Background: C-level executive and board member with a solid track record of delivering strategic and financial objectives through revenue and profit growth in media & entertainment and retail industry sectors.  I am currently serving as the acting President—CFO/COO of Shakespeare & Co., a technology driven retailer which operates in the trade bookstore retail market. I was brought in to transform the business culture and to optimize the business practices within the organization, which ultimately enabled expansion into a multi-location enterprise.  To grow revenue, I established real estate developer partnerships to scale our store footprint and secured several major publisher content deals including the number 1 publisher PenguinRandomHouse as well as Houghton Mifflin and the Ingram Content Group to grow our print-at-retail capabilities. Ultimately, I prepared the business plan and raised $625M through Private Equity Partners in an attempted Barnes & Noble go private transaction but we lost in the final round to Elliot Partners. We continue to pursue an organic growth strategy.

Prior to that I have held a number of senior roles across my career at Harper Collins Publishers. As part of a dual role–International CFO and Head of Global Development–I managed the financial performance and operations across Harper’s international footprint in 13 countries.  I developed a 4-pillar strategy with the executive team to capture market share, improve profitability and solidify our value proposition to customers which consistently resulted in growth of 3x the industry. This was accomplished through sales/distribution partnerships, M&A activity, supply chain efficiencies, cost reductions, and business transformation initiatives in digital and D2C.

Known for: Overall, across my career I have provided strong financial leadership overseeing global best practices for business expansion, business models/exploitation (content, JV’s, partnerships, OTT, Subscription, rights), M&A activities, omni-channel distribution, process optimization and cost containment as well as customer focused initiatives.

Career Focus: I am looking for a new senior leadership role; for example, CFO, Chief Revenue Officer/CDO, Head of Strategy or President.  My targets are growth-oriented firms or companies in need of turnaround in Publishing, Media and Entertainment, Retail or Private Equity Opportunities.