Melinda Evans
Troy,MI
Summary
Entrepreneurial VP of Operations offering progressive experience in operations leadership. Skilled at identifying and implementing process improvements to drive efficiency and productivity. Motivating leader with proven success managing cross-functional teams.
POS Systems Programming, Testing & Support – QSR Leadership – IT & Operations Project Management Build Confident, Expert & Customer-Focused Teams –Complex Problem Solving - P&L Responsibility Organization-wide Communications –Operational Efficiencies – Quality Assurance - Virtual & Local Executive Leadership - Strategic Planning - Complex Problem Solving - Operational Efficiencies - Budgeting & Forecasting - Financial Planning & Analysis - Compliance Senior strategic operations leader with over fifteen years of success in the food and beverage, restaurant, and real estate sectors. Maximizes profitable revenue and growth by expertly guiding business operations, building human capital, and slashing costs. Achieves operational excellence by monitoring KPIs, leveraging supporting resources, implementing effective health and safety initiatives, and implementing strategies and efficiencies to ensure performance consistency and quality. Serves as a trusted advisor and confidante to executives, management teams, organizational partners, and relevant staff. Handles campaign management, performance analysis, and strategic vision implementation. Develops and empowers collaborative work environments, exemplifying a culture of excellence, quality, and service, through teamwork, open communications, personal integrity, and accountability. Additional competencies include: - Register Programming - Franchise Development - Relationship Management - Project & Program Management - Corporate Governance & Reporting - Process & Procedure Development - Negotiations, Deal Making, & Closings - Team Leadership, Coaching, & Training
Overview
22
22
years of professional experience
7
7
License & Certifications
Work Availability
monday
tuesday
wednesday
thursday
friday
saturday
sunday
morning
afternoon
evening
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Work History
VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS
Dart Appraisal
Troy, MI
04.2020 - Current
- A national organization with offices in Georgia, New Jersey and Michigan performing real property appraisals
- Cross-functional team leader directing daily business operations and managing a $50 million budget
- Leads a multi-site team of 150 employees and over 10,000 independent contractors
- Investigates and resolves client issues and customer inquiries
- Leads selection, hiring, and training of new team members
- Coaches and monitors team performance
- Standardizes KPIs for all team members
- Ensures compliance with federal and state laws
- Assists financial management
- Reviews new client and vendor contracts
- Drives culture, values, and mission
- Handles planning and oversight of the IT department
- Reports to the president
- Saved $700,000 annually by leading and coaching the team to meet cost by utilizing preferred appraisers and negotiating appraisal fees
- Delivered an all-time high number of shipped files (28 years) that increased income 11% by shipping over 10,000 files in one month through team coaching, new call procedures, and quality control improvements
- Reduced turnover 75% by standardizing hiring questions and processes, including gender- and race-neutral grading of candidates with criteria that ensure a good fit
- Streamlined processes, accelerated response time to escalations, lowered cancelations 4%, improved staff engagement, customer service, and oversight of the pipeline and team by restructuring the organization chart and team to include three area managers and shifting duties and reporting paths
- Accomplished ability to return staff to the office without an outbreak, reduced the number of sick employees, provided work from home options for those able when infected, and decreased downtime by collaborating with other executive team members to implement and monitor COVID guidelines and controls
- Saved $10,000 per employee, $100,000 annually, by cutting training time to one month from two, organizing and standardizing the training calendar and process
- Achieved a $1 million reduction in annual costs and 5% decrease in COGS by initiating contests and rewards, recovered orders from 25 clients that previously left the company, increased productivity of staff by establishing KPIs, enhanced server bandwidth by moving servers to the cloud, and saved over $30,000 per year by instituting a new phone system
- Reduced aged files 5%, which minimized cancellations by establishing KPIs and improved pipeline performance 40% with daily monitoring and coaching
- Completed and passed SOC 2 Type 2 certification
- Worked with IT team to complete upgrade of proprietary system programming to remove outdated coding and improve appearance and functionality.
- Hired and managed employees to maximize productivity while training staff on best practices and protocol.
- Cultivated and maintained positive working relationships with employees, executives and other stakeholders.
- Coordinated work across departments to keep teams on track with company goals.
- Communicated regularly with executive team members to deliver pertinent details related to progress status and direction for projects.
- Implemented best practices to strengthen internal systems and spearhead proactive change.
- Generated and implemented business strategies to increase revenue while executing operational base development.
- Boosted company profits by optimizing performance strategies and increasing efficiency.
- Determined performance goals and offered tactics for achieving milestones.
- Traveled to trade shows and client meetings to promote company brand.
- Created business process flows to identify opportunities for improvement.
- Collaborated with various departments to identify operational challenges and plan corrective actions.
- Brought about substantial operational improvements by reworking policies and enhancing enforcement.
- Supervised daily operations of multi-million dollar divisional operation.
- Managed workforce development programs by evaluating, interpreting and enforcing human resource policies and regulations and developing industry training programs and conferences.
- Set clear goals for area managers and implemented systems for measuring results in support of optimal decision making.
- Coordinated staff across multiple locations with stellar record of meeting or exceeding demanding targets.
- Crafted and monitored internal control systems.
- Identified and addressed process deficiencies, avoiding costly pitfalls and keeping operations scalable for future expansion.
- Devised utilities needed to streamline and strengthen operations, driving substantial improvement to KPIs.
ATTORNEY
EvansPletkovic, P.C
Huntington Woods, MI
01.2001 - 01.2021
- Served as outside counsel
- Leveraged strong negotiation and communication skills with an expert understanding of the workers’ compensation laws
- Evaluated workers comp cases, guided and counseled clients
- Performed detailed legal research and drafted motions and documents for state and federal court and administrative tribunals
- Represented clients in mediation, arbitration, and litigation
- Negotiated settlements and litigated cases
- Oversaw the AT&T property damage claims
- Advised on family law
- Assistant to the general counsel of American Youth Hostels Inc., a national 501 (3) not-for-profit corporation
- Successfully settled AT&T cases and prevailed on all family law cases
- Played an integral part in any EEOC investigations for American Youth Hostels
- Assisted office manager with reducing travel, supplies, and storage costs, resulting in over $10,000 per year in savings.
- Advised clients on intricacies of law, fostering informed understanding of legal rights and obligations.
- Provided legal advice, opinions and solutions regarding issues and risks on various transactional and regulatory matters.
- Performed complex legal research to prepare for cases or arbitration.
- Interpreted recent court opinions and current legal research to remain current with developments.
- Prepared persuasive legal memoranda, motions and briefs synthesizing facts, evidence and legal authorities.
- Interpreted laws and regulations in non-complex terminology to educate individuals.
- Negotiated resolutions of cases with defense attorneys and judges.
- Helped explain complex concepts in court by developing timelines, graphs and PowerPoint presentations.
- Interpreted laws, rulings and regulations for individuals and businesses.
- Negotiated and drafted settlement agreements to resolve litigated cases.
- Drafted wills, powers of attorney, trusts and estate planning documents.
- Prepared legal briefs and appeals and filed with state and federal courts as required.
VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS
Sandpointe Enterprises LLC
Waterford, MI
01.2004 - 12.2020
- An eating and drinking organization primarily operating in the fast-food chicken restaurant industry
- Completed quarterly reports to include findings via conducting site visits and subsequent report generation.
- Diminished regulatory risks by strict adherence to insurance and safety regulations.
- Led and mentored over 100 team members, including general managers, assistant managers, shift leaders, and crew
- Directed daily multi-site business operations and expansion of four quick-service restaurants, three from the ground up
- Tracked KPIs to assure ROI and effectiveness of programs
- Maintained budget controls and a $6 million budget, managed A/R, and regularly reviewed P&L
- Implemented and monitored COVID guidelines
- Ensured food quality and a positive guest experience
- Promoted brand strategies and campaigns
- Consulted with the health department and city officials on new restaurant openings
- Reported to the owning partners and franchisor
- Earned ownership in the business
- Realized a 20% increase in profits and a 15% drop in expenditures while ensuring compliance and adherence to company standards by standardizing the hiring process, improving the training system, negotiating contracts, hastening response time to customer complaints, conducting random auditing of cash drawers and inventory, and comparing invoices versus sales versus inventory
- Captured an $80,000 total savings in storage and supplies costs by instituting a scanning file system for all company records and maintaining all digitized records on a central computer
- Delivered a 50% decrease in the time spent on inventory while improving accuracy 95% and ordering efficiency 85% by introducing a new streamlined inventory system
- Gained same-store sales improvement year-over-year, increased employee retention and customer satisfaction by leading operations for four franchises, including two Popeyes, one Swirl’ndipity, and one Which Wich Superior Sandwiches
- Expanded business 25% by developing and executing strategic and tactical plans, including strategic employee scheduling, implementing standardized inventory, systemizing key item counts 3x per day, and establishing protocols for customer complaints for faster response times
- Recruited, developed, and promoted 26 team members by creating training programs for high-potential leaders
- Captured $25,000 per year by designing and maintaining two registered trademarks (name and logo) for Swirl’ndipity
- Saved $100,000 yearly by shrinking food and labor costs and operating expenses via effective processes and cost control measures
- Drove 100% improvement in lost time and workers’ compensation claims by administering security, safety, and sanitation standards
- Reduced costs attained high evaluation scores by 3rd party evaluators and increased per ticket sales by developing business cases and gaining sponsorship for innovative programs from key stakeholders
- Won 100% of unemployment claims by keeping essential records, implementing standardized documentation, providing necessary training on the importance of recordkeeping, approving all terminations, and responding to all unemployment claims
- Gained a $1 million increase in yearly revenue per location by building four new restaurants collaborating with architects and construction companies
- Increased customer satisfaction by implementing position scheduling, reducing costs year-over-year via contact negotiations for services, and hit the million-dollar club for each year opened.
- Developed and refined short- and long-term strategies to drive growth and profitability.
- Maintained productive relationships and communication channels across organization.
- Developed operational policies and processes, guaranteeing staff maintained compliance with federal, state and local laws and regulations.
- Established plans to address productivity, operational performance and staff retention and satisfaction.
- Reviewed, analyzed and interpreted financial statements.
- Led employees to develop high-performing diverse teams and deliver on ambitious goals and objectives.
- Served as strategic advisor and functional expert on critical strategic and operational matters.
- Maximized profits through reducing expenditures and evaluating prices.
- Hired, trained, evaluated and retained high-performing, effective and diverse team embodying organizational culture.
- Organized and oversaw capital improvement projects to maintain business viability.
- Monitored outcome measures, program outcomes and performance improvement.
- Standardized and optimized scheduling and managed labor costs by leveraging labor management tools.
- Oversaw corrective action plans to remedy structural, organizational and departmental issues.
- Oversaw technological improvements, successfully reducing waste and eliminating business bottlenecks.
- Hired, trained and mentored [Number] staff members to maximize productivity.
- Created program to promote new managers from within, leading to cohesive leadership structure.
- Improved profitability by accurately maintaining P&L to meet prime fiscal responsibility.
- Exceeded sales goals through upselling and cross-selling within existing client base as well as strategically attracting new business.
- Increased company revenue by $[Amount] within first year.
- Spearheaded new facility expansion with $[Amount] in capital funds.
Quote
The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.
Walt Disney
Education
J.D. -
Wayne State University
Bachelor of Science - Hospitality Management
University of Central Florida
Skills
- Zoom, Skype/Teams, Google Suite, MS Office Suite, QuickBooks, Adobe Photoshop, Payment Processing, Dropbox, Click-up, Computer Troubleshooting, Register programming and troubleshooting, Appraisal management software (etrack, valuelink), Adobe software, POS Software, Social Media Ad campaigns, Staff Scheduling, Inventory software, Employee onboarding, Virtual file cabinets for recordkeeping, (Monday, slack), DocuSign, HelloSign, Dumac, Documentor, NCR -Aloha POS, FastTrack, NCR - Aloha Silver, CTUIT, HEM Drive-Thru Timer, Syrus/Infor, NBO, Calypso POS
- Leadership Training
- Purchasing and Planning
- Operations Oversight
- Cost Analysis and Savings
- Financial Statement Review
- Policy Development and Enforcement
- Staff Scheduling
- Staff Development
- Records Organization and Management
- Budget Control
- Business Leadership
- Recruitment and Hiring
- Goal Setting
- Supplier Monitoring
- Decision Making
- Sales Tracking
- Problem Anticipation and Resolution
- Human Resources Oversight
- Resource Allocation
- Process Improvements
- Hiring and Onboarding
- Training Management
- Management Team Building
- Department Oversight
- Cost Reduction
- Program Optimization
- Sales Promotion
- Team Leadership
- Finance and Accounting Oversight
- Performance Assessment
- Employee Motivation
- Performance Evaluation and Monitoring
- Quality Assurance
- Focus and Follow-Through
- Revenue Forecasting
- Customer Service Management
- Complex Problem Solving
- Business Development
- Stakeholder Management
- Budget Planning
- Strategic Planning and Execution
- Executive Leadership
- Industry Expertise
- Organizational Development
- Change and Growth Management
- Operational Analysis
- Regulatory Compliance
- Annual Planning
- Leadership and People Development
- Profit and Loss Management
- Judgement and Decision Making
- Policy Development
- Relationship and Team Building
- Employee Motivation and Performance
- P&L Responsibility
- Multi-Site Operations
- New Business Development
- Organizational Leadership
- MIssion and Vision
- Systems Thinker
- Approachable and Outgoing
- Business Consulting
- Capital Expenditure Planning
- Thrives Under Pressure
- Resource Utilization
- Program Administration
- Project Oversight
- Balanced Work Ethic
- Systems Organization
- Results Orientation
- People and Culture
- Departmental Coordination
- Intuit QuickBooks
- Analytical and Critical Thinker
- Process Improvement
- Talent Recruitment
- Performance Benchmarking
- Corporate Strategy and Development
- Management Team Leadership
- Cross-Functional Collaboration
Certification
ServSafe, Certified Instructor; Allergen, Alcohol, Food Safety certified
Licensed to practice law in Michigan, Florida, and Washington D.C., and at United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
Timeline
VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS
Dart Appraisal
04.2020 - Current
VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS
Sandpointe Enterprises LLC
01.2004 - 12.2020
ATTORNEY
EvansPletkovic, P.C
01.2001 - 01.2021
J.D. -
Wayne State University
Bachelor of Science - Hospitality Management
University of Central Florida
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