Dean Forthun

Experience

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  New Jersey Jackals

  Jan 2010 - Jan 2011

  Professional Baseball Player

  Played minor league baseball, unaffiliated. Catcher.

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  Lagardère Sports

  Jun 2011 - Mar 2013

  Account Manager, Partnerships and Event Marketing

  Led grassroots strategies for 11 national brands including Entenmann's, Sprite, Jiff, and Clif Bar - Owned the customer journey from post-sales through renewal and expansion with 110% annual net retention rate - Managed a team of 24 brand ambassadors across 150 events and $10MM in client product and marketing assets - Developed and led quarterly and annual presentations and analyses of program performance to key stakeholders - Partnered with sales in securing 3 new partnerships including Whistle Sports, Kellogg's, and Johnson & Johnson Show less

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  Genesco Sports Enterprises

  Jun 2013 - Apr 2015

  Account Manager, Partnerships Consulting for Pepsi Motorsports

  Led strategy planning and prioritization for more than 100 NASCAR related brand initiatives- Managed $12MM in Hendrick Motorsports Racing assets to drive national, regional, and local brand awareness and increase year-over-year beverage sales- Strengthened client relationships through daily communication and a focus on building impactful team dynamics through inclusivity, transparency, and trust - Evaluated, planned, and executed national and regional marketing initiatives leveraging Pepsi drivers Jeff Gordon, Dale Jr., and Kasey Kahne. Show less

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  Octagon

  Sept 2015 - Feb 2019

  Account Director, Partnerships Consulting for Taco Bell Corp.

  Owned client success and growth through strategic, data-driven, and tactical approaches to both long-term and day-to-day brand initiatives.- Managed $10MM in assets across 6 high profile partnerships including ESPN, MLB, NBA, PGA, Indie Gaming, and Xbox - Drove creative marketing campaigns from incubation to completion in collaboration with multiple marketing agencies including TV, PR, social, digital, and experiential - Provided customer and competitive research insights focused on high-valued, customer-obsessed opportunities Show less

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  Taco Bell

  Feb 2019 - Sept 2022

  Product Manager, Operations

  Customer-centric problem solver. Managed high-value relationships internally for corporate and externally with Franchise Owners to deliver technological and non-technological solutions to restaurants to simplify work and drive profit growth. Owned product lifecycles, roadmaps, requirements, go-to-market strategy, stakeholder alignment, and customer feedback to drive bottom line business results.

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  Northwestern Mutual

  Sept 2022 - now

  Financial Advisor

  I do investments and insurances as a comprehensive financial planner. When people say, “I gotta guy,” that’s me and my team. We look at everything including up-market strategies, down-market strategies, tax efficiencies, risk management, milestone planning, education planning, legacy and estate planning, personal and business planning. We plug in where needed or do it all. This is true comprehensive financial planning.