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Sean Hesler
Director, Learning and Development at The University of Iowa
Professional Background
Sean Hesler is a seasoned professional with extensive experience in learning and development, as well as a deep commitment to enhancing employee engagement, productivity, and performance management across various organizations. His career has spanned several esteemed institutions, including the University of Iowa, where he currently serves as the Director of Learning and Development. His expertise in these areas is not only recognized in his role but is also evident through his engagements and contributions as an educator. Sean has a rich history of teaching at the Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa, where he has served as an Adjunct Lecturer in Management and Organizations.
During his tenure, Sean has developed a keen insight into leadership and change management, which allows him to influence positive growth not just within teams but also in individual employee experiences. He passionately believes in the power of communication and supervision to boost employee productivity, which is a testament to his broad skill set that spans across various domains of management.
Education and Achievements
Sean has equipped himself with a robust educational background that underpins his professional journey. He studied for a Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the University of Iowa, where he honed his skills in business strategy, management principles, and operational effectiveness. Additionally, he holds a Master of Science in College Student Personnel Administration from Central Missouri State University, which showcases his dedication to student engagement and support in higher education.
His undergraduate studies were completed at Western Illinois University, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Communication Science Disorders. This foundation has provided him with essential communication skills that he effectively applies to foster engagements and relationships within organizations. Sean also holds an Associate of Arts in General Studies from Southeastern Community College, which complements his diverse educational portfolio.
Throughout his career, Sean has gained several certifications that enhance his qualifications. He is a certified facilitator for the 'Getting Things Done Essentials' framework from the VitalSmarts/David Allen Company, and he also holds a certification as a facilitator for the Influencer program from VitalSmarts. These certifications highlight his commitment to personal productivity and his ability to drive change within organizations.
Areas of Expertise
Sean's subject matter expertise spans multiple critical areas essential for organizational success:
- Productivity: He is adept at implementing strategies that enhance efficiency in workplace processes.
- Employee Engagement: He understands the dynamics of motivating employees to foster a high-performing culture.
- Communication: He emphasizes effective communication strategies that bridge gaps and build stronger teams.
- Performance Management: He has experience in designing and executing strategies that improve employee performance metrics.
- Change Management: His approach facilitates smooth transitions and positive acceptance of new processes in the workplace.
- Leadership: He influences and develops future leaders through training and mentorship.
- Supervision: His supervisory experience allows him to guide individuals and teams toward meeting shared objectives.
Related Activities/Experiences/Honors
Over the years, Sean has accumulated impressive experience with various related activities that bolster his career trajectory. He is noted for his experience in developing and facilitating Requests for Proposals (RFPs), which involves crafting compelling provider presentations, writing competitive proposals, and engaging in negotiations concerning contracts and pricing structures. This experience is particularly relevant in understanding the complexities of business relationships and securing successful partnerships.
Sean has also played a crucial role as a mentor in higher education, exemplified by his position as a Graduate/Undergraduate Internship Supervisor. This role underscores his commitment to fostering emerging talents and supporting their professional development.
As a member of the Association for Talent Development, Sean stays updated with the latest trends and best practices in talent development, ensuring his methods are contemporary and effective. His professional affiliations provide him with networking opportunities that further enhance his capacities within the industry.
Sean's impressive career showcases not only his qualifications and professional evolution but also his passion for education and employee development. His roles across different institutions highlight his adaptability and commitment to facilitating positive change in higher education and the corporate sector. Whether through direct supervisory roles, formal educational settings, or through membership in professional organizations, Sean Hesler's influence continues to make waves in the landscape of learning and development.
Achievements and Certifications
- Certified facilitator for 'Getting Things Done Essentials' (VitalSmarts/David Allen Company)
- Certified facilitator for 'Influencer' (VitalSmarts)
- Director, Learning and Development at The University of Iowa
- Adjunct Faculty - Executive MBA and MBA Programs at Tippie College of Business
- Manager, Residence Life for Student Engagement at The University of Iowa
Location
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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:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
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- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
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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.
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.
Clay isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Clay instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Clay is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Clay can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Clay is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
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.