ABOUT US

Mark J. Faust Sr.

Growth Advisor, Speaker, Turnaround Facilitator

Since Echelon Management’s inception in 1990, Faust has conducted hundreds of sessions for clients from companies such as Apple, IBM, Monsanto, Cable & Wireless, John Deere, P&G, Syngenta, Bayer, government agencies, non profits and a host of small to mid-sized companies including many multi-generational family owned companies.

Faust’s consulting career began with Executech Consultants Inc., a nationally recognized human resource-consulting firm, where he focused on minority, diversity and organizational development issues. He brought on top clients and completed some of the firm’s largest projects.

Faust has been an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati and Ohio University and he has held the roles of adjunct COO and VP as well as being an active member on several board of directors. He has been a Professional Member of the National Speakers Association, the Society of Professional Consultants, and was awarded the Certified Professional Consultant to Management designation. His book Growth or Bust! has been a #1 best seller in the business section of one region of www.BarnesAndNoble.com

Tom Kiser

Sales Turnaround Specialist, Execution Strategist

On B2B basis Tom has 17 years of in-the-field sales management implementation with companies in the insurance, banking and manufacturing industries.

Recently, as an interim Regional Sales Director, Tom took a remote sales team with historically low activity and increased new business and prospective business by 1000%. This resulted in new customer first year revenue of $1.8m and increased new customer RFP’s with a 3-year projection of $9m. Retention rates and expansion with existing customers also improved.

Tom believes; “there is no substitute for experiencing the days and lives of sales personnel and speaking directly with customers and prospects. This provides a clear vision and an opportunity to measure the relationship between senior management, their sales force, and their level of expectation.” Tom refers to this as GAP assessment and considers it one of the most important tools in growing a business through its sales force.

Sandy Costa

Growth Advisor, Speaker

As COO of a S&P 500 Company, Sandy led a growth initiative from $90 million to $1.6 billion in six years. While there were many acquisitions in those five years, over 60% of that growth was organic. This was just one of many teams he led through high sales growth improvements using strategies any company can implement to accelerate growth.

Sandy is a dynamic speaker and author of “Humanity At Work” an inspiring compilation of letters he wrote as COO of Quintiles Transnational. These were part of his effort to set the tone, culture and values of a fast growing billion dollar company that was still able to keep its primary focus on the people and not just the profits.

Ralph O’Dell

Turnaround CEO

Ralph O’Dell spent his early career with the US Military, The Lockheed Aircraft Company and the US Government. He joined The Caterpillar Tractor Company in 1966 with whom he spent ten years in senior international sales and marketing roles.

Over the next 17 years he held three senior executive appointments with both Saudi and International Corporations, notably Al Bayda, Harris Corporation and BDM International. Mr. O’Dell has served more than thirty years as an international businessman and has acquired a spectrum of specialist and general management skills. He has advised corporations, financial institutions, governments and business leaders on a wide variety of commercial and financial matters.

In 1999 Mr. O’Dell raised several hundred million dollars and assembled the founding team that ramped up City Reach International, a company positioned to become a leading global provider of Telecom and Internet co-location services.

His industry experience embraces Construction, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Telecommunications, Internet and Information Technology. His key skills include New Business Start-up, Corporate Planning, Sales and Marketing, Civil Engineering and General Management.

Mike Meyer

Growth Advisor – Speaker

Mike has held most every type of position one could hold in a Fortune 100; c-level, marketing, sales, operations, turnaround leader, M&A, and much more. To make it into the top 20 of executives in a Fortune 100 is one accomplishment, but to have created and saved as many jobs as he has, while helping as many business customers grow their operations is Mike’s greatest source of professional pride.

Mike can speak and advise on just about any growth topic or issue of constraint that any organization may face because he has persevered through and seen so much. In college Mike set the record for most assists, a record that still stands today; an apt metaphor and precursor for his professional accomplishments and advisory acumen.

Mary Jansen

Executive Assistant

Mary is an exemplar of holding together the details of a team that is involved on a multitude of fronts. We are blessed to have Mary helping to organize us and serve our clients when needed.

Rob Vickery

Innovation Specialist, Strategic Advisor, Enterprise Value Creation

Rob Vickery is an entrepreneurial technology executive with a proven track record in marketing, business development, product development and operations. He is an experienced strategist for developing and penetrating markets for technology-based products and services.

In 1999, Vickery co-founded Change.com with eCompanies, Inc., where he served as Vice President of Business Development. In 1997, Vickery was a member of the management team of Pandesic, a joint venture of Intel and SAP. In 1992, Vickery was a member of the management team of Industry.Net Corporation, a pioneering electronic marketing and commerce company that merged with AT&T Business Network in 1996 to form Nets, Inc.  Vickery holds a Bachelor of Science in Business (emphasis in Computer Science and Marketing) from Wright State University.

Rob has extensive consulting experience in eCommerce, mobile, health care, high technology and talent management industries. Recently, Rob has been involved in the launch of 3 ventures: CoachLogix (Enterprise grade SaaS platform to support Executive Development for large, multinationals: Launched May 2014), Station (Mobile Broadcasting Platform) and MULTIVOICE (full duplex wireless intercom).

David Garascia

Growth Advisor, Turnaround Facilitator, Top FMCG Strategist

With over 20 years of Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) experience and VP of Sales level positions at billion dollar companies, David has earned the distinction of not only being one of the top FMCG sales strategists in the nation, but he has also been recognized for his facilitating turnarounds with teams in very difficult, hyper competitive markets. David has a gift for helping teams to uncover their distinct and defensible competitive advantages and leveraging those into the market place.

David has built strategies that have resulted in teams penetrating the largest and most difficult to win accounts. David has helped teams build partnerships with companies like Wal Mart, Marriott, Sysco, Kroger, Hilton, Costco, US Foods and more. Whether you sit on top of your industry in market share or are looking at a classic turnaround, David has insight and experience to share that consistently raises the bar of growth potential for companies in any industry.

George Martin

Turnaround CEO, Growth Advisor, Speaker

George has over 25 years’ experience in both manufacturing and high tech industry. Formerly the Director for Attachmate’s North and South America Consulting Services group, he has managed worldwide tech support organizations while also holding executive management postions with Image Sciences Corporation and Intercomputer Communications Corporation and begun his career as a systems engineer at Unisys.

George also held an ownership/operations role in a family run machining and fabrication company. Next time you hear about cookies on your computer, know that George held the top operations role in the company that invented cookies back in the 90’s. George speaks on “Relational Living – How to Transform Teams & Relationships” and he has devoted much of his life to mentoring men and young boys.

Dr. Alex Higdon

Growth Advisor

Alex specializes in the areas of executive coaching and selection, team development, and performance management training. His over 15 years of service as an organizational consultant in the public and private sectors has extended to various industries including high tech, manufacturing, healthcare, higher education, entertainment, food service, and retail. The breadth of these consulting experiences have equipped Alex with the knowledge and skills necessary to be responsive to the specific needs of diverse organizational environments.

Alex’s expertise is in partnering with senior level executives and teams in order to gain competitive advantage in the marketplace. While raising the bar of leadership effectiveness within organizations is one of Alex’s primary concerns, he also assists leaders in the redeployment of existing talent and resources to more effectively attain business goals. His expertise extends to the design and delivery of leadership development programs, team building programs, and organizational climate and customer satisfaction surveys. He also has significant experience in the areas of 360 assessment, strategic planning, and employee retention.

Alex spent 9 years in the healthcare, entertainment, and consulting service industries. He began his career as a professional athlete and peak performance consultant to elite collegiate athletes. Following an injury which ended his athletic career with the Atlanta Falcons, Alex began consulting with executives and teams in the development of high performance organizations.

More recently, Alex has served as a leadership consultant for companies including Corning Fiberoptics, Turner Broadcasting, Shaw Industries, Gate Gourmet, and Meade among others.

Alex earned his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the Ohio State University, with a dissertation focusing on leadership and change effectiveness. He holds a Masters degree in Human Development from Vanderbilt University, a Masters degree in Psychology from the Ohio State University, and a Bachelors degree in Political Science from the Ohio State University.

Rita Tennyson

Marketing Director for Echelon

Rita has 18 years of media and public relations experience for clients, such as; Konami of America, Memorex, TEAC, Oakwood Worldwide, and best-selling author and speaker Patrick Lencioni whom she helped launch his first book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team to the New York Times Best Seller list.

Rita graduated cum laude from Loyola Marymount University with a major in Communications and a minor in Theater, giving her communications the ultimate dramatic flair.