Digital Communications Specialist, 08/2020 to Current

The Blend by Beam Suntory – Chicago, IL

The Blend by Beam Suntory is a hospitality resource that hosts events and digital content that inspires, educates, and fosters community for everyone in the hospitality industry, at every stage in their career. 

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• Works cross-functionally in Brand Marketing, Field Marketing, International Teams, Advocacy, Sales, Legal, Social Media, Insights, and with External partners and agencies.

• Responsible for social media strategy, content scheduling, social media copy, and graphic design.

• Collaborates with Marketing Manager and Agency Content Creation to create a consistent voice, storyline, and narrative in all digital and in-person content. Writes and edits all website and event marketing copy.

• Led coordination of all trade-sourced editorial content for The Blend website, including copyediting and draft approval.

• Reports analytics on all social channels, website activity, and applicable trends and applies to evolving strategy.

• Develops events (Tales of the Cocktail Convention, Refire Speaker Series, Camp Runamok) from ideation to planning and production.

• Writes, designs, and schedules newsletters and emails to members and internal stakeholders.

• Updates website, uploads content and coordinates site modifications

Office Manager/Accounting Coordinator, 08/2017 to 03/2020

Dineamic Hospitality – Chicago, IL

• Responsible for organization and communication between General Managers and HR, Finance, and Operations for Dineamic Group's premiere restaurants: Prime & Provisions, Barrio, Siena Tavern, Bar Siena, Bandit, BomboBar, and Public House

• Implement ADP digital onboarding system for new hires with the Director of HR

• Audit and monitor up to $100K in daily cash and safe balances in concert with Director of Finance

• Aid Director of Operations with the implementation of Compeat accounting and reporting software for a multi-unit restaurant group

• Assist with payroll for over 1000 employees, forensic accounting, and benefit issues

• Collect, organize, and input invoices for eight venues into QuickBooks, enter Fintech liquor invoices, and complete employee/vendor reimbursements

• Accounting analyst and payables manager for Dineamic Catering and Bombo Bar,

• Assisted in implementing gift cards and coordinated production printing of menus and marketing for all venues.

 

Programmer, 09/2016 to 04/2017

Data Northwest – Bozeman, MT

• Responsible for programming and support of Aloha restaurant point of sales systems

• Redesigned databases for 5 restaurants and programmed software for 9 new restaurants in Montana

• Created menu databases, interfaced with clients to launch systems, and provided training and support services.

 

General Manager, 10/2015 to 05/2016

The Village Idiot – Hollywood, CA

• Responsible for operational and service standards in a high-volume bar/restaurant with 100 employees;

• achieved $5 million annual revenue

• Managed system upgrades/conversions for payroll and accounting and vendor/purchasing relationships

• Drove consistent revenue growth; launched profitable wine and craft cocktail programs, conceived, and executed new public and private dining room events,

• Managed social media and marketing campaigns

• Improved customer satisfaction by creating improved team culture with staff and ownership.

 

Operations Manager, 05/2014 to 09/2015

Sotto – Los Angeles, CA

Top 10 Italian Restaurants in LA, Jonathan Gold's Top 100 Restaurants, and LA Magazine #1 Best Restaurant

• Responsible for all aspects of hospitality and business planning for a boutique, chef-driven restaurant with 60 employees

• Maintained elevated service standards and increased profitability by monitoring sales, costs, and staffing

• Managed payroll, maintenance, event planning, and corporate communications

• Oversaw marketing and social media campaigns

• Facilitated craft cocktail and specialized wine programs strategy

• Created operational systems and assisted in foundational research and planning for new venue

 

Assistant General Manager, 03/2013 to 05/2014

Mozza – Hollywood, CA

‘Meat Speakeasy' by Food & Wine Magazine; One of the best restaurant openings of 2013 by Angeleno Magazine, Bon Appetit, and LAWeekly

• Managed daily operations and service for fine dining restaurant and to-go concept revenue center generating $2.6 million annual revenue

• Analyzed P&L reports to optimize efficiency, organized payroll and invoices

• Responsible for catering, reservations, and staff training for retail, wine, and take-out sales

 

Manager, 02/2011 to 09/2012

Bowery Street Enterprises – Hollywood, CA

• Managed Sunset Strip opening and maintained oversight for 6 co-located individual concept restaurants and bars

• Responsible for P&L, marketing, banking, inventory, purchasing, POS programming, credit applications, health inspections, accounting, social media, maintenance, vendor relations, payroll, hiring/terminations, training, and scheduling.

 

Multi-Brand Cosmetics Associate 06/2002 to 06/2011

Bowery Street Enterprises – Hollywood, CA

• Executed creative store events to enhance sales

• As Counter Manager: Generated 20% increase in year-over-year sales and achieved $1+ million in annual sales for brand

• Individual commission-based sales exceeded $700K annually, consistently surpassed goals

• Oversaw department-wide inventory, maintained brand stock levels, and visual elements

 

Education

Bachelor of Fine Arts- Acting

DePaul University - Chicago, IL

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Technology Skills

Hospitality, Social Media, and Professional Software:

Aloha, Micros, Toast, Open Table, Compeat, Avero, Quickbooks, Asana, Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Production Printing

Asana, Later, Hootsuite, Google Analytics, Salesforce, Canva, Adobe Suite: Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign