Meet Felicia in Brand Management

Describe your educational background. Where did you study? What degrees did you receive?   

Kean College, Union, NJ, B.A. in English.    
      
Describe your career history. What were your professional experiences prior to your current position?      
     
I began my career in publishing at John Wiley, a professional, technical, and reference publisher, as a Sales Assistant. I was promoted to a Sales Promotional Coordinator after only two short months. A year later, I accepted a position at HarperCollins as a Promotions Manager. Two years later, I accepted a position at the now-defunct Van Nostrand Rheinhold publisher, a subsidiary of Thompson International, as an Events Manager. One year later, I accepted a New York Sales Rep position. In 1994, I came to Random House as a National Accounts Manager for the Children’s Division. In 1999, I accepted the position of Director, National Accounts, Mass Market for the Children’s Division. In 2001, I accepted the position of Vice President, Brand Management, Random House Children’s Books.    
      
What are your current roles and responsibilities?     
     
I lead cross-functional efforts of internal and external initiatives, and I identify and initiate opportunities to expand/license programs. I recommend changes to product, positioning, advertising, promotion, pricing, and retail strategy after close evaluation to ensure growth and development of our programs and publishing lines.    
      
Describe a typical day at your job?     
     
A typical day can include: providing updates to licensors on retail and sales performance of their respective brands; making recommendations on editorial direction in relation to marketplace and licensor initiatives or pricing and publishing strategy; identifying and communicating market trends, holes, and growth opportunities via verbal/written proposals with supporting data to marketing and editorial; or establishing aggressive and realistic sales targets by brand/title.     

     
What attracted you to your company and position?     

The long-standing reputation of excellence in publishing is what initially attracted me to Random House. What has kept me here are the extraordinary people that I continue to learn from. The attraction to my current position as Vice President, Brand Management was the exciting chance to develop a brand-new team. Although Brand Management is common in CPG companies, it is a fairly new concept in publishing. To be the first to lead a new team in a new arena is always exciting.     
      
What has been your most memorable moment (so far) in your job?     
     
My most memorable and fulfilling moment came after months of developing my team in unchartered (sometimes rocky) waters. After I returned from a long vacation, my boss reported that my team performed beautifully and never missed a beat. That’s a great feeling.    
      
What qualities do you feel are necessary to be a successful employee at your company?     
     
One word: flexibility. Change is essential to growth. One must be flexible in order to participate in change.    
      
Do you feel you have a good understanding of Bertlesmann and its corporate culture?     
     
Yes. I also have a clear understanding and respect for the many micro-cultures within the corporate culture.