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Connar McLeod
Founder & Creative Director at 24 Maple
Professional Background
Connar McLeod is a dedicated and passionate catering sales manager based in Detroit, Michigan, who thrives in the fast-paced environment of event sales. With a remarkable ability to coordinate events, Connar has successfully overseen the planning of over 50 weddings alongside a plethora of corporate meetings within just four years of his career. His hands-on experience in selling a variety of banquet spaces has molded him into a skilled sales executive, eager to continue his professional development in this vibrant and dynamic industry.
His robust career has seen him take on a variety of roles across well-respected organizations, where he honed his skills in event coordination and sales. From his early days as an events coordinator at the InterContinental New York Barclay to his current position at Bea's Detroit, every role has been pivotal in shaping his career. As General Director at Bea's Detroit, Connar leads with a blend of creativity and professionalism, ensuring every event reaches its highest potential while delighting clients with exceptional service.
Education and Achievements
Connar’s academic foundation was laid at Michigan State University, where he is currently completing his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) at The School of Hospitality Business. This prestigious program has equipped him with essential skills in management, marketing, and hospitality trends, and has played an influential role in his growth as a catering sales manager. His commitment to excellence in education resonates through both his roles at the university and in his career pursuits, with hands-on internships that provided real-world experience.
In his diverse career journey, Connar has participated in multiple noteworthy organizations. As the Founder and Creative Director of 24 Maple, he showcased his entrepreneurial spirit and creativity. His experience as Catering and Special Events Coordinator at Detroit Athletic Club allowed him to master the intricacies of event management in a high-energy environment. At the Millennium Restaurant Group, he made significant contributions as both Events Coordinator and Social Group Coordinator, demonstrating his ability to excel in various capacities.
Throughout his career, Connar has held positions such as Banquet and Catering Coordinator at The Homestead - America's Freshwater Resort, Director of Reception at Les Gourmets, and President at The Odyssey at Michigan State University. These roles highlight his leadership skills and his unwavering commitment to the hospitality industry.
Personal Interests and Passions
When he’s not orchestrating the details of remarkable events, Connar enjoys a multitude of personal pursuits that keep him balanced and inspired. He has a fervent love for fitness and enjoys teaching cycling classes, sharing his passion for health and wellness with others. This commitment to personal well-being complements his professional life, offering him a well-rounded approach to stress management in a traditionally hectic field.
Outside of fitness, Connar is a proud pet parent to a playful sheepadoodle puppy. This companionship provides him with both joy and a sense of responsibility, illustrating his caring nature and love for animals.
In addition to his love for pets and fitness, Connar indulges his creative side by developing new cupcake recipes. His baking ventures allow him to explore a delightful combination of flavors, often serving as a sweet escape from his busy career while honing his creativity in culinary arts.
Moreover, Connar possesses an adventurous spirit that often leads him on spontaneous trips to explore new places, cultures, and experiences – enriching his life and providing him with stories to share for years to come. This adventurous streak keeps him grounded and fosters a well-rounded lifestyle that serves him well both personally and professionally.
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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.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
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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.
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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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