The Connection Forger: Ellen Ingraham

Ellen Ingraham has made a career out of winning people over. "I'm in my zone when I'm having a heart-to-heart talk with someone, and new ideas and possibilities are sprouting," she says. Ellen is a natural networker whose ability to connect with people has helped her build a twenty-year career in the pharmaceutical industry, and continues to drive her independent consulting business.

Ellen’s career is rooted in connections and a genuine passion for learning about and working with others.  Beginning her career as a Registered Nurse, Ellen soon transitioned into the pharmaceutical industry where she worked in research, sales, sales management, marketing and communications.  Her ability to help others leverage their own strengths and connections brought Ellen both success and great satisfaction in a sales management position.  She won multiple awards for sales, retention, recruiting and hiring, and number of promotions from her sales teams.  In her last corporate position, she designed a prototype plan for developing sales representatives.  The plan’s positive results led to Ellen writing the accompanying curriculum and facilitating workshops on developing representatives for promotion for all of the company’s management training programs.

In 2001, Ellen began her entrepreneurial career, focusing her efforts on teaching small business owners how to use networking and marketing principles to build their businesses.  From horse sitters to image consultants, air purification to IT services, contractors to printing shops, Ellen brings her unconventional and irreverent style to her work with business owners in twenty-six different markets.  This varied client base allows Ellen to bring fresh ideas from one field to another and connect people who can benefit and assist one another but who otherwise would be unlikely to meet.

In addition to small business consulting, Ellen organized a local exposition for entrepreneurs, managed the state convention for the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Public Works Association, and honed her expertise in Customer Relationship Management while working with a heavy equipment sales organization.  She also presents workshops at her local Small Business Development Center on starting small businesses and networking.

Throughout all her endeavors, Ellen’s central passion continues to be networking. She delights in meeting new people and forging new relationships—forging connections in her own life and forging bridges between others who can help and learn from one another.

Ellen lives Alexandria Township, New Jersey, with her three most vital connections of all: husband Dave and their two children.

More Information:

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