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Erin Cella
Network Program Manager at Optum
Professional Background
Erin Cella is a highly accomplished board member and operations professional with extensive expertise in the information technology and services sector. With a robust foundation in sociology from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Erin has effectively navigated her way through various roles, making significant contributions to each organization she has been a part of. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology, which has equipped her with a deep understanding of human behavior and societal dynamics, enhancing her capabilities in management and customer relations.
Throughout her career, Erin has demonstrated remarkable skills in Software as a Service (SaaS), Sales, Management, Microsoft Word, and Customer Relationship Management. Her ability to leverage these skills effectively has enabled her to excel in various challenging roles across reputable organizations.
Education and Achievements
Erin commenced her academic journey at Wayzata, where foundational skills and interests began to flourish. She then pursued a Bachelor of Science in Sociology from the esteemed University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, where her passion for understanding social structures and dynamics thrived. Additionally, she expanded her knowledge and expertise in Law and Politics at Drake University. This diverse educational background has equipped Erin with a unique perspective, allowing her to approach problems with analytical rigor and insight.
Erin has held several prominent positions throughout her career, including a pivotal role as the Network Program Manager at Optum, where she significantly impacted healthcare management and operational efficiency. Throughout her tenure, Erin has also demonstrated leadership as a Coalition Member at It's About Time and as the Director of Events on the Board of Directors for Elimisha Children’s Project/SPS Academy. These roles have allowed her to advocate for community upliftment and education, showcasing her commitment to social responsibility.
Professional Experience
Before her current role, Erin served as Program Manager for the Renew Active Program within Medicare Prevention at Optum at Creatis. Her expertise in program management played a critical role in enhancing the operational capabilities of the organization, positioning it as a leader in healthcare service delivery. In previous capacities, Erin excelled as a Staffing Project Manager at Creatis, Account Executive within the Community, Enablement, and Sourcing Team at SPS Commerce, and as a Sales Development Representative and Market Development Representative at SportsEngine. Through these experiences, Erin honed her sales acumen, effectively driving revenue growth and fostering strong client relationships.
Erin’s journey began as a Technical Recruiter at Insight Global, where she developed a foundational understanding of recruitment strategies, client management, and the ever-evolving landscape of technology and services. This initial experience ignited her passion for technology and led her to pursue a series of increasingly responsible roles in the field. Each of these positions has equipped Erin with invaluable skills and insights, further solidifying her status as a respected leader in the industry.
Community Engagement and Volunteerism
In addition to her professional engagements, Erin has consistently sought opportunities to give back to her community. As a Board Member and Director of Events for the Elimisha Children’s Project, Erin has played a pivotal role in orchestrating events that raise funds and awareness for children's education in underserved populations. Her dedication to community service underscores her commitment to making a difference in the lives of others.
Furthermore, Erin’s participation as a Coalition Member at It’s About Time illustrates her belief in collaboration and working alongside like-minded professionals to address pressing social issues. This role reflects her enthusiasm for leveraging her expertise in technology to tackle broader societal challenges, reinforcing her status as a well-rounded leader.
Skills and Competencies
With a wealth of experience and a diverse skill set, Erin Cella excels in key areas, including:
- Microsoft Tools: Proficient in utilizing Microsoft Word and other Office applications to create reports, presentations, and documentation critical to business operations.
- Sales and Customer Management: Strong capability in managing client relationships, facilitating sales processes, and enhancing customer satisfaction through strategic initiatives.
- SaaS Solutions: Knowledgeable in Software as a Service (SaaS) platforms, adapting quickly to emerging trends within the information technology landscape.
- Leadership and Management: Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams, manage projects, and coordinate events effectively, showcasing her exceptional organizational skills.
Overall, Erin Cella is a dynamic board member and professional whose varied career path has been marked by successful endeavors within the technology and services industry. Her commitment to education, community service, and professional excellence reflects her dedication to fostering growth within her organizations and the communities she serves.
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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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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
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.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Clay is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Clay as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Clay offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
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 makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Clay's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
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.