aspiring better human™️

Serving more than 150,000,000 guests taught me a few things about hospitality, revenue generation, team building, and most importantly people.

The skills acquired over decades now allow me to help others build successful communities/teams through the lens of those who work directly with the customer. The outdated top-down leadership model does not work because the old workplace paradigm is over. 

Those working directly with the customer need to be appreciated and supported. That is what I do - make the workplace human.

Founder & CEO | Leadership Coaching

Podcast Host and Producer

Children's Museum of Manhattan

The Guest Experience Advisor role was created for three main reasons:

1) Support the day-to-day front of house operation

2) Assess and review current practices for immediate service/revenue wins 

3) Apply short-term lessons learned to planning as the organization looks towards the future 

The position reports to the Chief Operating Officer

Guest Experience Advisor

community of SEVEN

Founding Core Member
community of SEVEN Core is an invite-only membership for leaders looking to change the world. community of SEVEN is an exclusive, invite-only membership for purpose-driven leaders. Our members are leaders in their industry, activists looking to change the world, founders, in the C-suite, or rapidly approaching it. Their decision to align purpose and growth will shape the future of their organizations, their industries, and society. Through the community of SEVEN program, members thrive as individuals and grow as leaders.

Founding Core Member

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Direct all aspects of the visitor experience which includes front of house logistics and hospitality as well as back of house operations for ticketing, audio guide rentals, customer service, onsite membership sales & service, information and wayfinding all in strategic partnership with Buildings, Design, Digital, Education, Exhibitions, Membership, Security, and the Volunteer organization. Back of house responsibilities include group bookings, advance ticket sales, and box office for Met Live Arts. Key member on the operations/revenue team. Position reports directly to the CEO. 

Responsible for all hiring, training, and staff development in order to build strong public facing teams.  

Highlights of major accomplishments:

- Change Agent - brought my years of front of house experience to help transform the area from transactional to service-minded
- Admissions Policy Changes - part of the original implementation team to charge fixed admission price in 2018 and continue to make systemic improvements to simplify the ticketing process  
- Great Hall Refresh - an initiative to streamline operations and returned most of the space back to the public
- Departmental Restructure - introduced role clarity by clearly defining areas of responsibility and added structure to support the team
- Team Building - reduced the turnover and steadied the department while improving hiring practices and providing training
- Converted many traditional part-time roles into full-time positions to retain talent and paid for this by managing costs
- In partnership with IT, upgraded systems and implemented paperless ticketing
- Member of the NYC Museums Reopening Task Force as well as an internal group to help re-open NYC cultural institutions after COVID-19 shutdown.

Head of Visitor Experience

Led the team responsible for the front of house experience across all three Met locations welcoming over 7 million visitors each year. This includes Admissions, Audio Guides, Groups, Information, Membership, and Reception with a team of over 500 people; 150 staff members and 400 volunteers. In 2018 we revised our Admissions Policy and was part of the bridge implementation team prior to officially joining the department. Position reported to Head of Visitor Experience.

General Manager of Visitor Experience

Directed the Customer Experience, Inventory & Logistics, and staffing for all stores. Managed six direct reports who ultimately managed 250 people - both Museum staff and contractual. Partnered daily with all frontline departments on the overall visitor experience for the 7 million visitors annually to the Museum. Position reported to Vice President of Merchandising and Retail.

General Manager, Retail Operations

Appointed to fully manage all domestic retail stores in addition to the Main Building shops. Directed  all bottomline results, sales planning and analysis, recruiting, hiring and developing of staff as well as expense management for Main Building, Rockefeller Center, Cloisters, Macy’s, JFK Airport, LGA Airport, and Newark Airport. Directly managed 10 direct reports with a total of 250 staff members.

General Manager, Stores (Domestic)

Promoted to manage the entire sales team of over 150 staff members; both operations and sales. Product lines includes Books, Jewelry, Textiles, Accessories, Gifts, and Children's. Accountable for the full running of the museum shops including budgeting, hiring, recruiting, training, and bottom line P&L results.

Senior Manager, Museum Shops

Recognized for streamlining systems behind the scenes and developing a large receiving department team then promoted to manage overall store operations throughout the museum. Managed over 100 staff members responsible for replenishing over 10,000 SKUs.

Operations Manager, Museum Shops

Hired to review and update policies and procedures of the replenishment model and to directly manage staff of 30 stock associates responsible for receiving merchandise into the building to support multiple sales locations within the museum.

Manager, Stock Services (Logistics)

Lord & Taylor

Worked in Merchandise Information Organization and oversaw automated Quick Replenishment for Men's Shoes leased department as well as Cosmetics for over 40 stores.

Replenishment Manager

CHARLES JOURDAN 1921

Recruited to lead the team opening leased shoe department at Henri Bendel at a time when they were expanding and opening stores in malls across the USA. Eventually moved into central office where key responsibilities were budgeting and planning sales and stock for both Charles Jourdan stores and Henri Bendel leased departments.

Manager, Retail Operations

Macy's

Hired as Assistant Buyer in Moderate Women's Shoes and assisted with planning, buying, analyzing, and distributing shoes across the Northeast region. Traveled to tri-state stores regularly to ensure shop standards.

Assistant Buyer, Women’s Shoes

B Altman & Co.

Started in Retail Training Program as an Assistant Buyer and eventually promoted to Women's Shoes Floor Manager at flagship Fifth Avenue store and accountable for sales and service; managed 20 commission sales professionals.

Manager, Women's Shoes

NYC’s Arts & Culture Guest Experience Advisor • Top LinkedIn Voice • Leadership Coach • Host of Aspiring Better Human🎙️Podcast • Kindness Advocate

With over 30 years of experience in the arts and culture sector, I am passionate about creating and enhancing the guest experience in museums and cultural organizations. I have a proven track record of leading and supporting teams that serve the public with excellence, kindness, and collaboration, resulting in increased visitor satisfaction, loyalty, and revenue.

Currently, I am a Guest Experience Advisor at Children's Museum of Manhattan (CMOM), where I help with the day-to-day front of house operation, assess and review current practices, and apply lessons learned to future planning. I also run my own consulting business, Aspiring Better Human Coaching, where I help other museums and cultural organizations with their guest experience needs. Additionally, I host and produce a podcast, aspiring better human™️, where I showcase leaders who inspire and lead from the heart. My mission is to make the workplace human and to empower those who work directly with the customer.

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