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

Jeff Oravitz is the Chief Executive Officer of Arsenal Capital Partners’ coatings platform, Seal For Life Industries, where he also serves on the platform’s Board of Directors.  He formerly was the Vice President of PPG Coatings Services and the President of MetoKote Corporation, based in Lima, OH, from July 2016 to March 2019.  He previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer and Board of Directors member of MetoKote from December 2011 through June of 2016, when he lead the process to sell the company to PPG Industries.  He joined MetoKote in 2005, when he was named Vice President, North American In-Plant Businesses.   Prior to his tenure at MetoKote, Jeff enjoyed a twenty-year career with PPG Industries, Inc., where he served in a variety of technical, commercial, and management roles with increasing responsibility in a number of the company’s coatings businesses, including Automotive OEM, Automotive Refinish, General Industrial, and Packaging Coatings. Jeff is a native of Pittsburgh, PA, and has received a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Chemistry and an MBA, both with honors from the University of Pittsburgh. He is a 2010 recipient of the prestigious Brewer Award from the Electrocoat Association, where he formerly served as Vice President and as a member of the Board of Directors.  He previously has served as President of the Shawnee Country Club, Chairman of the Governance Board of Lima Central Catholic High School, Vice Chair of the Lima/Allen County Chamber of Commerce, the Board of Trustees and Executive Committee of Tiffin University, and served on the Board of Directors for the Hunt Valve Company (Salem, OH).  He was recently elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ohio Manufacturers Association. Jeff and his wife Cindy reside in Cincinnati.  Their oldest daughter, Ashley, graduated from the University of Dayton and is employed in the advertising field and lives in Cincinnati.  Their son, Austin, graduated from Ohio Dominican University, where he was a two-time academic All-American and captain of the men’s golf team, and is employed in the finance field in Cincinnati. Their youngest daughter is attending the University of Dayton where she is majoring in Business.  

Kevin Miller is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Travis Credit Union. He brings more than 18 years of experience in the financial services industry. Kevin has held a variety of senior and executive roles within regional banks and most recently was the Chief Growth Officer of a FinTech focused on empowering the underserved consumer to improve their credit and financial wellbeing. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Solano Economic Development Corporation and Travis Credit Union Foundation and is on the Advisory Board for the Global Retail Marketing Association Kevin holds a Master of Science in integrated marketing communications from Northwestern University and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida.

Mike Snyder, partner at RaptorUSA and retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, discusses his experiences at NORAD during the 9/11 attacks, the challenges of partnership in the marketing field, and the importance of company culture and values-based hiring.

Matt Charlson loves helping people grow, taking on new challenges, and seeing the company evolve every day into a place where teammates can thrive. His path to leadership at DataBank began with launching and co-running a successful technology consulting firm. Outside of work you’ll find him spending time with his two daughters, Abigail and Elizabeth, and their Lab mix rescue, Simba. If it involves boating, golfing, the outdoors, or the Minnesota Vikings, he’s interested.

In 2017, Micalyn became President and CEO of ELPRO Services, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Swiss-based ELPRO Group. Leveraging experience in organizational change and business strategy, Micalyn positioned the company to disrupt a competitive and growing market by completely redefining the subsidiary’s organizational and financial focus, doubling staff and revenue in the short term. During her tenure with ELPRO, Micalyn has negotiated strategic selling partnerships to expand the company’s sales and service footprint in the US, and spearheaded numerous continuous improvement initiatives. “Within ELPRO USA, I saw the opportunity to reshape the company from the ground up. The most fulfilling part of that journey was redefining our culture and aligning with profitability,” Micalyn said. Micalyn also leads projects to engage employees in community fundraisers. She has a passion for fostering the growth of women in business leadership roles. Micalyn is a member of the Entrepreneurship Advisory Board at Marietta College where she received her B.S. in Biochemistry. Micalyn holds an MBA from New York Institute of Technology.

Dave Witsken in the CEO of Universal Engineering Sciences® (UES), a leading national engineering and consulting company. UES, recognized as the fastest-growing AEC firm in the U.S. and Canada, continues to expand its operations nationally, with 67 branches in nearly 20 states and more than 3,100 professionals today. Most recently, Dave served as the President of BrandSafway's Industrial, Energy, and Commercial business for the United States, Canada and Mexico. BrandSafway is a provider of services and products to the industrial, commercial and infrastructure end markets worldwide. Dave worked in various global executive leadership roles throughout his 17 years at the company, including M&A, Sales, and General Management. During his tenure, BrandSafway completed 30 successful acquisitions and grew from $300 million in revenue in 2005 to $5 billion today. Previously, Dave spent 18 years at General Electric in various leadership positions. He received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati and an MBA from Westminster College, where he currently serves as an Advisory Board member.

Tim Bessell loves his job. He combines lifelong surfing experience with expert craftsmanship to create some of the best custom surfboards in the world. Surfboard shapers and surfers alike, from all over the world, know the name, Tim Bessell. From world-class professionals to weekend warriors, ask anyone who knows him and they'll tell you the same thing: Tim is more than a shaper, he's an artist. History of Bessell Surfboards At a very young age, Tim Bessell was exposed to the infectious world of art by his mother. As A result, Tim gained an interest and appreciation for the sub-culture that would coincidentally influence and shape his future to come. Tim began his professional surfboard shaping career when he began working at Sunset Surfboards. By the age of thirteen, Tim began shaping surfboards from the beautiful town known as La Jolla, California. He was one of the youngest surfboard shapers in the industry, but he was already making a name for himself as a surfer and as a shaper in and around his home break of Windansea Beach in La Jolla, California. A Surfboard Shapers Journey Three years later Tim moved to Hawaii to prove he has what it takes to be a shaper on the North Shore. He began shaping custom surfboards for Lightning Bolt, one of Hawaii's premier surfboard manufacturers known for the infamous lightning gun shape of the 70's ridden by legendary Gerry Lopez. In fact, Tim Bessell would later become one of the few shapers allowed to manufacture surfboards under the Lightning Bolt name. After legitimizing himself as a shaper, Tim returned to San Diego, California to open Bessell Surfboards. By 1987, Bessell Surfboards had grown into one of the largest surfboard manufacturers in Southern California. Tim also made a name for himself as an artist, with exhibitions as far away as Japan. Tim branched off into the world of apparel when he started his own clothing line in 1992. He designed every item himself, and his unique touch of style was an instant hit. Tim even helped design styles for other clothing companies such as Hurley, T&C Hawaii, and Billabong. In 1997 Tim decided to focus once again on surfboards when he returned to the shaping room to reinvent Bessell Surfboards. He built primarily custom-shaped boards for surfers who demanded more than the typical cookie-cutter shapes typically offer. Tim's willingness to work individually with each customer has helped build a reputation few surfboard shapers can match. To date, Tim has produced over 46,000 surfboards. His boards have graced the covers of Surfer Magazine, Surfing Magazine, Beach Culture, and countless other surfing magazines. Many world-class surfers have ridden Bessell Surfboards including Peter King, Luke Egan, Jon Roseman, Glen Winton, Brad Gerlach, Vetea David, Ricky Irons, David MacAulay, Saxon Boucher, Debbie Melville Beacham, Ryder Mackey, Chris O'Rourke, Billy Choe, Simon Law, Juston Postin, David Eggers, Davie Miller, Richard Kenvin and more. Bessell Surfboards are currently sold throughout the world with distributors in Japan, South America, and Europe. If you're lucky enough to visit Tavarua Island, you'll notice Tim's trademark guns are standard equipment on the island. Wherever you end up, chances are there is someone riding a Bessell. Currently, Tim and his team at Bessell surfboards are starting many new exciting projects. These projects include Watershed Productions, a new film production company that is focusing on cutting-edge surf films. Most notably Tim Bessell has teamed up with the Warhol Foundation to reconnect the much-forgotten love that Andy Warhol had for surfing and the surfing counter-culture. “How I Met Andy”, is a short film that tells the story of how Tim met Andy Warhol and why his artistic inspiration never left him and how eventually this became the "Bessell Warhol Project.” In this project, Tim has created an extensive collection of surfboards with licensed Warhol art imposed on his signature surfboard shapes. This has created an international buzz once again and many of these boards can be found in art galleries and collector homes all over the world. With the love for shaping boards Tim gained when he was thirteen combined with the experience, inspiration, and reputation he has gained along the way, Bessell Surfboards remains one of the top custom surfboard manufacturers in the world.

Jason Kruger is kind of a badass when it comes to accounting. Don’t be fooled by his impressive resume and professional demeanor, he’s shaking up the way business owners think about running their organizations. Gone are the days of the traditional office model with an accounting team that stays with a company for 35 years and then retires with a pension. Today’s business owners have to make strategic decisions to optimize profitability. The only way to do that is with good data from their accounting teams. Jason’s 20+ years of accounting and business advisory experience puts him in a prime position to help guide business owners to make smarter business decisions. Often, that means choosing outsourced solutions to provide next-level expertise at a fraction of an in-house cost. Founded in 2008, Signature Analytics brings the expertise and benefits of large company financial and accounting tools and processes to small and medium-sized businesses and larger non-profit organizations. Since that time under Kruger’s leadership, Signature Analytics was recognized as an Inc. 5000 company for FIVE straight years for growth and as a “Best Place to Work”. Signature Analytics still has a headquarters in Southern CA while delivering exceptional service to clients across the US. Before founding Signature Analytics, Kruger spent 10 years in public accounting, finishing as a Senior Audit Manager at Deloitte. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Arizona. With Kruger’s expertise and Signature Analytics’ commitment to delivering reliable financial insights, businesses and nonprofits can make smart decisions based on real numbers.

Dr. Stephen Barden, DProf, is a specialist in organizational leadership and strategy. He works with board-level leaders to help them and their successors develop and initiate strategies that benefit and sustain the entire organization. His practise has worked with clients in  Europe, the USA, the UK and Africa. Dr. Barden has been Chief Executive of News Digital Systems, Axel Springer Television and Quadriga plc. He has been Chief Operating Officer of BskyB and Managing Editor of TV-am plc. As an entrepreneur, he has founded businesses in the media, technology and communications sectors. Stephen Barden holds a Doctorate (DProf) from Middlesex University for his research into how top organisational leaders learn to use power and authority. He has a Diploma in Professional Coach-mentoring for Senior Executives from the Oxford School of Coaching and Mentoring. He is a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Programme for Management Development and has substantial training in Organisational Development, Action Centred Leadership and Negotiation. He is a trained Mediator accredited by the School of Psychotherapy and Counselling, Regents University, London. He is the author of the book “How Successful Leaders Do Business with Their World: the Navigational Stance” – which details his work on the exercise of leaders’ power and authority and forms the foundation for his practice.

Bruce Scheer is the CEO of InspireYourBuyers.com. Bruce's Bio: A friend from the industry asked me “What’s your why?” The problem was, he asked me on LinkedIn in front of thousands of viewers! Yes, panic set in and it spun me into some deeper reflection and a concerted look-back into how I’ve helped others in business and personal circles in ways that were deeply personal for me. After deep soul searching coupled with constructive outside perspective, I was able to land on my “why” - to inspire others to inspire others. I have been given the privilege of working with thousands of b2b leaders, sellers and marketers each year for over two decades in helping them inspire their buyers. It’s a source of immense personal joy for me when I can help others up their game in ways they weren’t able to before. On the business side, the role I’ve played can be characterized as “sales and marketing enablement,” and I’ve done this with and for business, product, sales, and marketing leaders and the organizations they serve for many of the world’s largest global businesses including Microsoft, Oracle, HP, Citibank, and McKesson. My clients have rewarded me, my colleagues, and my business partners with repeat business, the ability to quickly grow revenues landing my firm on the fastest-growing company list 2 years in a row, and winning industry awards including HP’s Marketing Circle of Excellence and the Corporate Executive Board’s Marketing Campaign of the Year. I’ve been a keynote speaker for very large corporate events including Microsoft’s CIO Summit, and a guest speaker and educator for associations, business roundtables and in-company events and ongoing programs across all major continents. Note: Bruce holds both an undergrad and an MBA from the University of Oregon.