Cory_Headshot

Professional Summary

I'm a digital and content strategist, leader, and innovator. I have a passion for making technology work for people through design. I’m committed to continual learning and have a proven history of building high- performing teams and empowering them to do great work, driving digital strategy, and providing innovative solutions to problems big and small.

Employment History

Associate Director - CX Content Strategy
AT&T | St. Louis, MO

 

07/02/2020 - Present

Building a new Customer Experience Content Strategy team with a small but growing group of Content Strategists, Design Strategists, Researchers, and Data Analysts tasked with defining and designing end-to-end customer experiences. Also responsible for building a new Customer Experience Journey-based analytics process so we can take a more direct and intentional approach to improving the overall customer experience and increase customer satisfaction.

Associate Director - Content Engineering
AT&T | St. Louis, MO

 

07/01/2019 - 07/01/2020

As part of a newly created Experience Insights team, built a small team focused on content engineering, personalization strategy, content strategy, and content analysis. We built for the future, looking 2-5 years out, using data, research, and thoughtful content strategy to inform technical content requirements, content modeling, content algorithms, that enable content publishing efficiency, immersive storytelling, and effortless engagement.


  • Led the creation of our Experience Insights (Xi) Content Strategy Toolkit, a framework including training, process, documentation templates, project planning, and project archives.
  • Led the ideation, inception, execution, rollout, and communications of our Experience Insights Content Series, a multimedia educational series for our digital organization evangelizing the importance of Content. Includes videos, case studies, infographics, interactive quizzes, gamification, and more.
  • Led the ideation, planning, and execution for a concept we called “Virtual Life” that proved to be accurate in predicting the reliance on digital experiences that ended up forced on society by a global pandemic.

Associate Director - Content and Editorial
AT&T | St. Louis, MO

 

11/01/2017 - 07/01/2019

Head of content and editorial for the Consumer Digital team. Responsible for buy flow, self-service, and support B2C content on att.com, directv.com, directvnow.com, uverse.com, their respective native apps, post-sales email, SMS, and push notifications. Driving our content skills pivot and brand voice and tone evolution.

Associate Director - User Experience
AT&T | St. Louis, MO

 

07/01/2014 - 11/01/2017

Head of content for the AT&T consumer digital portfolio, leading a group of 30+ content strategists, writers, editors and multiple outside agencies to provide content strategy, design, and modeling for mobile, tablet, desktop, email, chatbots, conversational UI, SMS, and social. Led the strategy for redesigns to our att.com home page, upper funnel sales landing pages, global header/footer navigation, upgrade experience, login widgets, and more.

  • Increased customer engagement by 200% as a result of our 2016 homepage and upper funnel redesign.
  • Achieved highest ever customer review scores for the myAT&T app for iOS and Android (4 out of 5 stars average).
  • Reduced header/footer navigation links by 60% in 2017 navigation redesign.
  • Created training strategy for skill transformation for our consumer content team and secured the budget for 150 Content Science Academy certifications for four new roles in support of our digital transformation: Content Analyst, Content Strategist, Content Engineer, and Content Designer.

Technical Director - Site Optimization Content Team
AT&T | St. Louis, MO

 

05/01/2013 - 07/01/2014

Led a mostly remote team of writers and content strategists who provided content and creative expertise for the sales, services, and support user journey. Built a thorough training and onboarding repository and wiki for my team and created/curated brown bag training sessions for partner teams. Expanded value metrics and KPIs to include online sales attributions, click throughs and conversions, and willingness to recommend scoring for sales experiences.

Technical Director - Service and Support Writing Team
AT&T | Des Peres, MO

 

05/01/2012 - 05/01/2013

Recruited, trained, and mentored a team of content writers and editors who created, edited, and maintained content for myAT&T and att.com/support. Led creation and maintenance of digital content standards for editorial, presentation, and tone of voice. Instrumental in creating value metrics and KPIs for our content and design teams to assess content quality and throughput, focusing on metrics such as reduction of admin time, ticket completion and % of tickets completed on time, overall team utilization, and willingness to recommend scoring for service and support experiences.

  • Decreased non-capitalizable time coding from a high of 45% in 2011 to < 18% by 2013.
  • Improved overall team content ticket completion rates to > 90% by 2013, from <70% in 2011.
  • Exceeded willingness to recommend scoring for services and support, reaching 103% of target for 2013. 


Lead Content Writer - Creative Experience Team
AT&T | Des Peres, MO

 

01/01/2011 - 05/01/2012

Led a team of contracted content writers and content requirements analysts and defined content strategy for the redesign of the AT&T Services and Support website, mobile application, native application, and desktop application. As the first lead writer in an agile pod, I helped define our agile development and lean design processes, improve process efficiency, and increase collaboration across all creative, technical, and business roles. The myAT&T Overview agile team I led became the operating model for all other services agile teams. 


  • Hired, onboarded, and trained 10 new writers.
  • Selected to participate in the AT&T Twitter Ambassador program; a small group of AT&T employees tasked with creating a favorable brand association with consumers and key social media influencers through credible and accessible dialogue. 


Content Writer - Creative Experience Team
AT&T | Des Peres, MO

 

01/01/2009 - 01/01/2011

Wrote content for the myAT&T application that resulted in an increase in paperless bill acquisitions, auto-payment signups, device and plan upgrades, and login improvements. Provided strategy for site redesigns and implementation of new CMS and DAM technologies. 
Selected as the 1st “Dad Blogger” for the AT&T sponsored Calm, Cool, and Connected blog, a partnership with Fleishman Hillard.



Content Writer/Implementation Specialist
AT&T | Kirkwood, MO

 

11/01/2007 - 01/01/2009

Researched business and technical requirements, user flows, analytics and user feedback. Wrote support content for sbc.com and att.com. Coordinated approvals and implemented the approved content using a homegrown CMS application and TeamSite, coding HTML from scratch using both Notepad and Dreamweaver. Contributed to process improvements throughout the publishing workflow. 


Senior Analyst
SBC/AT&T | Kirkwood, MO

 

08/01/2005 - 11/01/2007

Led a small team of contractors who developed content and design requirements and provided oversight of content projects for AT&T Internet and intranet sites. Project managed quick-to-market projects (Rapid Deployments) and wrote business requirements. I also served as the videoconference coordinator for 12 locations spread across 8 states, coordinating team videoconferences and providing troubleshooting and support for over 200 employees and contractors.


Analyst
AT&T | Kirkwood, MO

 

11/01/2004 - 08/01/2005

Oversaw large and small internet and intranet projects, analyzing requirements, creating project plans, and managing project budgets. Provided occasional executive readouts. 


Associate Analyst
AT&T | Kirkwood, MO

 

06/02/2002 - 11/01/2004

Oversaw small internet and intranet projects, creating project plans, tracking software development lifecycle progress, and providing project status.

Education

Saint Louis University
Bachelor of Science, Management Information Systems (2002)

Activities: Phi Kappa Tau (Pledge Class President - 2001, Social Chair - 2002), MIS Club, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and Make-a-Wish Foundation volunteer.

Skills & Tools

Digital strategy, content strategy, leadership, complex problem solving, relationship building, negotiation, research, technical writing, Adobe Marketing Cloud (Experience Manager, Analytics, Target), Adobe Creative Suite (Acrobat Pro, Photoshop), Sketch, InVision, Quantum Metrics, Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Visio), Mural, Dreamweaver, JIRA, SharePoint, TeamSite, CQ, WordPress, HTML 5, CSS, Java, Confluence.

Awards & Recognition

  • AT&T Digital Transformer Award, Q2 2020
  • AT&T Belief Beacon Award, February 2020
  • AT&T Know and Grow Program (High Potential Program) for 2018
  • AT&T High Potential Program for 2017
  • 2016 AT&T Summit Award for Digital Experience as VPGM Choice for 2016 performance
  • Digital Design and User Experience Above and Beyond Award in 2Q and 3Q 2016
  • Most Valuable tSpace Community Award for 2015
  • AT&T Digital Experience High Five Award in 3Q 2015
  • AT&T Digital Experience Appreciates People's Choice Award in 1Q 2014