An award-winning, dynamic senior marketing professional with MBA, strong background in digital / interactive and real-world accomplishments that demonstrate quantifiable results.General background includes all aspects of eCommerce, marketing, technology (IT), as well as general business operations including product and sales management. A visionary and chief architect of numerous successfully innovative marketing and distribution strategiesexecuted in highly competitive markets that manages and directs positive change. Experience in introducing breakthrough marketing plans that position companies to become industry leaders, strengthen margins and increase ROI. Additional experience in executing real time business decisions that increases sales and optimize operational efficiencies. Recognized marketing expert with proven nine-year track record. Cited in business publications such as Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine and NY Times.

Confidential, Chicago, IL Founder, President & Chief Marketing Officer, Jan 2003 -Dec 2010 Accomplishments:

• Founded manufacturing and retail firm in with $30K seed capital and grew it to $10m firm as of 2010. Increased b-to-c website sales by 300% year over year by driving volume growth and reconfiguration of offerings that drove significant cost savings.
• Successfully launched new products for footwear and apparel in online & retail marketplaces, which accounted for 90% and 75% of volume growth, respectively.
• Drove business volume and profit growth. In the past four years I have driven business at an average annual growth rate of +150% for revenues and +30% for profits.
• Increased average order, conversion and achieved 10-month consecutive double-digit increase in revenue
• Lead the marketing and strategic plan development for business portfolio including print, digital, SMS, cross-marketing.
• Repositioned the brand and developed a new advertising campaign that drove 75% annual volume growth.
• Successfully launched new products that were more consistent with new brand positioning and were key contributors to volume growth. Also created and executed a direct ship program that increased sales by 75%.
• Reshaped marketing organization through effective recruiting, managing and coaching, which raised the skill level and changed the marketing culture from reactive to proactive and accountable.
• Monitored organization website, web content, online advertising, email, search engine marketing and search engine optimization. Responsible for dramatic improvements from previous digital and print campaigns and establishing accountability architectures for programs.Increased organic search traffic by 250% year over year.
• Managed a team that led the launch of a new website that implemented best of class eCommerce practices that include guided navigation, dynamic promotion, click paths, checkout, personalization, SEO friendly site structure, merchandise rating and reviews, dynamic and rich product imagery, video, wish list, sharing, click to chat, product bundles and cross-sell/up-sell, social integration.
• Programs and results have been hailed as innovative to the footwear industry.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Confidential, Chicago, Illinois (21 Locations) eCommerce Manager, Dec 2010 - Present Accomplishments:

• Reversed 2-year negative eCommerce sales decline and increased revenue by 25% in 12 months
• Increased website traffic, conversion, average ticket and achieved 10-month consecutive double-digit increase in revenue.
• Worked directly with VP of Marketing to launch brand advertising campaign (tv, print, digital) that reversed a 3-year negative store traffic trend. This included the use of market research (primary research), customer surveys and competitive SWOT analysis to ensure success.
• Developed KPIs for ecommerce site and created various dashboards to track relevant web analytics
• Developed new search engine marketing (SEM/PPC) program that increased organic traffic by 250%
• Developed and implemented a successful drop-ship program expanding sales and overall reach through Sears.com and Furniture.com
• Improved email campaign that drove online sale- revamped layout, message, merchandising and promotions for weekly marketing emails, post-purchase emails, cross-sell / up-sell emails and abandoned cart emails
• Launched live chat program for site and developed a customer service and sales-related team that executed program.
• Launched SMS campaign with 35K subscribers (Included 2D bar codes and mobile coupons)
• Conducted eCommerce RFP to switch platforms and acted as a Project Manager to ensure successful implementation
• Developed a 3 year roadmap for the future of the site

Responsibilities:

• Reported directly to VP of Marketing
• Responsible for PnL of digital business
• Responsible for technical management of the overall eCommerce platform - worked directly with CIO
• Provided guidance and direction to project team members ' project managers, solution architects, developers, QA, etc. and fostered communication and collaboration among support teams (release management, systems infrastructure, etc.) to ensure a complete and functioning solution that delivered value to the business.
• Used market research, customer surveys, and web analytic data to understand customer and business needs, discovering latent gaps, identifying new opportunities to ultimately define a product roadmap.
• Served as an expert on trendsetting practices in B2Band B2C e-commerce for product suite to continue to develop new opportunities, including analysis and documentation of competitor best practices.
• Worked with CIO to ensure interfaces between eCommerce system and back-end operational systems (ERP, inventory management, sales force automation, etc.) to ensure seamless integrations and efficient business processes.
• Established and executed digital marketing and sales directives for search engine marketing and optimization, social media marketing, mobile marketing, blogs, email marketing, affiliate programs, comparison shopping engines, display ads and online content
• Enhanced multi-channel shopping experience by incorporating in-store signage that directed consumers to shop online and vice versa.
• Utilized social media (Facebook and Twitter) to enhance brand awareness and the connection with company's online community
• Managed individual product lifecycles, from concept to gap assessment, definition of key capabilities; Worked across the organization to develop requirements and workedwith IT to understand tradeoffs through product launch and the ongoing management of the product post launch.
• Communicated key web analytics to company'sExecutive Team on a weekly basis and made presentations to Board of Directors and Chariman
• Managed a team that implemented best of class eCommerce practices that include guided navigation, dynamic promotion, click paths, checkout, personalization, SEO friendly site structure, merchandise rating and reviews, dynamic and rich product imagery, video, wish list, sharing, click to chat, product bundles and cross-sell/up-sell, social integration.

Core Competencies

• Strategic Leadership: Leader in revenue and cash flow improvement, business strategy development, consensus building, teamwork and mentoring. Led teams and companies to become market leaders and increase market share. Ability to meet challenging deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Online / Digital Marketing Expert: Proven experience in the application of web 2.0, UI/UX, online lead generation, social media strategy, search engine optimization (SEO/SEM), marketing channel management, competitive analysis, online advertising, blogs, email marketing, affiliate programs, consumer shopping engines, mobile applications, online content and location based services.
• Savvy Marketer: Experience in the creation and execution of traditional broadcast and print mediums. Ability to bridge database learning's, research (primary and secondary) and competitive intelligence to build powerful marketing programs. Developed strategic forecasts and budgets to grow revenue and build brand awareness through online and integrated marketing efforts (for b2b and b2c segments). Presented b2b sales calls to large retailers including Nordstrom & Neiman Marcus; Executed and represented company at trade shows & exhibits; Created mutually-beneficial collaborations with organizations that share target market and increase sales for both parties; Created effective advertising campaigns that enhanced brand identity.
• PR Manager:Created effective PR campaign that led to revenue increases and created buzz around company that led to domino effect of press / media.
• Divisional Merchandiser: Expert in merchandise selection and procurement as well as strategy development to maximize business performance and profitability and determine competitive dominant assortment. Managed a team of buyers with diverse backgrounds and skill sets. Ensured profitability and promotions of all product lines and categories.
• IT Management: Thorough understanding of business technology trends, eCommerce operations, real-time customer segmentation, process improvement, web analytics, payments and enterprise risk management.
• Financial Analysis:Maintained full accountability for P&L's and delivered volume and profit objectives. Developed sales forecasts, budgets, cost-benefit analysis and price structures. Experience in deal structuring.
• Market Researcher: Conducted 2-year research of target market & utilized such information in business plan to clearly identify customer needs.
• Project Manager:Successfully led the planning and implementation of various projects (eCommerce platform, CRM database software conversion), developed project tasks and requirements, managed project resource allocation and presented project reports, progress updates, evaluations and assessment of results.
• Import Specialist: Imported product from various countries that include Brazil, Mexico, Italy& Spain. Coordinated manufacturing agreements, managed vendor relationships and customs clearance.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Software: MS Office (PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Access, Outlook, Open Office), Adobe Photoshop, Intuit (QuickBooks, Fishbowl Inventory), SQL databases, Adobe Omniture, Oracle, Acxiom, SAP, Derivative Solutions, Bloomberg, Intex, Acrobat Online: HTML/XML/CSS/HTML5, web 2.0 applications, Internet applications, organic SEO tactics, Cognos, Google AdWords, Google Analytics, email campaign software, social media tools (LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and much more), Live Chat software, all social media sites and software, Flash, CSS, eCommerce: Platforms include: Oracle, Fry, ATG, Small-custom built platforms Financial:Quickbooks, Intuit

EDUCATION MBA: Finance & Marketing BA: Pre-Law

PHILANTHROPIC Committee Member