Michelle Vernuccio doubles North Jersey
Chamber of Commerce membership by 50% in less than 5 years
Michelle Vernuccio, President
Years in field: 18 years
Years in real estate industry: 4 Years while in college
Real estate organizations/affiliations: NJMLS and
Greater Bergen Realtor Association
What is your greatest professional accomplishment?
My greatest professional accomplishment is serving as president of the North Jersey Chamber of Commerce and doubling its membership by 50% in less than five years, introducing new programming, and building trust amongst our members to accept my area of marketing expertise as results driven.
How do you contribute to your company and/or the industry?
As president of the North Jersey Chamber of Commerce, I provide marketing and networking opportunities to over 1,100 businesses in North Jersey allowing business professionals to grow, connect and save.
What impact has social media/networking had on your career?
Social Media has contributed to my career in such a positive matter allowing me to freely build my brand as a professional, allow room for marketing advice to our members allowing them to duplicate their success.
Tell us how and when you began your career in the profession you are in, about your current position and why you choose the field/profession you are in today?
I began my career as a marketing guru, seven years allow while working as a Marketing Director for Dental 2000. My position there allowed me to take risks, executive marketing strategy and running with it. Because it was a B2C industry, my position allowed for trial and error. While serving marketing strategy for pour patients and the business community, my position allowed me to take it on! I learned the importance of surveying your target audience (in this case, patients) and truly studying the emotional response from them in allowing them to accept dental treatment while serving as returning patients. This position allowed me to connect with business professionals in the community, as I joined the North Jersey Chamber of Commerce as a member. The leadership team saw my gift of marketing, that it allowed me to serve as an ambassador and learning the other side of the chamber business. I left an impression of leadership that the old president of that chamber offered me a full time director position.
What challenges and or obstacles do you feel you needed to overcome to become as successful as you are today?
The obstacles I needed to personally overcome as a marketing professional was trying various marketing positions from leadership to management to marketing and media. I needed to define my niche and area of expertise where I realized my gift of talent was serving business professionals to allow them to define their target audience while creating digital marketing blueprints to allow their business to grow its brand and revenue income. I build my brand proven “new member source to serve as word of mouth. Our members were seeing networking strategy implemented allowing them to grow professionally quicker than other supporting chambers they were members. Numbers certainly do not lie. ‘
What is the funniest, most unique situation you have faced/conquered during your career? Or in your life?
The funniest, unique situation I have faced was in 2019 when I was accepted to attend a meeting for the United Nations. I thought I was serving as a guest until I saw my name on the program to serve as a speaker representing partnership strategy with businesses in New Jersey. I panicked at first but built up enough courage to come up with a five-minute speech, translated into Chinese with a standing ovation. I am always quick to think of a solution in a short time. that chamber offered me a full-time director position.
What outside activities do you enjoy during you free time?
I enjoy spending time with family and friends, New York City, art and culture, working out, reading books, fashion and photography.
What inspiring word of advice would you give to a young executive graduating from college today?
The most aspiring advice I can give a young executive graduating from college is to listen to what you hear, and try various opportunities that come their way, even if they feel it is a dead end because it is those moments of defining passion that allow us to grow professionally while staying tunnel vision on that ultimate end goal. Do not listen to family and friends, but rather to internship supervisors, mentors, and those who know you professionally.