Strategic Initiatives Manager | Growth & Impact through Collaborative Partnerships

I help people and organizations work together in ways that make a real difference. My creative and analytical background gives me a mix of practical and strategic skills that I use to solve problems and bring ideas to life

I’ve built partnerships with universities, industry, and government, and I’ve managed programs and projects from start to finish. I excel at connecting people, creating opportunities to work together, and making sure goals turn into results

I also focus on sharing knowledge and stories that others can learn from and carry forward. For me, the most important part of my work is building connections that last and lead to positive outcomes

Summer Applegate🍏

Beth Henkes, MHA

The Idea Hound®

We spot opportunity, track a plan, and fetch success for anyone chasing a brilliant idea.

See what we’ve unleashed below, and at www.theideahound.com.

Featured Speaker, The Green Marketing Academy™

Developed a process for high-output event production where none existed before…in less than a week. We then produced 55 events in 52 days utilizing 120 volunteers and tripling impressions.

Created a cause-based social community for dog lovers and advocates, producing 85K reaches and 25K engagements over 8 short campaigns, resulting in $75K in donations for rescue organizations.

Built a community outreach marketing plan in 24 hours that anchored education offerings for 5 years.

Owner

Oversaw Go to Customer, an evolutionary customer experience project portfolio of five complex, cross-functional programs reporting to leadership in 3 divisions. Implemented change management and baseline documentation using Lean methodology to save time, money, and reduce defects.

• Served as the co-project lead and liaison to 50 stakeholders and 750 users on a $650K cross-functional technology tool that completed on time and budget, exceeding Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

•	Interviewed 63 retail employees over 30 hours to research customer experiences with visual display; created detailed personas and presented a perspective to cross-divisional leaders.

• Assembled a 15-person team to improve a multi-divisional process, documenting standards and removing three process steps to save $8K in payroll costs and 175 hours.

Program Manager, Voice of the Customer, Retail Operations

Scheduled, led, and assisted with all aspects of Lean process improvement training and projects for 240-person Marketing department.

• Developed and led 13 experiential training sessions for 600 attendees over 6 months, teaching Lean Principles to promote value stream awareness and improve processes in daily work.

•	Oversaw a 69 step go-to-market (GTM) campaign process evolution, resulting in baseline standard work creation over 6 months and consultation on a new GTM approach.

• Managed marketing Kaizen program and 20 Kaizen Facilitators; over 500 hours monthly time savings accrued in the first 6 months of the program.

Process Improvement Specialist, Marketing

Drove sales in the footwear department by improving selling behaviors, successfully executing events, and promoting the co-op membership.

• Collaborated with store team through quarterly training sessions and daily feedback to produce double-digit growth in Footwear over one year, placing first in the 8-store market in two categories. 

• Subject Matter Expert (Footwear): Fit Basics Class Instructor; “Fit Guru” REI Expert Advice; Wirecutter Magazine contributor; and REI Co-op Journal.

Footwear Sales Lead

CityDog Magazine

Contributing Writer: Dog's Eye View

in collaboration with Sawyer & Winston 

Together, the three of us assessed the dog friendliness of neighborhoods throughout the Seattle area on a quarterly basis. Our articles reviewed the towns and neighborhoods of: Bainbridge Island, Bellevue, Edmonds, Kirkland, Madison Park, South Lake Union, Woodinville and others including a stop in San Francisco.

Freelance Writer

Puget Sound Surgical Center

Built the marketing strategy, analyzed competitors, and refreshed the brand to attract new patients and increase revenue in a national and international market.

• Rebranded the company, including a $10K website improvement, changes to live seminars, the addition of advertising and digital channels for a planned 30% increase in new patients.

• Created and launched the inaugural volunteer program with 1000 bariatric patients, providing support for current and prospective patients.

• Completed 86 hours of Certified Medical Education (CME) training in Diabetes and Bariatrics.

Marketing Director

Eaglemont

Increased brand awareness and sales to the public through new and existing partnerships with conservation-minded organizations across the nation. 

• Planned and produced a month-long tour over four states:  25 live events in community spaces and media outlets; interaction with hundreds of loyal and new fans; culminating in a product launch party for 200 guests with Jungle Jack Hanna in collaboration with the Bronx Zoo in New York City.

• Secured contracts with top three industry wholesale retailers and partnered nationwide with nonprofit education divisions, doubling product sales in 9 months.

Director of Programming and Business Development

📣I banish bad process to wrangle chaos and amplify brand.

Many people say they are a "Master of Chaos." I truly bring order to disorder with expected organization and assessment skills, but add creative flair that allows me to achieve unexpected success in challenging circumstances. 

Working with creative people, often in creative spaces, is one of my greatest joys (extra bonus for dogs!). 

🌀 As a former Production Stage Manager in live production, I handle multiple moving parts, tight deadlines, and crisis situations with ease. My years in service spaces gives me exceptional customer experience prowess, I build teams that provide views into all parts of a process to solve problems and create improvements while emphasizing unheard voices.

🔵🟢🟠

The Founder and CEO of The Idea Hound, I love working with clients who want to unleash greatness in their brand, processes, and projects.

We spot opportunity, track a plan, and fetch success for anyone chasing a brilliant idea. 

Learn more about us here on LinkedIn and at https://www.theideahound.com/

Founder & CEO

Strategy | Process | Projects
We spot opportunity, track a plan, and fetch success for anyone chasing a brilliant idea.

See what we’ve unleashed below, and at www.theideahound.com.

Featured Speaker, The Green Marketing Academy™

Developed a process for high-output event production where none existed before…in less than a week. We then produced 55 events in 52 days utilizing 120 volunteers and tripling impressions.

Created a cause-based social community for dog lovers and advocates, producing 85K reaches and 25K engagements over 8 short campaigns, resulting in $75K in donations for rescue organizations.

Built a community outreach marketing plan in 24 hours that anchored education offerings for 5 years.

taplio

The Battle

Summer Applegate🍏

Beth Henkes

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?