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Mary Schaffer
Director of Team Member Relations at SmileDirectClub
Professional Background
Mary Schaffer is an accomplished Human Resources Leader with over 25 years of extensive experience in the retail industry. She has successfully contributed to various organizations by enhancing team dynamics and fostering work environments that prioritize employee engagement and professional development. Mary's proven track record in significant roles, including Director of Team Member Relations at SmileDirectClub and HR Head of Stores at Kirkland's, reflects her commitment to building a thriving workplace culture.
Mary's career is marked by her expertise in key areas of Human Resources such as Succession Planning, Recruiting, Training, Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), and Performance Management. Her strategic approach has allowed her to oversee various HR functions, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and effective talent management.
With her extensive knowledge and practical insights into human capital management, Mary has played an instrumental role in streamlining processes and implementing innovative HR solutions to address the evolving landscape of workforce management. Her dedication to enhancing employee relations and performance management has been crucial to the success of the organizations she has been part of, especially in dynamic retail settings where workforce agility is essential.
Education and Achievements
Mary Schaffer holds a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree focused on Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration from Villanova University. Her academic background equipped her with the foundational knowledge necessary to excel in Human Resources and shaped her understanding of effective personnel administration.
Throughout her career, Mary has continually sought out opportunities for professional development. Her commitment to lifelong learning has allowed her to stay updated with the latest trends and best practices in Human Resources, enhancing her ability to lead teams effectively. Mary’s experience as the Associate Human Resources Manager at Pier 1 Imports further solidified her expertise in the retail sector, where she honed her skills in recruiting, employee relations, and performance management.
As Director of Team Member Relations at SmileDirectClub, Mary has effectively navigated various challenges by leveraging her extensive experience to enhance employee engagement and retention strategies. This role has allowed her to implement key initiatives that foster an inclusive workplace culture and promote a high-performance environment, ensuring that the organization attracts and retains top talent.
Achievements
Mary Schaffer's illustrious career in Human Resources is accompanied by numerous achievements. As a pioneer in promoting Equal Employment Opportunity within the organizations she has served, Mary has effectively championed diversity and inclusion initiatives, ensuring compliance with EEO regulations while fostering a workplace culture that values the contributions of all employees.
In her previous role as HR Head of Stores at Kirkland's, Mary led various initiatives aimed at improving team member morale and performance. Her ability to build rapport with team members has been pivotal in addressing their needs and concerns, which significantly contributed to reducing turnover rates and enhancing overall company performance. Mary’s innovative recruitment strategies have also been instrumental in attracting a diverse talent pool, further enhancing the staffing capabilities of the organizations she has worked with.
After her time at Kirkland's and Pier 1 Imports, Mary took on various roles that showcased her exceptional organizational and leadership skills. Serving as a Travel Coordinator at Prudential Insurance, she managed complex logistics and streamlined operations, proving her versatility and ability to excel in multifaceted environments. This diverse experience has enriched her perspective on Human Resources and provided her with valuable insights into managing teams across different sectors.
In summary, Mary Schaffer is a dedicated Human Resources professional with a rich background and extensive expertise in the retail industry. Her education, leadership roles, and impressive achievements in professional development reflect her commitment to implementing best practices in HR and supporting organizational success. As she continues to grow and evolve in her career, Mary remains a pivotal figure in developing effective human resources strategies that promote both employee success and organizational excellence.
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Clay is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Clay centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
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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- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- 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.
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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.
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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.
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