ROI’s Into the Corner Office Podcast: Powerhouse Middle Market CEOs Telling it Real—Unexpected Caree...

Mr. Chowdhury’s career has focused on global strategic issues across six continents, split evenly between emerging markets (BRIC-MT and through the top 72 emerging markets) and developed markets (EU-5, Japan, Australia and Canada). His achievements include successful assignments in pharmaceutical and medical technology commercial planning, price integrity, payer partnerships, innovative access schemes, patient access programs, customer value approach, and portfolio-level global market access strategies. With GENZYME, he developed the company’s first parallel trade pricing defense strategy. While with CAMBRIDGE PHARMA CONSULTANCY (now part of IMS), Mr. Chowdhury played an integral role in launching the firm’s Greater China market access consulting operations, spending much of his time focusing on pan-Asian issues. Additionally, Mr. Chowdhury served as a research specialist with the London School of Economics, WHO and European Observatory on Health for Central and Eastern Europe.

Ryan Fishoff is a branding and marketing executive. A 2006 graduate of Boston University with a finance concentration, Mr. Fishoff started his career working at Liz Claiborne, Inc, in a variety of divisional and corporate analyst roles, including the DKNY Jeans brand. Ryan transitioned to the world of private equity, where he worked at CoBe Capital, a family investment firm focusing on acquiring non-core subsidiaries from Fortune 1000 companies. During his 6.5 year tenure at CoBe, Mr. Fishoff participated in over $500 million worth of transactions in 13 countries. In 2016, Mr. Fishoff took over Gents, a men's accessories brand that focuses on luxury baseball caps. In 2017, Mr. Fishoff brought that brand into American Premium Water, where he is the CEO today.

Bram Kleppner has been CEO of Danforth Pewter since 2011 and has successfully turned around what was a loss-making business and led the company to seven straight years of growth and profitability. Under his direction, Danforth has expanded its network of company-owned retail stores and has enjoyed dramatic growth in its online businesses. Bram has successfully acquired and integrated three other companies into Danforth. He has instituted company-wide profit-sharing and partially paid maternity leave. In 2015 he converted the company’s electricity use to 100% solar power and has recently committed to moving the company to zero fossil fuel use. This year, Bram led the Board of Directors in adding an employee seat to the Board, now filled by an employee elected to that position by all the permanent employees of the company. He has reduced and refinanced the company’s debt, engineered a partial liquidity event for the company’s founders, and put the company on a path to provide the current shareholders full liquidity in the next four or five years. Prior to Danforth, Bram spent 10 years leading international marketing at Ben & Jerry’s, contributing to growth in Ben & Jerry’s international business from less than $5 million/year to over $40 million/year. He co-led Ben & Jerry’s first campaign against global warming and led the creation of Ben & Jerry’s first non-GMO ice cream. At different times, he served as General Manager of Ben & Jerry’s Russian joint venture and as Marketing Manager for Ben & Jerry’s France and also worked in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. His tenure at Ben & Jerry’s included three years as part of Unilever’s global ice cream group. In addition to his day job, Bram serves as Chairman of the Board of Population Media Center, working to promote the rights of women and girls in the developing world and to preserve the environment by stabilizing global population at a level that’s sustainable by the planet’s renewable resources. As Chair, Bram has led PMC through a process of strategic transformation at all levels of the organization as it has grown and expanded the scope of its activities and influence around the world. PMC’s programs have been seen by over 500 million people. Bram recently finished five years of service as Co-chair of Vermont’s Medicaid & Exchange Advisory Board, providing guidance on various aspects of healthcare policy to several state agencies, the Governor, and the legislature, and is a former member of the Governor’s Business Advisory Council on Health Care Financing. Bram also serves on the Health Care Working Group at Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility. Bram earned an MBA from the University of Vermont, where he served as President of the MBA Association; a BA from Middlebury College, from which he graduated with high honors; and a Certificate of Achievement in Lean Manufacturing from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.

Ralph is responsible for the day-to-day management and strategy for the region. Ralph is responsible for strategic growth of the flow cytometry and Latin America business within Sysmex. Since joining in 2007, Ralph has delivered a high level of clinical product innovation, business development, and customer care. His accomplishments include leading the team responsible for bringing to market the XN-Series analyzer in the Americas, a scalable, automated laboratory solution that was quickly adopted in the hematology marketplace, which grew the Sysmex market share in the U.S. and Latin America. Early in his career at Sysmex, Ralph established the first scientific marketing group and through the years led numerous strategic partnerships for Sysmex America, Inc. Prior to joining Sysmex, Ralph served as Vice President of Cellular Analysis Strategic Marketing at Beckman Coulter, formerly the Coulter Corporation, where he worked for nineteen years. Ralph is active in community/industry associations and has served as a member of the MBA industry advisory board for FIU, in Florida. Mr. Taylor is also a Board Member of AdvaMed Dx. He holds a graduate management degree from the University of Greenwich, London and an undergraduate degree in Medical Laboratory Sciences from Paddington College, London.

Darryl Lyons, Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and a Behavioral Financial Advisor (BFA), is considered an expert in the area of personal finance and author of several books; his latest was endorsed by Dave Ramsey. Darryl’s company PAX Financial Group has made the Inc. 5000 fastest growing companies in the country. Author, entrepreneur, community leader, and family man, Darryl wears many hats and understands what it takes to plan for financial freedom. Among his many accolades, Darryl is most proud of the San Antonio Business Journal naming PAX Financial one of the best places to work. He was also a nominee of the John C. Maxwell Leadership Award and recipient of the Small Business Person of the Year award for mentoring others. Darryl was also recognized by the State of Texas and Mayor Ivy Taylor. A community leader, Mayor Julian Castro recognized Darryl for his involvement in redeveloping a part of the city by naming a park, the Darryl W. Lyons park, in his honor. Darryl’s latest mission is to help redefine retirement where we no longer think of retiring but rather PIVOT into the next chapter of life with purpose. This idea is rooted in thousands of one on one conversations with people about money and a relatively new study called behavioral finance.

Mark most recently served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Mizuno USA as well as the Chairman and Officer of Mizuno Canada. He has extensive experience and expertise in leading, transforming and or revitalizing mature, rapid growth and new businesses across a variety of industries and well known brands including Mizuno, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, HoneyBaked Ham, Johnsonville Sausage, Miller Lite, Icehouse, GMR Marketing, the Houston Rockets of the NBA and a few minor league baseball teams. Mark's servant leadership style is based on a disciplined approach to people, planning, and execution. He is an accomplished strategic business leader and marketer focused on cultivating and championing a culture of teamwork and collaboration. A graduate of St. Norbert College, Mark pursued his Master's in Sports Management from Georgia Southern University prior to launching his career. He and his bride, MJ and their four daughters are avid Packers fans and reside in Milton, GA. To learn more or get connected, Mark can be reached on LinkedIn or at MarkMOBrien.com.

Ed Eiland, Pharm.D., MBA, BCPS, FASHP serves as Vital Care Inc.’s Chief Executive Officer. He leads the company with the vision of caring about every patient with an understanding that what we do is truly vital. He manages with the mission for Vital Care to be the premier national network of individually owned infusion providers by offering comprehensive business solutions, clinical tools, revenue cycle management, franchise support, and total resource access. This holistic approach results in happy franchise owners and healthy patients across our network of over 60 locations in nearly two dozen states. Providing home infusion access to more patients across the United States is why we do what we do. Dr. Eiland is a member of Vital Care’s nutrition, clinical and revenue qualification teams. He is a Fellow of ASHP and has served as president of the Alabama Society of Health-System Pharmacists. He served on the ASHP Council on Therapeutics, and he received an ASHP Best Practices Award for his studies in Clostridium difficile infections. He has published his findings and observations in over 20 journals and has authored over 100 posters at various local, state, and national pharmacy and medical meetings. Prior to joining Vital Care, Dr. Eiland was the clinical practice and business supervisor for Huntsville Hospital for 13 years. While there, he became Board Certified in infectious diseases, and he served on the 24-hour nutrition support and pharmacokinetics team. He managed parenteral nutrition, enteral nutrition, anti-infectives, IV cardiac inotropes, factor dosing, and other therapies utilized both in the acute care and alternate site of care. Dr. Eiland received his Pharm.D. from the University of Texas and completed a PGY-2 residency at the Audie L. Murphy Memorial VA Hospital in San Antonio, TX. He obtained his MBA from Auburn University. He was born and raised in North Louisiana and is married to a Texan, Dr. Lea Eiland, who serves as a Clinical Professor and Associate Department Head at Auburn University, Harrison School of Pharmacy. Ed and Lea enjoy spending time with family, enjoying the outdoors, and floating their boats on the water.

Kristen is an accomplished executive with vast experience in marketing, sales, business development, board management, strategic planning, and M& A. Kristen’s personal motto in life is to “Be Kind, Work Hard and Have Fun!” Building and leading great teams is her favorite part of the job. Kristen was the President & CEO Data Sciences International (DSI) and led a successful exit for its investors in January of 2018. In her 20-year career, she has delivered results for Mayo Clinic, Otto Bock Healthcare, and Coloplast where she helped develop and promote products to progress healthcare. She is highly motivated by advancing healthcare and aligns herself with companies with missions to improve lives. Kristen has a B.A. from the University of St. Thomas and is a proud Tommies fan; she received her MBA from Cardinal Stritch University. Kristen is married to Zach, and both originally hail from Austin, MN. When they’re not watching their two energetic boys playing hockey or baseball, you’ll find the family at the lake, where Kristen will be rocking flip flops and a baseball hat.

Entrepreneur, philanthropist, speaker, and author, Simon Lee is a graduate of the University of Texas Austin (1997), Dallas Theological Seminary (2007), Harvard Business School (2015). Simon founded Buy On Purpose (www.buyonpurpose.com) in August 2004 with one specific goal: to donate 50% of the company’s profit to support Christian organizations focused on fighting human trafficking, providing clean water and adoption/foster care. Today, Buy On Purpose, a multi-million company with thirty-eight warehouse distribution centers located around the United States, offers support to eight charities, locally and worldwide. In early 2015, Buy On Purpose launched a 2nd company Secor.cc. Secor.cc sells ink and toner cartridges nationwide and donates 100% of the profit to fight human trafficking around the world. Simon is married to Faye for 14 years. Faye graduated from the University of Texas in 2000 and graduated from the University of Houston Clear Lake with a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy. They have 2 wonderful children: Isaac 6 years old and Mariella 10 years old.

David Abeles, Chief Executive Officer of TaylorMade Golf Company, a global leading manufacturer of golf equipment, golf balls, and golf accessory products; oversees all business units for the TaylorMade, Adams, and Ashworth brands. A 15-year veteran of the TaylorMade Golf Company, Abeles rejoined the organization in February 2015 as Chief Executive Officer and President. In October 2017, Abeles completed the sale of TaylorMade Golf from Adidas AG to Private Equity, KPS Capital Partners. Abeles began his career with TaylorMade in 1995 as the Northeast Regional Strategic Accounts Manager in the Metropolitan Section PGA. After relocating to the Carlsbad, California based corporate headquarters in 1998, Abeles served as the Director of Sales, Americas for the TaylorMade brand. After two years of executive experience, Abeles moved to Hong Kong as the General Manager for the Asia Pacific region. Returning to the U.S. in 2002, Abeles joined the Acushnet Company as Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing for the Cobra Golf division. During his tenure at Acushnet, Abeles led the turnaround and resurgence of the Cobra Golf brand. In early 2008, Abeles returned to TaylorMade Golf Company as Executive Vice President and General Manager. He was responsible for global commercial operations of the organization; inclusive of the TaylorMade, Adidas Golf, and Ashworth brands. In 2013, Abeles took the position of CEO at Competitor Group Inc., a San Diego-based global services, media, and event entertainment company dedicated to the active lifestyle industry. During his tenure, he oversaw the popular Rock-n-Roll marathon series, online registration platform raceit.com, plus media and digital properties that include Velo, Triathlete, Women’s Running and Competitor. A graduate of the University of Connecticut, School of Business; Abeles, resides in San Diego with his wife and three sons.