Derek Kirk

About Derek Kirk

I\'m a senior marketing executive with 20+ years building consumer brands, launching loyalty platforms, and driving revenue growth across multi-unit, franchise, and distributed business models.I\'ve led marketing at VP level for brands including Hurricane Grill & Wings, Brooklyn Water Bagels, Chevy\'s Fresh Mex, and A. Ray Hospitality — managing multi-million dollar budgets, building CRM systems from scratch, and consistently turning around declining sales through smarter strategy and cleaner execution.My work spans digital marketing, paid media, franchisee relations, off-premise strategy, and brand positioning. I build plans teams can actually execute, and I tie every dollar of spend to traffic, check average, and repeat.I\'m open to VP Marketing leadership roles in Nashville or remote, and I take on focused consulting engagements through The Restaurant Nerd, working directly with operators on marketing strategy, delivery platform performance, and CRM.Wharton MBA. Based in Nashville.Founder of soulPhoodie, a Black-owned e-commerce brand creating bold apparel and kitchen essentials inspired by Black food culture, built to celebrate its flavor, history, and creativity.

Experience

1. Founder

   Soulphoodie

   Jan 2016 — Present

   soulPhoodie is a Black-owned e-commerce brand that celebrates Black food and beverage culture through bold, well-crafted kitchen wares and premium apparel rooted in design, legacy, and flavor. As the founder, I set the vision and direction for the brand, build partnerships and collaborations, and oversee the day-to-day work that brings new products, stories, and experiences to life for customers who love Black food culture. culture.

Education

• North Carolina Central University

  BBA, Finance

• The Wharton School

  MBA, Entrepreneurial Management & Marketing

Skills

• Public Relations
• Strategy
• Creative Strategy
• Leadership
• Advertising
• Marketing
• Crm
• Budgets
• Social Media
• Menu Development
• Media Planning
• Start-Ups
• Direct Marketing
• Creative Direction
• Brand Positioning Strategies
• Management
• Creative Developement
• Email Marketing
• Marketing Communications
• Brand Management
• Marketing Strategy