Welcome to DB Brand Strategies! I am DB – Danielle Bonenfant. I first fell in love with restaurant marketing at the end of week 1 of my job as a hostess at California Pizza Kitchen. Something about the feeling of mastering something new (manning a handwritten wait list (!) during a Friday night post-soccer practice “team dinner” rush, while trying to break in my fresh pair of “Shoes for Crews” slip-proof kicks). The feeling of camraderie I felt with my teammates, the rush of adrenaline while we raced around trying to accomodate hungry guests, and the taste of that wood-fired pizza the managers made for us post-shift all left me hooked.

Over the years, my passion grew. I worked my way up to server, then trainer, then opening store trainer, bartender, and assistant manager. I worked my way through college, where I studied Public Relations during the week, and slung pizzas on the weekends. I made lifelong friends (hi, Annet!) and learned life-changing lessons. And, when I graduated with a degree in Public Relations, I worked one final shift on a Saturday night, and Monday morning swapped my well-loved “Shoes for Crews” for a grown-up pair of black slingbacks for my first day as the newly-minted Marketing Administrator at CPK’s corporate office. It was a full-circle moment.

Since then I’ve been lucky enough to work with brands I truly love and use in my own personal life, and it’s given me the opportunity to develop expertise in the development of marketing campaigns, policies and stratgies for new and existing local markets, execution of national advertising campaigns, and creating and overseeing local marketing programs for 140+ individual store locations nationwide. I have also been able to work closely with R&D teams to improve existing products and introduce new products based on business needs.

I am so grateful you are here, visiting my site! Stay awhile, poke around, and of course shoot me a note if you’d like to connect! x