Carl Helton

Regional Leader/Executive Director in the dental/orthodontic industry and retail industry, driving operational excellence and achieving strategic business goals. Demonstrates expertise in customer service, talent management, and financial analysis, consistently surpassing revenue targets and fostering high-performing teams. Adept at leveraging market insights and innovative strategies to capitalize on emerging opportunities and enhance organizational growth.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF ORTHODONTICS 01/2018 to Current 

AREA DENTAL MANAGER 

Benevis, MS-IN-TX-LA-KY-GA-KS

• Leading orthodontic/dental teams in a region, with over thirty-nine offices, in the execution of best operating practices, operating efficiencies, and superior customer service
• Achieves revenue targets, annual budgets, and strategic business goals for their assigned market
• Use key performance indicators to develop and implement plans to ensure revenue and budget objectives are met and actively follow through with them
• Analyzes financial trend data and acts on area of opportunity, balancing operations costs accordingly, profit and loss reports
• Recruits, hires, and develops managers, staff, and all doctors capable of building teams that provide best in class patient care
• Directly supports Orthodontists/Dentist to achieve high quality clinical results, positive patient experience and achieve monthly forecasts
• Leverages market advertising, marketing, and sales to best advantage within an area
• Manages all licensed/non-licensed staff members & ensures training and development of staff
• Achieves office performance targets & drive local marketing initiatives
• Monitors departmental expenses to ensure that store operates within budget, heavy emphasis on managing payroll
• Maximizes employee retention through utilization of best practices in hiring and mentoring
• Creates and analyzes weekly/monthly schedules and adjusts as necessary to accommodate workload relative to business needs
• Built and deepened partnerships with industry leaders to strengthen collaborative efforts and promote mutual profitability.
• Collaborated with internal teams and suppliers to evaluate costs against expected market price points and set structures to achieve profit targets.
• Managed budgets, appointment scheduling, employee and event itineraries and accounts to improve productivity initiatives.
• Monitored customer buying trends, market conditions and competitor actions to adjust strategies and achieve sales goals.
• Leveraged profit opportunities by recruiting top talent and managing brand image to exceed plan performance.

STORE MANAGER, OPERATIONS MANAGER, HARDLINES MANAGER, LOGISTICS MANAGER/LEAD MERCHANDISER01/2010 to 01/2018 

Academy Sports & Outdoors, Hattiesburg, MS

• Stores ranked top fifteen in company for the past 6 years, helped store sales top $25 million this year and achieve growth 
• Oversees an assigned store to inspire and lead associates while driving sales 
• Conveys Academy's entrepreneurial and sales-oriented culture to capture and preserve market share
• Provides strategic regional merchandise insights to Academy's merchant organization from personal insights and customer feedback 
• Drives store profitability by driving sales and managing expenses including payroll, maintenance, shrink and other controllable expenses 
• Manages and motivates team to increase sales and ensure efficiency; directly supervises and directs department team lead and associates, identifies department priorities, and assigns tasks 
• Analyzes sales figures and stock levels to identify sales opportunities and communicates needs to buying divisions 
• Develops and maintains a strong working relationship with all associates within department, communicates with the buying office in a regular basis on product or level issues 
• Plans and implements store Plan-O-Grams, end caps, and seasonal merchandising projects and displays 
• Ensures compliance and implementation of all Academy policies and procedures; to provide a safe, productive workplace for associates and customers; ensures compliance with local, state, and federal laws, emphasis on ATF regulations 

DISTRICT MANAGER, HOME IMPROVEMENT MANAGER, ASSISTANT STORE MANAGER 01/1996 to 01/2010 

Sears Roebuck & Co, Hattiesburg, MS

• Manager over a multi-million-dollar department for over 14 years 
• Supervised all aspects of department operation such as scheduling, merchandising, sales goals, inventory, PA's, cash management and approvals 
• Grew department sales by transforming an under producing sales team, immediately resolving long-standing problems, and instituting incentives that elevated performance while building morale and motivation 
• Performed monthly sales forecasting and competitive analysis to determine product and sales employee's performance levels and the need for new training or product developments on an annual basis 
• Maintained great standards on inventory control 12-million-dollar merchandise department 
• #1 Sales Team in both Brand Central and Home Improvement departments several years running 

Generated new business through networking efforts and execution of creative marketing plans

University of Southern Ms