strategic initiatives in Operations to ensure excellent shopper & driver execution in the field as well as departmental efficiency and effectiveness. Team of 7.· Hired over 100,000 gig workers in 1 quarter and managed the incentive offers contributing to the double-digit sales growth during Holiday 2021 exceeding goals and improving key service metrics.· Launched a new, industry-first gig worker pay model establishing a pay floor of $16 per hour for Shipt contractors in the U.S. and upgrading to a machine-learning based platform that continuously improves the estimation of time and effort required to fulfill shopping and delivery orders.· Unlocked the speed to deliver of various high-profile initiatives by re-engineering the strategy & planning processes, improving collaboration and coordination with Product, Engineering, Data Science, Communications, and Finance, and improving the quality of business case presentations to achieve executive support.· Creating the operational, process, and technology infrastructure to expand the Target Last Mile Delivery capability nationwide.· Developing a new, innovative machine learning/AI-based job matching platform for gig workers.· Prepare executive-level communications for the C-Suite and Board of Directors.

Mooresville, Nc, Us

Managed the $1B+ supply chain project portfolio to transform Lowe’s supply chain with the goal of enhancing the omnichannel customer experience and driving top-line sales growth and operational cost-efficiencies. Achieved these goals by identifying opportunities, managing large-scale, cross functional teams including partners in IT, operations, finance, HR, ecommerce, and building new capabilities in the organization. The role also included reporting progress on the initiatives portfolio to the Lowe's executive team and the board of directors.

Increased the throughput of implementations of third party point of sale (POS) solutions and EMV conversions on the Worldpay payments platform by 100%. Improved the quality, status and visibility of these projects to internal and external stakeholders as well. Company was acquired by Vantiv in 2018 and relocated all non-sales functions to Ohio.

Led all B2C and B2B marketing efforts including strategy development, lead generation programs (advertising, digital, social media), brand management, and communications (events and PR). Also responsible for product management and development and pricing for this regional telecommunications and Internet service provider. Accomplishments included:- Launched a leading-edge fiber optic high speed Internet service in Hilton Head Island. Converted residential and business customers to the new service- Provided proactive, real-time communications during Hurricane Matthew in 2016 via multiple channels to customers, employees, government officials and the public at large- Led the 2017 rate increase program for phone, cable and internet services Company was acquired by The Pritzker Organization and other investors in 2017.

Bentonville, Arkansas, Us

Developed enterprise-wide, cross functional strategies and executed corporate programs and initiatives in clubs to achieve goals set out in annual operating plans. Examples include:- Cost saving initiatives (workforce planning and management layer reductions in clubs)- Efficiency projects (Re-engineered club construction process to save significant time and money)- Merchandising programs (excellent store execution of all holiday promotions including Black Friday)- New sales channel development (nationally recognized cub pick up service)Cultivated and developed a high performing team and promoted 14 associates (out of a staff of 17) in 2.5 years.

Bentonville, Arkansas, Us

Grew P&L and improved the operational performance of $7 billion Central Florida region consisting of 11 markets, 94 Walmart stores, and 25,000 associates. Drove topline sales by analyzing opportunities and assessing the competitive environment, creating a strategy and securing support and resources from merchants, supply chain, marketing and other partners as needed to execute. Achieved positive comp sales during the Great Recession when rest of company had negative comps. Reduced expenses by controlling shrink, accidents and addressing store-level inventory issues.Top 4 ranked RGM in areas of sales and comp growth, sales and profit indices, operational KPI‘s, customer satisfaction, and employee engagement scores. Represented Walmart with local government and community leaders. Promoted approximately 10 high potential managers within and outside the region.

Bentonville, Arkansas, Us

Selected to participate in prestigious six-week Walmart Leadership Academy program for high potentials. Also had P&L and operational performance responsibility for 12 Walmart Supercenters in Metro Atlanta during crucial holiday season while learning store operations.

Provided strategy and marketing consulting services to small and large corporations. Areas of expertise included new business start-ups, innovation, all areas of the marketing mix, product development and Shopper Marketing. Industry experience included New Media/Internet (with emphasis on Digital Marketing and Local Media), Retail and Consumer Products. Major clients included The Coca-Cola Company, Citigroup, Cargill and Suntrust Bank.

Atlanta, Georgia, Us

Launched and grew local search site Kudzu.com to be the premier online professional services directory in Atlanta, GA and 3 other major cities. Defined the consumer-facing side of the site and executed the development and launch activities in less than 6 months. Directed all marketing activities including branding, advertising (online, direct mail, print), PR and product development. Identified key drivers of success and grew traffic to over 280,000 unique visitors per month in less than a year. Also supported the sales effort to build an advertiser base for the site. Additionally, worked for 2 other divisions during 5+ years at Cox Enterprises including Manheim Inc. (as Director of Information Services) and Cox Enterprises Business Development (as Manager, New Media).

Launched a new business in the U.S., Japan, South America and Western Europe. Created and led all B2C and B2B marketing activities worldwide, including strategy, marketing (digital marketing, advertising, PR, point of sale, direct response), research, positioning, pricing, retail design and product packaging. Key accomplishments included:- Grew business to $20M in just over a year. Sold over $1M in private label retail products in six months.- Generated over 45 TV news stories, 80 newspaper articles, 40 magazine stories and 10 Internet features (examples: Good Morning America, Univision, Newsweek, Vogue, InStyle, GQ, Los Angeles Times, etc.).- Implemented new advertising techniques and sales tactics that resulted in: - Reduction in overall customer acquisition costs by 75%. - Increase in consumer leads by 80% and in average daily appointments by 95%.- Created the BriteSmile brand and defined the "BriteSmile experience." This included defining the real estate selection criteria, brand logo and visual identity, decor for the spas, profile of spa employees (dentists, hygienists, front desk workers),uniforms, call center scripts, company website, etc .

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Drove all product management and development of Maps and driving direction solutions for prominent search engines such as Yahoo! and Fortune 500 companies including Starbucks, Ford, FedEx and Marriott. Also led product marketing, pricing, branding, advertising, digital, lead generation, etc. for this high-flying Silicon Valley SaaS start up.Reporting directly to the interim CEO, initiated a complete re-branding and product rationalization strategy to successfully turnaround company’s sales, increase cash flow, and avert bankruptcy. Collaborated with sales, operations and engineering organizations to stabilize company which ultimately positioned it for an IPO a few years later. Promoted three times in 2 years. Vicinity achieved a chart-topping IPO in 2001 and was acquired by Microsoft in 2003.

Provided strategic marketing services to Fortune 500 and medium-sized private companies including Sega, CyberCash, Visa International, and Pacific Bell.

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Management consultant to C-suite providing sales improvement, growth strategies, and cost reduction recommendations to Fortune 500 and private companies.

Mba, Strategy, Marketing, Entrepreneurship

Bs, Business Administration