Meet ilana Frenkel kearns

Over a decade of experience serving as a trusted partner to the C -Suite.  I have picked up children from daycare, served as a power of attorney for a million-dollar real estate transaction, organized intimate dinners inside executives' personal homes, working in close collaboration with their spouses and security, entrusted with sensitive information and placed on the inside trading list for a $64 Billion dollar organization,  orchestrated executive's personal residential moves, managed all aspects of personal and professional travel for executives and their families, curated memorable experiences to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and family milestones.

Carefully planned and organized all logistics for flawless passenger experience(s) on private planes.

Managed the day-to-day activities of the Global Chief Brands Officer of a $64 Billion dollar organization, including accurate Outlook calendar administration, compiled complex overseas travel itineraries, often at short notice, and organized visa applications. Gained experience in working across a wide array of senior management. Obtained a deep cultural understanding of how to deal with people across a wide variety of cultures and backgrounds.

Served as C-Suite advisor ensuring effective, organized, and strategic planning for all brand operations, prioritizing focus on bolstering engagement across global hotel guests and franchise owners as customers, while expanding genuine employee engagement.

Planned, prioritized, and organized high volume, day-to-day activities for the Chief Supply Chain Officer at FOCUS Brands; the parent company of several quick service restaurants including Cinnabon, Moe's Southwest Grill, Carvel, Auntie Anne's, McAlister's Deli and Schlotzky's; I learned first hand about the commodities market outlook and the direct impact of fluctuating prices on the food supply chain for quick-service restaurants (QSR). 

Full administrative support to the president of the global digital wholesale used car remarketing division at Cox Automotive. Managed autonomously the president’s calendar, which reflected both business and personal commitments. Ensured a timely response to all correspondence received and composition of responses at own discretion where appropriate.

Authored communications and managed executive's social media account(s). 

Created customized dynamic presentations utilized in board-level meetings, sales conferences, dealer and distributor conventions, off-site management workshops and meetings.

Served as an adjunct member of leadership, maintained and prioritized a pipeline of opportunities to drive efficiency and productivity across company(s); managed meeting agendas, tracked all action items, and followed up all meetings with a meeting recap.

 Nearly a decade of experience in corporate communications, bringing brands to life through stories that influence, sell, and mobilize.

Led all internal communications and public relations efforts for the 2017 Manheim title Sponsorship, Kyle Petty Charity Ride resulting in 10+ articles and a podcast interview with Kyle Petty on National Motorcycle Day.

Wrote monthly franchise owner newsletter, capturing rebrand buy-in from franchise owners by exposing positive impact of the $1 Billion dollar Holiday Inn brand refresh program through one-on-one interviews and stories.

Wrote five award winning nominations on behalf of my colleagues at Cox Automotive for prestigious industry rewards, driving awareness of the RMS Automotive Brand and further bolstering the company as employer of choice.

Managed and executed multitrack content calendar for a multi-million dollar B2B corporation. 

Served as Editor for all internal or external communication, collaborating with domestic and international teams to ensure regional public relations efforts were aligned to corporate goals and messaging; Led development of brand messages, digital assets, stats, and claims included in digital collateral, presentation decks, board-level meetngs, sales conferences, offsite management workshops, and meetings.

Designed and maintained intranet site, resulting in new internal media channel presence and powerful messaging spanning a multi-billion dollar corporation.

Managed strategic communications which included customized dynamic presentations,  authoring executive biographies, internal business updates and coordinating the materials from the various leadership teams, connecting all of the information together during my tenure at Cox Automotive.

Collaborated with Global Chief Brands Officer at IHG on major strategic initiatives as he led organizational change for global brand management, leading to marketing agency effectiveness while streamlining $9MM in costs across $64B portfolio.

Designed and delivered comprehensive executive-level monthly report across matrixed environment, transforming culture by generating team member spotlight stories, celebrations, service anniversaries, and monthly business performance snapshots.

Defined, drove, and improved processes around recurring "rhythm of the business" initiatives, including staff meetings, leadership off-sites, all hands meetings, strategic planning, building master agenda and slides, and employee on and off-boarding; improved culture, engagement and ROI through employee corporate gift(s) and new hire onboarding initiative at Cox Automotive.

Managed multi-million dollar new space build-out project for 100+ employees, collaborating with internal facilities, IT, security, enterprise network, and voice services teams on successful execution.

Drove operational efficiency, sales and customer experience for automotive aftermarket retail brands such as GMSPO through creation of regional market stocking guides for optimal inventory distribution, resulting in 70% reduction in overhead costs and 40% lift in sales.

Led  an initiative to forecast and purchase computers for upcoming fiscal year so new hires were able to be productive day one on the job.

Project Manager for the domain transition from @rmsautomotive.com to @coxautoinc.com during my tenure at Cox Enterprises, working in close collaboration with the technology and infrastructure teams.

Managed $250K annual budget for engagement activities to bolster employee effectiveness at Cox Automotive.

Designed and delivered comprehensive executive-level monthly report across matrixed environment, transforming culture by generating team member spotlight stories, celebrations, service anniversaries, and monthly business performance snapshots.

Worked closely with the Holiday Inn Founding Family to serve as emcee(s) for the inaugural Global Brand Management Employee Recognition Awards dinner at IHG.  

To recognize one particular Holiday Inn property that moved up in ranks on TripAdvisor, I worked with a local ice cream manufacturer to produce our own special ice cream called "Best Inn Class" complete with a mint green ribbon, that my boss and I served during their break to the hotel staff.

Recruited employee talent as entertainment for senior executive meetings ike "hiring" our local pianist who was part of Brand Standards team for a day job at IHG, as that evening's entertainment for a Senior Executive Offsite Dinner; He even accepted requests. And most important of all, this opportunity exposed this gentleman in a new light to a level of leadership that would not normally happen. I even rented the piano.

Successfully advocated for first Mother's Room and Transgender Restroom for a multi-million dollar business within Cox Enterprises.

I put bacon on the table to welcome our new colleague to the team.

To look back at how far our startup business has come, I l designed a corporate scrapbook as an annual employee gift three years in a row for RMS Automotive, a startup business within the multi-billion dollar conglomerate, Cox Enterprises as I helped carefully nurture our distinctive culture from the ground up as we grew from 20 to 100+ employees over a span of 3+ years.

Improved culture, engagement and ROI through launch of an employee corporate gift(s) program at Cox Autmotive, carefully taking into consideration all shapes and sizes, and on and off-boarding initiative(s) centered around the employee experience, resulting in 100% participation in annual employee engagement survey.

Recreated new employee onboarding experience at Cox Automotive, integrating new team members into organization by facilitating first-week schedule for new hires with cross-functional team members, scheduling a tour of the Manheim Auction in Atlanta followed by lunch at the Cox Enterprises main campus. Organized team-building experiences in conjunction with UK counterparts which included new employee welcome events, baseball games, off-site meetings, team dinners, holiday parties, and happy hours.

Implemented Stand Up Desks for 100+ employees of a multi-million dollar business at Cox Enterprises.

Partnered with UAW-GM to drive operational efficiency, health, and safety within the plants, resulting in 70% increase of employee participation rate of new ideas through a digital vendor offerings program that tiered vendors in a program called UAW-GM Suggestion Plan.

Decade of experience managing corporate events with budgets ranging from $1,000 to $250,000 delivered on time and under budget, executing both alone and in collaboration with agencies. Completed post-event tasks that included a reconciliation of expenses, evaluation of hotel and overall event(s), report out on meeting results, and providing recommendations for future meeting improvements. 

Executed multi-day offsite meetings including sourcing venues, lodging, transportation and arranging for special guest appearances including a conference with a $250K budget for 500+ attendees, resulting in 90% delegate satisfaction. 

Organized timely, well-budgeted special events for C-suite executives, senior leaders, and their families including coordination of hotels and travel, VIP itineraries, logo creation, sponsorship, and site support for the $50,000 Cox Automotive title sponsored Las Vegas Governor’s Ball for three consecutive years in a row.

Planned and executed offsite meeting with a $40K overall budget for 50 delegates working in close collaboration with leadership; sourced venue, booked REMakes, organized dine-arounds in open trolleys , lodging, and arranged for cake decorating as our team building activity of choice in Athens, GA.

Managed all logistics for multi-day leadership offsite meeting in Highlands, NC for Cox Automotive which included: sourcing venue, lodging, transportation and and execution of all relevant contracts, and arranging for a special guest appearance with a $25K budget.

Executed leadership meetings and intimate dinners off the beaten path including art galleries, satellite Kitchens, gardens, rooftops and use of local used vehicle auction(s).

Managed all logistics for U.S.-based customers and executives for the British Open, working in close collaboration with the Manheim UK team during my tenure at Cox Automotive.

Execution of biweekly town hall meetings for live broadcast to 800+ employees across a remote and geographically dispersed team.

Executed and administered employee community advocacy programs for several organizations including a multi-million dollar corporation, building relationships with 10+ unique nonprofits across the city of Atlanta and galvanizing volunteerism, sustainability, and people-driven community service. Highlights include:

Spearheaded an event for a non-profit organization, StandUp for Kids, that is working to end the cycle of youth homelessness and personally coordinated the event with the SUFK staff, managed participation of the IHG team and secured donations of boxes and boxes of clothing and supplies for these kids, personally soliciting donations from Chick-fil-A, Corner Bakery and Communicorp.

Spearheaded an event for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta personally coordinated the event with the CHOA staff, managed participation of the IHG team as we divided and conquered to clean the "Zone" and serve breakfast to the parents and doctors.

I worked with my son’s school in the Cherokee County School district to institutionalize the first lunch bunch program to help children born on the Autism spectrum and those with a sensory disorder have a quiet place to eat lunch while they worked on social skills.

Drove awareness for Movember through a digital-first campaign, resulting in nearly 100% participation amongst a geographically dispersed team while we raised $1,200 to amplify men's health awareness at Cox Automotive, putting Skype to very good use!!

Orchestrated a coloring book drive two years in a row to support the patients of Winship Cancer Institute of Emory  while they received chemo.

 Managed over a dozen events to feed 170+ families at the Atlanta Ronald McDonald House and led a unique digital-first campaign to support Movember that resulted in nearly 100% employee participation as we raised $1,200 across our geographically dispersed team to raise awareness for men’s health. 

Organized an internal auction at Cox Automotive to sell off gently used desks at a steep discount, with all proceeds benefiting the Cox Employee Relief Fund.

GoDaddy Pro for Website Design and Hosting.

Designed and managed the intranet team space using Jive Software at Cox Automotive.

Keynote presentation design with samples of work available. I am a Canva power user, an online design and publishing tool.

Lead, managed, and organized the Microsoft Office Teams Space for effective remote collaboration.

Remote collaboration tools include: Skype, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, GoToWebinar, Dropbox, Basecamp, SharePoint, WebEx, Google, Slack, ServiceNow, Jive Sohware, Yammer, Workplace from Facebook.

CRM Tools include: Salesforce and HubSpot.

Publishing Platforms include:   Apple News, Kindle, Google Play, Flipboard, Scrib, Medium, Thrive Global.

Digital Marketing tools include: Canva, Adobe, Cvent, GoDaddy, MailChimp, Social Media, ASI Central, WordPress.

Expense and travel management tools include: Concur, American Express.

A/P and A/R: PeopleSoft Oracle.