Education

Start: 2008; End: 2011

Advertising at Columbia College Chicago

GPA: 3.5

Experience

Start: 11/08/21; End: 01/20/23

Director of Global Sourcing at iPromo

• Develop and implement domestic and global sourcing strategy plans and executes product development on entire catalog with cross functional teams and global vendors to drive YOY revenue growth and gross profit.
• Directs a team of four merchandisers and one sourcing specialist to ensure the achievement of established product addition milestones and optimal performance across entire product catalog.
• Develops short-term and long-term product line plans that deliver optimal growth on existing categories as well as growth into new product categories.
• Leads overseas sourcing projects to ensure on-time delivery, quality control, and COGS to optimize gross profit margins.
• Executes competitive analysis, evaluates historical performance, and identifies product trends to define company product strategy and construct short-term and long-term product roadmaps.
• Maximizes profit margins with the management of national and international product sourcing initiatives to verify alignment with target costs and product quality, MOQ, and lead time expectations.
• Negotiates pricing with vendors on large volume project deals, ensuring the highest profit margin for the company.
• Conducts vendor performance reviews and implements service level agreements to ensure accountability and optimal vendor performance to meet and succeed our clients’ expectations of service, compliance, and quality standards.
• Negotiates vendor payment terms to maximize cash flow and company spend.
• Partners with operations on developing and improving SOPs to streamline a smooth order processing and fulfillment experience with our drop ship vendors and provide our clients with the best quality service and experience.
• Influences company decisions related to covid tests, USB flash drives, and Retail Brands by providing valuable insight at monthly strategic meetings with stakeholders/decision makers.
• Collaborates with merchandising and marketing on email campaigns, new product launches, seasonal catalog assortments, client store programs, etc. to optimize performance of entire product catalog.

Start: 11/18/19; End: 11/05/21

Director of Merchandising & Product Development at CustomUSB & Qpromo

• Directs a team of four employees to ensure the achievement of established product addition milestones while maintaining responsibility for overall product / category performance.
• Executes competitive analyses, evaluates historical performance, and identifies product trends to define company product strategy and construct a three-year product roadmap.
• Maximizes profit margins with the management of national and international product sourcing initiatives to verify alignment with target costs and product quality, MOQ, and lead time expectations.
• Positions company as a top market competitor by scaling product and curating a product line to enable the fulfillment of customer needs across various categories and price points.
• Optimizes the success of new product rollouts through collaboration with marketing, sales, and art departments.
• Equips sales team to effectively promote new products by facilitating training for each launch to highlight key competitive advantages/unique selling proposition, and product features.
• Influences company decisions related to project prioritization by providing valuable insight at quarterly strategic meetings with department heads.
• Defines pricing strategy for all company products, identifying benchmark competitors and employing market penetration, competitive, price anchoring, psychology, and / or bundle price strategies to maximize revenue while maintaining market competitiveness and creating opportunities to secure new customers.
• Improves financial transparency among cross-functional departments with the compilation and distribution of sell-through, pricing, and gross margin reports.

Start: 01/05/15; End: 11/18/19

Project & Product Development Manager at CustomUSB & Qpromo

• Facilitated the full-cycle product ordering process, from initial client consultation through fulfillment, to ensure the achievement of established deadlines and product quality standards.
• Drove client satisfaction by collaborating with sales teams to conceptualize solution-based products to meet specified marketing goals while adhering to budget.
• Supported a staff of ten sales representatives managing more than 2,500 accounts in the conceptualization, fulfillment, and delivery of custom client projects.
• Secured cost savings by cultivating vendor relationships and negotiating pricing and minimum order quantities.
• Presented a diversified product line to new and existing clients, offering a range of models and price points with various up- and cross-selling opportunities.
• Leveraged existing client relationships for vertical growth in expanding industries.
• Participated in industry trade shows, including PPAI, ASI Chicago, and fASIlitate, and coordinated vendor visits to identify new promotional offerings and quality control reviews.
• Innovated and launched the Custom Promo Earphones product line, becoming the 2nd largest revenue channel for the company with annual sales in excess of $1 million.
• Generated an additional profit of $215,000 on a $3.5 million order for FIAT Smart Postcards with the development and integration of a solution to cut paper material costs in half and reduce production times by one-third.
• Streamlined the production and distribution of 150,000 individual KIA Kits to meet a challenging two-month deadline.
• Secured a $50,000 order with Pepsi / Beyoncé by innovating the design of the first can speaker introduced to market; initial order resulted in the acquisition of an additional $100,000 order for Mountain Dew through the distributor.

Start: 01/07/13; End: 01/05/15

Production Manager at Qpromo

• Expanded company line by more than 75 products while ensuring product quality.
• Verified order accuracy, delivery timelines, and costs by employing optimal procurement processes and placing detailed purchase orders.
• Directed all phases of ordering and production for domestic and overseas orders.

• Updated 10 months ago