The team at ODN, an OOH advertising specialist, has hired a strong veteran from Brooklyn Outdoor. Emily Nelson, former Brooklyn Outdoor Vice President, who is based out of Detroit, will be joining the ODN team as Vice President and will be responsible for driving new revenue for the company. CEO, Kristy Schlepp said “I am beyond thrilled to have Emily join the ODN Family. She is bringing so much knowledge, expertise, and drive to elevate ODN to an even greater level.”
ODN is going through a bit of a restructuring as they are no longer working with Panera Bread, who was one of their largest clients. “The transition of Panera Bread away from ODN opens so much opportunity for our agency,” Ali Broback, Partner, and Chief Client Officer at ODN said.
Broback said the Panera/ODN split was amicable. Without Panera, ODN would not have grown as quickly or as big as they have gotten.
“Since Kristy Schlepp came on, we have been modeling for growth and have seen great growth year over year,” Broback said. “We’ve had a lot of new business this year and last year and are ready to take on some big new accounts.”
Not only did Panera have competitive demands that prevented them from working with a lot of other restaurant groups and QSRs, but the client took up a lot of team bandwidth that can now be leveraged to grow ODN in new ways. This is where Emily Nelson comes in.
Nelson was pretty happy at Brooklyn Outdoor where she spent 10 years helping the CEO Candice Simons build up the company. Nelson was their first full-time employee and wore many hats during her tenure.
“I didn’t think I was going to leave Brooklyn Outdoor. I put my heart and soul into building that company,” Nelson said, adding that she was eternally grateful for Simon’s mentorship. ODN was one of Nelson’s clients. They communicated back and forth regarding the job posting for her new position. She describes it as a mutual back-and-forth possibility of change filled with synergy. There was an opportunity for growth at ODN. Also, the energy of ODN was similar to that of Brooklyn Outdoor.
Both are classified as women-owned small businesses.
“I was really excited to hear not only could I do what I was already doing at Brooklyn but in a larger perspective,” Nelson said. “This is something I could bring a lot of value to.” That doesn’t mean she didn’t have her doubts.
“It was super bittersweet,” Nelson said. “I was happy at Brooklyn but I was at the top potential that I could go in that company so when this opportunity came around and I talked with the team this is something that intrigued me and gave me a lot to think about.”
ODN will be solidifying its new structure in San Antonio at its annual leadership meeting this month. In the meantime, Broback says Nelson is getting her bearings.
“While she understands and knows the industry well, she needs to understand our secret sauce,” Broback said. Nelson said she’s already hit the ground running with booking new clients. She’s excited for the opportunity to watch Broback work her magic during pitches and grateful for the similar energy of the two companies’ teams.
“It was such a great and perfect switch for me and I’m really happy that I landed here,” Nelson said. “They are fun and care about people. It even shows how they treated their vendors. They are super responsive and not all agencies do that.
ODN is seeing about 15-20% growth year over year for the last four years in terms of employees. They have grown from 22 employees in 2019 to 57 employees today.
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