Melissa Drake Email & Phone Number

Los Angeles, CA, US

Greater Los Angeles Area

• Provide editing, coaching, and self-publishing consulting services to authors
• Analyze client programs, content, and processes—recommend, develop, and implement strategies to present brand’s essence in a way that’s consistent, has depth, and resonates with their target audience
• Direct social media, public relations, technical, administrative, and legal teams in developing and executing programs to achieve client goals
• Network with other professionals to identify applicable skills and connect as aligned for collectively beneficial outcomes
• Create and deliver custom content and courses—for personal brand and client brands
• Illuminate stories and marketing messages through intuitive editing

• Develop sponsorship programs and opportunities for organizations and individuals to promote their products, services, and books on The Good Men Project’s participatory media site advancing the roles of men in the 21st.
• Collect and utilize research and key metrics to complete product mapping, planning, and enhancement
• Partner with individuals and businesses to establish and deliver mutually beneficial affiliate campaigns on the website
• Acquired nearly 100 individual and business clients in less than one year; with two thirds of clients executing multiple projects with The Good Men Project, (some as many as 40-60 projects in a year's time)
• Grow the sponsorship program with new clients and new promotion opportunities — Calculated average monthly growth of 134% and year over year increase of 463%
• Establish and document efficient, sustainable, and replicable process to sell services to partnership clients

West Des Moines, Iowa

• Took initiative to write marketing plan and 28 social media campaigns for my favorite restaurant that was not taking advantage of social media to promote their business
• After they reviewed the unsolicited marketing plan and campaigns, I was hired on the spot
• Wrote unique daily Facebook posts to increase customer engagement, promote restaurant and increase sales
• Responded to customer inquiries and comments
• Provided management reporting and suggestions to increase customer traffic
• Increased sales per chef by 23% in one year

Santa Monica, CA

• Motivated and mentored collective of 200 life coaches to write for the SHFT program blog and external publications
• Created and managed submission process and edit entries using my intuitive editing process and “Red Pen Treatment”
• Collaborated with writers to publish the best version of their content with the most appropriate publication
• Established and documented automated submission and sign-off process, blog grammar guidelines, suggestions to promote content, and many other writing resources to help authors to effectively tell and share their stories
• Authored blog writing program, “Your Story is Your Gold”
• See recommendation from Noelle Cordeaux, CEO and co-founder of SHFT.us

Des Moines, Iowa Area

• In company of 400, was one of five people who reported directly to the President and CEO
• Participated in 23-member leadership team
• Established and cultivated relationships with insurance carriers and marketing organizations to bring in products for our insurance agents to sell
• Collaborated with distribution leaders to ensure client needs are met through competitive product solutions
• Reviewed and negotiated contract terms, including commission rates
• Utilized financial modeling to establish commission rates throughout the sales hierarchies

Des Moines, Iowa Area

• Collaborated directly with President and CEO to create positioning documents for the enterprise
• Drafted, edited and maintained content on five corporate websites
• Completed product research and developed compelling marketing materials
• Monitored marketplace activities and notified distribution channel leaders when competitors developed new products, implemented new sales strategies, introduced sales contests, or experienced rate changes
• Prepared executive level reporting and analyses to illustrate the differences among competitive products
• Provided input for product development based on comparable competitive products

Des Moines, Iowa Area

• Reviewed research proposals, interviewed potential research vendors, negotiated pricing, and contracted with vendors on a project-by-project basis
• Developed and executed surveys – Analyzed completed surveys, prepared executive summaries, and recommended business practices to support research findings
• Maintained research budget in excess of $100,000 annually
• Managed Conservation priorities and supported initiatives through documentation of current processes, cross-functional team management, submission of project requests, and coordination of Enterprise resources
• Received two “Awards in Excellence” for exemplary performance

Des Moines, Iowa Area

• Coordinated Senior Leadership team to create and maintain strategy and planning documents
• Established competitive intelligence database and related processes to evaluate competitiveness of products
• Served on conservation team – responsible for evaluating internal processes, researching best practices, and making recommendations for test projects and process enhancements

West Des Moines, IA

• Client-facing responsibility for delivery of “World Class Service” for COBRA, FSA and retiree clients
• Managed COBRA and FSA administration processes for 8 clients with $3.5 million in annual ADP revenue
• Conveyed client expectations and distributed assignments to team members from various business units across satellite locations, including Finance, Systems/IT, Call Center, Business Analysts, Benefits, Compliance
• Monitored client needs and presented up-sell solutions as applicable – negotiated client contracts and pricing
• Received profitability award for initiating the most “out of scope,” billable projects
• In less than one year, turned at-risk client base into referenceable client base

West Des Moines, Iowa

• Identified potential opportunities to streamline processes and maximize resources to achieve organizational goals
• Oversaw completion of individual business integration projects and provided leadership for Business Analysts
• Prepared and delivered marketing and technical presentations to executives and prospective clients

West Des Moines, IA

• Developed business plan for team of Business Analysts to identify, initiate, and implement company-wide business improvements – received executive approval and was promoted to Business Integration Team Leader
• Collaborated with user and technical groups to suggest, develop and implement processes to increase revenue, efficiency, and effectiveness while reducing costs
• Authored "Protecting Profitability Through Persistency" manual, which documented existing processes for retaining policyholders, explains the necessity of persistency efforts, and suggested persistency projects
• Implemented Marketing's training and documentation programs
• Recommend process innovations - received outstanding team award and "Most Valuable Player" recognition

West Des Moines, IA

• Initiated development of numerous process innovations, which led to new position, Marketing Business Analyst
• Proposed, budgeted and managed life and health marketing activities for 14 associations with more than 3.3 million members; analyzed results from each marketing effort and evaluated cost effectiveness
• Utilized project management techniques to monitor over 100 annual acquisition and retention marketing projects; coordinated and managed interdepartmental activities to ensure successful completion of projects

Des Moines, Iowa Area

• Developed and delivered six-week training program for all customer service new hires
• Produced curriculum and taught in-house LOMA Classes for Marketing and Customer Service (1992-1997)
• Published article in national trade magazine, Resource, for insurance professionals (September 1994)

Des Moines, Iowa Area

• Established new business working primarily with resumes, cover letters, and wedding invitations
• Grew loyal and sizable client base through word-of-mouth advertising – while the business closed more than two decades ago, I still get calls for resume services today

Bachelor'S Degree, Business Administration And Management, General, Graduated Cum Laude

Education record

Education record

Completed Certificate Program "Principles of Marketing Research"

Completed Yellow Belt Training Program

Ba, Business Administration

Graduated Cum Laude

Education record

Education record

Completed 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Course