Birds+Bees+Kids is a small business in Seattle that provides parent training for talking to kids about sex, sexuality and sexual health.  Our market research study for this client dug deep into current customer wants and attitudes toward new product ideas, helping the business make critical decisions about the next step in its product line.

The Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage produces the Abu Dhabi Film Festival each year - one of the goals for the organization is to transfer management and production of the festival from foreign nationals to local Emirati staff.  ADACH enlisted my help in revamping the Volunteer Resources Department, a key program in providing training-to-work opportunities for citizens to ensure that citizens had a clear path of opportunities to come up through the ranks and eventually be placed in managerial positions within the organization.

In 2009, I served as the Manager of Volunteer Human Resources for the Abu Dhabi Film Festival.  This whirlwind project required that I build an entire department from the ground up, hiring and training of local staff, recruitment and training of all volunteers and interns, as well as creating all marketing and promotional materials for recruitment (in both Arabic and English), scheduling and tracking of over 400 recruits, and managing all volunteer training and events.  This project was accomplished over the course of eight weeks.

The “specialty” arm of 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures, presented unique challenges as a client.  The studio’s films required very targeted outreach, requiring original local and national promotions to increase awareness of opening day with the right audience.  Little Miss Sunshine was one such project; a great little film with an ensemble cast containing almost no instantly recognizable talent.  My team created unique film-specific promotions to help make this indy feature one of Searchlight’s top ten grossing films ($60 Million) of all time.

Partnering with The Whatcom Film Association in Bellingham, WA, I co-founded one of Washington State’s most profitable independent cinemas.  The project entailed everything from permitting to staffing, programing to overseeing construction, media outreach to forming business partnerships.  And that was before the theater opened!  I also served as manager at launch to get the theater established, creating revenue-generating programs (midnight movies, special programs), programming film selections, overseeing theater operations and communicating with the Board of Directors about theater business.