Building a school from an idea

As vested members of Atlanta’s southside community, my wife and I wanted a school option that leveraged the ideas and involvement of local families. One that would emphasize student interests and talents in many areas, including the arts, technology, sports and nature. With fellow families in College Park, East Point and Hapeville, we decided to create a public charter school.

THE CHALLENGE

None of us had any experience creating a school!

THE WIN

We began to meet, find partners, and formulate a plan. As a leading officer, I helped create detailed plans. In 2010, The Main Street Academy opened its doors to 563 students. I became PTO president, then governing board member and committee chair. I held significant roles in most key initiatives. Today, the school has 860 students and a budget of more than $10 million. I created most branded visuals and content for fundraising events, taking photography used across digital media, including the school website and social media platforms (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook).

PRESS

• 11 Alive | September 5, 2020 - Students and Garden Grow With Volunteer’s Help - Video

• Atlanta Journal- Constitution | November 6, 2019 - Local Charter School Celebrates its 10th Anniversary in College Park - Article

• An Idea Comes To Life: TMSA Celebrates 10 Years - Blog

TOP 3 GAINS

• Two successful recharters, each of which allowed the school to operate for 5 more years

• Led process to create governing board’s five-year strategic plan

• Generated huge fundraising wins for the school by creating brand materials for all major events and fundraisers - raising more than $250,000 to date

Environmental Signage Design

Cushman & Wakefield’s Atlanta office was moving into new space and needed large-scale visuals to give the new lobby energy and pop. We wanted to display our status as thought leaders, with our finger on the pulse of industry knowledge and trends.

THE CHALLENGE

The visuals needed to be temporary and cost-effective, while visually compelling and conveying a strong iteration of our brand.

THE WIN

Flexible and interactive: I designed each visual as a 7’ x 3’ magnet, adhering to special materials on the wall, keeping them inexpensive and easy to switch out. I teamed with our amazing Research group, who produced the content, on ideas and strategy for each new set of infographics.

TOP 3 GAINS

• Designed for multi-platform flexibility, repurposing for four formats: lobby visuals, social media (LinkedIn and Twitter), email campaigns, and sales pitches

• Compelling, design enhanced retention of statistics for prospective and current clients, bringing the numbers to life by humanizing them

• Recognized with “Design MVP” award in early 2020

New Business Development

New business development was a key focus for me at Cushman & Wakefield (and the prior firms that merged into it).

THE CHALLENGE

The firm’s leadership challenged the marketing teams to sharpen new business development by diving deeper into client objectives. This included a methodical process designed to ensure every presentation aligned with the new process.

THE WIN

My team excelled by internalizing and doubling down on the process. This involved ensuring the sales team understood the clients’ objectives and kept laser-focused. Even very experienced brokers benefited, resulting in a year of huge business growth, exceeding stated goals in almost every service line.

TOP 3 GAINS

• More new business wins, exceeding Atlanta office revenue goal in 2019 by 30%

• Better client relationships and retention due to client-focused solutions, built on closer listening to our audience

• More success by sales teams, due to confidence gained in increased pitch rehearsals

Mergers and Acquisitions

In less than four years, Carter experienced several large-scale mergers and acquisitions.

THE CHALLENGE

Leading most of the office’s marketing work (supporting 75+ brokers) with limited resources and constant change.

THE WIN

As a jack-of-all-marketing-trades, I provided most of the marketing services needed, from creating websites and email blasts to photo shoots and copy writing, plus print design, event management and new business development. However, I needed to broaden the team to accomplish all our objectives. My solution was to mentor and train several administrative assistants in various software including Adobe InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator to update the pieces I’d designed. I also taught some colleagues how to use content management website and email software, leveraging underutilized talent within the office to provide key services and achieve revenue goals.

TOP 3 GAINS

• Increased new business wins and client retention by broadening internal production capabilities

• Improved career trajectories of colleagues I trained by teaching them new skills they’ve used for the rest of their career

• Saved time and cost by expediting production of common items like flyers and other collateral, delegating it to those newly trained

Student Mentoring Program

The Atlanta Partners For Education approached Carter to partner with a public school in southwest Atlanta (Capitol View Elementary) to improve student performance.

THE CHALLENGE

The school was struggling, primarily due to a nearly 100% poverty rate. Despite the best efforts of a very motivated principal and staff, many students were not reaching their potential.

THE WIN

The program called for a leader, which I accepted, leading the team for 14 years. I recruited dozens of colleagues to mentor, focusing on career visioning. We won four awards, including Best Corporate/School Partnership.

TOP 3 GAINS

• Enhanced my corporate training and mentoring skills by learning to be an effective mentor

• Provided students a pathway to success via impactful career visioning

• Catapulted the career of a mentee, who became interested in marketing as a third grader, later earning a degree in graphic design. A few years later, I referred him to a job at my company (Cushman & Wakefield), where he works to this day!