Senior Manager / Director - Strategy & Operations
Karmen
Horton
I build the structure beneath your vision, develop your strategy for growth, and launch your team through activation. I take the seed of what you're creating and paint a whole new picture of what's possible.
Evangelizing Innovator
Invention + Galvanizing
Perfect Alignment
What You Need → What I Bring
The Role Requires
Partner directly with CEO to drive company-wide strategic priorities from concept through execution
I Deliver This
Always served as the CEO's right hand - providing trusted strategic guidance on high-stakes decisions, driving cross-department execution, and leading entire functions without the official title
The Role Requires
Lead cross-functional strategic initiatives, translating high-level goals into actionable plans and measurable outcomes
I Deliver This
My brain immediately maps everything - timelines, processes, people, partners - then I put it into project management software, socialize the roadmap, and lead others to ensure we hit every deadline
The Role Requires
Own executive-level operating rhythms, business reviews, strategic planning cycles, and performance tracking dashboards
I Deliver This
This is everything I do - building annual reports, presentations, interactive financial models, Gantt charts, and performance dashboards that digest complexity into clarity and help us hit our strategic goals
The Role Requires
Act as a strategic 'air traffic controller' across teams, ensuring alignment, accountability, and momentum
I Deliver This
Keeping everyone moving and focused on what we need to do now - for multiple partners, vendors, teammates, clients, and projects - always hitting the crazy, hard, impossible deadlines
The Role Requires
Develop data-driven insights, business cases, and executive-ready presentations
I Deliver This
Clear, concise, and compelling RFPs, pitches, and proposals to tell our business story, relay key strategic info, win contracts, secure investors, and deepen client relationships
The Role Requires
Identify operational gaps, process inefficiencies, and design solutions that scale
I Deliver This
Always seeing the gap and immediately jumping in to fix it, building systems, workflows, and technology solutions from nothing to enable our team, processes, and company to scale
Proven Impact
Numbers That Tell the Story
$26.4M
VA Clinic Contract Secured
3-year RFP process
$500K
Branding Contract Won
"Best RFP the CMO has ever seen"
325+
Leaders Developed
Year-long training program
25%
Annual Revenue Target
Secured through overhauled RFPs
2→60+
Team Growth Driven
Scaled real estate firm
$50M+
Construction Contracts
Secured with 15-20yr leases
Superpowers
Core Strengths
Galvanizer
Rallying people, building momentum, and generating infectious enthusiasm to get teams moving fast toward big goals
Inventor
Creating original ideas and novel solutions - taking complex problems and building elegant, simplified systems to solve them
Strategist
Sorting through clutter to find the best route - connecting dots across information sources to build smart, ordered plans
Connector
Sensing the emotions of those around, building deep empathy, and forging relationships that drive trust and partnership
Storyteller
Distilling complex data into scannable, compelling narratives - making the business story beautiful, clear, and impossible to ignore
Executor
Bias for action, urgency, and impact - not looking for routine, but for the impossible deadline that everyone says can't be done
Culture Fit
Values That Run Deep
These aren't just company values I'd adopt, they're values I already live and breathe.
You'll never hear me say "This is not my problem." I take ownership as a leader and act accountably on behalf of the whole company.
I always flag what's coming, make sure we're being as proactive as possible, and fix the small things before they grow into big problems.
I am wired to jump in, solve the problem, build a solution, get people moving and excited, and get us progress, launching the ships with very little direction.
Demand excellence from yourself and those around you is second nature. To me, accepting mediocrity is a death sentence. I love and need us to be excellent.
I don't have the pedigree, but I hustle harder than anyone, learn exceptionally quickly, and do whatever it takes to fill the gap and solve the problem.
Portfolio of Impact
Executive-Level Deliverables
Building confidence in the story of the business, attracting new investors, and securing multi-million dollar deals.
Executive Presentations & Dashboards
Data-driven insights, business reviews, strategic planning decks, and performance tracking dashboards - making complex information scannable, clear, and actionable for C-Suite decision makers.
Prospect Dashboard →Change Management & Leadership Development
Developed enterprise leadership transformation initiative to build post-COVID resilience in 325+ leaders across a $375K annual program - aligning executive vision, performance expectations, and cultural accountability through structured retreats, cadence-based engagement, and a proprietary learning platform.
Content Archive →Multi-Million Dollar Deal Support
Cross-functional coordination, deal synthesis, and executive alignment for $50M+ in federal, state, and private development contracts, ensuring deadlines, compliance, financial accuracy, and stakeholder alignment under high-stakes conditions.
RFP & Investor Relations
Led end-to-end development of complex proposals and RFP submissions across private, state, local, tribal, and federal entities; built a centralized investor portal housing pro formas, financial statements, project schedules, and building plans, enabling efficient due diligence and accelerating institutional investment conversations.
Career Journey
Experience
Regional Sales Director | Healthcare Growth Strategy
Target Continuum
- •Serve on executive committee and drive oncology division launch strategy
- •Force clarity around oncology expansion strategy by rigorously questioning assumptions, structuring financial inputs, and converting expert knowledge into defined execution pathways
- •Lead executive discovery conversations translating operational gaps into revenue growth strategies
- •Leverage ROI modeling tools to align marketing investment to gross profit and service-line expansion
- •Design performance dashboards and reporting structures to support executive-level growth decisions
- •Act as strategic partner to founders and C-suite stakeholders to identify operational inefficiencies and scalable growth levers
Marketing Strategist | Business and Leadership Development
Ten X Health Group // Level Ten Healthcare Advisors
- •Launch healthcare consultancy and drive agency growth through strategy, client engagement, traditional and digital marketing, thought leadership, and business development
- •Built $375,000 year-long leadership development program for 325+ leaders across all levels
- •Overhauled RFP process, securing 25% of annual new business target; won $500K branding contract
- •Created proprietary learning platforms, webinar series, and multimedia training content to easily communicate complex topics to busy healthcare leaders
- •Ghostwrote workshops, eBooks, and frameworks on change management and healthcare leadership
- •Partnered with executive leadership on the Transformation Work Group to shape the agency's long-term vision
Director of Marketing | Growth, Strategy, and Operations
Dream Design International, Inc.
- •Partnered with CEO to scale company from 2-person operation to 60+ employees
- •Secured $26.4M VA Clinic contract and $23.7M state construction contract through end-to-end RFP management
- •Filled 45-unit apartment complex sight-unseen through strategic outreach
- •Served as de-facto office administrator managing operations, handling A/P and A/R, onboarding, insurance, and strategic decisions
- •Distilled brand essentials, led website redesigns, created all marketing collateral and event execution
What People Say
In Their Words
"I wanted to acknowledge your efforts and drive that is so instrumental in the momentum we are gaining. We are truly transforming... I feel the most optimistic about our Marketing and BD process and future potential than I ever have and you are a HUGE part of that!"
— President + CEO, Direct Supervisor
"Your work got us not just noticed, but we stood out, and the combination of your and [VP's] commitment to 'show up with excellence' was powerful! (And fun!) We are making progress and you are a huge part of our momentum!"
— President + CEO, Direct Supervisor
"Karmen took the initiative last week to introduce herself to me. I have to admit, I want Karmen for my new best friend! If she is the type of person you surround yourself with that speaks volumes about who you are."
— Director of Oncology Marketing, Mayo Clinic
"Thank YOU for your time today. I really appreciate all the focus and dedication you're putting into [our org] and our marketing efforts. I was checking out that dashboard, and oh my gosh! I could sit there all day and analyze that data. I LOVE it."
— Prospect
"You're the girl that can get sh** done."
— Partner
"Honestly, the contract part of this was so easy. If that's going to tell what this entire process is going to be like, I'm very, very, very excited."
— Client, New Contract
"You are crazy smart and I NEED your energy. So glad you are a part of it!"
— VP Marketing/Biz Dev/Client Experience
"You're the most non-salesy salesperson who sells a lot."
— CEO
"AMAZING JOB!!! You killed this. I am so proud of you and of the thoughtfulness of this work. Amazing success!! Way to shine!"
— VP Marketing/Biz Dev/Client Experience
"I am so excited to be working with Karmen again. Love her energy!!"
— Account Director/Client Strategist
"You're the best kept secret."
— Founder
Education
Bachelor of Arts
Augustana College - Business & Religion
Magna Cum Laude · Dean's List · Phi Sigma Tau
Key Training
- •LinkedIn Social Selling Cohort - Darren McKee
- •Mirren Sales Training - RFPs, Discovery, Pitch Strategy
- •StoryBrand / Business Made Simple - Donald Miller
- •Life Coach Training - Mentor Masterclass
- •Working Genius - Table Group
- •Proposal Writing - Foundation Center, Washington D.C.
Tools & Platforms
Speaking & Industry Leadership
Leadership Role
SHSMD Committee Co-Chair
Educational & Editorial Advisory Board
Community Role
SHSMD Community Ambassador
Healthcare Marketing Leadership
Speaking
MASHSMD, April 2026
Upcoming Speaker
Speaking
SHSMD, 2025
Workshop Facilitator
Executive Workshop
Peterson Health
C-Suite Workshop
Executive Workshop
Willis-Knighton
C-Suite Workshop
Executive Workshop
UTHSA
C-Suite Workshop
Executive Workshop
Trinity Health
Year Long, All-Leader Development Program
Executive Workshop
Kettering Health
Marketing Team Workshop