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Brad Hoke
Senior Vice President at Cardinal Financial Company, Limited Partnership
Professional Background
Brad Hoke is a highly organized and disciplined leader recognized for his ability to create and execute innovative people strategies that activate and unlock the potential of talent, driving organizational performance to new heights. With a wealth of experience in various human resources roles, Brad has established himself as a proven strategic partner. His proficiency in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), change management, and startup environments makes him a valuable asset for multi-faceted, multi-site, and multi-state companies. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated a remarkable ability to integrate change and foster cross-team collaboration, essential in today’s complex organizational landscapes.
Currently, Brad holds the position of Senior Vice President of Business Development and Strategy at Cardinal Financial Company, Limited Partnership. In this role, he leverages his extensive background in business development to strategically drive growth initiatives while simultaneously focusing on the human resources aspects that are critical for organizational success. His forward-thinking approach in this position emphasizes the importance of aligning people strategies with business goals, illustrating his commitment to holistic organizational development.
Before joining Cardinal Financial, Brad served as the Chief Human Resources Officer at Pacific Union Financial, LLC. In this pivotal role, he was instrumental in leading HR initiatives and shaping a people-centric culture that contributed to the company’s overall growth and success. His strategic vision was widely recognized as he managed various HR functions, ensuring they aligned with the company's objectives.
Prior to that, Brad held the position of Executive Vice President, Talent Acquisition, and Workforce Planning at Stearns Lending. Here, he was a key player in developing robust talent acquisition strategies that attracted top talent, significantly improving workforce planning and enhancing operational efficiency.
Brad's tenure at Stearns Lending began as the Vice President of Talent Acquisition and Onboarding, where he cultivated strong onboarding programs that ensured new hires received seamless integration into the company culture. This foundational experience laid the groundwork for his later success in talent acquisition leadership roles.
In addition to his extensive experience with Stearns Lending, Brad formerly held various HR roles at MetLife and Countrywide Financial, including Senior Vice President and Employee Relations Consultant. This diverse background has enriched his insight into different organizational models and enabled him to develop strategies that resonate across various types of companies.
Education and Achievements
Brad Hoke's educational background also lays the foundation for his successful career in human resources and organizational strategy. He studied for a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) with a focus on Organizational Behavior and Marketing at Southern Methodist University - Cox School of Business. This diverse academic background equips him with a comprehensive understanding of both behavioral dynamics within organizations and effective marketing strategies, which he integrates into his leadership approach.
Throughout his career, Brad has achieved significant milestones that reflect his capabilities and dedication to organizational success. He has successfully led transformative HR initiatives that not only enhance recruitment and retention rates but also elevate employee engagement across the board. His approach to people operations is holistic, focusing not just on talent acquisition but also on performance enhancement, culture-building, and strategic alignment with organizational goals.
Achievements
Some notable achievements during Brad's professional journey include:
- Driving Growth and Success: At Cardinal Financial, Brad's strategic initiatives in business development have resulted in measurable growth outcomes. His focus on integrating people strategies with business goals has established a foundation for sustained success.
- Enhancing Talent Acquisition: As Executive Vice President at Stearns Lending, Brad developed and implemented talent acquisition strategies that not only attracted top-tier candidates but also significantly reduced turnover rates. His methods have become benchmarks in effective talent acquisition within the industry.
- Culture Development: His tenure at Pacific Union Financial was marked by notable advancements in cultivating a strong company culture. Under his leadership, the organization experienced increased employee satisfaction and engagement, contributing to overall operational success.
- M&A and Change Management Expertise: Brad’s experience in mergers and acquisitions has provided him with a deep understanding of the complexities involved in organizational change. His ability to navigate these transitions smoothly has made him a sought-after partner in strategic development discussions.
- Cross-Team Collaboration: Brad’s emphasis on fostering collaboration across teams has been pivotal in driving performance in previous roles. His skillful communication and leadership style facilitate a cooperative work environment, allowing for innovative solutions and improved outcomes.
In conclusion, Brad Hoke is a highly accomplished leader whose background in human resources and strategic management is marked by innovation and effective execution. His educational foundation combined with his extensive experience across various industries reflects his commitment to activating talent and driving organizational performance. As he continues to advance in his career, Brad remains a significant contributor to the fields of business development and human resources, poised to make an even greater impact on the organizations he represents.
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
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Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Clay takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Clay encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Clay work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Clay is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.