Minard’s far-reaching career has taken him from the small markets of Pasco and Yakima, Washington, to medium markets like Denver, Colorado, and Baltimore, Maryland; from large markets like Dallas and Detroit, to the formidable challenges of New York City.

After many successful years working at television stations, in May, 1999 he accepted a position with the PAX Network as Senior Vice President of Advertising and Promotion, and then as Vice President, Senior Creative Director for the Food Network. He now is President and Creative Director of CreativeLee, Inc.

His first broadcasting experience was at station KEPR-TV in his hometown of Pasco, Washington. Minard signed on as Director of Graphics and Photography and experienced a broad exposure to the business of television: from programming and production to news and sales.

After a two-year stint as Director of Graphics at WREX-TV in Rockford, Illinois, he became an accomplished Producer/Director working at KIMA-TV (Yakima, Washington), a station known for production quality and innovation. His production savvy took him to Dallas, Texas, to work at WFAA-TV as Producer/Director creating commercials and station projects, including programming and promotion. Because of his involvement in directing newscasts, he was included in research meetings and developed a strong working relationship with the station’s news management team. He left the station to work for an educational production company in Austin, Texas, where he was afforded the opportunity to develop greater experience in film production and directing actors.

A year later, he was offered his first job in advertising/promotion, returning him to WFAA-TV. This was a dream job for Minard, combining his interests in commercial advertising, conceptual development, directing, producing, writing, and graphics. It was also his biggest challenge. The station was mired in third place, and Minard became part of the team that moved the station into a strong number one position in that very competitive market. His success with WFAA-TV was rewarded with more responsibility. He accepted the additional challenges of the image promotion of WFAA-AM talk-radio and KZEW-FM adult-contemporary radio, and was later given additional duties in local programming. This programming adventure included development of local programs (with an eye toward syndication), supervision of a local daily talk show, daily children’s program, and the programming of the station’s vast library of movies. For Minard these were years of invaluable opportunity to experiment and develop new forms of marketing/promotion and programming.

In 1982, Minard took a position with KCNC-TV in Denver, Colorado. This proved to be one of his most exciting professional challenges. KCNC was another third place station looking to move up. He joined a team that was determined to improve the station’s position. Research began to show dramatic growth in key image categories, and it soon began to pay off in the ratings. In the short span of nine months, the station moved into a solid second place and established a strong momentum. Following a series of efforts to place Minard in another market, the competing station, KUSA-TV, eventually succeeded in hiring him to run their own marketing/promotion department.

After five successful years at KUSA (competing against what he initiated at KCNC), Minard took a position with WDIV-TV in Detroit, Michigan. Minard took charge of the promotion, press relations, graphics and community relations departments. After ten months of positive involvement and growth, the direction and philosophy of the station changed with a new management team. Minard resigned to pursue other interests, including consulting, and soon after took the position of Manager of Advertising and Promotion at WCBS-TV in New York. He was later promoted to Director of Creative Services for WCBS and served in that capacity for five years.

With the lure of creative freedom and a chance to get directly involved in the graphics redesign of a station, in the summer of 1997, Lee took the job of Director of Creative Services at WMAR-TV in Baltimore. It was a chance to be part of an exciting team determined to restore WMAR as a contender.

After Baltimore, Minard became part of the adventure of shaping PAX Network in West Palm Beach, Florida. Minard enjoyed his role as Senior Vice President of Advertising and Promotion and the privilege of working and learning from some of the marketing and programming “greats” at this unique network.

When PAX decided to move the department to California, Minard opted to return to New York City to become part of the team that is branding and marketing the fast growing Food Network. In his two years of leading the Creative Services Department as Vice President, Senior Creative Director, the Food Network launched 35 new series and achieved unprecedented ratings success.

Minard served two terms on the Board of Directors of PROMAX, the international organization of marketing executives in radio, television and cable. He was elected to three terms on the Promotion Advisory Board for ABC Network and served as Chairperson two of those terms.

As a featured speaker on marketing and promotion, Minard has addressed many broadcasting organizations, including NAB, PROMAX, NATPE, PBS, ABC Network News Advisory Service, CBS Network, and the Texas Broadcasters Association. He has also been a guest speaker for many college classes.

In addition to the Pinnacle Award, Minard has been honored with numerous awards from PROMAX. He was named PROMAX Promotion Executive of the Year, 1993 (voted by membership) and received numerous Gold Medallions for his work. He has received many additional awards for excellence including: Chicago International Film Festival Gold Hugo award (children’s programming), Columbus Film Festival Chris Award (documentary), N.A.T.P.E. Iris award (short program), three New York Emmy Awards (promotion campaigns), Denver Emmy (best directing), Denver Starwards Gold (outdoor advertising campaign), Colorado Broadcasters Association Gold Award (promotion campaign).