Tesser Advisory 

Specializing in the development of strategies, practices and ideas that enables companies to scale. I work with leaders and executive teams to not only develop comprehensive strategies but also create and implement processes for the practical scaling of ideas, products, and programs anchored by a strong culture.  The way that we lead is that we are in the work together. 

As CEO and founder, I bring 20+ years of professional experience in corporate, non-profit, startup and consulting spaces to develop strategies, insights and actionable plans to unlock a brand,  business and individual’s potential. Through a network of partners, I bring in experts when needed to support companies and leaders as we build where they want to go. 

Whether working with individuals or management teams, I love to partner with leaders in times of growth, transformation and professional change. 

Tesser advisory is inspired by my son and our favorite book, A Wrinkle in Time. To 'tesser' is to take a leap in time and space. You need to believe you can, and then you do. When you 'tesser,' you may not always go where you think is right, but you end up going where you need to on the journey. You ultimately get to where you were you meant to be.  

Areas of Expertise: Brand and Business Strategy, Customer Experience Strategy, P&L Management, Business Development, Organizational Design, Channel and Go to Market Strategy, Team and Coalition Building,  Change Management, Project Management, Organizational Prioritization/Alignment, Stakeholder Engagement, Strategic Advisory, Facilitation, Executive Coaching, Traction and EOS.

CEO & Founder

Techstars

Acting as the Strategic Executive Advisor and Chief of Staff in Residence with the Techstars Farm to Fork  and Twins programs.

I am thrilled and honored to work with and offer support to the amazing founders and staff in these programs. In my years of consulting, advisory and chief of staff work I have found that leaders hold so many things and they need a safe and trusted space to process them all. Founders and executive leaders put a lot of aside for 'the sake of the business,' many times forgetting that to take care of their holistic self means that they will bring their best ideas/energy/mindset to their companies. Investing in themselves means they are investing in their companies success.

In this role and body of work, I offer strategic advisory, go to market, 1-1 executive advisory and holistic strategic support for founders and their teams on ways to scale professionally and personally.

Strategic Executive Advisor and Chief of Staff in Residence 

Parkday

Advisor to ParkDay, a Techstars Farm to Fork company, working to change the future of everyday foodservice.

Advisor

MOJO

Mojo is a strategic digital operating partnering for the new future of work. Mojo partners with growth focused executives who need strategy and production resources at the highest level that will dive into the work to deliver the best outcome.

Executive Advisor and Strategist 

bswing

bswing is a Minneapolis-based, strategy, innovation and design firm partnering with leading companies to help people thrive.

Strategist

Grow North MN

Grow North is an initiative to accelerate and connect Minnesota's food and ag entrepreneur and innovation ecosystem with the goal of increasing business growth and collective impact. 

As Executive Managing Director, I developed the initiative from idea to sustainable multi-dimensional program and successfully transitioned it to new leadership. The work led to a significant shift in the Minneapolis/St. Paul ecosystem with an increased focus and engagement in innovation in food and agriculture. I acted as visionary, operator, and ecosystem builder, leading all strategy, programming, business development and fundraising. 

During my time at Grow North, I created and led:
- Food I Ag I Ideas Week, an annual multi-day event featuring 100+ Minnesota and national leaders with 28 content and support partners, 20+ events and attended by over 1000 people.  
- Acted as a mentor and advisor for dozens of emerging brands. 
- Secured sponsorship and grant partnerships with 20+ organizations to grow and sustain the organization to enable the organization to hire a new executive director. 
- Launched an industry-leading invite-only investor event series dedicated to active food and agriculture  investors across the capital stack. Attended by 20-30 investors each quarter from across the country.  
- Launched 80+ education and connection events showcasing 100+ startups and industry leaders reaching over 6000+ people, including "Minnesota Mingle" Networking event at Expo West and 'Train the trainer' education for ecosystem builders, resource providers and civic leaders attended by 75 individuals, working with 1500 entrepreneurs. 
- Led the brand strategy for the founding of Forge North, Minnesota's movement to make Minneapolis-Saint Paul the best place to start and scale ventures.
- Founding partner in MBOLD, working with some of the largest food, retail and ag companies in the world, focused on accelerating solutions to the most pressing challenges facing food and agriculture today.

Founding Executive Director,  Grow North

General Mills

Responsible for vision, strategy, and execution of General Mills's cereal division's long term health and wellness product renovation strategy, including five year wellness roadmap, directly impacting all leading cereal brands and product platforms. Managed six direct reports, multiple cross functional teams and four partner agencies.

Led creation of Cereal division mission and purpose with President and leadership team resulting in standardized brand voice and creation of product guidelines across all cereal brands.

Led development of health and wellness consumer communication strategy and execution, working closely with R&D, Consumer Insights, the Bell Institute of Nutrition and corporate stakeholders at all levels. Strategy roll-out cited as key component to cereal category stabilization, reversing 5+ years of declines. 

Developed product strategy and led execution of announcement to remove artificial flavors and colors from artificial sources from General Mills cereals. News generated +6K media placements, 130+MM media impressions and 9MM unpaid influencer impressions in first week and was the largest announcement in General Mills' history. Initiative resulted in competitors following and was cited in quarterly earnings reports for subsequent two years.  

Advanced authenticity based marketing communication model for division including PR ‘newsroom’ always-on model, blogger/influencer marketing program, new social channels and corporate wide influencer engagement plan.

Managed Chex cereal franchise for six months ending December 2014; led development of next fiscal growth strategies and Chex Party Mix holiday execution.

Senior Marketing Manager: General Mills Cereal's Wellness Strategy and Portfolio Product Renovation

Reese's Puffs, Cocoa Puffs, Trix, and Monsters brands. Full P&L management including strategy, growth plan, and all consumer facing marketing efforts.  Managed two direct reports, cross functional team and four partner agencies.

Senior Marketing Manager, Family Cereal Unit, Cereal Division

Responsible for New Product Innovation (whitespace, commercialization, and launch)  for all foodservice channels (focus on K-12, College, Healthcare, Convenience) in General Mills foodservice division.

Developed and commercialized nine products across frozen breakfast, yogurt, and snacks platforms. Managed 5 direct reports, 20+ member cross-functional teams, and worked in close partnership with sales teams.

Marketing Manager, Innovation, Foodservice Division

Led 20+ member cross functional team to manage Pillsbury Sweet Moments platform post launch stabilization and revitalization campaign, including television, digital, social, in-store, and trade marketing. Led creation of new product innovation strategy for the fresh dough business unit within Pillsbury.

Senior Associate Marketing Manager, Pillsbury

Responsible for Pillsbury Sweet Rolls business P&L including television, digital, and promotional campaign development and execution. Developed and launched consumer revitalization plan for Sweet Rolls business resulting in double digit gains the following fiscal year.

Rotational experience includes:

Health and Wellness Strategy group:  Developed new processes to lead corporate health platforms including Best Life Diet and Curves across 12 brands at General Mills.

8th Continent - Selected to lead new product strategy in entrepreunerial joint venture separate from General Mills. 

Yoplait, Inc. Channel marketing, new product development, and established core cup yogurt business.

Marketing Associate 

International Project work included development of New Product Strategy and Development for Old El Paso and Wanchai Ferry Brands throughout Europe. Based in Nyon, Switzerland

Associate Marketing Manager Intern, General Mills Europe

In my work, I am a Strategist, Executive Advisor, collaborator, creative problem solver, integrator (with a touch of the visionary), catalyst and culture builder. I love to partner with dynamic founders, executives and leaders to frame/shape/interrogate/create pathways to growth 

My approach: blend Fortune 500 corporate go to market and organizational strategy, human-centered design and executional expertise with a practical and common sense approach honed as an entrepreneurial leader, tech startup advisor, and ecosystem builder. I work tirelessly to help founders, executives, leaders and communities take insights, ideas, projects, and personal and professional ambition to the next level. 

Consistently recognized for strategically scaling ideas, seeing possibility, managing change and complexity, as well as working with leaders to unlock opportunity. I develop holistic strategies, drive organizational clarity and create actionable approaches and initiatives for individuals, companies, and organizations that drive results and impact.  My approach is holistic strategic executive advisory - working with incredible executive leaders to build approaches that take into account leadership as a whole person exercise, enabling companies to grow through more intentional, impactful leadership.  

I have had the privilege of working with Fortune 500 CEOs, startup founders, investors, corporate, non-profit and civic executive leaders. I seamlessly bring different worlds and perspectives together to achieve a common goal and help leaders bring their best ideas and selves to the work. It's been incredibly inspiring and a lot of fun.

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