Teri Hartz, Founder and President of Directions Promotions

Teri Hartz founded Directions Promotions in 1991. Since that time she has led the organization for 20 years from a one person operation into a company with 4 offices serving customers throughout the country. During those 20 years Teri has gained extensive knowledge of the promotional industry and how it can be used to help companies grow their brands. Her experience is an integral key to ensuring that customers make promotional purchases that provide an impact for their business.

A graduate of Indiana University-Bloomington Teri spent 17 years in both optical sales and advertising media sales before founding Directions Promotions. Her positions allowed her to sell to a multitude of different businesses throughout Indiana and Kentucky. It is through this experience that Teri developed her approach to customer service which is the model that serves Directions Promotions today. Throughout her time selling advertising media she noticed there was a need for someone with marketing experience who could help companies with their promotional marketing purchases. The buyers of these items always seemed to be going to different companies every year seeking new products or better service. So she came up with the idea for Directions Promotions, a company that would not just sell promotional materials, but also offer service that is unmatched by the competition. This would allow customers the opportunity to have a one stop shop for all promotional marketing material. Now, 20 years later Directions Promotions has helped thousands of companies to achieve their goals and we hope that your business will be the next.

Sarah has been a member of the Directions Sales Team since 2001 and operates the Jasper, IN office. She became a co-owner of Directions in 2002 and has played an integral role in the growth of the company. Throughout her time, Sarah has overseen growth into new markets while helping to establish Directions reputation as a leader in the industry. She assisted with the creation the Directions Company Store program which allows clients to provide their employees/customers with quality products and a consistent brand message from one location. Sarah specializes in complete marketing plans by working directly with each client to ensure that their marketing material enhances their brand. Sarah has helped to transform hundreds of companies by creating multi level plans that help clients achieve the impact they seek from promotional material. For over 10 years Sarah has been facilitating marketing programs which help every client reach their goal.

Sarah is a graduate of Indiana University, Bloomington with a degree in Telecommunications and Marketing. Prior to Directions, Sarah worked for The Tape Company, sister company of DaiseyTek as an Account Manager for the State of Indiana. Sarah is married to Geoff and they have three children, Mason, Mitchell, and Madison. Sarah’s experience and insight into the promotional marketing is an invaluable resource to help you grow your business.

Prudence joined the Directions team in 2009 and she operates the Evansville, IN office. Prudence has established herself as one of the premier marketing experts in the region. With over 14 years of experience, Prudence understands how to expand the footprint of each new client. For over two years, she has used her vast experience to create new programs, find new products, and help clients see the value in her approach to promotional marketing. Prior to joining Directions Prudence was the Advertising Director for Tucker Publishing Group for eight years and served as the spokesperson for Old National Bank for 6 years. Prudence is a graduate of the University of Southern Indiana with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business and Communications Advertising.

Prudence has been active in the Evansville community volunteering for many organizations. She has served on the Board of Directors for the Rotary Club of Evansville, Salvation Army, and March of Dimes of Southwest Indiana. She has also served as the co-chairman of Habitat of Evansville’s Strategic Marketing Committee as well as a longtime volunteer on their communications committee. Prudence is married to Jonathan and they have two children, Addison and Tanner.

A Tell City Native, Jennifer has over 14 years of experience in customer service. Jennifer joined the Directions Team in January 2008 as a sales assistant and in April 2008 she was promoted to Office Manager for the Tell City office. Recently in August 2011 she was promoted to Customer Relations/Marketing Manager. Jennifer’s primary role is customer service, from a quote, artwork, proof, and order, her goal is to serve each customer in every facet to ensure their experience with Directions Promotions is first-rate. Prior to her new role, Jennifer was the Office Manager for over 3 years where she handled a variety of accounting functions including accounts payable, accounts receivable, and financial record keeping. Throughout her tenure Jennifer has developed a relationship with many clients and proven her ability assist them in all service matters. This experience is a tremendous asset to creating marketing solutions and providing unrivaled customer service for each of our clients.

Prior to joining the Directions Team Jennifer worked in the medical field for 12 years as a medical assistant. She is a graduate of Tell City High School and attended the University of Southern Indiana and Western Kentucky University. Jennifer is married to Doug and they have one daughter, Kendall.

A native of Tell City, Kena is the most recent addition to the Directions Team, joining in January 2012 as the Office Manager.  Kena brings over 20 years of customer service experience where she has developed a dynamic and versatile set of skills.  Her ability to handle all internal office operations while ensuring that each order is given the utmost attention are invaluable attributes to our business.  She brings great proficiency and a high level of enthusiasm which contributes to Directions providing customer service that is second to none.  Kena will strive to make sure that your experience with Directions is pleasurable from the quote process through delivery of the product.

Jill joined the Directions Team in 2010 as a part time Office Assistant. Jill handles a variety of duties including daily order updates, logistics information, and interoffice communications. She is also in charge of organizing our order workflow chart along communicating to customers about any questions they might have. She has proven herself as a customer service expert and acts as a great ambassador to the values that Directions strives to achieve.

Jill is a graduate of Indiana University, Bloomington with a Masters Degree in Elementary Education. She is married to Dan and they have 2 children, Chandler and Jana.

Philip has been involved with Directions since 2003. During his tenure Philip has founded a number of initiatives which have helped Directions become a leader in customer service. He has launched the corporate fulfillment division which has allowed us to serve our clients with universal and consistent promotional products throughout the country. Philip created and manages our in house decorating division. This division gives Directions more control of the order process from start to finish while allowing for higher quality and improved pricing. Each of these additions has been tremendous and helped in Directions providing superior products and services. Philip also oversees our company operations in order to ensure that our systems are up to date and forward looking so we can see a problem before it arises.

Philip is a graduate of Indiana University, Bloomington with a Bachelors degree in Finance. He is also involved in several other business investment partnerships. Philip will be married to Lauren in May 2012.

Cheryl Brinksneader, Production Manager

Cheryl has been involved with Directions since October 2010 and serves as the Production Manager for the Decorating Division of the company. She has proven her skills to handle any project and ensure that Directions quality is second to none. Cheryl oversees receiving, order tracking, and processing of each purchase order. She prides herself on the ability of her division to keep everyone informed on order progress, meet event dates and exceed each customer’s expectations.

Cheryl’s prior experience includes over 10 years in the financial services industry where she worked in a variety of capacities. Cheryl lives in Tell City and has two sons Ryan and Jayce.