Iowa State University - Ivy College of Business

London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London

Founder/CEO at Cora, Data-Driven Platform & Marketplace for $77B B2B Furnishings Industry

Clienteling digital product strategy for in-store experiences

KnitWell Group

Senior Digital Product Manager

My role dug deep into these vast areas: 

DIGITAL PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
- Strategy and digital team leadership
- Product-driven acquisition & retention growth flywheels
- User personas & journeys, product-market fit analysis, A/B testing, UX research
- Roadmapping, backlog grooming, user stories & requirements
- UI brand framework management, user flows and UX team collaboration

DATA STACK
- Product data/images intake, transformation & CDN systems
- Product data framework development, maintenance & support documentation
- Server-side user data, events and properties execution
- KPI creation, cohort tracking reports, master BI analytics reporting

SALES, MARKETING & PARTNERSHIPS
- Partnerships, API ecosystem extensibility strategy & planning
- Customer experience automation (CXA) setup, integrations and cohort tracking
- Brand development; email, PDF, social graphic design output
- Direct sales outreach, meetings and sales negotiations with suppliers

FUNDRAISING & INFLUENCING
- Industry leadership, networking, speaking
- Fundraise pitching: stage, calls, Zoom (108 pitches in last round)
- Public speaking, webinars, social media live videos

CUSTOMER SUCCESS
- Chat, phone and email customer support
- Agent processes & documentation
- Help article creation & maintenance in Zendesk
- Video tutorials & editing

OPERATIONS, FINANCE & LEGAL
- Vendor and software selection, contracts
- Financial projections, pricing, budget-to-actuals, accounting and tax filings
- Legal team interface, terms & conditions, privacy policy
- Division of duties, role planning, hiring/firing, payroll

About Cora:
Cora is the first B2B marketplace leading the consumerization of B2B purchases for the fragmented and antiquated $91B furnishings industry, utilizing its integrated platform to help scale furnishings vendor sales and reduce dependence on old sales channels, in addition to streamlining back-office procurement operations for design firms.

Cora Home

Founder/CEO

As a sr digital strategist, Sara advised Fortune 500 companies about their digital strategy, specializing in customer experience (CX), UX and emerging technologies for a variety of industries, users and technology platforms. Through connecting the dots between user needs (UX research), business objectives, brand promise, industry best practices, emerging trends and technologies, Sara recommended the best digital transformation approach for enterprise organizations.

Kin + Carta

Sr. Digital Strategist

Managed team of digital producers in pursuit of stunning, user-centric interactive projects with focused, integrated strategy, beautiful interfaces, and the latest web technologies/best practices that enhance users’ lives.

•	Produced custom ecommerce site. Worked and collaborated closely with team on user experience wires, site creative, ecommerce configuration, shipping method feasibility, email notification creative and messaging, development/styling decisions and preparing communications for new product launch.
•	Managed a team of digital producers and introduced improved processes, including SOW, change order, creative brief, and spec writing, which is resulting in more accurate bids and fewer creative/dev revisions.
•	Encouraged adoption of web best practices and trends that make sense for clients, including HTML5/CSS3 features, responsive web design, parallax, infographics, custom web services, data manipulation, mashups, etc.
•	Held responsible for design, build, and syndication of customizable iOS app for plastic surgery physicians that contains doctor info, practice info, surgery brochures, videos, and a virtual surgery simulator of user photos. 
•	Worked with sales team to redevelop company branding and interactive product sales methods.  Teaching sales team about digital processes, potential product sales, risk factors, and other interactive sales potentials.

AnswersMedia

Senior Digital Producer

Produced digital projects such as large CMS sites, giveaway promotion sites/web services, CRM/SMS campaigns, standard & RM banners, Facebook apps, iOS/Android apps, and mobile experiences for clients Cox Communications, Taco Bell, Discover Card, Sony, Johnson & Johnson, Nestlé, Motorola, State Farm, and Kmart.

•	Responsible for the completion of approximately 4 website builds, 15 microsites, 300 banner executions, 100 emails, 11 Facebook apps, 9 mobile campaigns, requiring digital strategy, timelines, specs,  & tech feasibility.
•	Understood and completed spec documents and scopes for large digital projects that included features such as web services with multiple APIs, CMS features, auto-triggered SMS, email deployment, social media, etc.  
•	Encouraged adoption of best practices and immerging technologies, including UX changes, responsive websites, HTML5/CSS3, mobile web v native mobile apps, geo-targeting, social APIs, server security, etc.
•	Worked on projects ranging from $5,000-400,000, which required weekly checks on all jobs prevented overages with reminders to developers.
•	Created and presented digital production process to various teams, especially new account team members who are new to digital, emphasizing 1 kickoff point per sprint and code freeze for quality assurance.
•	Assisted broadcast and print producers on large integrated campaigns, which included complex timelines introducing broadcast, web, and print elements concurrently, anticipating server needs with load testing and/or adding web servers and DBs, as needed.
•	Worked closely with CI (customer intelligence) to determine KPIs and/or site goals; reviewed and updated tagging plans for sites. Work with CI to analyze analytics results and suggest improvements to clients for sites and promotions post‐launch.
•	Organized competitive reviews of immerging technologies and websites; coordinated vendor screenings with local and national companies. Presented learnings from SXSW 2012 to digital team.

FCB Global (formerly DraftFCB)

Digital Producer

Joined prominent options market maker, promoted to digital project manager and tasked with directing media and marketing projects across three online business accounts. Reported to chief creative officer.

•	Analyzed weekly analytics for online businesses, identified improvement areas and realigned media production to develop integrated, customer‐focused marketing strategies and solutions.
•	Designed sets of wireframes and navigation maps in progression for startup online e‐commerce business featuring JavaScript components, video/media, content areas, e-commerce signup and payment workflows.
•	Presented marketing project plans to C‐level management and directors for approval, discussion, and synergistic progress; identified efficiencies and outsourcing alternatives to achieve time‐effective goals. Communicated project plans to team with progress reports, personalized to‐do lists, and reminders.
•	Created and delivered thorough briefs to third‐party digital agency for e‐mail template creative, copy and deployment with corresponding landing pages to direct users through conversion funnel.
•	Managed and prioritized 100s of media and design requests for internal ad agency, which included a mix of new and traditional media: web pages, email templates, copy, print & display ads, print collateral, and video.

PEAK6 Investments LP

Project Manager

Provided comprehensive accounting services for Fortune 500 company.  Reported to accounting manager and various special project teams and committees. 

•	Reconciled monthly and periodic balance sheet, income statement, and statement of shareholder equity, and assisted in financial document preparation and notes for 10-Q and 10-K parent company SEC filings.
•	Guided testing team for custom-developed SAP software parallel release to integrate sales and accounting systems with Harley’s parent company intranet reporting capabilities.

Harley Davidson Financial Services

Accountant

Joined boutique, public CPA firm catering to Chicago high-net-worth families and mid-size businesses. Collaborated with intimate team of CPAs specializing in tax preparation, hedge fund accounting, small-business bookkeeping.

•	Created new business entities for clients by establishing federal EIN numbers and state and local tax accounts; set up internal bookkeeping systems to train client staff on accounting procedures and inventory.
•	Prepared federal and state tax returns for individuals, partnerships, corporations and not‐for-profits, as well as state and federal business, household and 1099 quarterly and year‐end payroll reports.

Sara Taylor-Demos