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

Richard (“Ritt”) Carrano is Chief Executive Officer of Purchasing Power, LLC. He joined the company in 2001 within its first six months of operation. Ritt was promoted from Chief Financial Officer to President in 2007, and in 2011 became the CEO. Within his tenure, he has guided the company to achieve consistent, annual double-digit revenue growth, 95% client retention and more than $2.5 billion in processed orders. Initial results for Carrano’s leadership underscore the remarkable corporate culture he has built and advocated at Purchasing Power. Powering People to a Better LifeTM has become both a company tagline and corporate internal philosophy. Prior to launching Purchasing Power, he co-founded and served as CFO for eTour, Inc., an early consumer internet website discovery service that was acquired by Ask Jeeves in 2001. Ritt previously was a management research fellow assigned to new business development at SmithKline Beecham (now GlaxoSmithKline) and began his career with Deloitte & Touche in Washington, D.C. He received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (cum laude) in accounting from the University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business. Ritt also earned an MBA in finance from Emory University’s renowned Goizueta Business School in Atlanta. Among his accolades, Carrano was named the Atlanta Business Chronicle's CFO of the Year award for private, midsized businesses in 2008; and GeorgiaTrend magazine’s “40 Under 40: Georgia’s Best and Brightest.” An active volunteer within the community, Carrano serves numerous roles with Junior Achievement of Georgia, which inspires and prepares young people to succeed in a global economy. He also is heavily involved with Inter Atlanta FC (IAFC), a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and enhancing the culture of soccer in Atlanta. Additionally, Ritt serves on the Board of Advisors and the Economic Development Council for the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce (MAC), the Board of Councilors for The Carter Center and the Board of Directors for FinTech Atlanta. As a champion of corporate social responsibility efforts, Carrano empowers his employees to invest more than 3,300 combined volunteer hours annually to Non-profit organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, Atlanta Community Food Bank, Children’s Restoration Network, Families First, Partnership Against Domestic Violence, Open Hand, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Relay for Life (American Cancer Society) and Safehouse Outreach.

A natural at sales, marketing, and helping clients maximize product and service offerings, Buzz Bradley has an extensive career helping grow and lead middle market manufacturing organizations. From Account Manager to Sales leadership roles and up through the executive suite, Buzz’s strong customer service focus, eye for details, and innovative, entrepreneurial spirit have allowed him to adroitly manage production, people, and profits. Buzz has been the CEO of Zpacks Corporation, an industry-leading manufacturer of ultralight backpacking equipment since 2015. Buzz lives in Melbourne Florida with his wife and three children and is passionately involved in charitable service.

Jason Christensen founded NorthStar in 2000 and has overseen its growth to become one of the top 15 largest residential security and home automation providers in the nation. A passionate leader who is committed to doing things the right way, Jason leads by example in living the core values of Integrity, Accountability, and Service. Prior to NorthStar, Jason worked for SalesNet Marketing and Eclipse Marketing doing pest control sales while completing his undergrad at Brigham Young University (BYU), where he graduated summa cum laude and number one in his class in 1996. The summer after graduating from BYU, Jason led the nation and set new industry standards by selling just under 700 pest control accounts in four months. In 1998, he returned to Eclipse Marketing as a Vice President and started a new "Home Security Division". For two years he built this business and successfully oversaw all sales and operations of the division, generating over 10,000 accounts during its first two years. In 2005 he received his MBA from BYU.

Jeff Clapper has been owner and CEO of 8th & Walton since 2013. 8th & Walton located across the street from Walmart's Home Office in Bentonville, Arkansas, helps consumer product companies succeed at Walmart and Sam's Club by providing expert-led services and education. Jeff's retail career began in magazine publishing, as the Newsstand Sales Director for Pack-O-Fun, Inc, a 55-year-old publisher of 6 consumer crafting magazines, calling on key national retail accounts including Walmart. He later led the $11MM business as publisher and independently brokered its sale to Amos Press, Inc. in 2006. In 2007, Jeff raised $1.2MM to launch Gimme Golf, an online golf video game, which he sold to San Francisco-based World Golf Tour in 2010. Jeff attended Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, where he studied economics, philosophy, and music. He enjoys playing piano, riding his bicycle throughout downtown Bentonville, and spending time with his wife and their two young children.

Peter Strahm is a purely entrepreneurial business executive with more than thirty years of leadership experience in the food and beverage industry. He has a proven track record including several major beverage industry success stories with Peter influencing and impacting every step along the way from the launch to maturity. Peter has worked for some great names in the industry including PepsiCo, Snapple, Jones Soda, and Red Bull before becoming the CEO and Founder of Drink King Distributing Co Inc and Nth Degree Innovations Inc. and starting his own entrepreneurial leadership journey. Peter has his BS, Marketing and Information Decision Science from Fordham University and his MBA, Marketing & Management from Wagner College. Peter lives in New Jersey with his wife of almost 30 years Pam, son PJ, daughter Brianna and granddaughter Sienna. And outside of being a motivational leader, he is passionate about coaching travel baseball and keeping physically fit.

Brett Beveridge is a serial entrepreneur who thrives on building businesses from the ground up and prides himself on being at the forefront of technology. Since founding the Revenue Optimization Companies (T-ROC), the CEO has helped propel the parent company of four brands and an international division to become a leader in the wireless, electronics, software and retail industries, assisting many big-box retailers and Fortune 500 companies such as Apple, Sprint, AT&T, Walmart, Comcast and many more. Beveridge believes in combining people and technology to help companies reduce costs and increase sales, and always, exceeding customer’s expectations. Beveridge learned the value of hard work from a young age, performing various jobs from waiting tables to even working in a papaya field. At just 23 years old, the University of Miami graduate started selling cell phones out of a van with a college friend, and impressively turned that bootstrap company into Let’s Talk, the largest independent mobile wireless retailer in the country with around 300 stores. He would eventually take that company public and sell it to Nextel. Beveridge would continue to harness his entrepreneurial spirit, raising millions from national venture capital firms like Goldman Sachs, to co-found LetsTalk.com, which is one of the largest online e-tailers of wireless products and services. Over the last 20 years, Beveridge has successfully founded more than 10 companies and used his experience to help national wireless and technology companies with reorganization, profit turnarounds, mergers and acquisitions, and IPOs. As a top leader in his field, Beveridge is the incoming chair of the Consumer Technology Association, which meets throughout the year to discuss critical issues facing the industry and devise solutions. He is also a current member and past chair of The Young Presidents Organization (YPO) of Miami, as well as The Strategic Forum, where involvement allows him to foster long-term personal and business relationships and offer ideas and strategies to other business leaders in various fields. In 2017, Beveridge was announced the winner of Ernst & Young’s prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Florida, and in 2018 he won a Gold Stevie® Award in the Entrepreneur of the Year - Retail category for the 16th Annual American Business Awards®. Helping others succeed translates from Beveridge’s professional life to his personal life. For the last decade, he’s been heavily involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters Miami, helping to match at-risk kids with dedicated mentors. He is a past chairman and is currently on the foundation board, where he devotes his time to raising money and awareness of the charity. Beveridge also proudly serves on the Orange Bowl Committee with a focus on helping underprivileged youths and rebuilding distressed communities. The University of Miami alum is on the university’s President’s Council, where he’s mentored college students in the past. His personal goal is to help shape young lives and offer them a better future. In his spare time, you can find Beveridge on the water with his wife and three daughters, indulging in boating, fishing or snorkeling. The longtime Coral Gables resident enjoys walking to breakfast on the weekends and sampling new restaurants and experiences around South Florida.

Named as one of the ten most influential people in swimming by Swimming World Magazine, TYR Sport Chief Executive Officer Matt DiLorenzo has proven to drive his industry in both innovation and design. As a leading manufacturer of swim and triathlon gear, DiLorenzo’s brand has outfitted some of the greatest names in sports including 12x Olympic Medalist Ryan Lochte. Today, his company boasts an impressive roster of over thirty professional athletes and has expanded global distribution to include seventy-five countries. Under DiLorenzo’s leadership TYR Sport has secured major national partnerships with U.S.A Swimming, U.S.A Water Polo, U.S. Masters Swimming and over fifty-five universities and colleges. Most recently, TYR also announced its position as the new title sponsor of the 2018 TYR Pro Swim Series. However, Matt’s commitment to pushing the envelope has catapulted the brand far beyond just domestic success. Internationally, TYR functions as the official product supplier for all aquatic disciplines within LEN (The European Swimming League). In addition, TYR technical suits, swimskins, wetsuits and equipment have been worn by athletes at the highest levels of international competition including the IRONMAN World Championships and the Summer Olympic Games. Responsible for building major community-based initiatives on behalf of his brand, DiLorenzo continues to find ways to give back. Throughout his tenure TYR has participated in learn to swim clinics and programs. In 2012, TYR launched its first TYR Pink collection; a line of products dedicated to fighting the battle against breast cancer. Since then TYR has donated over $325,000 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), with the line continuing to grow each year. In addition to Hurricane Harvey relief, DiLorenzo and team TYR athletes most recently worked alongside the Mac Crutchfield Foundation to support drowning prevention programs and events, as well as the Special Olympics.In recognition of his major contributions to both TYR Sport and the industry as a whole, DiLorenzo was presented with the Sporting Goods Business 40 Under 40 award by The SportsOneSource Group in 2013. He is a graduate of Villanova University with a Bachelor of Science degree in both finance and economics.

Robert Hall has always had a passion for the consumer goods industry. After graduating from Oxford University in England with a BA in Physics and Mathematics and receiving his MBA in Marketing and Finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, he joined Nestle, where he gained marketing, sales and general management experience. Robert has also worked at other leading consumer goods companies including Procter & Gamble, Kraft, Nabisco (where he was he was the President of their Specialty Products Company and of Christie Brown & Co. Ltd. in Canada ), and Lenox (where he was he was President of Lenox Brands). After over 20 years in large corporations, Robert moved into the Private Equity business, but maintained his focus on consumer products. He became an Operating Executive of Palladium Equity Partners, LLC where he served as Chairman of Wise Foods as well as Interim Chief Executive Officer of Castro Cheese Company. He then moved to Centerview Capital and became a Managing Director at the firm, before assuming his current responsibilities as Chief Executive Officer of Ole Smoky Distillery in 2016. Robert has also served as a Director on numerous corporate boards. Firstly, for Ault Foods Ltd., a $1.3b dairy products company in Canada, where he was also the Chairman of the Management Resources and Compensation Committee. He then served on the board for six other private equity owned food companies including, Castro Cheese, Taco Bueno Restaurants, Chung’s Gourmet Foods, Custom Food Products, Wise Foods and Frozen Specialties. Additionally, he was an Advisory Board Member of Belmay, a private fragrance company. Currently, he serves on the Board and is the Chairman of the Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee of Glatfelter, a $1.6b NYSE specialty paper company. He is also on the Board of Yucatan Foods, a privately held guacamole company. Hall is now the CEO of Ole Smoky Distillery, the leading moonshine company in the U.S. and home of the world’s most visited distillery, where he has supported the company’s efforts to significantly grow sales. Just recently the company won the 2017 IMPACT Hot Brand Award for spirits brands, which recognizes Ole Smoky’s size and growth over the past year. Today, Robert and his wife, Liz, live in Sevierville, TN and have three adult children, Emma, Alistair and Duncan, whom they visit often.

A highly motivated and entrepreneurial leader, Rohit Tibrewala brings to Roha, a fast-growing manufacturer of specialty food ingredients for various food and beverage industries, an intense focus on creating a customer-centric and employee-friendly organization while maximizing shareholder value. Rohit has been responsible for Roha’s USA operations since 2001 and has gained remarkable market share in less than ten years, under highly competitive market conditions. He’s set up all operations, 6 so far, from start and has grown them significantly. Rohit’s leadership has created a team of highly motivated and skilled individuals through regular coaching and mentoring employees, providing an environment where creativity can flourish, and helping people reach their highest potentials. Rohit lives in St. Louis with his wife and two boys.

Stephen Wakeling is a wireless industry entrepreneur with a 10-year track record of developing disruptive, technology-powered services. He is the co-founder and CEO of Phobio, LLC -- a software development company that builds optimized software services to support wireless carriers and retailers. Phobio provides outstanding service and support to wireless retailers around the world and to technology companies, such as Apple, Verizon and Samsung. Phobio’s flagship product is Safetrade, a device trade-in software that offers simple solutions, unmatched support and a risk-free program that guarantees device values to wireless retailers. In 2017, Phobio successfully launched its second product -- Rodio -- which provides a two-way communication system designed specifically for enterprises to send important updates and messages to remote and geographically-dispersed teams with ease, and that utilizes AI to maximize team engagement. Stephen holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and is an alumnus of Harvard Business School. He is a journalist by education, a technologist at heart, and, as an entrepreneur, he thrives on start-up culture and his personal mission to build things better. Stephen is also an avid pilot, who has moved frequently in his career, living throughout the US, Australia and Asia. Currently, he lives in Atlanta with his wife and two sons.