Clare Apps

• Optimize 33,500+ SKUs by restructuring wine categories for clean data, and accurate marketing segmentation.
• Develop scalable procurement workflows for e-commerce, wholesale, and house brands to support 2X growth.
• Developed comprehensive procurement strategies to address project-specific requirements and constraints.
• Streamline supplier onboarding for domestic and international partners to reduce lead times.
• Fine-tune AI scraping tools to source critic scores, cutting labor costs by 40%.
• Implement receiving processes to reduce the risk from incorrect or problematic products.
• Leverage AI to identify unnecessary interstate freight spending and improve cost-efficient logistics.
• Standardize single-SKU methodology across platforms to minimize OOS, variances, and overstock.
• Resolve complex inventory issues
• Technology Used: Shopify, Linnworks, Wineshipping, Figure, Google Workspace, Notion, Miro, Retool, Excel, Netsuite, Precoro, SQL.

• Set up and/or fix and streamline procurement, vendor onboarding, SKU optimization, inventory control, and NetSuite/ERP integration for new or scaling wine, DTC, or wholesale businesses.
• Review product sets and streamline for more sales
• Interim Procurement or Inventory Ops (Remote).

• Improve cost efficiency by negotiating favorable contracts with suppliers, based on market analysis and pricing trends.
• Enhanced visibility for the merchandising team, leading to improved ready-to-ship numbers, and reduced out-of-stock instances.
• Streamline logistics and purchase order management to increase efficiency and cut tail-end costs.
• Manage a $1.5–2M monthly purchasing budget.
• Train the accounting team on the 3-way match and inventory reconciliation.
• Build an exceptions dashboard in NetSuite to automate workflows and reduce billing errors.
• Analyze freight and procurement costs to consolidate JIT strategy, reducing spend by 20%.
• Resolve complex inventory variances

Technology Used: NetSuite, Retool, Google Workspace.

• Holiday and Seasonal Wine Recommendations via Chat Zendesk (SaaS)
• Systems: Zendesk, Microsoft Teams.
• Improved customer satisfaction rates through proactive problem-solving and efficient complaint resolution.

Wore a variety of different hats as the Hawaii Division operated separately from the Home Office. Major areas of focus:

• Analyze sales data to spot trends and inform purchasing decisions.
• Support marketing with copy review, price book content, POS/sales sheets, and trade event materials.
• Forecast demand and supply across varying run rates, and build 75+ import containers and domestic shipments annually.
• Manage brand strategy, including allocations, marketing/vendor calendars, SPAs, and invoice-based negotiations.
• Oversee supplier and SKU onboarding processes.
• Oversee 2 full distribution warehouse and resolve inventory issues.
• Run ERP and ad hoc reporting for cross-functional needs.
• Lead website data migration and product categorization.
• Handle direct imports: COLAs, customs, and pricing compliance.
• Manage invoicing, vouchering, and laid-in cost tracking.
• Own category management for sake, and alternative formats.

Technology/Systems Used: Apprise, Microsoft Office, Google Suite, Cognos, QlikView, Excel (pivot tables, dashboards).

• Oversee operations, sales, marketing, and purchasing for European and domestic wine; build an annual retail promo calendar, and implement a 3-way match for A/P.
• Track rebates and QDs, recovering over $150K in missed credits; negotiate long-term supplier and vendor contracts.
• Manage monthly budgets to reduce costs, increase margins, and source finished goods nationally.
• Use Nielsen data to drive sales and marketing decisions.
• Develop cross-promotional partnerships with local restaurants.
• Create a welcoming, inclusive environment through personalized customer service.
• Monitor competitors to maintain an industry edge.
• Exceed sales goals through customer engagement, upselling, and targeted promotions.
• Collaborate on promotional materials for featured wines, and events.
• Maintain accurate purchase, sales, and inventory records for financial reporting.

I was hired to flip the wine, liquor, cheese, and specialty departments into a destination feature attracting tourists, weekenders, and locals. I achieved success within less than one year. Consequently, I was promoted to manage all food services, including the deli, seafood, and I acquired the beer department shortly after.

• Lead cross-department transformation across wine, spirits, beer, deli, seafood, meat, cheese, and specialty, driving 27–60% sales growth and cutting shrink from 70% to under 6%
• Develop scalable ordering and cost-tracking systems, reducing cheese and specialty shrink to below 2%
• Grow cheese and specialty sales 50% YoY (Years 1–2), 18% (Year 3), and sustain 21% growth in Year 4
• Reconfigure beer and wine sets to boost sales 18% and 27%, with consistent 8–16% annual growth
• Source and negotiate vendor contracts at industry events, recovering lost credits and securing first-to-market products
• Drive marketing strategies and weekly digital promotions using Nielsen data and market trends; create social media and website content to enhance brand visibility
• Build and lead high-performing teams, fostering an inclusive culture that improves retention and supports growth
• Execute community outreach initiatives that increase local engagement and drive incremental sales

• Creative and engaging wine and food reviews for local paper

• Open 20+ high-profile accounts in first 2 months during OND and recession
• Secure multi-state placements with Whole Foods
• Launch East Bay’s first wine keg program

• Lead end-to-end operations, including purchasing, sales, marketing, event management, and wine education, to drive revenue and customer engagement.
• Cultivate and maintain strategic relationships with clients, vendors, and partners to foster loyalty and growth.
• Manage budgets, control expenses, and monitor financial performance to ensure organizational stability and scalability.
• Oversee staff hiring, training, performance reviews, scheduling, and contract negotiations to build a high-performing team.
• Drive pre-sales initiatives that increase cash flow and sales pipeline.
• Execute community outreach and special events to enhance brand presence and customer experience.

• Coordinate and lead key initiatives within four statewide fundraising campaigns across nine California regions.
• Support sourcing and contract negotiations with multiple vendors to enhance fundraising efficiency.
• Contribute to the MSABC website development, and manage email campaign analytics to optimize outreach and fundraising results.
• Assist in planning and executing gala and golf fundraising events in Orange County to increase donor engagement and revenue.
• Conducted thorough market research to identify new opportunities for account growth.
• Assisted in developing and implementing successful marketing strategies to increase client revenue.

• Cargo and maritime insurance.nsurance operations, including BOL issuance, junior underwriting tasks, and accounting functions

• First American Title - Escrow Accounting

• Lead document control and business systems administration at Merrill Lynch and BSA, ensuring compliance with securities regulations (options, IRAs, trades) and managing time-sensitive market corrections

• Purchased Italian specialty cheeses and applied current sales trends while cross-selling and pairing with wines and various gourmet food items; cooked, prepared, sold, and organized "on and off-site" events.

• I started as a teller, and moved through the ranks in telephone banking, and finally to GL research at DPSS. It was here where I excelled in bank reconciliation and was promoted to Senior Researcher, responsible for POD and ATM GL—eventually training what is now referred to as ATM & Fraud, but was then called ATM Express Banking.
• Managed multiple high-priority projects simultaneously, ensuring timely completion of deliverables under tight deadlines.