Michelle Laxa

Experience

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  AT&T

  Nov 1991 - Jul 2000

  Senior Account Executive ♦ Customized Ad Solutions for Small and Medium Businesses

  I was hired straight out of college into outside sales and worked with approximately 100 small to medium businesses developing their advertising strategy and programs each year.This role sparked my love of working with small, medium-sized and family businesses. While collaborating with my clients, I was able to learn about their business strategies, how they reached revenue and margin goals, and what sales volume and ROI they would need from our solutions.Every customer was unique, and I enjoyed tailoring solutions that worked for them. My ability to partner to with customers contributed to my status as a top performer, including President’s Club awards for my sales efforts. Show less

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  Valassis Marketing Solutions

  Jul 2000 - Mar 2011

  My time at Valassis taught me about what it takes to succeed at leading cross-functional teams effectively. It’s often hard to attract new team members to participate in new initiatives, but over the years I learned through successes and failures, how to build teams with members who feel valued, and discovered how to get people with different experience and perspectives to work together effectively.My contributions helped me become a multiple-year 'Soaring Eagle' President's Club winner & consistent top performer.My teams’ success in terms of deliverables, client satisfaction and employee engagement, gave them a solid reputation and great career opportunities within the company. Show less Valassis hired me to be a part of building a new division promoting and selling a new advertising format, where I led efforts to win new customers and garner budgets for national marketing initiatives.My team led the company in innovating product sampling. We were early pioneers of testing and analytics, working with our clients to test variable messaging and graphics to determine what resonated with their target customers. At the time it was typical to use this targeted format at an MSA level, and we created test sampling that drilled down to the household level to learn what would drive highest sales and ROI. Being able to provide this level of detail showed true value to our clients and garnered more sales for our company. Show less

  • New Business & Strategic Account Development ♦ Innovative, Data-Driven Marketing Concepts

    Nov 2007 - Mar 2011

  • National Account Development, New Business Development, National Account Director

    Jul 2000 - Oct 2007
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  Edgewise Team Strategies, Inc.

  Jun 2012 - now

  Founder ♦ Transforming the potential of organizations by rewiring and revitalizing team interactions

  I founded Edgewise Team Strategies because I learned from experience just how difficult it can be for even successful teams to work through challenges and succeed together. I knew there had to be a better way for leaders and team members to get and stay on the same page, and have the conversations and discussions needed to turn conflict into creativity and innovation.Edgewise works with closely held small and medium-sized organizations and family businesses to provide the opportunity, language and tools for leadership groups and teams to transform forever what they can achieve together, by rewiring the way they understand and respond to one another, revitalizing interactions and positively impacting outcomes.Our science- based tools include The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team, Everything DiSC on Catalyst and TTI Success Insights. Paired with our deep experience and our ability to develop a comprehensive understanding of our clients’ businesses, markets, and competition, we bring a level of knowledge, capabilities and accessibility not typically experienced by smaller organizations. Our systems are designed to immediately transform the way leadership and employees interact with each other and strive toward common goals.We help our clients:• Develop their leaders and leadership teams• Build engaged, innovative, cross-functional teams• Get the best people in the right seats• Establish transition and succession plans, and exit strategiesI’m proud to be a trusted partner to my clients and help them build stronger organizations. If you’d like to learn more, please message me or call 248-505-7930. Show less