RICHARD FLYNN

Ph: 717.825.1628

DEVELOPING INNOVATIVE STRATEGIES

With 20 years of strong executive leadership and high emotional intelligence, I turn companies around within a matter of months. Businesses hire me to engineer large-scale transformations around cash flow, operational technology and people. The results? Brands that move forward with a new sense of purpose, propelled by profitability, and the right people and processes.

"Quickly saw illogical and inefficient procedures and policies, developed and implemented comprehensive systems which solved our organizational and financial problems."

For over 20 years Richard Flynn has built a distinguished record of achievement as a global business leader, a consultant to small and large businesses and has worked with trade organizations throughout the world. He is a creative thinker of broad knowledge and wide interests. Sectors include technology, consumer, eCommerce, retail, financial services, non-profit, education, and legal.

Richard is an ingenious and innovative problem-solver and troubleshooter. He has an actively inquiring mind, a lively interest in all aspects of his work, and a need to know and learn more about the systems, techniques, facts, and concepts involved in it. Richard immediately sees illogical and inefficient procedures and policies, develops and implements comprehensive systems which solve organizational and financial problems. This results in opportunities for expedited revenue streams and cost-cutting measures evidenced in a corporate turnaround that increased revenue by greater than 400% and decreased costs by 30% in less than one year.

His leadership style consists of the development of both business and individual successes. His mentorship has led to several direct reports advancing to senior leadership positions. By providing a clear vision, direction, calm demeanor, and flexibility his teams reach optimum performance. He is a student of leadership and methods that enhance its value with the most recent being EOS/Traction.

At Tower Records, he took an iconic brand in financial distress and developed a business model that turned them into an eCommerce powerhouse with additional revenue streams in-licensing and partnerships. He funded the functional operations through the negotiation of contracts and cost-cutting measures of unprofitable divisions throughout the company. He began his career in the mass litigation sector negotiating class action suits for a 3 Billion Trust Fund and created a pioneering Audit program that increased the fund size for meritorious claims.

He serves as Board Chairman of Virtual Preparatory Academy of Pennsylvania founded by the pioneer in the online education sector, Ron Packard. He also sits on the Music Industry & Recording Technology Advisory Board at York College of Pennsylvania and sits on several business boards and advisory committees.

Richard earned his Bachelor's Degree from Slippery Rock University and is currently attending The Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania) in Leadership in the 21st Century, Managing and Motivating Talent, Managing the Global Firm and Strategic Management: Competitive and Corporate Strategy.

Let's Connect - email me here

About Me

“I’m the leader who provides the best chance for your company to succeed …”

Are you ready for change? I’m a rainmaker at large who’s taken on the most common issues that both global corporate giants and small business owners face … with transformative results.

I don’t say that lightly.

Companies bring me in to turn their multimillion-dollar businesses around. Private equity firms rely on me to guide distressed firms they’ve purchased through tumultuous times. Over 20 years, I’ve built a global network of industry leaders, business owners and entrepreneurs whom I can call on for special resources.

I can look at a business model and tell you if it’ll work or not. I’ll tell you if you have the right people in the right seats, right people in the wrong seats or the wrong people in the right seats.

When I started out in business, I wasn’t sure where my path would take me, but I had confidence in one big idea: I’d make every effort to treat my relationships with others, regardless of status, with the utmost respect to cultivate value in our company culture.

Many people measure success solely through profit and productivity, budgets and bottom lines, and goals and gains.

However, in my two decades of senior executive roles in nearly 10 industries, I take a wider role of what it means to be “successful” in business year after year: Have we improved over the previous years? Have we cultivated our important relationships with our customers, employees and vendors? Have we made a positive impact? Has our leadership and mentorship helped our team succeed and thrive?

Answering “yes” to most or all of those questions means that we’ve built a venture that’s more than profitable: We offer goods and services that make the world a better place. We create a culture where productive employees move up and thrive. We create a business model that’s built for greatness.

About Me

Let's Connect - email me here

Building or rebuilding companies is a NOW proposition.

Quickly saw illogical and inefficient procedures and policies, developed and implemented comprehensive systems which solved our organizational and financial problems.

~ CEO - family run business sold in less than six months… during COVID

You were our best, last chance to succeed. And, we’re still here.

~ President, Financial Services

Anchor 1

“He sees things others do not”

$50M Direct Marketing company which increased real revenue by 401% and grew EBITDA from 14.5 to 19%.

The best way to sum Rick up is that he sees things others do not; knows how to fix problems while providing a communicative vision that benefited our clients and staff members. His review quickly led him to focus on an under-performing division which he believed it had the most potential in a turnaround situation short-term and provide a long-term growth scenario. His plan was comprehensive and incorporated the vision, communication and process development and in less than 9 months he transformed the division (over 400% growth and 30% cost reduction) into a significant asset in the eventual negotiation and sale of the company.

~ Richard O.

You can have a balanced life and increase profits.

“I am now able to spend more time with my family…”

~ Family-run small service business

Richard has helped me get control over my business instead of me feeling the business dictates my every move. He has given me perspectives from looking at the business from the outside that I could not see while running it on a day-to-day basis. Because I followed his advice I am now able to spend more time with my family and do some of the things I like to do. In addition to that, my net profit has gone up even though I cut revenue by ridding myself of problem jobs.

~ Michael S.

Selected History

Leadership is better when one knows what one is delegating.

One of the more knowledgeable executives/leaders I have had the pleasure to work for. Rick's natural leadership abilities, forward thinking, and understanding of market drivers and conditions allowed him to take a "novelty" industry and turn it into something on a much larger scale. His pioneering leadership within the eCommerce industry provided opportunities for other organizations to enter, expand and move this retail sector into a viable profitable electronic business.

~ Paul D.

What may appear simple respect is not always the way it is.

Rick is one of the smartest, energetic, and, most importantly, ethical people I have met in my 40+ year history in the music industry. His honesty and caring for those he touches are life-long, and he will be a friend forever. He is an incredible family man - he and his wife educate their children, he spends time with them, but never loses focus concerning business. He mentioned once that he has 24 hours a day to get done what needs to be done.

I have told him that if he was involved in the music industry handling artists a long time ago I truly believe that he would have had a major impact on many of the issues that artists from the 60's through 80's have due to less than honesty in the business.

~ Ray K.

Leadership is about empowerment.

Rick is a people guy. He took the reins during an ownership change and stabilized an otherwise shaky time at Powermax. While there, everyone was respected and listened to by the very top. We were all empowered to run our departments effectively, and the company was better off for it.

~ Ben F.

Leadership is about picking up the phone and talking with customers every once in awhile.

I had a great experience with Richard's company, PowerMax. Their customer service was excellent, and they made me a very satisfied customer of me. I will surely be a repeat client. It's refreshing to deal with a company whose leadership is engaged and attentive to the business. I highly recommend doing business with them.

~ Donald R.

... and having a short learning curve.

Richard learned our product line quickly. Then, using his experience and refreshing creativity, he launched successful ad campaigns for us. He developed metrics to measure the effects of each campaign to further refine it.

One of Richard’s greatest strengths? He always had his finger on our company’s pulse: bringing our employees together, asking for their ideas, listening seriously, asking more questions, and then developing a team consensus to move us forward.

I’d work with Richard again in a heartbeat.

~ Steve L.

History

Hands-on Executive in companies from start-up through $100M+ with proven success in strategic management, marketing/sales, operations, process improvements, change management and customer engagement. Serves as a change leader, driving company culture towards rapid growth and customer focus through the definition of a clear strategy and development and execution of action plans. Holds expertise in P&L management, with a passion to disrupt conventional business models. Enjoys building service portfolios to meet complex market opportunities and simplify customer experiences. Creates and deploys multi-functional operations and multi-channel marketing initiatives, recognized as a best-in-class thought leader focused on results and revenue generation. Overcomes budget constraints in struggling times while maintaining a cost-oriented culture during productive periods.

Transformative Leader that reinvented Tower Records ($1B annual revenue; 3M SKUs; 200 stores in 21 states) into an Ecommerce powerhouse through implementation of crisis management and execution of brand and model strategy that integrated new technology with initiatives that were integral to the brand and licensing. (Executive Editor – new PULSE! Magazine online). Made profitable within 24 months.
Multi-channel lead generation increased the customer base by 450,000 in six months.
Conceptualized, planned, and executed an original niche model in the eCommerce/Direct Marketing retail space. Wall Street Journal survey of retail experts and average shoppers named Red Trumpet in a list of favorite consumer shopping sites, alongside Amazon and eBay 18 months after launch.
Led a multimillion-dollar 6-month turnaround through process modification, which increased real revenue by 401% and grew EBITDA from 14% to 19%.
Lead negotiator in $3 billion mass litigation settlement fund.
Brings 17+ years of operational experience within the global marketplace, highlighted by partnering with trade organizations in the US and Japan.

Selected History

Senior Director, District Development, ACCESS411

2021 - PRESENT

Strategic Advisory Executive, REF GROUP / TRUE ADVISORY GROUP

2011 - PRESENT

Multiple industry Subject Matter Expert consulting with multi-national corporations engaged in commercial enterprise, private equity, investment banking, and leveraged buyout, addressing their most complex strategic challenges to create better, more informed, business decisions that result in improved outcomes – all within a rigorous compliance framework.

Served as Lead Advisor to advise multinational hedge fund on multichannel solution expertise, resulting in structuring client acquisition of $170M.
Served as Turnaround Executive who led a division of a $50M corporation which increased real revenue by 401% and increased EBITDA from 14% to 19% in less than one year. Transitioned to senior Mergers & Acquisition team and eventual sale of the company.
Invited speaker for multi-national events. Topics include launching a startup and scaling, leadership, virtual platform in business and education.

Chief Executive Officer, POWERMAX

2016 - 2017

Successfully led Apple-affiliated large consumer electronic firm to first profit in two years with the resulting title of Premier Apple Partner.

Chief Executive Officer, BODELIN TECHNOLOGIES / PROSCOPE DIGITAL

2016 - 2017

Increased revenue from $1M to $5M in six months.

President, TOWER RECORDS / TOWER.COM

2009 - 2011

The Challenge:

As an iconic music retail brand headed into the busy holiday shopping season, the management team wasn’t quite in the seasonal spirit. Serious cash-flow and credit issues limited the brand from investing in enterprise technology. This, in turn, threatened the timely delivery of music gifts to customers the world over. Bottom line: This world-renowned brand was teetering.

Action:

Over the next two years, we reconstructed the company to a pure-play affiliate model that resulted in a distressed company with 10% EBIDTA. The restructure included renegotiation of vendor contracts and debt service (resulting in an immediate $750,000 influx of cash), staffing, real estate, inventory control, sales, customer, and marketing.

Results:

The successful restructuring resulted in a distressed brand turning into a financially profitable enterprise with an increase in brand identity and reputation providing an income-generating channel through licensing.

With a robust customer focus, we refreshed the brand while gaining 450,000 new customers in six months.

Transformed Tower Records ($1B annual revenue; 3M SKUs; 200 retail stores in 21 states) into an eCommerce powerhouse through the implementation of crisis management and execution of brand and model strategy that integrated new technology with initiatives that were integral to the brand (Executive Editor – new PULSE! Magazine online).
Drove oversight of crisis communication, public relations, reestablishing vendor, customer, and press relationships.
Served as Principal Executive for complex upgrade projects from brick-and-mortar to online operations (Tower.com).

Founder/CEO, RED TRUMPET / RED TRUMPET JAPAN

1999-2005

Conceptualized, planned and executed an original niche model in the eCommerce/Direct Marketing retail space. Wall Street Journal survey of retail experts and average shoppers named Red Trumpet in a list of favorite consumer shopping sites, alongside Amazon and eBay 18 months after launch.

VOLUNTEER POSITIONS

Board President, PREPARATORY ACADEMY OF PENNSYLVANIA

2019 – PRESENT

Elected President of the founding Board of Directors.

Set Board Governance.

Represented school in public hearings in front of Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Chapter Director/Founder, STARTUP GRIND

2019 - COVID

Mentor local tech entrepreneurs in partnership with Google For Startups, Oracle for Startups, Chase Inc, Intuit, CBRE resulting in funding and launch of grassroots startups.
Hosted fireside chat interviews, pitch contests, mixers, networking events, and panel discussions with local tech entrepreneurs, public leaders’, founders, investors, and CEOs resulting in the development of a strong support network.

National Mentor, SEED SPOT

2020 - COVID

Mentorship of early-stage entrepreneurs in partnership with globally ranked social impact incubator and accelerator.

Director of Product/Founder, ALL THINGS MUSIC PLUS+

2011 – PRESENT

Released digital product “All Things Music Plus+” across a variety of direct-to-consumer digital platforms, resulting in organic content reach of over 5M+/month.
Managed holistic development of the content platform and blog as well as technical implementation, scaling product across global media ecosystem up to 1M post-engagement interactions.

PROFESSIONAL GROUPS

Gerson Lehman Group

The Society of Industry Leaders

Crimson Consulting Group

EDUCATION & PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS

The Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania)

Bachelor of Arts in Communications, Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, PA

Advanced Google Analytics, Google

Hubspot Inbound Marketing

Salesforce Trailhead

Microsoft Learn

Leadership is about communication and mentorship.

I have Richard to thank for my trajectory into executive positions in my career. He is a great mentor and believed in me before others. He has worked in many capacities for large and small companies and brought them to a new level with his vision and refined execution. He possesses an uncanny ability to expand or save companies through his leadership abilities and functional expertise. He’s also an extremely funny person, sharing tons of optimism and joy with an atmosphere of excitement, passion and interest.

~ Yen S.