Established a marketing/communications department for newly created division to serve eight retail and hospitality units of the university. Provide strategic direction and oversee an aggressive schedule of marketing/communications initiatives to support the various units and division as a whole. Manage a staff of five professionals and five students to ensure work is completed on time and within budget.Employ an integrated marketing communications strategy to ensure our brands are represented consistently across all platforms, including publications, web, social media, email, special events and promotions.Serve on the university's national brand marketing strategy workgroup, emergency communicators group and COVID-19 response communication group. Regularly earn positive media coverage both on campus and in trade publications by being proactive, accessible, and quick to respond with compelling information and quality photography.Counsel senior management on how to handle sensitive/complicated topics, such as our banking relationship, demolition of bookstore (a high-profile modernist building from the 1950s), construction using student fees, and Chick-fil-A. Cultivate relationships with other departments, including University Communications, the Department of Academic and Student Affairs, and Admissions/Orientation to further our ability to enhance the student experience.Create, launch, refresh, realign and manage brands as needed. Examples include Smoothie U, Yates Mill Bakery, Rave! Event Services, Smoothie U, the Pack Shop, Wolfpack Outfitters and the Wolfpack One Card Office.

Served as the organization’s first in-house marketing/communications professional after years of outsourcing. • Forged a relationship with University Communications to bring units into brand compliance and significantly reduced outsourcing costs. • Created all meal plan collateral and marketing plan to boost sales. Helped grow participation from 6800 to 7500 in two years.• Created social media presence and embraced new ways to connect with constituencies, including regular email communication, TV billboard systems, social media, and special events. • Led brand development for Howling Cow® ice cream. • Served as primary spokesperson, speaking to parents about our program throughout summer orientation. • Built relationships with campus media in response to a history of negative coverage. Saw significant turnaround in span of two years as a result of these relationships. Also cultivated relationships with trade publications to elevate the program on a national level.• Leveraged marketing partnership with Coca-Cola through targeted special events and promotions.

Cary Magazine—Wrote attention-grabbing, informative and entertaining articles for this regional coffee-table publication. Topics included personality profiles, healthcare, education, religion, gardening and more. Was regarded as one of the best, most reliable writers by the editor. Articles ghost-written for WakeMed physicians also appeared in this magazine.WakeMed—Wrote a variety of pieces on behalf of the hospital; assignments included ghost-written articles for doctors and feature articles for internal publications: Expectations, a series of newsletters for expectant and new mothers, Stethoscope, a quarterly publication for physicians, and Families First, a quarterly publication for families with children 10 and under. Also regarded as reliable, responsive, thorough and indispensable to the department. Healthcare Training Strategies—Developed and implemented media relations strategy to gain coverage for new HIPAA Privacy Tool Kit in anticipation of new HIPAA privacy rules. Product received generous media attention and became a product of Physicians EHR, which advises physicians on technology adoption.ScottMadden, Inc.—Provided editing and proofing for the management consultant firm’s website, case studies, presentations, RFPs and other external documents. Developed a style guide. Assembled virtual agency to develop and launch a 25th anniversary public relations campaign, which included a complete brand refresh. The client regarded the finished product to be significantly better than work provided by their previous (national) agency, which was attributed to our research and personal attention to their needs. It was executed at a fraction of the cost.LG&A Real Estate—Provided public relations counsel and copy development for the firm’s marketing literature, including a bi-monthly newsletter, post cards, and sales collateral.UNC-Chapel Hill—Assisted with architecture development and wrote copy for the university’s global website: www.unc.edu/global.

Managed public relations planning and initiatives for healthcare clients, including MDeverywhere, Magellan Laboratories (now Cardinal Health), The DeLor Group, and WakeMed. Initiatives included strategic planning, media relations (mostly national and trade), article writing and placement, speaker placement and analyst relations. Greatest success was getting one of my clients on the front of the business section of the New York Times.

Provided public relations account services to clients, including University Dining at NC State University, Meredith College, the NC Association of Licensed Practical Nurses, and The Sage Company. Initiatives included strategic planning, publication planning and writing, publication design management, website management and special events.