Mary Mortensen
Savage,MN
Summary
Operations Executive with expertise in strategic planning and leadership of high-performance teams. Proven track record in driving sales growth and enhancing profitability through effective strategy execution. Skilled in developing engaged teams and fostering cross-functional collaboration to optimize business processes. Recognized for a results-oriented approach that prioritizes customer and employee satisfaction in decision-making.
Overview
29
29
years of professional experience
Work History
President
Marsden Services
Saint Paul, Minnesota
10.2023 - Current
- Provide organizational leadership and collaborated with executive partners to establish long-term goals, strategies and company policies.
- Oversee a $140M+ set of facilities services operating companies with 3,200 field based employees, achieving a 133% net income increase in the first year. Full P&L accountability.
- Awarded 'Top Growth' for 2024 due to exceptional strategic leadership.
- Direct strategic initiatives to drive process improvement and operational efficiencies and increasing bottom-line performance.
- Boosted customer retention by two points in first year through customer-centric strategies.
- Directed operational strategies to enhance service delivery across multiple facilities.
SVP, Strategic Projects & HR Ops (Interim Roles)
Marsden
Saint Paul, Minnesota
04.2023 - 09.2023
- Short-term assignment to lead strategic initiatives supporting growth, innovation, and operational efficiencies in the facilities management industry.
- Oversaw critical HR functions including talent acquisition, employee relations, union relations, and HR operations for assigned operating companies.
Vice President, Field Operations Support
Lifetouch
Eden Prairie, Minnesota
01.2020 - 02.2023
- Delivered executive-level leadership in a $600M+ business for the enterprise-wide support function that enabled and supported field operations and photography execution across the U.S. and Canada, including 34-area level operational hubs, and 400+ JCPenney retail photo studios.
- Led field support operations team that enabled photography of millions of children and families annually; scope of support team included transformation and program management, field change management, end-to-end field process optimization, sales, operations and photography training, field finance and labor planning, photography strategy, and the yearbook center of excellence.
- Facilitated alignment, structure, and ownership of multi-year strategic planning efforts through an enterprise-wide PMO organization and supervised leadership of field change management efforts.
- Drove standardization that improved the employee, host, and customer experience by developing, training, and supporting end-to-end optimized field processes across the various lines of business, supporting the increase of non-exempt labor efficiency from 9.7 to 10.7 equivalent units per hour in 2022 and host satisfaction by three basis points from Fall '21 to Fall '22.
- Centralized the Yearbook Center of Excellence in providing national call center operations, generating $1.5M in cost efficiencies while driving a 61% improvement in Average Speed of Answer, a 52% reduction in Abandoned Calls, and a 4% reduction in Average Handle Time.
- Drove revenue by overseeing the enterprise-level photographic strategy, including photo quality improvement efforts, photographer training, recognition, and development of new consumer offerings.
- Supported a 9% YoY improvement in accounts booked by developing a new Learning and Development Team that implemented an LMS system and created an end-to-end Seller onboarding and Sales and Operations based e-learnings that drove faster onboarding and proficiency in role.
Vice President
Lifetouch Portrait Studios
Eden Prairie, Minnesota
08.2018 - 01.2020
- Provided strategic direction and leadership for the $120M+ studios business unit of Lifetouch that operated three regions, 24 districts, and 450 photography studios inside JCPenney retail locations, managing the full P&L and serving a customer base of 1.2M+ annually.
- Delivered top and bottom-line growth by developing and driving the studios' overall strategic plan with direct accountability for setting and executing against the field operations and customer service strategies.
- Secured a new 5-year contract and managed the business relationship with JCPenney, and drove foot traffic and sales growth through the development of promotional and event-based strategies.
- Generated revenue growth by developing and launching new business initiatives, including negotiating and executing expansions into new retail host partners and launching new on-site and pop-up photography service offerings.
- Achieved $3.5M in sales growth in the first six months in an expanded role.
Vice President, Studios Field Operations
Lifetouch Portrait Studios
Eden Prairie, Minnesota
03.2016 - 08.2018
- Established the strategy and led the day-to-day execution of the studios' field organization and home office operations functions, delivering 3% growth in customer sessions and a 5% growth in average order value while in role.
- Attracted, developed, aligned, and engaged 1.8K core field employees and 4k in peak season while inspiring the team to deliver an exceptional customer experience that drove customer retention and returns.
- Generated newness in the product offering and created an events-based approach that contributed to 24 months of comparable location and YoY sales and profit growth by developing and executing a photographic and supporting marketing strategy.
- Grew revenue via launch of JCPenney Outdoor Photography and JCPenney Headshots business segments as an expansion of the core brick-and-mortar service offering in 37 markets over two years.
Vice President, Support Operations
Lifetouch Portrait Studios
Eden Prairie, Minnesota
06.2013 - 03.2016
- Managed all home office operations functions enabling field execution in 800 retail photography studios in Target and JCPenney, including Training, Communication, Facilities, Customer Service, Operations, and Reporting and Analysis.
- Drove ongoing process improvement and cost efficiency into the business while improving field execution.
- Served as the executive leader of several large-scale change management initiatives, including home office and field restructures and a rightsizing of the business model.
Vice President, Human Resources
Lifetouch Portrait Studios
Eden Prairie, Minnesota
07.2010 - 06.2013
- Provided strategy development and day-to-day leadership of the HR function with a focus on non-exempt employee relations, employee retention and engagement, recruitment, and succession planning.
- Executed a large annual seasonal staffing ramp-up, including hiring and training 2.5K employees to support the peak holiday season by developing and driving talent planning and staffing strategies.
- On-boarded and integrated 2.5K new employees after the acquisition of Olan Mills by leading HR integration strategy.
Vice President, Studios Support
Lifetouch Portrait Studios
Eden Prairie, Minnesota
12.2007 - 07.2010
- Drove a retail-based innovation in the studio business, including developing standardized operational processes, systems, and reporting for supporting retail sales and service operations.
- Created a Customer Experience Strategy, including implementing a Customer Experience operational approach, customer satisfaction survey, metrics, reporting, and supporting incentive plans.
Vice President, Selling / Store Manager /Assistant Store Manager /HR Manager
Macy's (formerly Marshall Field's and Dayton's)
01.1997 - 01.2007
- Developed, led and managed in store sales and service strategy for Macy's North 62 store location, $2B+ revenue business segment while also leading special services, Customer Service, and Credit Marketing functions.
Education
BA - Business Administration & Marketing
University of Minnesota
DuluthSkills
- Retail and service operations
- Strategic leadership
- Operational efficiency
- Change management
- P&L management
- Strategy execution
- Financial planning
- Revenue growth
- Multi-unit management
- Project management
- Employee culture and engagement
- Sales and marketing strategies
- Operations management
Websites
Timeline
President
Marsden Services
10.2023 - Current
SVP, Strategic Projects & HR Ops (Interim Roles)
Marsden
04.2023 - 09.2023
Vice President, Field Operations Support
Lifetouch
01.2020 - 02.2023
Vice President
Lifetouch Portrait Studios
08.2018 - 01.2020
Vice President, Studios Field Operations
Lifetouch Portrait Studios
03.2016 - 08.2018
Vice President, Support Operations
Lifetouch Portrait Studios
06.2013 - 03.2016
Vice President, Human Resources
Lifetouch Portrait Studios
07.2010 - 06.2013
Vice President, Studios Support
Lifetouch Portrait Studios
12.2007 - 07.2010
Vice President, Selling / Store Manager /Assistant Store Manager /HR Manager
Macy's (formerly Marshall Field's and Dayton's)
01.1997 - 01.2007
BA - Business Administration & Marketing
University of Minnesota
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