Through Perspective Communications, I have provided clients in diverse industries with strategic business strategy, and marketing communications planning and execution. I have successfully maintained all aspects of running a successful marketing communications practice.Work Performed • Business and communications counsel • Business strategy and development • Marketplace brand positioning • Strategic communications and employee engagement planning • Extensive writing and editing (authored and ghost written) • Brand messaging • Staged business productions • Qualitative research • Fund development strategies • Curriculum development

I am a professional photographer specializing in floral portraiture and botanical subjects.

The focus of Minding Your Mind is to break the stigma of mental illness among youth and young adults through a variety of programs, particularly its peer-to-peer speaker program. As the Director of Outreach–Sarasota I am responsible for all aspects of successfully expanding the organization's presence to Sarasota County and Manatee County, Florida, from its home base in Philadelphia. Responsibilities include: creating broad-based community awareness; relationship building among behavioral health service providers; program bookings; and fund development.

Assisted in creating memorable events and galas for clients such as Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, as well as companies and private residential clients. Areas of focus included logistics, event themes, decor design, lighting, and floral tablescapes.

During this embedded assignment, I developed an employee communications and engagement plan in support of the business unit’s strategies, which included evolving its culture. The objective of the plan was to help build a dialogue with and among employees, as well as develop their skills (e.g., soft skills, emotional intelligence) to raise employee engagement in support of achieving the business unit’s long-term vision. I worked closely with the North American director of communications strategy to ensure the plan’s strategies and tactics aligned with those of North America. I also worked closely with and was accountable to the business unit’s president, senior strategist, and executive leadership team.

I served as the senior strategist at Thirsty Boy, a Milwaukee-based digital, traditional and social marketing agency. As the senior strategist, I helped discern the market niche companies could successfully own and, consequently, in which they could prosper. I then developed succinct positioning statements and messaging frameworks to support the position and guide project development.

I was responsible for re-branding Milwaukee Youth Arts Center's (MYAC) marketing communications, including art direction for the re-design of its newsletter, and grant writing to successfully reveal and maintain this hidden community gem. MYAC had no programing of its own, therefore it was difficult to communicate what it actually offered, which was cost-effective, well-equipped rehearsal and performance space for area youth-focused performing arts organizations. The biggest challenge was bringing brick and mortar to life in a compelling way target audiences would understand. I did this through a succinct brand position: “MYAC provides the ‘house’ in which youth-focused performing arts organizations call ‘home.’” The positioning was successfully used in all marketing communications, grant writing, and fund development efforts.

I oversaw public relations client service and client retention. I was responsible for developing and executing strategic public relations plans with an emphasis on media relations. I developed messaging, editorial calendars, and story ideas in support of client media relations goals. For an international medical device company, I established an international press office that ensured the systematic coverage of multiple global sectors and products, and art directed the redesign of its internationally distributed magazine to align with its new brand strategy. I conducted national press tours, and wrote and edited a variety of consumer-focused and medical technical copy.

Here I provided consumer-focused media relations strategy and guided the work of account teams. The agency’s areas of specialization were feature story placement and public relations events. I was responsible for providing exceptional client service to my accounts and client retention strategies. I conducted a trade show "protest" for a business-to-business client that garnered extensive attendee attention, as well as a winter festival for a health care plan focused on encouraging children to be more physically active. As a member of the executive team, I assisted in implementing agency processes and procedures for greater consistency in all areas and the efficient production of high-quality work.

As a marketing public relations counselor and senior marketing public relations counselor, I oversaw several clients in a variety of industries, with an emphasis in health care, horticulture, and professional services. My work included conducting extensive competitive qualitative research analysis, developing multi-year marketing communications plans, and public relations and media relations. I served as a member on the de facto "executive director" team that established the Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality—the first healthcare quality reporting organization of its kind nationally. I conducted media relations activities, including a national media tour with trade publications for the launch of the lighting industry’s first LED lighting products that could complete with traditional lighting methods for large-scale, commercial use. I provided the media relations support, including the production of its media kit, for a new company that was about to launch in only eight days. Here I also developed websites, including copy writing, for a community training program that was to be translated into Spanish, French and Russian and launched internationally, and one for a local horticulture industry expert who was preparing to expand her consumer reach nationally. For the region's only academic medical center, I conducted qualitative research within the business community to help learn their understanding of what the medical center offers, and art directed, wrote, and edited its annual report. I did extensive writing and editing of consumer and business-to-business collateral materials and other marketing communications needs.

I had the pleasure of teaching an undergraduate class in public relations principles at my alma mater. In addition to teaching the essentials, I focused on instilling concepts, tools and work ethics that normally are not taught to students, but are learned on the job. I received positive feedback from students after they entered the workforce on the benefits of what they learned in my class. In one case, it was simply understanding the difference between an objective, a strategy and a tactic.

As a public relations account supervisor, I was responsible for the media relations activities of consumer and business-to-business clients, helped clients establish internal public relations protocol, and supervised staff.

I provided a number of horticulture-, landscape-, and agriculture-focused clients with public relations and media relations initiatives. My work included developing and writing several industry newsletters, writing and editing technical articles, developing and placing media stories, photography, and creating attention-getting trade show activities. I conducted a lunch for individuals from the trade media during a trade show on behalf of a client and successfully increased the goodwill between the company and the media. I served as the acting director of public relations for an extended period of time while the position remained vacant. In this capacity, I conducted weekly touch-base meetings with the public relations staff, and provided ongoing guidance and support for all client public relations activities.

Provided consumer-focused public relations counsel, planning and execution.