My first taste of marketing/branding/advertising/PR was at a top-notch communications firm in Santa Barbara, CA. 
I thrived on the energy and unreasonable deadlines. I quickly learned that if you're good at building and changing perceptions, you can do it for a hospital as easily as you can for a waste management company. Believe me, I did both.I know I was working at full-steam because politics sounded like a vacation. 
I was asked to be the campaign manager for a state assembly race. The candidate needed someone with marketing expertise—he wanted to run a different kind of campaign, and meant it. Hands down, it was the most interesting year of my life, but politics was not for me.Needing a change of scenery, I moved south and found Orange County Teachers Federal Credit Union, now renamed SchoolsFirst FCU, the largest credit union in California.
 I had the good fortune of joining the organization on the brink of expansion. I lead the path through their first press conference, developed a large-scale lead-generating event, created strong sub-brands for our business development areas, and increased product penetration by 11 percent.After marketing a multi-billion dollar credit union, I was ready to spread my wings and landed at Eagle Community Credit Union. I was given the luxury of building my marketing and business development teams and working with a fantastic executive team to bring a once-struggling credit union into a full financial upswing. I seem to have a knack for joining organizations in the midst of transition, which was put to good use at Arrowhead Credit Union. I was brought in as a part of a new executive team to return the conserved credit union to its members. Working to conquer that challenge is a daily thrill as membership and assets continue to grow.Specialties: Fresh ideas, strategy development, image improvement, and building strong teams.