Laura Szeliga

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT LAURA SZELIGA

I am an executive with a successful track record of growing consumer facing businesses across diverse industries, categories, marketing targets and global markets. My expertise is in quickly learning a new business and driving change to address consumer needs. I am skilled at engaging cross functional and multinational teams to perform beyond their expectations, and I am passionate about building brands that consumers love. I\'m a classically trained CPG marketer, but I\'ve pursued new opportunities in other industries so that I could keep growing as a marketer and businessperson. Career highlights include the following:In 2018, I was recruited to help turnaround Papa Murphy’s take & bake pizza, a brand that had not stayed relevant. We achieved the highest comp sales in 3 years and grew EBITDA by +8.9% thereby enabling the company to sell for +46% vs the pre-sale announcement price. These results were achieved in part through expanded digital marketing, a new advertising and social media campaign targeting millennials, as well as increased online ordering and delivery.I joined the eCommerce company, Provide Commerce, to bring consumer centric marketing and strategic leadership to direct response businesses and to become digitally fluent. I led a new gifting strategy for Shari’s Berries and began launching a more diverse pipeline of products such as Cake Pops. We also created a more modern and personalized gift experience which was unique in the category. I was promoted to lead ProFlowers where we launched incremental assortments to tap into trends such as Air purifying plants.While at Dean Foods, I transformed the Dean Foods chocolate milk business with a new strategy and brand (TruMoo) that unified 35 brands for the first time with a consumer preferred product and new, highly effective advertising. This drove +24% volume,+30% profit and +6pp share in the pilot market followed by +11% growth in year 2. During my successful tenure at Kraft Foods, I honed my marketing skills leading several iconic brands including Jell-O and Crystal Light. I led every phase of new product development and was subsequently recruited to an expat assignment in Central and Eastern Europe. In that role I led a cross functional international team in launching Kraft Dinners in the Czech Republic in just 7 months despite lengthy prior delays. I also led marketing for global brands Timex and Oral-B.I have a passion for food, food trends, nutrition and the impact of food in culture. I have traveled to over 35 countries and speak fluent French.