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{Thomas Edwin Gemkow}

Currently Located in Lexington, Kentucky – soon to be location independent


352.586.5724 - thomas.gemkow@gmail.com
www.thomasgemkow.com

FREELANCE WRITER & SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERT


…also experienced retail sales & operations manager…

In my 9 years in the workforce, I have exhibited supreme leadership qualities that have lead to area leading sales
numbers, and high levels of workplace morale amongst my associates. However, retail hours can take a toll. I recently
decided to make a lifestyle change has lead me to combine my two passions in life—writing and driving sales results. I
recently took hybrid sales & content management position for a predominately online based company, That has shown
exponential growth each year over the last decade. My next step is to begin living a location independent lifestyle by
offering my services and expertise to companies of all sizes, to help maximize product exposure, search engine ranking &
bottom line profit. Demonstrated success record in the following areas.

 Developing sales associates to drive numbers, and help maximize niche markets in a retail setting.
 Maximizing bottom line profit by developing a strong, loyal customer base, and teaching my team to provide
world class customer service that is paralleled by no competitor.
 Experienced in both sales & operations sides of a big box, retail atmosphere.
 10 years of experience as a writer—both as a hobby & paid position.
 As a true motivator & associate developer, I have forged long lasting business relationships with my co workers
 Proven record of initiative and success in each position I have held in retail management, and have in a short
period of time, helped to increase the profitability and content management in my new position

CORE COMPETENCIES
 Teaching sales tactics Identifying talent levels  Developing business plans
 Building Strong Client Relations  Telephone marketing  SEO Content Writing
 Lead Generation  Developing Niche Sales Strategy  Driving results in Social Media

HIGHLIGHTED CAREER ACHIEVEMENTS


 Early Success – Youngest Sales Manager promoted in Circuit City’s Southeast District (age 21)
 Award Winning Content- Recognized twice in 2003 by the FCCPA for content in the form of print media
 Innovation Award – Nominated for companywide innovation award with Best Buy in 2009 for identifying and
developing a sales strategy around a niche market (Golf Cart Car Audio Installation)
 Continual Sales Results – Never missed a company issued goal in all measurable metrics in my 7 years of retail
management. Metrics included: services, sales, customer relations, unit penetration, attachment rates, execution
of warranty sales & turnover rate.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Trusted Health Products, Lexington, KY 2009 – Present


Content Manager
 Manage a team of 8 outsourced writers, who contribute content for link building strategies
 Manage a team of 4 client relations associates who make “warm” calls to clients to ensure product satisfaction
 Developed strategy to launch our brand in retail stores in the fall of 2010
 Role as Content Manager includes: coaching writers on the aspects of effective SEO writing, managing online
social media accounts for THP, writing sales & landing pages for our product, ensuring content falls within FTC &
FDA guidelines, writing and managing content for our auto responder campaign & authoring lead generation
material to gain customer opt-ins.
{Thomas Edwin Gemkow}
FREELANCE WRITER & SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERT
…also experienced retail sales & operations manager
…continued

Best Buy Stores LP, Lady Lake, FL May 2008 to October 2009
Store Services Manager (SSM), May 2008 to June 2009
Customer Solutions Manager (CSM), June 2009 to August 2009
Operations Manager (OPM), August 2009 to October 2009
Brought on as an external hire to grand open location in Lady Lake, FL. Initial job was to manage all operations and sales
aspects of the “Geek Squad” install services. This included PC, Home Theater and Car Audio installation. Managed 15-20
associates, and achieved fantastic business results, consistently ranking number one in all measurable metrics in our
district. Moved to CSM with companywide reorganization in June, and OPM as a lateral promotion as part of my personal
development plan with Best Buy.
Selected Contributions:
 Worked with corporate office to pioneer Golf Cart Installation, a field Best Buy had previously never ventured into.
Worked directly with purchasing team to secure new product lines necessary to complete these installs. The success
of this program led to the launch of this program in 3 other major markets.
 Led store to best profitability for a Geek Squad Precinct in our district. Managed 3 teams in the field that performed
house calls for home theater and PC installation. Was responsible for route management and technician productivity.
 Had the lowest turnover rate of any store in our district, while having the highest associate “View Point” score; View
Point is an associate happiness survey that measures the associates level of satisfaction through 32 different metrics.
 Trained an entire sales force of 45-50 associates on the importance of extended service plans, and how to effectively
present them to clients.

Circuit City Stores, Inc March 2003 to December 2007


Sales Manager (SM), October 2004 to May 2008
Store Director in Training (SDIT), June 2007 to May 2008
Previous Positions: Sales Associate, Product Specialist March 2003 to October 2004
Managed a store team of 60-70 associates (dependent on location) and drove top sales results at each location. I played
an important role in the company wide launch of firedog as a services brand, helping to develop sales strategies for the
entire southeast territory of Circuit City.
Selected Contributions:
 Was head Sales Manager of the DLC—District Learning Center in Daytona that all new managers and supervisors were
sent to for training. The DLC served as the testing ground for many new company initiatives.
 Was part of the Store Director in training program before leaving the company to pursue other endeavors.

The St. Petersburg Times January 2001 to December 2003


Sports Correspondent
Worked as a “stringer” covering high school sporting events across 4 counties through West Central Florida. Had over 50
articles published in this time span, both on the Citrus Times section of the website (now defunct) and the print edition of
the Citrus Times section of the St Petersburg Times.

Citrus County Chronicle January 2000 to December 2004


Sports Correspondent
Was a regular contributor to the Sports Section, covering all high school sports in Citrus County. Had over 250 articles
published in my time with the Citrus County Chronicle. Developed and maintained 2 ongoing series that were about
underdog athletes & athletes that also excelled in the class room.
{Thomas Edwin Gemkow}
FREELANCE WRITER & SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERT
…also experienced retail sales & operations manager
…continued

Ocala Star Banner January 2002 to December 2004


Sports Correspondent
Covered high school sports off and on in the Marion County area. My work included game coverage, feature story and
game previews. As a subsidiary of the New York Times, several of my pieces were syndicated, and published larger
publications such as the Orlando Sentinel & Miami Herald. In my time with the Ocala Star Banner, I had roughly 25 of my
pieces published.

The Patriot Press January 2002 to December 2003


Sports Editor
Editor in Chief
Was exposed to my first experience as a leader in the writing world with The Patriot Press. A student run publication
affiliated with Central Florida Community College. Two of my pieces in 2003 were selected by the Florida Community
st nd
College Press Association (FCCPA) as best in their respective classes—1 place for Best Feature Story & 2 place for Best
Sports Feature. In my year as Editor in Chief, we garnered top 3 recognition in 22 of the 25 categories in which our
newspaper was graded by the FCCPA.

RELEVANT SKILLS
 Fluent with Word Press CMS (expert) Adobe Photoshop (moderate)  Microsoft Office Suite (expert)
 CSS (beginner)  Adobe Dreamweaver (moderate)  Jasc Paint Shop PRO (moderate)
 HTML (moderate)  Social Media Platforms (expert)

REFERENCES
You can find relevant references for each of the above mentioned field of work by check out this link.

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