Sales Representative

Stephan Braun Overview - ****

Born and raised in Montreal, Canada, I learned to speak both English and French fluently. Attending one of Canada’s leading universities, I studied political science and economics at University of Victoria while working full time.

I had an opportunity to join Nestle, one of the world’s largest food companies, where I was classically trained in sales, starting as a sales representative and over the next 9 years and several promotions, I earned my way to working in Nestle’s HQ in Toronto. I was recruited by SmithKline Beecham Consumer Healthcare division, as a National Sales Manager and by 1998 I had the opportunity to move to their U.S. Corporate HQ, achieving my goal of reaching a senior level sales position in the States.

Over the next 20 years I built my career in the U.S. successfully running sales teams, while overseeing sales support functions including sales operations and training, trade marketing, business analytics and customer service working with both large corporations as well as smaller, more entrepreneurial companies/divisions. With knowledge of Food, OTC, Personal Care and Medical Device, I learned that I can easily adapt and achieve success within multiple categories. Additionally, I have had the unique opportunity to live and work in Europe twice in my career where I led sales and sales support across various countries, conducting business across different cultures/languages, building trust and earning accolades for my ability to successfully negotiate with European work councils and unions leading to market leading growth for our brands in France.

One of my proudest accomplishments and greatest learning experiences was when I was chosen by the NA General Manager at Novartis CHC to lead a 9 month, $15M company-wide remediation of an SAP install project that had been implemented poorly. Presiding over experts in disciplines that I had limited experience/knowledge and weekly updates with Senior Management in the Switzerland HQ, I was able to put the project back on track, we stabilized all aspects of our operations and were able to re-initiate the expected future improvements identified at start of project! Most recently at Sanofi I was the US Head of Sales and Trade Management. Shortly after I joined a new Global CEO was put into place, changing the focus and approach for my division, Consumer Healthcare and my role and its’ scope. Therefore, I am seeking a new opportunity to better leverage my experience and aspirations.

For my next role, I would like to bring my passion and energy to head up a Sales and Sales support function to a smaller, $100-500M in sales, more progressive CPG or Consumer Healthcare company that is looking for sales growth & increased profitability. I would like to leverage my experience a core values of trust, creditability and transparency to implement a framework to help them elevate their game and the associated results!