Kelsey Hanson

I’m a Marketing Director with 11+ years of cross-industry experience transforming marketing departments and driving sustained business growth. At Specialty Restaurants Corporation, I led enterprise-wide marketing strategy for a multi-brand portfolio spanning 13 brands and 16 locations, owning full department operations, people leadership, and annual budget while partnering directly with the SVP and President. When stepping into a leaderless department, I executed a full turnaround—rebuilding SOPs, renegotiating vendor contracts, and restoring cross-functional trust—without interrupting campaign execution.

I’m known for quickly mastering new business landscapes and turning marketing investment into measurable, bottom-line results. I led full brand identity development—naming, visual identity, and positioning—for 3–5 restaurant concepts, rebranding existing properties and launching new ones from the ground up. For example, I rebranded Whiskey Joe's Happy Hour as “Island Hour,” delivering an average 213% increase in location-level sales within six months, and I generated an 87% lift in revenue for Whiskey Red's On the Docks Summer Happy Hour since launch.

I deliver performance through disciplined, data-driven execution across channels. I managed OpenTable campaigns over 2.5 years, producing $3M+ in confirmed revenue from ~$175K in spend—averaging 17x ROAS and peaking at 22x in Q4—and I deployed Marketo at scale, sending 1.6M emails over 7 months with a CTR 2x above industry benchmark. Earlier roles strengthened my foundation in digital and content strategy—building high-performing social programs, running email campaigns with 27%+ CTR, managing $500K+ annual marketing budgets, and supporting web operations via Cascade CMS—so I can lead teams and brands with clarity, accountability, and momentum.