Welcome to Brightstar
BrightStar Strategy Group (BSG) partners have spent the last 30 years working in the convenience store, automotive services, and consumer packaged goods industries. Given our extensive experience, we are enhancing a proven platform called the Profit Optimizer. This platform, built on Excel, is designed not only to identify profit opportunities but also to provide store-to-store comparisons and support new store construction.
It was developed over 20 years by two of our partners. One partner, as CEO, successfully increased the profit performance of his chain of stores, while the other, as COO of a 104-store automotive service chain, transformed this underperforming enterprise, achieving dramatic profit improvement in less than a year.
A Snapshot of What We Do
PROFIT GROWTH SERVICES
BrightStar Strategy Group specializes in helping businesses:
Maximize profits, identify areas of weakness and opportunities.
We utilize our four-step process in evaluating Financials, Competition, Operational analysis, and other Key performance indicators.
A portion of the assessment is done on-site as just reviewing numbers DOES not always give an accurate picture of the company. This analysis is especially beneficial to franchisees, retailers, companies seeking acquisitions, and businesses facing financial difficulties. Our process doesn’t stop after the initial analysis. Our staff continues to provide support in executing strategies and changes necessary for profit and operational efficiencies.
RESEARCH SERVICES
We have the right tools to help you understand the Mindset, Attitudes, and Behaviors of your customers. This is crucial to develop the right strategies needed to engage customers along the customer journey and ultimately, secure their loyalty.
We provide the right customer insights for you based on knowledge, not guesses, in order to grow your Market share and in turn your bottom line. We take the insights learned and turn them into actions that can impact your bottom line. Our AI-Social Listening tools can help you understand your customer experience and their journey with your brand in Real-time. This is all intended to retain valued customers and realize unprecedented growth. Further, we capture insights on brand perception and competitive intelligence. This deep-dive analysis can be targeted to specific geographical areas and customer segments.
Meet The Team
Marty Cunningham
Managing Partner, CEO
Marty is an expert in driving revenue and profit growth, financial analysis, strategic planning and change management.
He was a founding partner and president of The Servio Group for 25 years, a management consulting firm.
He has helped countless small and mid-size businesses dramatically improve their profitability and operational effectiveness.
In recent years, he has been a Managing Partner of BrightStar Strategy Group, based in NYC and Charleston, SC.
Ken Kearns
Managing Partner, COO
Ken is a Managing Partner in BrightStar Strategy Group. He is an expert in financial review of businesses, development of business plans, and business start-ups. In the past 18 years, Ken started a new business that grew to $200 million in annual sales. The business was sold at a premium in 2020.
His past experiences include 20 years of experience with a Fortune 100 company where he held positions in strategic planning, real estate, business operations, and training. Ken holds an MBA from Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois.
Bill Laforet
Team leader – Retail Performance and Analysis
Bill leads of our shop operation performance analysis and improvement team and has advised/trained hundreds of automotive retail businesses over the past 30 years. He is a foremost expert with regard to service bay operations success and efficiency, He was instrumental in the dramatic success in turning around the 104 store ProCare chain in the
Midwest. He continues to operate his own service business, which year after year has been one of the top performing automotive retail operations in the country.
Marcela Berland
Lead on Consumer Data, Insights and Experience
Marcela is one of the leading practitioners in understanding consumers, across many industries. She has earned a strong reputation as a trusted advisor and is widely recognized for uncovering unique strategic insights.
Her dedication, creativity, and tenacious pursuit of game-changing insights results in transforming data into meaningful and compelling actions for our clients.
Michael Bryant
Performance and Productivity Advisor
Mike is a highly accomplished strategic planner and team leader with a proven track record of enhancing productivity and driving revenue growth. His extensive experience spans across retail automotive service management, commercial brokerage, convenience store operations, financial analysis, and risk management.
Mike’s career includes owning and operating multiple automotive service locations, managing a chain of convenience stores, and overseeing the integration of business acquisitions.
Marie Quintana
Performance and Productivity Advisor
Former Chief Marketing Officer
Ms. Quintana has over 30 years of corporate experience and has held executive positions for the past 22 years.
Ms. Quintana has developed strategies for breakthrough business growth and organizational transformation. Areas of expertise include, brand experience, sales and marketing, CPG programs and Information Technology transformation.
Ms. Quintana is a recognized national speaker on the issues of Latinas in corporate America.
Majed Yaghi
CPG Advisor
Majed is a dynamic commercial executive with an extensive track record of delivering sustained revenue and volume growth in both emerging and established markets.
He has deep Fortune 100 experience across, CPG & restaurant sectors leading $500m+ commercial units. He has consistently out-performed industry-level growth rates in a range of international environments. A hands-on leader and mentor across complex sales & marketing teams, skilled in aligning cross-functional groups to execute on ambitious growth and expansion initiatives.
Brown Crenshaw
Brand Marketing Campaign Coordinator
Brown Initiated outreach to 4000 prospects across four companies, utilizing a tailored sales engagement platform and meticulously crafted scripts
Further, he analyzed campaign data and activities to fine-tune strategies, resulting in enhanced prospect engagement and lead generation.
He also is instrumental in managing consumer insight and customer experience CX studies.
Jen Pike
Marketing and Branding Lead Advisor
Jen’s core functional area of expertise is "Big M" Marketing: the strategy and execution behind competing effectively in the marketplace. This includes everything: omni-channel marketing (both digital media and traditional marketing channels), branding, pricing, distribution, promotion, advertising, P&L management, product portfolio strategy and lots of other keywords.
Formerly, Vice President Brand Management at US SMOKELESS TOBACCO Company and Vice President Marketing Services at Altria.
Yiru Chen
Social Media Strategist
Yiru Chen is currently pursuing a Master’s in Engineering Management at Duke University, where she also serves as a Student Ambassador and President of an Entrepreneur Club. With experience in business development, product management, and consulting, Yiru has worked on projects ranging from market analysis to strategic planning, digital marketing and GTM. She has experience with website development as well as a lengthy background in client relations and social media management.
We’d love to hear from you.
BrightStar Strategy Group
in Chicago, Charleston, New York