Dan K.

Experience

• Kraftwork Advisors

  President

  Apr 2026 - Present

  Kraftwork Advisors helps growth-minded companies turn ambition into reality with insight-driven strategies, actionable roadmaps, and hands-on collaboration to solve complex business challenges and drive measurable results.

  • Founded and led a boutique advisory practice delivering strategy-to-execution engagement models for growth-stage and mid-market clients.
  • Diagnosed product, go‑to‑market and operating‑model gaps and converted insights into prioritized roadmaps and measurable business cases.
  • Led cross‑functional teams and client workshops to co‑create validated product and commercial strategies, accelerating time‑to‑market.
  • Built repeatable delivery playbooks and measurement frameworks that improved client decision velocity and accountability.
  • Established long‑term client relationships and board/advisor engagements, guiding fundraising, M&A readiness, and scaling plans.
• 

  Trustmark

  Vice President, Product and Innovation

  Jul 2014 - Jan 2026

  • Executive accountable for ensuring a market-driven, human-centered design approach to new product and program development for the Voluntary Benefits division.
  • Led team that designed and implemented 10 new life, disability and supplemental health insurance products and countless product enhancements that drove profitable sales growth, increasing case proposal win rates by over 60% and exceeding return-on-capital targets by 29%.
  • Executive sponsor and cross functional leader, mobilizing teams across the division to operationalize strategy and execute end to end product implementations, accelerating time to market while ensuring regulatory compliance, operational readiness, and superior customer and producer experiences.
  • Annually created 3-year product roadmap to align product strategy and resources with near and long-term division revenue, margin and return-on-investment goals.
  • Directed the creation and execution of a legislative engagement strategy that successfully generated support for policy changes essential to safeguarding approximately $100 million block of business.
  • Served as the merger and acquisition assessment team’s subject matter expert, delivering key insights on product portfolio alignment and competitiveness for targeted acquisition opportunities.

• Allstate

  Director of New Product and Service Development

  May 2009 - Jul 2014

  At Allstate, we're advocates for peace of mind and a good life, building customer‑centered insurance products and services while driving innovation, community impact, and career development across a large, diversified insurer.

  • Owned innovation strategy and end‑to‑end new product development to drive market share and improve customer experience.
  • Spearheaded the development and validation of Allstate Drivewise — defining customer value, data collection, hardware performance criteria, and program economics.
  • Reallocated capital across product portfolios to improve returns on property products and strengthen competitive positioning in auto.
  • Designed governance and staging criteria to prioritize investments and accelerate high‑impact product launches.
  • Aligned cross‑functional teams (actuarial, underwriting, legal, ops) to ensure regulatory compliance and operational readiness for new offerings.

• Allstate

  Senior Marketing Manager

  Jan 2008 - Dec 2009

  • Partnered with field organizations and internal stakeholders to define local go‑to‑market plans for new products and services.
  • Developed repeatable local marketing playbooks and sales adoption programs to drive consistent execution across market territories.
  • Designed and tracked KPIs and ROI models to measure campaign effectiveness and inform budget allocation decisions.
  • Facilitated training and enablement for field teams to improve adoption of new product capabilities and increase proposal conversion rates.
  • Coordinated pilot programs and A/B tests to refine messaging, channel mix, and incentive structures for profitable growth.

• Allstate

  Talent Acceleration Program Participant

  Jan 2006 - Dec 2008

  • Selected for the inaugural Talent Acceleration Program (TAP) to deepen cross‑functional leadership capability through three rotational assignments.
  • Senior Financial Manager (rotation): Implemented a capital reallocation strategy to improve required returns on property products and strengthen auto profitability.
  • Senior Program Manager (rotation): Designed and launched an integrated onboarding and business‑planning program for agency candidates to drive consistent, results‑oriented field performance.
  • Assistant Product Line Manager (rotation): Led a strategic initiative to reduce enterprise exposure to large catastrophic losses through underwriting and product design changes.
  • Delivered enterprise recommendations and gained executive sponsorship by translating rotation learnings into scalable operating improvements.

• Allstate

  Senior Regional Marketing Manager

  Jan 2003 - Dec 2006

  • Led a regional marketing team to develop and execute localized marketing strategies aligned to operating team growth and profitability objectives.
  • Built a testing and measurement framework for local campaigns to optimize spend, creative, and channel mix against acquisition and retention goals.
  • Coached and developed marketers and agency liaisons to improve execution discipline, campaign cadence, and field collaboration.
  • Instituted cross‑functional planning processes with sales, product, and analytics to ensure consistent launch readiness and measurement of marketing impact.
  • Established reporting and governance to track marketing ROI and influence resource allocation across priority markets.

• Kemper Insurance

  Senior Brand Manager

  Jan 1999 - Sep 2002

  Kemper Insurance provides personal, commercial, and specialty insurance products. The role focused on defining brand identity and market positioning for large commercial and international product lines.

  • Directed brand strategy and positioning for Kemper’s $2.2B commercial and international product portfolio.
  • Defined visual identity, messaging architecture, and value propositions to create a consistent market presence across channels.
  • Led cross‑channel campaigns and sales enablement to increase brand awareness and support commercial growth initiatives.
  • Partnered with product and distribution teams to ensure brand consistency in proposals, RFPs, and customer journeys.
  • Implemented brand governance and measurement to track perception, awareness, and campaign effectiveness.
• 

  bp

  Commercial Fleet Business Development Manager

  Jan 1998 - Dec 1999

  BP is a global energy company focused on reimagining energy for people and the planet, investing across oil, gas and low‑carbon solutions while working toward a net‑zero future.

  • Owned P&L and commercial strategy for a fleet fueling business, driving revenue and margin targets.
  • Managed strategic investment of a $5.5M capital budget for market and site selection, optimizing returns and footprint economics.
  • Directed site selection, feasibility analysis, and partner negotiations to deploy high‑impact fleet fueling locations.
  • Defined brand and commercial propositions for fleet customers, creating tailored pricing, loyalty and card‑payment solutions.
  • Built B2B sales relationships with fleet operators and negotiated long‑term supply and service agreements to grow volumes and retention.
• 

  BP Amoco

  Assistant Brand Manager

  Jan 1995 - Dec 1998

  • Owned growth and profitability for Amoco’s commercial credit card portfolio, developing strategies to increase transaction volume and customer retention.
  • Designed pricing, credit, and incentive structures to balance portfolio growth with risk and margin objectives.
  • Collaborated with sales, operations, and finance to onboard commercial partners and streamline card acceptance and reconciliation.
  • Used portfolio analytics to identify high‑value segments and inform targeted acquisition and cross‑sell campaigns.
  • Negotiated program terms with major commercial customers to expand usage and deepen strategic partnerships.