Whataburger

• Lead teams in Employee Communications (aka Family Member Communications🧡), Public Relations, Community Relations, and Corporate Events at Whataburger.
• Develop and implement strategic communication plans to enhance brand reputation and engage stakeholders.
• Spearhead successful campaigns resulting in increased brand visibility and positive media coverage.
• Manage crisis communication strategies to protect and uphold the company's reputation.

Group Director, Corporate Communications

Mixing Board

One of 350 senior professionals accepted into the global communications and brand marketing think tank; members are marketing and communications leaders from Google, Intel, Etsy, X, Instagram, Netflix, Airbnb, Dyson, etc.  Purpose is to elevate the profession through knowledge-sharing and offering access to members’ insights.

Community Member

Auburn University Public Relations Program 

I support my alma mater, Auburn University, as an advisory council member of the Public Relations program. We mentor current PR students and discuss industry trends and curriculum.

Advisory Council Member

USAA

I successfully perform in a pivotal executive position and team that I created within the CEO Chief of Staff office developing and driving innovative moments that matter for 37K employees and 13M members. This new function included the centralization of the organizations awards and recognition program and the consolidation of 100 years of archives from a third party back to the home office to scale and operationalize our first century of history into our efforts.

✦ Spearhead ideating and executing a world-class vision, enhances operations, and propels the organization into the future phase of service to the military community.

✦ Consistent in developing new sources of inspiration that brings our workforce together and deepen their understanding of our strong culture of service and innovation to 13M members of the military community.

Assistant Vice President of Enterprise Experiences & Programs

Enterprise lead for the strategy, planning and execution of a year-long centennial celebration of USAA’s mission of service and innovation to the military community. This program includes managing a multi-million dollar budget, multiple teams across the enterprise and third party vendors to execute a wide-variety of meaningful efforts for both employees and members.

Assistant Vice President & Executive Sponsor for USAA’s 100th Anniversary

Functioned in a key executive position leading all corporate communications strategy, functions, and operations leveraging a world-class framework of objectives and key results (OKRs) aligned with the enterprise mission, vision, and goals. Spearheaded a year-long strategy focused on prioritization within diverse Corporate Communications teams, implemented effective metrics, and monitored performance to ensure success.
 - Integrated lean and agile methodologies across the Corporate Communications team comprising more than 60 professionals delivering efficiency and best practices. 
 - Collaborated with cross-functional teams on the development of a strategic playbook aligned with the Corporation Communications strategy, roadmap, and objectives.
 - Utilized agile methodologies and the agile tool, Asana, to manage projects and organize operations for seamless collaboration enabling visibility to real-time data, effective decision-making, and enhanced capabilities to increase speed. Trained the entire department on the agile approach.
 - Managed the training and development of the 60+ employees of the Corporate Communications team.
 - Exclusively selected to act as the ESM Situation Manager overseeing the Crisis Communications team encompassing cross-functional business leaders spanning Marketing, Military Affairs, Corporate Communications, and Corporate Responsibility.

Assistant Vice President, Strategy & Operations, Corporate Communications

Achieved a prominent promotion gaining progressive responsibilities and influence based on outstanding communications performance and leadership. Spearheaded all communications for the Chief Operating Officer and oversaw three business communication teams supporting the lines of business for P&C Insurance, USAA Bank, and Investments. Created and executed a crisp communications strategy breaking silos and cultivating a cohesive culture.
 - Supported the $850M major acquisition of the USAA Asset Management Company to Victory Capital.
 - Developed and launched more than a dozen innovative communications programs elevating employee trust including “USAA Live” empowering open dialogue between executive leaders and the workforce.

Assistant Vice President, Business Communications

Led all communications for the President of the company including the development and execution of the strategy, planning, and execution to move the enterprise forward. Supported crisis management for major catastrophes such as wildfires in Colorado and tornadoes in Oklahoma while helping members recover.
 - Rapidly guided members following crises including articulating benefits, revealing methods to connect with USAA, and communicating employee engagement opportunities to support recovery efforts.
 - Led the development and execution of all communications strategies across multiple offices in Europe, as well as all of the United States, championing change by sharing the rationale to support the overall mission.

Executive Director, P&C Insurance Communications

US Navy

Sole Speechwriter for the Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus of over 100 diverse speeches delivered around the world and oral testimonies given before Congress.  Relentlessly researched and centralized extensive information to quickly learn complex issues from numerous sources within the Department of the Navy which creates effective and compelling speeches that were meaningful and tailored for the specific audience.
●Developed and led coordination of remarks throughout the Department of the Navy, Department of Defense and the White House for consistent messaging to ensure accuracy and increase the reach of the message. 
●Praised by the Defense Information School for improvements to their speechwriting curriculum and sought to guest speak to new PAO classes.  A feature guest speaker at Ragan Communications 2013 Speechwriters and Executive Communicators Conference in Washington D.C.
●Provided media strategy, preparation and execution for the Secretary while also managing the high-demand work of speechwriting when the SECNAV's Public Affairs Officer was away from the office.

Speechwriter for the Secretary of the Navy

Public Affairs

United States European Command

Primary spokesperson for the command and led all of Admiral Jim Stavridis’ media engagements as EUCOM Commander while also coordinating editorial boards, press conferences and background interviews with media outlets from the U.S. and 51 countries in EUCOM’s region.
●Created a new model of strategic communication for the Media Operations Division that articulated EUCOM’s vision so perfectly it was implemented into every functional area of the Public Affairs Directorate to help focus the entire headquarters staff’s efforts on communicating EUCOM’s mission.
●Led an 18-month long project for the new EUCOM website from start to finish to include the initial concept, development and launch that focused the website’s content to tell EUCOM’s larger story and communicate its day-to-day mission on social channels and set to a global audience.  
●Elevated EUCOM headquarters outreach to new levels by coordinating social media coverage for over 20 Memorial Day ceremonies in six different countries.  Led all the public affairs actions from planning to execution with limited or no support personnel for numerous high-level events to include the 66th commemoration of D-Day, 2009 International Paris-Le Bourget Air Show, and 2011 Moscow International Air Show by thoroughly training everyone on staff to be active communicators.
●Developed and coordinated media engagements and public affairs planning with U.S. embassy public information offices across the 51 countries within EUCOM’s area of responsibility.

Media Operations Chief

Submarine Group Ten

Led all internal and external communication activities for the headquarters and over six individual commands within the naval base. Created a video production element from scratch and improved photographic equipment and services to create a robust public affairs office in support of the command and local submarine community.  
●Spearheaded a full public affairs campaign for the USS Georgia Return to Service which accommodated over 20 media outlets.  Coordinated an overnight embark and a post-ceremony national press conference with Navy leadership and the Georgia Governor that produced greater media exposure than any local event in a decade.  
●Led a nine-member public affairs team in the Kings Bay Emergency Command Center, creating a results-oriented environment of handling sensitive information that ensured the team met every time goal for press statements and press conference preparations for the final state outreach drill held with local and state officials from Georgia and Florida.  Created and implemented new crisis communication procedures which improved all timed benchmarks by more than 50 percent.  
●Directed public affairs training program for command leadership and over 30 state and local officials.

Public Affairs Officer

United States Southern Command

Hand-selected by Fleet Forces Command to support the Navy’s hospital ship, USNS Comfort’s highly visible public diplomacy/humanitarian mission to Latin America and the Caribbean.  Responsible for the supervision of twelve enlisted public affairs specialists in the daily operations of media and print production of over 30,000 products.
Led, coordinated and coached the ship’s crew on interpreting their daily lives on deployment into operational vignettes that tell the U.S. story of support in Latin America during more than 50 VIP tours for host nation presidents, prime ministers, and senior executive level leadership.

Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Southern Command’s “Partnership for the Americas”

Naval Special Warfare Command

Led external and internal communication and government activities for the Navy SEAL Headquarters, multiple SEAL teams and Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL Training (BUDS) School.
●Led the planning and execution for NSW during U.S. Special Operations Command’s Congressional Receptions in Washington D.C. for over 300 Senate and House members to interpret the NSW mission’s effect on national security.  
●For two years in a row, oversaw 30 NSW personnel at seven major events during the International Special Operation Forces (SOF) Week in Tampa, Fla, a premier event attended by SOF delegates from 68 countries and industry leaders.  Flawlessly organized over a three-month period to include two major static displays, a Leap Frog parachute team demonstration, and multiple vignettes that interpreted complex and sensitive special operation missions to an international audience.  
●Produced a previously non-existent public affairs strategy and plan to make SEAL recruiting a top priority with military and government leaders using national media coverage and a cohesive communication plan which showed marked improvements in bringing in SEAL candidates.
●Acted as the command’s lead spokesperson while the Force PAO was away including national press conferences on a variety of sensitive topics that garnered national and international media attention.  
●Planned and organized a video production component that added another tool to increase the command’s ability to put out consistent and effective messages. 
●Contracted with production agencies with recruiting materials used with nation-wide ad campaigns.

Tricare Region Nine Office of the Lead Agent

●Established from scratch a public affairs plan for the office that included a Regional Mobilization Plan that was lauded by the Tricare Management Activity for all Tricare Regions to emulate.
●Developed and implemented a Contingency Communication Plan that was adopted throughout much of the Military Health System including the entire U.S. Army Medical Department.  
●Wrote, directed and distributed a Tricare Reserve Benefits instructional video to assist reserve and guard units during their mobilization.  
●Rejuvenated the office’s flagging news publication to one of true vibrancy that served as the flagship for all similar publications throughout the Military Health System.  
●Hand-selected to provide public affairs support and around the clock media engagements on board the aircraft carrier, USS Abraham Lincoln, during President Bush’s visit on May, 2, 2003 to announce the end of major combat in Iraq.

With over 30 years of experience in diverse and ever-changing environments, I am a communications and operations executive who drives world-class strategies and solutions. I currently serve with Pride, Care and Love at Whataburger as the Group Director, Corporate Communications. I lead employee communications, PR, community relations and corporate events teams supporting over 1,100 restuarants with over 53,000 employees in 17 states. Before my current role, I created and executed innovative moments that matter for 37K employees and 13M members, enhancing the organization's mission, vision, and values as the Assistant Vice President of Enterprise Experiences and Programs at USAA.

In 2021-2023, I was the executive sponsor for USAA's 100th anniversary, a year-long centennial celebration of the organization's service and innovation. I managed a multi-million dollar budget, multiple teams, and third-party vendors to deliver meaningful and memorable efforts for both employees and members. 

I served over 20 years in the Navy in a variety of leadership roles around the world in Public Affairs and Communications. As a former speechwriter for the Secretary of the Navy and a Navy veteran, I have a deep understanding and appreciation of the military culture and the needs of our stakeholders. I excel at building powerful relationships, crafting compelling stories, and leading change and transformation.

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