Eric Russell Email & Phone Number

Truckee, Ca, Us

Supporting four companies in the active food and beverage industry by working with leadership to identify actionable sales strategies to deliver profitable growth.

Led national teams covering 5 channels: sports retail, specialty retail, foodservice, convenience stores, and military. Generated $100MM+ in revenue and oversaw 7 team members (including 3 people managers), 12 brokerages, and 10,000+ accounts. Departed due to acquisition. • Owned and lead annual and long-term strategic plan, from creation, to sell-in to internal executive team, to execution • Increased team revenue 25% YOY annually since 2014, and accelerated team expansion to meet rapid and sustained growth.• Promoted in 2021 to oversee convenience, yielding an additional $50MM in revenue accountability.• Optimized bargaining power and mitigated revenue risk by negotiating key provisions in contracts with multi-billion-dollar companies.• Empowered team members to define and achieve career goals by facilitating development and mentoring plans, resulting in 6 promotions and high retention.• Led cross functional innovation projects with stakeholders to optimize product portfolio for performance and customer value solutions.Team was responsible for accounts such as Vistar, PFG, Sysco, US Foods, Sodexo, Compass Group, Aramark, Core-Mark, McLane, 7-Eleven, Wawa, REI, FleetFeet, Sports Basement, The Feed, QBP, etc

Promoted to Director while being given an additional sales channel to manager.• Developed and sold-in long-term strategic vision for responsible channels• Managed a team of 8, including 3 people managers managing 5 people

• Transformed into the 2 fastest growing channels by gaining first-time distribution in multiple specialty channels, including airlines, airports, school districts, hotels, and coffee shops, as well as national contract management groups.

• Launched 3 new successful trade channels for the company: foodservice, specialty retail, and vending; piloted emerging eCommerce accounts, including Amazon.

San Francisco Bay Area

• Transitioned onto sales team, managing regional natural and independent grocery retail chains.

Berkeley, California, United States

• Leveraged athlete and industry contacts and knowledge to develop key marketing strategies for events sponsorships covering outdoor winter and summer sports.• Launched and managed Clif Bar Pace Team and brought on multiple sponsors• Sponsored multiple ski resorts and worked to leverage sponsorship components to meet Brand initiatives.

Berkeley, California, United States

• Leveraged athlete and industry contacts and knowledge to develop key marketing strategies for athlete sponsorships covering outdoor winter and summer sports.• Seeked out athlete talent to build Team Clif in order to support Brand initiatives and increase credibility.

Ba And Bs, Ba: East Asian Languages & Cultures, Bs: Business/Marketing

Education record