Responsible leading the finance department and the inventory planning department to drive liquidity through continued cost saving initiatives and working capital growth. Focus on driving inventory turns improvements and inventory efficiency through collaborative planning with vendors and the merchandising department on driving optimal assortment mixes to minimize the impact of nearly $200 million of less vendor credit and focus on 4-Wall profitability and analysis to enhance the footprint within our optimal marketing spend, logistics network and overhead structure.Also responsible for leading all investor relations activities including managing the sell-side analyst, shareholder and vendor community and quarterly earnings releases and conference calls, and managing the wind down of the operations and driving the maximum recovery of all the assets of the company for all stakeholders including successfully managing the liquidation of 220 stores and 14 distribution centers.

Responsible for leading the finance department including the relationships between finance and all other business units of the company to drive a collective strategy of prioritizing the company’s strategic initiatives and use of capital to drive the optimal return. Focused on the ROI within our merchandising, marketing, store operations and inventory planning departments to realize better gross margins, increased traffic per dollar of marketing spend, optimal conversion rates and increased average ticket to drive sales, and improved inventory efficiency to drive working capital. Successfully participated in amending our credit facility to a $300 million syndicated credit agreement which increased our net availability with no increase to our borrowing costs. Also responsible for leading all investor relations activities including managing the sell-side analyst, shareholder and vendor community and quarterly earnings releases and conference calls.

Responsible for the budget and financial forecasts including the creation of reporting and monthly business meetings with department owners and drove a company- wide profitability initiative producing over $65 million in annual cost savings. Created a focus on ROI for the company’s use of capital, specifically within our real estate portfolio to drive 4-Wall analysis on the both the existing footprint and as the company continued to review expansion options.Also, assisted with all investor relations responsibilities including sell-side analysts, shareholders and vendors meetings and quarterly earnings releases and conference calls.

Develop processes and cross-functional relationships with the business units to efficiently and accurately update the long-range planning model including incorporating changes in business strategy, company structure, subsidiaries’ business models, and other changes to the business. Also, capture and analyze the impact of changes in key business trends/drivers on select operating and financial performance metrics to provide analysis and recommendations to senior management and the Board of Directors.

Worked in various functions of treasury including analyzing and recommending the strategy for $800M of share repurchases, managing the liquidity of the company including analyzing various financial instruments for long-term strategic goals, cash flow forecasting and capital allocation. Also, prepared strategic analysis and planning for regulatory compliance required by the U.S. Department of Education and the accrediting bodies of the education industry.

Served as financial advisor during various corporate restructuring and the Chapter 11 bankruptcies. Directed and assisted client management with bankruptcy financial reporting, claims analysis, liquidation analysis including analyzing operating results, liquidity, covenants, preparing cash flow forecasts and working with company management and creditors to implement cash management strategies and short-term and long-term process improvement and control initiatives. Also, worked on several forensic accounting and litigation cases to maximize asset recovery for the clients.

Worked as a financial advisor on nurmerous litigation and forensic accounting cases including cash tracing, damage and lost profits analysis, valuation and other financial analysis. Also worked with Audit Committees on several SEC accounting fraud investigations involving weaknesses in the internal controls for revenue recognition and bad debt reserve.

Analyzed all elements of credit risk for each credit relationship in a rotational program which presented a depth of knowledge in commercial, industrial, and real estate lending and loan structuring. Directly interacted with the commercial lenders and customers in assessing strengths and weaknesses of the credit relationship with a high level of experience with accounting principals and financial statement analysis.