In my role, I sit at the nexus of Public Buildings Service's Strategy and Engagement and manage the strategic communications and marketing for this important pillar of GSA services. Alongside my colleagues, we champion better, innovative solutions for Federal employees' work environments and experiences. We design for people, shape communities, and are a performance multiplier of critical services for the American people. How cool is that?

In my role at Dragon Army, a purpose-driven digital engagement company, I will be helping the world’s best companies to capture opportunities and solve problems. With our dedicated team of passionate, tenured strategists, designers, writers, and developers, we will create remarkable products and experiences that grow brands people love.

As their first direct hire into the marketing function, I was charged with assessing the brand, marketing our products and increasing awareness, and design strategic communications for an exciting player in the Software as a Service space. In my time at the company, I developed competitor analyses, developed the marketing strategy, redesigned critical webpages, developed brand guidelines for better company wide brand management, and created communication strategies for a company acquisition.

Imagine being hired for a position where a brand was completely outdated, a city with a Mayor eager to make transit a bright light in an already bright city, and a $9B referendum slated to be on the ballot 10 months after being hired and your asked to make us relevant in that time. We successfully achieved this ask and more; elevating a fledgling brand in the hearts and minds of Nashvillians. The guiding principle behind this was to focus on connecting people to their lives and communities… Show more Imagine being hired for a position where a brand was completely outdated, a city with a Mayor eager to make transit a bright light in an already bright city, and a $9B referendum slated to be on the ballot 10 months after being hired and your asked to make us relevant in that time. We successfully achieved this ask and more; elevating a fledgling brand in the hearts and minds of Nashvillians. The guiding principle behind this was to focus on connecting people to their lives and communities. Executing this was formidable but early successes in targeting untapped markets through the arts, government collaborations, and local partnerships elevated the brand and improved perceptions. These efforts and our strategy overall to market services and products with the mantra of transit differently put public transportation in a positive light and encouraged residents to consider it a mobility solution in Middle Tennessee. - Provided creative and strategic direction for marketing, advertising, media relations, business development, and community engagement.- Led organizatioal brand management and transformation resulting in increased non-customer interest by 300 percent.- Led marketing strategy for largest service restructuring (20%) and fare increase (17%) in company history with little to no public outcry.- Grew employer transit subsidy program by 10 percent and reduced administrative burdens.- Grew engagement by 200 percent on digital platforms using improved content and email marketing.- Partnered with 25 local businesses in original programming, experiential marketing, and cross-promotional opportunities.- Oversaw user-centered design team to develop prototypes in signage, communications, and marketing.- Developed go-to-market strategy for new fare payment product and service offering.- Directed UX/UI team to develop ticket vending machine experience and transparency in mobile ticketing. Show less

The Customer Research department was a relatively new addition to the Communications and Marketing vertical. Until my arrival, some baseline studies had been established and the agency was just getting comfortable with the role of customer research. I was tasked with elevating customer insights within the organization, take on large federally mandated studies, and to centrally position the department in senior staff decision making. This was no small feat but reasonably accomplishable if… Show more The Customer Research department was a relatively new addition to the Communications and Marketing vertical. Until my arrival, some baseline studies had been established and the agency was just getting comfortable with the role of customer research. I was tasked with elevating customer insights within the organization, take on large federally mandated studies, and to centrally position the department in senior staff decision making. This was no small feat but reasonably accomplishable if customer research was adequately positioned. I would say I exceeded their expectations.Notable Outcomes:- Determined marketing impact and customer KPIs for CEO led initiative to improve agency perception.- Worked closely with CFO to identify revenue generating opportunities and cost reductions.- Expanded primary research activity by 72%, informing Senior Staff on emerging markets and targeted segment opportunities. - Led customer journey mapping exercises to identify pinch points in end to end experience. - Led prototyping for better mobile experience for online ticketing and fare payment management.- Reengineered multi-year, quarterly customer experience tracking programs at a 30% cost reduction and 25% improvement in data precision. - Innovated customer experience insight gathering using consumer panel technology for real-time insights.- Designed end to end UX and UI for federal pass subsidy program for mobile engagement.- Established a contracting mechanism for shorter lead time and execution of research to drive business decisions.- Led user centered research to determine digital information signage to reduce station wayfinding friction.- Aligned customer insights with agency media tracking study for better communications and proactive story telling.- Refined marketing strategy by determining customer acquisition cost vs. customer retention cost. Show less

At Abt Associates, formerly Abt SRBI, I was charged with increasing our agency’s footprint in the transportation market. Several of our competitors were well-established and the decision was made to invest resources and time to improving our industry position. In four year’s time, the team was able to elevate the firm as an industry, allowing us to compete for federal level projects. I oversaw the business development and research design approach to achieve this competitive position, resulting… Show more At Abt Associates, formerly Abt SRBI, I was charged with increasing our agency’s footprint in the transportation market. Several of our competitors were well-established and the decision was made to invest resources and time to improving our industry position. In four year’s time, the team was able to elevate the firm as an industry, allowing us to compete for federal level projects. I oversaw the business development and research design approach to achieve this competitive position, resulting in contract awards of $8M—this was considerable growth for this business practice. Notable Outcomes:- Managed research staff domestically (e.g., New York, New Jersey, West Virginia, Ohio, Massachusetts, Arizona) and abroad (e.g., Canada and Australia). - Presented or published 13 research papers at industry conferences or in major industry periodicals.- Served as expert reviewer for notable industry journal.- Established cost model for more competitive pricing.- Built proposal management flow for more timely execution and development.- Designed data collection strategy for seamless management of more than 50M demographic and geographic data and reduced project overhead by more than $100,000. Show less

Chicago Transit AuthorityA relative newcomer to transit in 2006, I cut my teeth at the Chicago Transit Authority.  First as a transportation analyst and then as senior manager of the market research department.  In those four years, I spearheaded cutting edge industry efforts and countless other initiatives contributing a customer centric approach to the second largest transit authority in the United States.  I was the first in transit to do in-house web based research; managed a hybrid… Show more Chicago Transit AuthorityA relative newcomer to transit in 2006, I cut my teeth at the Chicago Transit Authority.  First as a transportation analyst and then as senior manager of the market research department.  In those four years, I spearheaded cutting edge industry efforts and countless other initiatives contributing a customer centric approach to the second largest transit authority in the United States.  I was the first in transit to do in-house web based research; managed a hybrid study of limited English proficient group opinions and attitudes to develop a language assistance plan.  I was also one of the first in the industry to model customer loyalty and the relative impacts of exogenous factors on customer retention and acquisition.  Notably, the paper is the first to measure the influence of public image on transit customer loyalty.  I excel at transforming research into “insight” to drive business planning and decision-making.Notable Outcomes:- Increased customer loyalty by 12% through improved loyalty driver prioritization and granular customer segmentation.- Introduced design thinking and user-centered design principles to understanding employee and customer experience.- Aligned customer metrics with performance management teams authority KPIs.- Increased research output by 900% with limited staff and budget.- Worked alongside three fourths of agency VPs to drive decision making using these customer insights.- Increased real-time information adoption by 15% through effective customer positioning in marketing and product development. Show less

Engaged traditional and non-traditional students in the art of flexing their sociological imagination. I helped them to see the world through a critical lens and how to use data appropriately when thinking about the world around them.- Introduction to Sociology I, University of Cincinnati, Winter 2005- Introduction to Sociology I, University of Cincinnati, Spring 2005- Introduction to Sociology I, University of Cincinnati, Summer 2005- Introduction to Sociology II… Show more Engaged traditional and non-traditional students in the art of flexing their sociological imagination. I helped them to see the world through a critical lens and how to use data appropriately when thinking about the world around them.- Introduction to Sociology I, University of Cincinnati, Winter 2005- Introduction to Sociology I, University of Cincinnati, Spring 2005- Introduction to Sociology I, University of Cincinnati, Summer 2005- Introduction to Sociology II, University of Cincinnati, Summer 2004 Show less

Coordinated and executed multi-county and statewide RDD telephone studies supported by local and federal funding. These research supported local and state marketing campaigns for health-related topics; informed policy in the health, social and political realms; and benchmarked previously unidentified social issues.