CONTENT STRATEGY | DIGITAL MARKETING | EVENTS MANAGEMENT- Expertise in the nonprofit, healthcare, startup, and tourism & hospitality sectors. Clients include the Road Home Program at Rush: National Center of Excellence for Veterans and Their Families, Autism Assessment Research Treatment and Services (AARTS) Center at Rush, the Rush University Medical Center's Dept. of Psychiatry, Wisconsin Cheese, Earshot, Word of Mouth Marketing Association, American Marketing Association Chicago, Chicago Tribune, Zocalo Group, The Berghoff Restaurant and Berghoff's Annual Oktoberfest- Served as Executive Director for Social Media Week Chicago (2012-2014), managing operations, production, speaker recruitment, sponsorship, and marketing for 140+ events annually- Served as Interim Marketing Director for Chicago Brick Oven and Downtown Pet Supply, overseeing the launch of Shopify ecommerce platforms, creating revenue-generating email marketing programs, and managing paid search and SEO efforts - Served as Interim Director of Marketing for Trala, Inc., leading customer acquisition and retention (CRM), community building, search engine, and App Store optimization, and content marketing strategies- Producer of the BrandSmart Awards (2020-2023) and BrandSmart Conference (2022-2024), presented by AMA Chicago

- As Chapter President, responsible for leading 16-member volunteer Board of Directors and managing peer special interest councils- Led AMA Chicago to become the largest professional chapter within AMA's global network- Guided the organization's rebranding and rebuilding during a time of industry-wide upheaval for trade associations and the 9/11 attacks on the United States- Named International Volunteer of the Year (2009) and awarded Honorary Lifetime Membership- BrandSmart Conference Co-Chair (2010, 2019)- Past President Emeritus and Member of the Executive Committee (2019 - 2021)

- Launched an original recipes blog as a passion project born out of my love for creating original recipes and as an homage to Chicago, a city with a rich history of culinary innovation such as the birthplace of the brownie- Authored "Simply Decadent Brownies Cookbook" with 66.3K+ copies in distribution, rated by readers as Amazon's top chocolate dessert cookbook, and with all profits going to the Greater Chicago Food Depository and PAWS Chicago- My recipes have won six major competitions, including grand prize for my Sweet Potato-Bacon Biscuits in the Louisiana Sweet Potato Commissions' Sweet Rewards Recipe Contest

- Led the Word of Mouth Marketing Association as it prepared for its merger with the Association for National Advertisers (ANA)- Managed $2MM budget, 8-member virtual team, and 19-member volunteer Board of Directors

- Responsible for strategic marketing, membership recruitment and retention, association operations, strategic programs and national events, including the WOMMA Summit and TALK Tour- Oversaw the creation of industry-level thought leadership programs, such as "WOMMA's Guide to Influencer Marketing" and the launch of WOMMA University Online

- Spearheaded all marketing programs, content development, email marketing, digital marketing and social media for Choose Chicago (formerly the Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau) and its member partners- Served as a digital marketing mentor and resource for many of Chicago's largest events, including Lollapalooza, National Restaurant Association Show, Just For Laughs Comedy Festival and International Home + Housewares Show- Launched Chicago Restaurant Week with 300+ restaurants and marketing partners (e.g. American Express, Belvedere Vodka, Moët & Chandon, Blue Moon, Groupon, Open Table and United Airlines) that served 444K+ diners, generated over $20MM in economic impact, created more than 4.7MM online conversations and delivered over $1.17MM in media reach with a budget under $40k - Created First Bites Bash showcasing 50+ Chicago chefs as the kickoff event for Chicago Restaurant Week and benefiting the Greater Chicago Food Depository - Built strategic partner marketing programs like Sweet Deals Chicago, powered by American Express- Managed $4.5MM marketing budget, 6-member marketing team and agencies-of-record for brand, social media, search and digital development

- Responsible for leading Discover Network digital marketing, employee communications and re-branding projects- Developed content strategy for Discover Network's Online Knowledge Center- Launched Discover Network’s internal re-branding campaign, including project management for company-wide educational webcasts, intranet marketing resource center, and employee newsletters

- Responsible for paid online subscriptions business at Questia Media, a division of Cengage Learning- Developed acquisition/retention strategy to maximize revenue opportunities, including email program that grew opt-in list to 3MM in 15 months - Generated $2.94MM with e-CRM program ($15 to $1 ROI) and reduced costs (-39%) while increasing site traffic (+164%) and lead generation (+340%) with SEO, SEM, paid search and content partnerships (e.g. Google Books and Facebook) which also improved subscriber conversion (+76%)- Managed $2.3MM marketing budget and 3-member marketing team

- Served as head of global marketing programs for Dynamic Graphics Group (a division of Jupiterimages), a multi-brand portfolio (including PictureQuest and Creatas) targeting creative and design professionals, and reported directly to the CEO- Increased ecommerce sales (+32%) through integrated direct marketing program that decreased overall marketing costs by $810,000 and reduced acquisition/retention costs (-74%)- Grew online lead generation (+22%) and ecommerce sales (45% of overall revenue)- Managed $4.5MM marketing budget and 12-member global marketing team in the United States, Australia, Germany and United Kingdom

- Developed marketing, sales and business development strategies for organizations launching new products or defining new categories- Created brand launch plans, primary marketing research studies and angel investor presentations for start-ups, including Scribe, Vation, and Newgistics.- Clients included Tribune Interactive, Yesmail, Lake Forest Graduate School of Management and GartnerGroup

- Served as first member of marketing team for Yesmail brand launch with 12MM+ subscribers- Co-wrote whitepaper on "Turning Online Strangers into Loyal Clients: A Practical Guide to Permission Marketing on the Web"- Edited and oversaw project management of Yesmail's book on "Email Marketing: Using Email to Reach Your Target Audience and Build Customer Relationships" published by Wiley - Managed $2.8MM budget and 12-member marketing team

- Hired as employee #10, helping to define and create the permission email category for marketers - Led expansion into Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom that increased channel sales (+45%)

- Grew AT&T/NCR into our largest channel sales partner for 3 consecutive years

- First field employee hired to create national sales relationships and strategic alliances with Fortune 500 companies within technology, telecommunications and financial services industries, including Microsoft, EDS, AT&T, IBM and Bank of America- Developed AT&T into largest corporate account for 4 consecutive years and ranked 2nd in sales company-wide by closing largest sale in company history to AT&T

- Created marketing programs for 5,700 members within 150 secondary and post-secondary schools- Executed 70+ one-day seminars and multi-day conferences for up to 2,500 attendees- Increased statewide membership (+42%) and grew revenue (+26%) from conference attendance