ABOUT
Caleb Kruse
Omaha, Nebraska | 26
- GYM RAT : I love to weight train, swim, and run.
- MUSIC MANIAC : I’m on Spotify at all hours…literally.
- YOGI - I try to practice yoga or meditate everyday.
Hey there! I’m glad that you’re visiting my website. Throughout this website you will find more information on my creative endeavors and a look at my work experience.
I hope you consider me for your opportunity! Thanks :)
Education
Truman State University ‘19
I received a bachelor of science in business marketing with a minor in graphic design from Truman State University. The liberal arts education expanded my views, critical thinking skills, and perspectives. At Truman, I learned marketing skills in sales, branding, and market research. My marketing capstone was a pivotal class in my education. We observed and analyzed commercials and learned how brands grow into new markets. Even though marketing was my focus, some of my favorite courses were those associated with graphic design. I enjoyed putting myself into a project and viewing the outcome. I had a graphic design professor who pushed me to be a better artist while still staying to a creative brief. I also enjoyed this class because everything created needed to be authentically yours. If you wanted a photo of a wire connector in a project, you would need to go to Lowe's to grab some to photograph.
A huge factor in choosing Truman State University for higher education was the opportunity to join the men's swimming program. Truman's head swim coach, Ed Petre, recruited me as a sprint specialist focused on the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard backstroke. During my time on the team, I improved in almost every event I swam, and I was a part of two relay teams that broke school records. An essential part of my success was being a part of a team and enjoying training alongside them daily. The people are why you want to attend two practices daily, six days a week. These people I will always consider family. These individuals have taught me lessons in teamwork, enjoying the little things life provides you, and putting 110% to everything you want to succeed in.
Another cool thing about Truman Swimming was that it introduced the team to Swim Across America. This nonprofit raises money and awareness for cancer research by holding charity swimming events. It was so meaningful to me to give back to this cause since I know how much cancer can impact a family. My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010 and re-diagnosed in 2020. During my time at the program, I raised $1,000 for the organization. I participated in three of the fundraising events in Saint Louis, Missouri.
Employment History
Tiburon Swimming Pool ‘13 - ‘20
One of my first jobs was as a lifeguard at Tiburon Swimming Pool during the summer months throughout my high school and college years. This job is an excellent way to earn some money, take on responsibility, and have the opportunity to train. I received a promotion in 2015 to assistant manager. I took on more duties, such as regulating the pool's chemical levels, making a daily sales deposit, and handling customer complaints. The following summer, I took on another role at the pool by becoming the head swim coach. I enjoyed helping my swimmers achieve their competition goals and seeing them enjoy working through the sport. The swim coach's duties included creating swim meet programs, scheduling swim meet concessions, and communicating information to my swimmer's parents. I intended to make the summer of 2018 my last year, but I returned a few months at the end of summer 2020.
Woodhouse Auto Family: Marketing & Design Intern ‘18
During the summer of 2018, I landed a marketing internship at Woodhouse Auto Family. This experience gave me a real-world perspective on what I had been learning in school. Throughout my summer, I created social media content, designed promotional posters, and aided in networking events. My favorite part of this experience was getting to star at the end-of-summer Woodhouse Mazda commercial.
YMCA of Greater Omaha: Part-time Building Supervisor ‘19 - 21’
In October 2020, I started working at my local YMCA as a building supervisor. From February, I worked between 20 and 35 hours/week, depending on how many substitution shifts I picked up. This job allowed for flexibility and provided an excellent work-life balance. This position had many mini roles, such as salesman, receptionist, janitor, and acting evening manager. My favorite part of this job was going on tours with prospective members assisting their decision to join the YMCA. In February, I took on a full-time job at Oriental Trading Company, requiring me to cut back my hours to a five-hour weekend shift. In September 2021, I decided to return to 20 hours/week due to a separation from Oriental Trading Company.
Oriental Trading Company :: Print Media Planning & Merchandising: 20’ - Present
Print Media Assistant Planner: 20’
In February 2020, I received a job planning the merchandising arrangements of several sale catalogs for the business's faith and adult party business segments. One of my favorite tasks in this position was analyzing the product assortment's performance based on the prior catalog's success. It was unbelievable seeing what factors played in the success of a product. A plus to the job itself was the company culture. The positive energy was very present in the building. Oriental Trading was a company where you wanted to go to work every day since you knew you would enjoy your experience. After over six months into the position during the COVID pandemic, Oriental Trading terminated my role.
Assistant Merchant: 21’
Fast forward to March of 2021, my prior employment in the catalog department paid off since a previous co-worker helped me get an interview for a merchandising assistant role. After the interview, I was glad to learn that I was receiving the assistant position for the craft category. Children's crafts were a fun product category to develop. Returning to a company where working was so much fun was an added bonus.
As an assistant, I assisted with new product development. My prior graphic design skills added crucial value since they allowed me to critique artwork and aid the designers in new design directions. In addition to assisting in product development, I produced all project samples for photography incorporated into all craft product experiences. This position allowed me to dive into assortment issues, solve problems, and develop ways to grow the business. In October of 2021, the merchant I was managing left the company to seek another opportunity. This transition led to my promotion to associate merchant of Crafts.
Associate Merchant: 21’ - 23’
Being promoted was fantastic since I had been working hard to understand the craft business. This promotion granted me more authority over the decisions I was making for the craft assortment, which was reassuring to my hard work and dedication. I created over 1,000 product SKUs and KITs to promote new sales in blue ocean areas of the business. To develop these items, it consisted of a quarterly strategy and analysis of the craft business. The goal was to find assortment gaps, identify market trends, and boost sub-departments with high customer sales. In addition to my responsibilities to the craft department, I oversaw the KITs project for all Oriental Trading Product segments.
Merchant: 23’
In July of 2023, I was promoted again to merchant of different departments, including non-seasonal Toys, Stationery, and Jewelry. Since taking on the role, I've developed and created new themes to drive sales such as “The Garbage Critters” and “The Candy Animals.” I have also identified pink ribbon awareness as an opportunity for growth in which we tested a thriving message over the traditional surviving message. During this time, we also acquired the Warner Brothers license which drove the development of both Looney Tunes and Scooby Doo.
In addition to this newness of development, I was a part of two separate projects during this time. The first of these projects was the simplification and streamlining of our product bundle process. For this process, we took out duplicative work done by the merchant team and the data entry teams. We also created an easier way for the merchants to directly enter the information into our product data system. The process that this workflow replaced was something I had been doing for all teams within Excel exports. The second project was selecting an assortment of products from new Chinese vendors to compete against Joyin product selections directly on Amazon as they had done to our business.
Learned Technical Suites & Platforms
Passion Projects & More :)
The Mini Wonder Garden
Below is a visual of a fun hobby that came out of COVID. When you can't go out and about, you look for things to do… which might lead you to create a GIGANTIC fairy garden community at your parent's home. Well, that's at least what happened to me. My youngest sister and I have been doing this project for over three years. The plot where this community resides only grows with more residents, and the narrative behind all the experiences unfolds. I love this hobby since it is a great way to be outside and use creativity outside my personal life. I hope you find something that makes you smile!
You can visit mini_wondergarden on Instagram for more!
