Megan Husko
Administrative Assistant & Life Skills Specialist
DANDELION ORGANIC - MARKETING
Introduction/Overview
Dandelion Organic Delivery
Dandelion Organic Delivery, founded in 2007, is dedicated to providing beautiful, fresh and delicious organic produce directly to people’s homes. Their convenient and affordable service saves customers time, money, and gasoline while enhancing their healthy lifestyle.
Customers can order small or large bins of fruits and/or vegetables for $28.00 - $36.00. Orders can be customized online to suit each customers unique preferences. Hundreds of individuals, families, and local businesses receive regularly scheduled deliveries every week.
Dandelion Organic Delivery also promotes sustainability by sourcing produce from local growers, encouraging the growth of the organic food industry and reducing their environmental impact at every opportunity. They also make every effort to support the local community and listen to the needs of their customers.
Description of Organization
Supervisor
Maria Starvrakas
Maria Stavrakas is the co-owner of Dandelion Organic Delivery. As a first generation immigrant, she grew up in the Greek-American community in Baltimore, MD.
She received her Bachelors of Art in Theater and Bachelors of Science in Hospitality Management from the University of New Hampshire in 1997. After a couple of years working in the hotel industry in San Francisco, she along with her current husband and business partner followed their passions and hiked the Pacific Crest Trail in the year 2000. Near the end of their trail life, they fell in love with the North Cascades and moved to Seattle and after a few years in the big city, they discovered Bellingham.
Learning Objectives
Course Learning Objectives
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To have effective experience practicing leadership, management, and facilitation.
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To improve writing skills related to leading and managing in organizations.
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To effectively use course concepts and terms to diagnose leadership and to diagnose and improve your own leadership experience.
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To develop and practice skills necessary for effectively leading teams and projects.
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To understand the implications of diversity and ethics on leadership in organizations.
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To develop written, oral, and interpersonal communication skills as a leader.
Personal Learning Objectives
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Exercise time management in meeting project deadlines.
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Practice effective decision-making.
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Challenge the process by sharing innovative ideas and opportunities.
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Practice situational leadership.
Project Description
Project Objectives
Project Process
Description of Project
Reflection
Project Outcomes
Reflection on Learning
Appendix
I worked as a consultant with Dandelion Organic Delivery to improve and expand their marketing efforts. One aspect of this was improving their communications with their current customers. I created a few seasonal news letters, including a gift giving guide, to maintain positive relationships with customers while encouraging referral marketing.
I also created a newsletter for them to reconnect with past customers. It included information about their new website, online order customization program, and a call to action for them to visit their website and check out the changes themselves.
The last newsletter I made was a follow-up e-mail designed to be sent to potential customers that they met at marketing events. This mail-out included information on how to sign-up.
Aside from creating mail-outs I also designed a brochure to promote their business. This brochure can be handed out during networking and marketing events.
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Have established newsletters that can be updated and reused with ease.
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Utilize e-mail database to reconnect with previous customers by sending a sign-up offer e-mail.
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Reach out to the community by participating in events with marketing opportunities. This will be done by creating handout materials, like a brochure.
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Meet with the project supervisor to discuss project objectives and specific tasks necessary to achieve these goals. These are defined in the Client Contract
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Develop a project plan to outline tasks necessary to complete the project on time (Appendix A)
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Have meetings with the project supervisor to confirm expectations and review deliverables.
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Utilize Mail Chimp to create virtual marketing materials, get the mail-outs approved by project supervisors and schedule delivery. Samples of the newsletters created are included in Appendix B.
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Design brochures for community marketing events. Samples of materials created are included in Appendix C.
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Send weekly memos to keep project supervisors informed on project progress (Appendix D)
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Wrap-up project, reflect on experience, and celebrate accomplishments.
This project provided me a great opportunity to gain real world experience as a project leader.
One of the primary things I learned through this experience is the importance of good communication. With my busy school schedule and my supervisor, Maria's, busy work schedule, we didn't have much time to meet in person. So, during our meetings we needed to be clear and concise in our communications. To help me with this I began making a "to-do" list before each meeting to stay on topic and ensure we discussed everything that needed to be resolved.
Another thing I learned is how to engage in the practice of challenging the process. I worked hard to come up with creative and innovative solutions on how to expand and improve their customer data basis then I took action so that they could try out these new ideas.
They decided moving to Bellingham would give them the opportunity to open a business in line with their personal values and to grow a family. They have successfully grown both their business and little ones since they opened Dandelion Organic Delivery in 2007.
Maria is grateful for the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest as well as the passionate residents of Bellingham which help make this place a great place to raise a family.
A - Project Plan
D - Memos
1 2 3 4 5
B - Work Sample: Newsletter
C - Work Sample: Brochure
Deliverables
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5 Newsletters
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Brochure
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Jump drive with organized files
I really enjoyed working with Dandelion Organic Delivery. We had a successful project process which enabled me to complete all deliverables on time and to a high level of satisfaction.