Urban Nature Store (UNS) is a specialty independent retailer helping customers create a strong and vibrant outdoor environment. UNS carries a full line of quality bird feeders, bird houses, premium wild bird feed, pest control products, gifts and outdoor lifestyle accessories.Key Holder / Sales Associate• Increased 2016 sales by 29% over 2015, which surpassed 2014 by 26%.• Exceeded monthly sales quotas since inception in 2015 and 2016, earning a financial bonus each time.• Earned four performance increases so far, delivering model customer service, and product knowledge.• Repeat customers often provide positive feedback on prior solutions, and happily refer customers.• Mentor and supervise new staff, lead with exemplary behaviour, and demonstrate by example.• Automated time sheets, returns, customer tracking, and other forms, saving significant time / errors.• Independently studied and earned Certified First Level Manager from the Retail Council of Canada.

http://www.generalmowers.comGeneral Mowers is a small startup company in Durham Region delivering high quality lawn and gardencare, and light landscaping services to residential property owners.Owner / Operator• Built website and utilized Google AdWords and Google Analytics to reach new customers.• Grew clientele from zero to a group of loyal clients; revenues surpassed first season forecast.• Delighted customers with exceptional customer service, honesty, high standards, and excellent work.

• Promoted to Creative within four months of joining Apple as a Specialist (Sales).• Completed Creative training with flying colours in Cupertino and Apple-certified in various Mac and iOS software and hardware technologies.• Consistently averaged better than 90% in customer feedback.• Used extensive media creation experience to guide web, video, and photo sessions; so successful that one client now has a thriving photography business and another has an ongoing educational consultancy.• Asked by management to join Mentor team to contribute to employee education, drive and success. Used motivational expertise to create unique employee recognition and training initiatives on the internal staff recognition team. Developed several in-store activities to engage fellow staff and management.• Initiated the store’s first fundraiser (Heart and Stroke Foundation).• Created movies for in-store meetings while managing added responsibilities on the Creative team.• Developed a dashboard gauge using Numbers to monitor service levels and utilization rates in a simple, graphical interface.• Created unique in-store seminars for employees to learn about other Apple retail jobs from peers. Survey feedback was overwhelmingly positive from both staff and management as they provided a lot of insight and information on what it takes to move ahead and what success looks like.• In charge of school “field trips” to the Apple store with positive feedback from teachers and students.• Developed and delivered interactive workshops to customers and staff.• Created an original staff lesson on how to combine iPhoto, iMovie, iTunes visualizer and Keynote into a great presentation.• Participated in overnight visual and technology changes for new product launches.• Guided new employees in introductory store training.• “Unofficially” led computer and AppleCare sales in one week holiday season when lessons were temporarily suspended.

Apple leads the industry with innovative personal technology—iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and the Macintosh, all linked seamlessly together—and delivers life-altering products and services in an empowering and hugely successful retail environment.• Joined retail staff as a full-time Specialist; participated in intensive retail customer service training, and then new store opening of the Fairview Mall store (Don Mills and Sheppard).• Utilized robust and advanced personalized customer service techniques, technology expertise and active listening skills to deliver highly personalized solutions.• In first quarter, while traffic was steadily increasing in the new store, was in top group for sales of equipment, software and services; sold first desktop system in new store (captured on video).• Often assisted customers with personalized training sessions or other support issues during that initial timeframe (Creative Support) because of personnel shortages or to restore a relationship with a customer, turning them around to very satisfied and active promoters; this led to promotion to Creative.

The Independent Learning Centre (ILC) is Ontario’s designated distance learning provider for high school students and GED testing. The CareerMatters website provided Ontario high school students with interactive tools for secondary, post-secondary, apprenticeship, career education and planning. The Ask a Teacher website delivered live, teacher-led online interactive homework tutoring, learning materials, testing tools and learning objects.Website and developer management• By developing unique interactive tools, and improving existing content, increased annual traffic to both websites by more than 522% since inception in 2001; increased unique Ask a Teacher visitors by 149% over last three years and CareerMATTERS by 45% each year.• Created new content on both sites including Chalk Talk (teacher-led interactive walkthroughs—virtual seminars), Brain Bank and Brain Bites (long form and short form instruction and tips on various curriculum topics, similar to Wikipedia), Essay Feedback (teacher comments on pending essays uploaded by students), Pronunciation Guide (ESL aid), Super Glossary (definitions on various topics), Chat Room and personal playback (enhanced live online tutorial system with post-seminar playback); added Apprenticeship, Post-Secondary course finder, career and OAC videos to CareerMatters.• The Ministry of Education, impressed by the effectiveness of Ask a Teacher invested an additional $500K in math support for grades 7–9, still running today.• Worked with the Ask Ontario committee (part of Knowledge Ontario), partnering to add much needed researcher / teacher-librarians to the Ask a Teacher Chat Rooms and access to the Resource Ontario databases.Bilingual Learning Skills CDROM• Executive produced the development and delivery of a bilingual educational CD-ROM to help secondary school students discover strategies for learning; utilized animations to engage and entertain the students alongside interactive exercises with specific feedback.

tvo is Ontario's public educational media organization and a trusted source of interactive educational content that informs, inspires, and stimulates curiosity and thought.Information Systems• Jointly created first IT strategic plan focusing on broadcast business; characterized by CFO and COO as “first IT plan they understood;” helped in growing department decimated by voluntary severance.• Conceived and led database-driven relaunch of tvo.org, eliminating manual processes, reducing errors and increasing ease of website updates.• Developed RFPs for enterprise system upgrades and web development for organizational benefits saving more time and money in finding best-of-breed solutions.• Instigated Intranet awareness and development with emphasis on employee self-service, and access to critical business and production information; data input at source saved many hours of work.• Initiated successful Y2K remediation, finishing on time and budget; previous managers ignored threat.• Established streaming video projects with Apple, but copyright licensing proved difficult at the time; laid groundwork for subsequent online content initiatives.• Launched migration to client-server databases from legacy systems with bridging technologies in place.• Developed integrated production and broadcast Filemaker systems to support business requirements.• Represented tvo at Ontario Systems Council meetings (Ministry IT Directors and Managers), and the Cultural IT Council with membership from various cultural agencies (ROM, AGO, tvo…)• Jointly chaired several successful United Way and Federated Health campaigns, creating new fundraising initiatives and surpassing targets each time.

Business Systems ProjectAn initiative developed to bring business requirements, measurements, and customer focus to information technology.• As Project Manager and Acting Director (during restructuring initiative), analyzed and implemented various streamlined production support systems. Converted the Human Resources system, and led work on implementation of Copyright, Stock Shot and Legal computer systems. Improvements accelerated and improved service and productivity, bringing significant savings at low cost, setting the stage for continuous success.• Published an internal newsletter using desktop publishing tools and graphics programs to communicate initiatives to local staff and those stationed throughout the province.Restructuring• Implemented corporate reorganization, and business process improvements on a five-person team, realigning departments, and eliminating redundant activities.

Educational television production• Created new series in response to programming and department requirements.• Researched, budgeted, scheduled, wrote content and continuity, and prepared television production shoots, hired on-camera and voiceover talent where and when needed, booked transcoding, and post-production activities including edits, audio mixes, archiving and air copies, and delivery of programs to network; additional paperwork as required to make stakeholders aware of new content.• Sample credits include series about involvement in the environment (Waste Not, Environmental Rangers), computers (Micro Connection, The Computer Room), general and applied sciences for adults and curriculum (The Science Café, Polar Perestroika, Archaeology From the Ground Up), fine arts (Visions: The Critical Eye), skills training (Good Work)…documentaries for all ages and interests.• Principals of The Discovery Channel credited the promotional video created for them with successfully launching their U.S. cable debut beyond forecast.• An Antonia Zerbisias review in the Toronto Star favourably compared Archaeology From the Ground Up to National Geographic.• Persuaded corporate and ministry investors to underwrite the first year of Waste Not to the tune of $200,000.• Edited and delivered acquired television series for broadcast. Reviewed fault logs and rectified errors where needed.

• Fast-tracked from Operations Technician to Videotape Editor to Senior Production Editor because of superlative skills, creativity, and sensitivity to production needs. Received many accolades from producers, directors, production assistants.• Dedication, vision, and craft resulted in award-winning work, satisfied audiences, and thrilled clients.• Three series: Bits and Bytes, Octopuce, and Parlez-Moi each sold more than $1 million worth of programs worldwide.

Greystone Production Services Inc. was original established to deliver interactive travel videos, but quickly expanded to provide boutique post-production services to the independent, corporate and broadcast television communities.• Won two national sales and marketing corporate video awards (Silver Birch) from The International Television Association Canada (ITVA) for programs personally and independently supervised, and edited for clients.• Assisted with the startup of this successful independent Toronto production company, to administer and operate their post-production facilities, and to produce travel-oriented, interactive laser disks for Air Canada.• Designed changes in facility and procedures to optimize productivity, deliver more professional services, establish higher production standards, and increase profit.