Summary
Work History
Education
Skills
Websites
Certification
Trademarks
Community Service
References
Work Preference
Timeline
Hi, I’m

Melinda Evans

Troy,MI
Melinda Evans

Summary

Accomplished Operational Leader with progressive industry background and decisive leadership style. Offers strategic planning abilities, background in change management and forward-thinking mindset. Ready for challenges and focused on meeting future demands. Results-driven Chief Operating Officer drives performance improvements and leads strategic initiatives. Skilled manager of cross-departmental activities with adaptive communication of organizational objectives. Develops and executes innovative strategies for stimulating growth and service quality.

Work History

How to Manage a Small Law Firm

COO – Practice Management Advisor
2023 - 2024 (1 education.year_Label)

Job overview

  • Assisted Law Firms with short-term goals with successful alignment of business strategies
  • Built productive working relationships and collaborated across organization to meet project needs
  • Translated business needs, issues and ideas into action plans
  • Supported business operations by assisting with preparing and processing policies and procedures
  • Used administrative and operational expertise to help team meet short term objectives
  • Optimized policies to better handle current and expected needs.

Dart Appraisal

Vice President of Operations
2020 - 2023 (3 education.years_Label)

Job overview

  • Cross-functional team leader directing daily business operations and managing $50 million budget
  • Leads 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 fiscal management
  • Reviews new client and vendor contracts
  • Drives culture, values, and mission
  • Oversees planning and oversight of IT department
  • Reports to president
  • Saved $700,000 annually by leading and coaching team to meet cost goals by utilizing preferred appraisers and negotiating appraisal fees
  • Delivered an all-time high number of shipped files (30 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 by 75% by standardizing hiring questions and processes, including grading candidates with criteria that ensure inexperienced staff members were strategic fit for company
  • Streamlined processes, accelerated response time to escalations, lowered cancellations 2%, improved staff engagement, customer service, and oversight of pipeline and team by restructuring organization chart and team to include three area managers and shifting operational responsibilities and reporting paths
  • Saved $10,000 per employee, $100,000 annually, by cutting training time to one month from two, organizing and standardizing training calendar and process
  • Achieved $1 million reduction in annual costs and 12% decrease in COGS by initiating contests and rewards, recovered orders from clients that previously left company, increased productivity of staff by establishing KPIs, enhanced server bandwidth by moving servers to cloud, and saved over $30,000 per year by instituting new phone system
  • Reduced aged files 5%, which minimized cancellations by establishing KPIs and improved pipeline performance 40% with daily monitoring and coaching
  • A collaborative effort with the IT team to complete upgrade of proprietary system programming to remove outdated coding to improve appearance and functionality
  • Also completed and passed SOC 2 Type 2 certification
  • Coordinated work across departments to keep teams on track with company goals
  • Collaborated with cross functional teams to identify operational challenges and plan corrective actions
  • Communicated regularly with executive team members to deliver pertinent details related to progress status and direction for projects
  • Set clear goals for area managers and implemented systems for measuring results in support of optimal decision making.
  • Streamlined operations by identifying inefficiencies and implementing process improvements.
  • Reduced operational costs by optimizing resource allocation and negotiating better contracts with suppliers.
  • Implemented new technologies to automate processes, resulting in reduced labor costs and increased efficiency.
  • Developed strategic plans that aligned with organizational goals, ensuring long-term growth and sustainability.
  • Championed employee development programs to enhance skills, increase retention rates, and build a high-performance workforce.
  • Hired and managed employees to maximize productivity while training staff on best practices and protocols.
  • Identified opportunities to improve business process flows and productivity.
  • Set clear goals to monitor targets and offered real-time input on performance and motivation.
  • Identified issues with production, workforce, and material sourcing and implemented successful solutions.
  • Assisted in recruiting, hiring and training of team members.
  • Tracked employee attendance and punctuality, addressing repeat problems quickly to prevent long-term habits.

Sandpointe Enterprises LLC

Vice President of Operations
2004 - 2020 (16 education.years_Label)

Job overview

  • Motivated and mentored over two hundred staff members, including general managers, assistant managers, shift leaders, and crew
  • Directed daily multi-site franchise business operations and expansion of four quick-service restaurants, three from 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
  • Ensured food quality and positive guest experience
  • Promoted brand strategies and campaigns
  • Consulted with health department and city officials on new restaurant openings
  • Reported to owning partners and franchisor
  • Earned ownership in business
  • Realized 20% increase in profits and 15% drop in expenditures while ensuring compliance and adherence to company standards by standardizing hiring process, improving 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 $80,000 total savings in storage and supplies costs by instituting scanning file system for all company records and maintaining all digitized records on central computer
  • Delivered 50% decrease in time spent on inventory while improving accuracy 95% and ordering efficiency 85% by introducing 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
  • 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 which included, implementing standardized inventory, and systemizing key item counts three times per day
  • Exceeded sales goals through upselling and cross-selling within existing client base as well as attracting new business
  • 100% improvement in lost time and workers’ compensation claims by formalizing security, safety, and sanitation standards
  • Won 100% of unemployment claims by keeping essential records, implementing standardized documentation, providing training on importance of recordkeeping, approving all terminations, and responding to all unemployment claims
  • Gained $1 million increase in yearly revenue per location by building four new restaurants collaborating with architects, city officials and construction companies
  • 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 compliance with federal, state, and local laws and regulations
  • Served as strategic advisor and functional expert on critical strategic and operational matters
  • Maximized profits through reducing expenditure and evaluating prices
  • Hired, trained, evaluated, and retained high-performing, effective and diverse team embodying organizational culture
  • Created training program to promote new managers from within, leading to cohesive leadership structure, Standardized and optimized scheduling and managed labor costs by leveraging labor management tools
  • Established key performance indicators and corrective action plans to remedy structural, organizational, and departmental issues
  • Implemented technological improvements, successfully reducing waste, and eliminating business bottlenecks
  • Improved profitability by accurately maintaining P&L to meet prime fiscal responsibility.

EvansPletkovic, P.C.

Attorney - Part Time
2001 - 2021 (20 education.years_Label)

Job overview

  • Served as outside counsel
  • Leveraged strong negotiation and communication skills with expert understanding of 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
  • Managed AT&T property damage claims
  • Advised on family law
  • Assistant to general counsel of American Youth Hostels Inc., national 501 (3) not-for-profit corporation
  • Successfully settled AT&T cases and prevailed on all family law cases
  • Played integral part in any EEOC investigations for American Youth Hostels
  • Collaborated with office manager with reducing travel, supplies, and storage costs, resulting in over $10,000 per year in savings
  • Interpreted laws and regulations in non-complex terminology to educate individuals
  • Created presentations for 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.

Education

Wayne State University
Detroit, MI

Juris Doctor

University of Central Florida
Orlando, FL

Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management

Skills

  • Facilities Management
  • Workforce Planning
  • Organizational Development
  • Information Technology Management
  • Operations Management
  • Data-Driven Decision-Making
  • Strategic Partnerships
  • Time Management
  • Change Management
  • Resource Allocation
  • Product Development
  • Brand Management
  • Cross-functional Team Coordination
  • Process Improvement

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

Trademarks

  • Trademark registration number 5395999 for the logo for Swirl’ndipity
  • Trademark registration number 5395997 for the name Swirl’ndipity

Community Service

American Youth Hostels Inc., provide approximately one hundred hours of legal services annually for 10 years.

References

References available upon request.

Work Preference

Work Type

Full TimeContract Work

Work Location

RemoteHybridOn-Site

Important To Me

Company CultureFlexible work hoursPersonal development programsWork from home optionWork-life balance

Timeline

COO – Practice Management Advisor

How to Manage a Small Law Firm
2023 - 2024 (1 education.year_Label)

Vice President of Operations

Dart Appraisal
2020 - 2023 (3 education.years_Label)

Vice President of Operations

Sandpointe Enterprises LLC
2004 - 2020 (16 education.years_Label)

Attorney - Part Time

EvansPletkovic, P.C.
2001 - 2021 (20 education.years_Label)

Wayne State University

Juris Doctor

University of Central Florida

Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management

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Melinda Evans