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AREAS OF EXPERTISE

Human Resources | Go-to-Market Strategy | P&L Management | Business Development | Growth Initiatives | Operations | Partnerships | Change Management | HRIS | Jira and Confluence | Process Optimization | Business Plan Writing | Performance Management Metrics | Team Building | Training & Coaching | Leadership Development & Coaching

PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND

25+ Years of Experience in the Climbing Gym & Outdoor Industries

I have spent most of my life pursuing my passion for growth, climbing, fitness and adventure. This journey has allowed me to apply my unique set of skills and experiences in leadership, operations, the development of teams, scaling culture and strategy to a variety of real world challenges and opportunities. My people-centric approach has driven personalized value connection, engagement and meaningful results to individuals, teams and organizations. Fundamentally, I believe in connecting with the end user to best understand and evaluate their needs. I’ve impacted a multitude of business metrics by believing that culture = values + behavior and that you can operationalize organizational values to drive an unparalleled experience for your customer and team. My passion for unleashing the potential of every team member by allowing them to bring their best to work everyday creates a high performance culture and delivers business results.

Rise Above Consulting CEO

Chief Operating Officer

2020-2022

Executive leader of Sales Strategy, Operations, Facilities, and Human Resources, managing 6 locations across 4 states with oversight of ~500 employees.

  • Returned pre-pandemic business units to profitability via record growth and successfully sold the business to a strategic acquirer.

  • Spearheaded organization restructure to drive efficiencies with 35% headcount reduction resulting in 51% payroll decrease. Savings reallocated to drive growth and support opening of 2 new locations, contributing +30% revenue and +7% improvement in member engagement. 

  • Increased national membership base ~3X to 10K+ active members between April 1-September 2021, achieving best sales months ever in company history in Q2 and Q3. National Members +70% and revenue +31% vs. PY.

  • Optimized corporate strategy and planning with implementation of goal setting and progress tracking to drive 460% improvement in time spent on planning.

  • Championed HR strategy including new team structure to improve HR response time by +300%, reduce recruiting time by 50% and employee turnover by ~20%.

  • Audited and revamped safety protocols resulting in 20% decrease in incidents.

  • Vetted and implemented HRIS to drive productivity of ~240 hours and savings of $55K annually in administration.

  • Led market expansion into Washington, DC with development and launch of new facility on budget to deliver record breaking 2,000 pre-sale memberships, 2X previous record.

Sr. Director of Corporate Planning & Strategy

2016-2020

Developed corporate strategy and roadmap, managing budget and people resource allocation and aligning cross-functional stakeholders for seamless execution.

  • Implemented OKR (Objectives & Key Results) framework organization-wide and associated enterprise planning process to define and monitor objectives and clarify resource prioritization. Resulted in first-ever measurable utilization rate, achieving 75% success rate on key results.

  • Implemented Agile best practices and Jira and Confluence planning tools to drive cross functional collaboration and alignment across company objectives.

  • Served as interim general manager of flagship Boston facility, turning around a faltering business in 5 months to become the most profitable facility with +$620K EBITDA annually from ‘16 - ‘17 and improving employee morale +22ppt to 90% satisfaction.

Director Of Product & Programming

2015-2016

Designed, developed and executed product and programming to support brand value proposition of destination for Climbing and Fitness enthusiasts, oversight of $1.5MM in revenue and team of ~35.

  • Championed product quality and programming across 4 locations, identifying new segment opportunities to drive revenue growth +300% YOY at launch and sustained growth of +65% YOY.

  • Launched first Personal Training  program, contributing +$430K annually to top line revenue.

Head of Operations

2011-2015

Delivered and executed on  aggressive growth plans. Key partner in developing go-to-market strategy including locations, facilities design, brand identity, programming, and operations to support successful private equity capital raise of $13MM.

  • Led growth from 1 facility and ~40 employees to 5 facilities with ~300 team members.

  • Identified real estate and market opportunities in Boston and Chicago and prepared for expansion into NYC, with 3 locations producing ~$1.4mm  in EBITDA from ‘15 - ‘16

  • Designed playbook for standardizing business operations with programming, pricing, risk management models and people operations standards, etc. to enable accelerated growth; doubling facilities from 2 to 4 in 2 years.

Additional Experience

General Manager 2007-2011 - Rebuilt  a distressed business through revamped programming and member engagement. Reinvention successfully grew membership +1000% and doubled revenue 2X in two years.

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Staffing Director 2010-2011 - Hired, trained and managed  staff of ~100 to produce pro-climbing competition, attracting record breaking attendance of 25K+, securing industry first $1MM in sponsorship and broadening audience as the first event to broadcast online and to mobile.

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General Manager & Buyer 2005-2007 - ~$10MM retail sales portfolio, managing vendor relations, product assortment, procurement and staffing for North America’s largest single-door retailer of Canada Goose and Arc’teryx.

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