Knowing the origins, ingredients and characteristics of 300+ cheeses to assist customers in selecting specific cheeses for recipes, to match with wines/beers and to conduct daily sampling programs resulting in this "Murray's Cheese" department becoming 1st in our division for 6+ months and #10 in over 300 national locations in the last two months. Sold approximately $350,000 worth of cheese in 2017, representing 30 percent of all revenues for that year in this location. Continuing to maintain and exceed monthly quotas. Excel in customer service, realizing the following customer comments through surveys: “I was helped in Murray’s cheese department by Janet. I found her to be polite, friendly and knowledgeable about the products she was promoting. Very impressed by the customer service I received and commend Krogers/Murrays for hiring such an enthusiastic employee.” “Love that you have the cheese tasting with Janet Bowden. She is knowledgeable and friendly. Love her and the cheese products she promotes and recommends. Both my son and I are very disappointed when we enter the store and don’t see Janet there.  “The one person who interfaces with the customer the most is Janet, in the cheese department. She introduces shoppers to various cheeses, along with complementary items like honey, preserves and crackers, upon entry to the store. She is knowledgeable and can compare and recommend cheeses for specific purposes – not just hand out samples. I have been very satisfied with her suggestions and continue to purchase them time after time – she shares interesting “cheese” stories and histories associated with various products. The Kroger/Murrays selections compare well with other high-end specialty stores in our area. Her knowledge, combined with delightful personality, is truly a feather in Kroger’s cap!”

Utilizing my background, which includes over twenty-five years of strategic healthcare marketing and advertising experience, to consult with healthcare providers. This knowledge comes from being the director of marketing for a hospital, as well as for a specialty multi-physician practice. Fifteen years were spent in healthcare advertising agencies, writing and managing strategic marketing plans solving a wide variety of issues from: re-developing a brand to gain more market-share; open enrollment campaigns tying consumers to health plans, which connected those consumers to the hospital; new mover programs introducing new homeowers who needed to select a new primary care physician to a hospital; the development of clinical newsletters for cardiologists and neonatologists to be used by representatives of a hospital to call on primary care doctors to discuss the expertise available to them, and to their patients, when the need arises; weight loss programs for physicians who offer 12-step programs; and dual-eligible Medicare products for seniors, etc. Agencies have afforded me an extremely wide variety of experience and opportunities providing strategic marketing advice to many healthcare entities including a very large software firm that developed and marketed physician call center programs to hospitals and health plans on a national basis. My product line experience in the health area is vast, and includes everything from cardiology to family practice, physician referral to mental health, plastic surgery to incontinence...just ask, I've probably developed, or been involved in a strategic marketing/advertising program around that product line.

Worked as a liaison between clients and the agency, building out their strategic marketing plans as written by the agency, including the agreed-upon key messages, developing and managing budgets and handling the day-to-day issues that came up, along with planning for the future of the accounts. Managing another account executive and many of the vendors affiliated with the accounts, including printers, direct mail and list providers. Planning, managing and purchasing all media, including print, broadcast, OOH (boards and transit) for clients throughout Southern California. Social media campaign planning. Developed, had approved and maintained a $3.5 million marketing, advertising and media budget for three years for one client. Consistently developed profitable new revenue streams with current clients that were within the scope of their current strategies. Business development for the agency.

Business development and healthcare marketing recruiting for this national recruiting firm. Successful in bringing in new business (contract and permanent positions) from UCI (Irvine), Smith & Nephew (orthopedic products), PacifiCare, Kaiser-Permanente, Amgen, Master-Foods, Disney and Nestle.

Developed new accounts for these two separate marketing, advertising and staffing firms (Paladin from 1997 to 2000; Aquent from 2000 to 2002) ~ both for advertising agencies, as well as corporate marketing departments. Particularly proud of long-term relationships built with Disney, Oakley, Experian, Taco Bell, DGWB Advertising, Honest Mechanics (ad agency), and many other OC agencies.

Worked for a division called First Strategic Group, the advertising division. I was the product manager for a group of syndicated hospital products sold by a group of telesales people. Consulted with the hospitals, both in-person and over the phone, that purchased the syndicated products, instructing them in how to integrate the syndicated marketing products with the call center software (Centramax), they had licensed from NHES (National Health Enhancement Systems). The software allowed hospitals to do CRM, as well as to perform ROI functions demonstrating how the programs built profitable relationships with consumers. At one point, we had over 125 hospitals nationally using The Newcomer Program, a syndicated direct mail program designed to direct new residents moving into a hospital's service area into relationships with health plans and primary care physicians connected to the hospital. Worked in the Phoenix area for 4 years. Previous to that period, I was a senior account executive for First Strategic Group, in the Whittier, CA area. Focused on healthcare clients, including, but not limited to Mission Hospital (Mission Viejo, CA), San Pedro Peninsula Hospital (part of Torrance Memorial Hospital, in Torrance, CA), Mercy Hospital (San Diego), St. Francis Medical Center (Lynwood, CA), Long Beach Medical Center (Long Beach, CA), and various other Southern California based healthcare clients.

Director of Marketing for 76-bed psychiatric & chemical dependency hospital owned by Charter Medical Corporation. Responsible for managing a $1 million + budget that included broadcast TV, radio, print and collateral advertising, plus a sales force who called on referral sources.