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Todd Helms
Professional Background
Todd Helms is a seasoned executive with extensive experience in human resources and organizational leadership. Currently serving as the Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Mueller Water Products, Todd brings a wealth of expertise in driving strategic human resource initiatives that align with overall business goals. His years of experience span various industries, and he has built a reputation for fostering positive workplace cultures and leading teams through transformational change.
Prior to his time at Mueller Water Products, Todd held several key positions that further solidified his expertise in the field. He was the Chief Human Resources Officer at Synovus, where he played a critical role in shaping the company's employee engagement strategies and enhancing talent management processes. Additionally, Todd served as the Senior Vice President of Human Resources for the Automotive Parts Group at Genuine Parts Company, showing his versatility and ability to lead within the dynamic automotive sector. His robust career also includes significant leadership roles such as Senior Vice President of Human Resources at First Data Corporation and Vice President of Corporate Human Resources and APAC at Newell Rubbermaid, showcasing his ability to operate on a global scale.
Each of these roles has helped him develop a comprehensive understanding of the complexities of human resources management in various industries, contributing to his reputation as a thought leader in the field. His foundational experience began in environmental and safety services, including positions as the Manager of Environmental and Safety Services at Textron and Environmental Specialist at Conocophillips, laying the groundwork for his future endeavors in corporate leadership.
Education and Achievements
Todd Helms's educational background reflects a strong commitment to personal and professional growth that complements his career in human resources. He completed his studies at Sullivan Central High School before embarking on a journey through some of the country’s most prestigious academic institutions.
Todd began his higher education at the United States Air Force Academy, where he honed his analytical and leadership skills in engineering. He later earned a Bachelor of Science in Physics from King University, deepening his technical knowledge before transitioning to the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he achieved a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering in Mechanical Engineering. His academic pursuits culminated with a Master of Business Administration from the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, equipping him with vital business management skills that serve him well in his executive roles.
Throughout his career, Todd has not only contributed to the organizations he has worked for but has also engaged in continual learning and development within the human resources sector. His drive for excellence and improvement has played a key role in his professional journey and has been recognized through various accolades and achievements during his tenure at leading companies.
Achievements
Todd Helms has made a significant impact within each organization he has been a part of, and his achievements in human resources have helped drive positive change and foster growth. At Mueller Water Products, Todd successfully implemented strategic HR initiatives that enhanced organizational effectiveness and employee satisfaction, showcasing his ability to align HR practices with overall business objectives.
His prior role at Synovus further exemplified his capability in managing complex human resource challenges. His leadership helped to streamline HR functions, leading to improved employee retention and engagement metrics that positively influenced the company's bottom line. At Genuine Parts Company, his tenure saw the introduction of innovative HR practices within the automotive sector, which helped attract and retain top talent in a competitive industry.
Todd's earlier experiences, particularly at First Data Corporation and Newell Rubbermaid, allowed him to develop transformation strategies that facilitated employee engagement at all levels of the organization. He has a proven track record of enhancing the operational efficiency of human resources departments, which has been instrumental in supporting growth initiatives across various sectors.
His journey within environmental safety services at Textron and Conocophillips provided him with a unique perspective on corporate responsibility and compliance, further enriching his capabilities in managing human resources functions effectively in today's challenging business environment.
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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.
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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 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.
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