Mark Brust Email & Phone Number

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Supported training deliverables for Advisory Solutions and Ameriprise® Signature Wealth Program• Provided consultation and feedback on new and existing communications and training content• Improved workflow and best practice by implementing cross-departmental meetings• Lead study group for new hires studying for Securities Industry Essentials and Series 7 FINRA exams• Accolades: Passed the Securities Industry Essentials Exam, a FINRA exam required for financial security industry professionals.

Richfield, Minnesota, United States

I "wrote the book" on training for Magnolia, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Best Buy specializing in high-end, premium audio, video, home automation/control, and accessory products. Trusted with creative freedom to build and manage the entire training library from the ground up, I researched, designed, and wrote a variety of training documents ranging from fundamental to deep-dive mastery, over 100 vendor brand story and product line explorations, eLearning scripts, sales guides, step-up product comparison guides, exams, quizzes, and instructor-led curricula. Throughout, I established and followed consistent branding and voice. These earned me several awards and accolades from senior leadership, including: • "Really great job on this! I didn’t know you had this level of competency around control systems. Overall, I would say the content is great…I always struggle with trying to convey complex topics in this format but it is definitely the best I’ve seen.” —former Vice President, Magnolia Services (commenting on "Fundamentals of Control Systems")• “…read this great primer. It will help us all move a bit quicker.” Former Chief Merchandising Officer, who forwarded this document to the COO, who, in turn, passed it to the team with the following comment: “Great work here... Being used by our leaders to train leaders.” (comments on Networking 101)• “Mark has been an integral part of [Magnolia's] growth through the Sales Guides and Info Aids that have allowed our employees to leverage during client interactions. Also, Mark has been an irreplaceable partner...he has continually gone above and beyond his own job duties to ensure that we have made the perfect document for our field; this includes working longer hours and finding weekly meetings to work on the sales guide projects. Indeed, Mark's contributions this year have been invaluable to the entire Magnolia Enterprise.” —Former Magnolia District Services Manager (unsolicited feedback)

Richfield, Minnesota, United States

As a copywriter for the Sunday insert, I worked with teams of creative and associate creative directors, and art directors, production artists, brand managers, and marketing managers to concept and produce world-class ads for a nation-wide audience. Quickly adapting to the rapid one-week turn of the insert rhythm, I was soon tapped for high-visibility projects, including:• Executive-level presentations: When dedicated Copy Chiefs were unavailable, I stepped in to review--and rewrite as needed--all headlines and copy prior to presentation to the executive board. My insightful presentations were peppered with wit that often resulted in laughs, applause, and general recognition of a job well done. • Inspired Insert: Specially selected by leadership, I provided break-through copy to drive readers to the Best Buy website (as was the intent) and suggested stellar layout suggestions.• Best Buy for Business: Wrote copy for radio spots, kiosk brochures and signage, and scripts to promote Best Buy's commercial sales arm. • Mentored writers across several departments by holding monthly meetings to solidify a common voice and assist with individual writing challenges.• Created training materials (on my own time) to help accelerate new hire onboarding.

Prior to the formation of any Customer/Consumer Relations training team, I worked in the background to build it. Based on my own passion and purpose to never let someone start a job without providing the tools to succeed, I, in my spare time, catalogued and wrote the processes and procedures that gave every new hire confidence in knowing the basics right from the start. From this, the Best Buy Consumer Relations Training Manual was created. As a founding member of the Best Buy Customer Relations (now Enterprise Customer Care) training team, I facilitated three-week sessions of hard- and soft-skills material, for eight hour a day, month after month, with class sizes up to 25 attendees. Throughout, I managed the administration portion, tracking attendance, milestone dates, progress reports, manager feedback, and attrition. I received several MVP awards and other recognition in this role. Other highlights include:• BestBuy.com: Assisted the launch of the Dot Com training team by conducting workflow analysis, creating and revising content, and participating in user interface systems testing.• Musicland: After Best Buy's acquisition of the company, I was selected to build training, workflows, processes, and procedures that were previously undocumented.• Store Call Initiative: Scratch-build sales and customer service training for this pilot program that provided over-the-phone support for customers with product questions and/or were looking to buy. • Designed, wrote, and published a four-page bi-monthly newsletter that included Best Buy Corporate announcements, operations-specific information, employee recognition, self-produced cartoons, humorous articles, and more.

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Beginning in cash vault processing. I quickly moved into a role as reconciler, accurately balancing the entirety of the bank's corporate and commercial accounts using data from multiple departments and sources.Outside of my regular duties, I designed, wrote, and self-published a newsletter for the bank that included departmental updates, employee recognition and profiles, and bank-themed cartoons. It also included a multi-part series on the history of the bank. Recognizing my creativity, I was asked by leadership to head up promotion of the bank as a Marketing Special Project Assistant. Highlights of this role include:• Researched and wrote handbooks, articles, quizzes for the "Operations College," an internal learning center that promoted cross-functional knowledge and collaboration.• Represented the bank at publicity and charity events, one of which resulted in over $61,000+ in donations. • Created several life-size paintings of athletes for an Olympic-themed United Way fund drive that decorated the halls of our five-story offices. (Note: National City Bank acquired by PNC Financial Services 2008)

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

My first job educated me on the many facets of retail. Foremost of these was working patiently with customers from all walks of life to help them with their purchases, address complaints to their satisfaction, and generally make their shopping experience positive. In addition to learning solid people skills, I also learned teamwork, cash management, bookkeeping, pharmacy technician duties, and retail management and operations. During my breaks, I would draw cartoons that took a humorous look at life in a convenience store/pharmacy setting. All of them were included in a self-published book entitled "Clean Up in Aisle 17." A few of them are attached here.

Bachelor Of Arts - Ba, English, With Focus On Creative Writing

General Studies

Focus on Literature and Creative Writing.