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What were you doing before?

I’ve spent all of my adult life working in luxury retail in several different capacities, creating, managing and marketing an upscale jewelry salon (M.C. Ginsberg).

Was this a big change for you?

It’s a change in that I’m representing a different product, a different service, but similar in that I’m working to help people find solutions. I really like working with people, and what I like most about my new role is being able to draw on my experience as a small business person to help me help other small business people be more efficient in how they operate.

What led to the change?

The reality is it’s a very difficult time if you’re in the luxury consumer goods world, and that started for me a period of introspection about other things that I might enjoy doing, not so much specific jobs but skills that I have that I’d like to be able to continue to use but in a different capacity.

Are there a couple of priorities you’re focused on?

I’m a huge believer in what inFocus Partners can do to help other small businesses be more efficient and more productive and ultimately more profitable. I know firsthand how challenging small business is even during the best of times, because small business owners and managers are expected to do so many different things. My whole goal is to introduce inFocus Partners to as many small and medium-sized businesses as possible so we can help them run more easily, save them money, reduce the hassles and headaches.

Is the director of sales position new for inFocus Partners?

Yes. Infocus Partners has existed since 2001, although we went through a rebranding and renaming process just last year. I’ve been brought in to help spearhead an outreach for the first time. So we’re a company that has existed profitably for eight years and we think the potential is just to grow it exponentially. But that’s not going to happen by osmosis as it has in the past. This is the first time we’re actually going out and aggressively marketing and seeking out new business.

Has the business been affected by the recession?

Actually, although no one wants a business downturn, for our business, a more challenging economy is an opportunity because business owners are examining every process and every expense, and if there’s a way to do something more easily and save money, they’re more open to change.

What excites you about the job?

Creating something new again. When I moved to Des Moines in 1997, it was to essentially create a business that had only the vaguest of business plans and I was given a lot of entrepreneurial freedoms and that’s what excites me about this opportunity as well. We’re a young, vital organization that’s not necessarily doing business as usual.

Was it daunting to change careers?

It’s a little bit challenging going from a field where the term I use is relatively mastery, going from something you’re very comfortable knowing you know inside and out, to switch gears and reapply those same skills in a different industry. That’s a challenge, but not a bad one, right? We need those things to keep us vital.

What do you like to do for fun?

I’m a wine hobbyist, which is a fancy way of saying I like to drink wine. And I’ve coached my daughters’ softball teams for four years. I’m a voracious consumer of periodicals. I read (many) magazines cover to cover and I love a morning newspaper.

What is your favorite wine?

Depends on what I’m eating.

What is your favorite magazine?

I know it’s very old school but I just love Time magazine.

Is there a piece of advice you live by?

I have a favorite saying that’s kind of cliché, but luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

What is one word to describe yourself?

Passionate.