Gregory Zeleny Email & Phone Number

Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

South Africa

Conceptualized and launched South Africa’s leading gourmet pop-up dining experience, SecretEATS, serving 800+ guests through 130+ signature dining events. Expanded core business internationally to Vietnam, hosting 80 guests through 12 dining experiences.Recruited and trained city-based event directors. Executed online training on brand guidelines and operational processes, group trainings and personal mentoring to drive 14-18% growth while lowering operating expenses.Launched new line of business for the tourism market with a unique walking cocktail experience through the ancient city of Hoi An, Vietnam.Developed and and executed PESO driven word-of-mouth, digital, print and experiential marketing campaigns to increase customer database from 0 to 19,000 subscribers with above average industry open, click-thru and sales results. Implemented Zoho and HubSpot CRM tools to manage and engage with contacts to drive business forward while reducing time and increasing efficiency.

Remote

Delivered marketing and consulting services to clients in the hospitality industry with a strong emphasis on food, drink and travel to drive SME business growth using PESO model. Managed web developers, designers, social media managers and photographers/videographers to develop client’s brand story, website design and development, print and digital marketing, paid advertising, influencer advertising, email campaigns and strategic partnerships. Conceptualized and executed An Bang Beach Food & Music Festival (2019 & 2020) with 35 restaurants, 13 bands & DJs, 10 shops and over 3,000 attendees with a core team of 3 and extended team of 50+ members.Created and launched the weekly community market, Sunset Weekend Bazaar, bringing together food and retail vendors with live music, art exhibitions, workshops and kids’ activities.Conducted training on guest relations and hospitality best practices for waitrons and front of house restaurant staff, as well as English language training.

Cape Town Area, South Africa

Launched digital magazine and publishing platform with 40+ contributors across South Africa and internationally focused on food, wine and travel with 10-12,000 average monthly visitors and mailing list of 7,000. Content creation for food, beverage and travel industry with an exclusive focus on vegan and plant-based offerings.Monetized audience through GoogleAds and sponsored content with 20% annual growth.

Cape Town Area, South Africa

Founded upmarket, gourmet restaurant featuring rotating local and international guest chefs with themed nights targeting various demographic groups by age and spend, such as Pocket Watch Wednesdays, Our Chef’s Table, Spasie Saturdays and Sunday Funday Brunch.Featured on The Travel Channel, local SA TV and film productions and in magazines including GQ, Glamour, House + Leisure and Visi.Drove growth of restaurant from infancy to at capacity 90% of the time through word of mouth, social media and experiential marketing efforts.Hired, managed and trained a staff of 18 including general manager, assistant manager, host/hostess, bar manager, wait and bar staff.Consistently increased profits month-after-month by reducing food waste, negotiating with suppliers and managing to market demand.

Greater New York City Area

Established and project managed external partner and vendor relationships for digital product innovation team to deliver work in-scope, under budget and on-time with competing deadlines.Led user experience driven product re-design incorporating new features, improved functionality and increased revenue. Managed outside vendor relationships to deliver work in-scope, under-budget and on-time with competing deadlines and multiple internal stakeholders. Liaised with Privacy, Legal and GMS to modify contracts, privacy policies and EULA to improve product experience and expand offer sources.Increased offer base by 20% through contract negotiation to include non-affiliate offers.Recognized with Chairman’s Award for Innovation (2010)Appointed lead for BlueEn employee engagement network sub-committee focused on garnering feedback and developing best practices of people leaders on managing a virtual team.

Delivered CRM product optimization consulting as client liaison for 50 key education accounts tp C-level executives on current system use, best practices and strategic recommendations. Demonstrated ROI of 25-35% for clients through elimination of manual data entry processes and improved use of system automation.Pitched 3-5 year, $500K - $1M strategic plans for optimization and new products, aligned with institutional goals and objectives. Attained first quarter sales in excess of $600K.Expertise in translating complex technical specifications into concepts easily understood by non-technical personnel.

Managed $2.4M telecom strategic partnership with Cablevision for nation’s first-ever household-level targeted TV campaign with footprint-wide rollout to more than 3.2M homes.Led advertising partnerships with Starcom (Blackberry, Disney Parks), McCann Universal (US Army), Cablevision (AT&T, US Navy), MARC USA (Penn State Lottery), Suddenlink, and Google TV. Delivered measurable results that HHs engage longer with targeted television advertising up to 33%, have greater ad recall and increased likelihood to take action with national advertisers.Developed industry standards for household-level reporting with Cablevision executives, results of AT&T and Blackberry campaigns presented nationally at CTAM industry conference. Cross-functional internal and external communication expert across Product, Engineering, Production, Advertisers, and Media Agencies.

Vice President – Client Services (2005 – 2008)Strategic management of 120 clients and $8M in annual revenue with a team of 7 account managers and project managers.Achieved 90% contract renewal rate with increases of 10-20% resulting in $18M in revenue.Improved close ratio from 1 in 10 to 1 in 4 with use of consultative sales skills, educating prospective and existing clients on-site and via teleconference.Led core product redesign and implemented new client reporting practices that improved student product usage more than 150% and increased client usage 20%.Executive Director – Client Services and Operations (2003 – 2005) Maximized operations of account management and production team of 18 through new processes using Salesforce resulting in 50% increase in account manager capacity.Decreased production time by 4.5 days and increased student and parent product usage through introduction of new product concepts and community-driven tools.Director of Sales (2002 – 2003)Generated new business through nationwide travel presenting solution set to C-level executives. Achieved a 1-in-7 success rate when cold-calling senior-level decision makers.Increased average product sale from $18K to $26K and average contract from $35K to $50K. Generated second-largest growth in company history with 12 new clients and $600K+ revenue in 9 months.

Fast-track promotion through sales management roles involving sourcing, hiring, training and managing a team of 35-40 sales representatives.Generated personal revenues in excess of $25,000 and office revenues in excess of $150,000 on an average sale of $150.