Manager Sales

__________________________KRISTA C. SONNESON_________________________

*** *. **** ***., ********* Heights, IL 60005

815-***-**** • *********@*****.***

EXPERIENCE Sears Holdings Corporation - Hoffman Estates, IL

Business Account Executive (Sept. 2008-Present)

• Responsible for overseeing all advertising activities for the top two divisions in the company, which include the

grocery, hispanic, candy, beverage, alcohol, tobacco, snack, readers market, paper, pet and household consumable

categories.

• Effectively manage a team of five individuals.

• Maintain the highest ad accuracy in the company.

• Ensure stringent deadlines are adhered to and juggle multiple tasks in a time-conscious manner.

• Created a new ad strategy that increased event sales by over 13% on average.

Sears Holdings Corporation - Hoffman Estates, IL

Marketing Coordinator- Automotive, Hardware, HBC & Pharmacy (Oct. 2007-Sept. 2008)

• Produced all print advertisements i.e., circulars, passouts, hispanic wraps, adversarials, broadsheets, flyers,

brochures, coupon booklets, etc. with a weekly reach of over 43 million households.

• Worked closely with merchandising teams and vendors to create meaningful promotions that could be

effectively communicated through print advertisements.

• Worked with private label team to develop marketing plans that would strengthen the brand.

• Attained financial approval for all new projects, composed creative briefs and met with the cross-functional

teams to ensure merchandising, inventory, store operations and marketing were aligned.

• Provided copywriting and creative direction to external ad agency and managed relationships with agency

partners.

• Created a price optimization strategy for the beverage team which included ad price versioning which increased

sales by 10%.

• Proofed and ensured ad accuracy, and responsible for final signoff on ads before releasing to printers.

• Created point-of-sale signs for in-store placement.

• Worked with the in-store visual implementation team to ensure we had displays created to support ad items.

• Worked with the field marketing to develop targeted marketing campaigns.

• Worked on social media and viral campaigns to coordinate with print ads.

• Worked with the media team to develop television and radio advertisements.

• Created loyalty campaigns to reward repeating customers.

• Led marketing meetings, managed production timelines, developed and communicated new processes

Sears Holdings Corporation - Hoffman Estates, IL

Marketing Planning & Production, Assistant Manager- Jewelry, Apparel, Footwear & Electronics (June 2007-

Oct. 2007)

• Worked with Production Manager to execute promotional strategies through print advertisement that supported

business unit plans and adhered to business rules and legal guidelines.

Mary Kay Inc. - Hoffman Estates, IL

Sales Director (Oct. 2009-Present)

• Sell Mary Kay cosmetics and recruit new consultants.

• Manage a team of six recruits.

GiveForward - Chicago, IL

Quality Control Manager (Jan. 2009-Dec. 2009)

• Completed pro bono work for a startup non-profit fundraising website.

• Tested online fundraising template capabilities and worked with IT to resolve any major issues within the beta

testing and launch period.

Vel Entertainment LLC - Chicago, IL

Business Manager &Personal Assistant (June 2008-Oct. 2009)

• Managed a local professional drummer and professional basketball player.

• Generated leads for a local videographer.

Jewel Me Jewelry - Arlington Heights, IL

Owner (June 2007-June 2008)

• Maintained the company website.

• Attended jewelry trade shows to stay up-to-date on industry trends.

• Made wholesale buys and maintained the appropriate inventory levels.

• Created and executed low-cost grassroots marketing campaigns to boost sales while keeping operational

expenses minimal.

• Teamed up with local non-profits to show my support and gain positive press.

VendiCo - Rockford, IL

Owner & Vending Coordinator (May 2003-June 2007)

• Maintained full profit and loss responsibility for a vending unit that served seven businesses.

• Developed and managed budgets including marketing and operations.

• Performed core business functions such as making wholesale buys and monitoring inventory.

American Home Inspection Technologies - Madison, WI

Director of Event Planning & Partnership Development (Jan. 2001-May 2003)

• Planned and coordinated numerous marketing and public relations events, resulting in over a 30% increase in

new clientele and consistent event success.

• Organized seminars and workshops created content and agenda, orchestrated logistics and implemented plans.

• Partnered with local festivals, concerts, radio stations, benefits, fundraisers and schools to ensure the company’s

name was essentially tied to anything happening in the area that would receive publicity.

• Created local and regional advertisements.

• Composed business brochures and binders.

• Enhanced all graphic design elements that represented the company.

HONORS Sears & Kmart Advertising Excellence Award

Big Brothers Big Sisters Board Meeting guest speaker

Big Brothers Big Sisters Newsletter fundraising spotlight

Daily Herald Northwest Suburban Volunteer recognition

Phi Theta Kappa International Honors Society member

National Dean’s List honoree

Datatel Academic Scholarship recipient

Jeannette Nelson Scholarship recipient

ACTIVITIES Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago

Chicago Big City Mountaineers

Chicagoland Dog Rescue

Rebuilding Together

Heroes at Home

Meals on Wheels

Special Olympics

EDUCATION Northwestern University

MBA – Management & Strategy (in progress)

University of Wisconsin-Madison

BBA – Marketing

SKILLS • Proficient with Microsoft Word, Microsoft Works, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Adobe Acrobat, QuarkXPress,

Paint Shop, graphic applications and Mac applications. Extensive experience with several company-specific

programs and able to quickly pick up on new systems and software.

• Well-versed in online fundraising techniques and resources. Experienced in event fundraising and extensive

contacts within the non-profit sector and entertainment industry.

Contact this candidate