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

Mirko Marich, President, Staff Source & CSG

Mirko Marich has a solid track record in business. He is devoted to his family and friends and committed to his community.  His history is a classic American success story.

Born the son of a Yugoslavian immigrant who came to America with little more than the shirt on his back, he was taught to work hard. be a good family man and friend, and do right by all.

President of CSG: Mirko is the co-founding partner of Staff Source. Prior to establishing the Company, Mirko successfully led the sales efforts for Labor World in their largest Chicago market. During his time there, he assisted in reorganizing two distressed offices and expanding sales in his territories through growing existing business relationships and generating new customers turning them into the most profitable offices in North America.

As part of his day-to-day responsibilities, Mirko consults with Staff Source and other business entities while assisting in managing the CSG lines of business.

Lothar Krinke, Ph.D., CEO, Welcony

Lothar Krinke, Ph.D., is the CEO of Welcony, the global neurotechnology leader that supports thousands of research labs, clinics, hospitals, and universities that focus on mental health, brain disorders, cognitive neuroscience, and neuromonitoring. Welcony’s  Inspired Neurotechnology is changing lives worldwide, and Dr. Krinke’s passion is to help improve patient outcomes.

Welcony brands include Magstim Magnetic Stimulation, Magstim EGI high-density EEG, Technomed Clinical Neurophysiology, and Neurosign Nerve Safety Monitoring. Prior to leading Welcony, Dr. Krinke was the Vice President & General Manager of the Medtronic Brain Modulation (DBS) business. He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor position in Neuroscience at West Virginia University.

“Neuroscience innovations offer a new level of patient and treatment insights that help physicians and clinicians in their life-saving work,” said Dr. Krinke. “Our combined strength leads to great solutions, and we all contribute to the quality and success of Welcony.”

Tom Gillespie, President & CEO, Living Well Disability Services

Thomas Gillespie is the President and CEO of Mendota Heights, MN-based Living Well Disability Services, a leader in providing exceptional services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. 

Gillespie has more than 15 years of senior management experience working across the spectrum of roles in the disability services industry including executive leadership, operations management, and group home management. His resume prior to his service at Living Well includes more than a decade of strategic leadership at Minnesota disability service providers, including his time as Executive Director of the Duluth Regional Care Center (DRCC) in Duluth, MN. Prior to that Gillespie was Chief Program Officer of Hammer Residences in Wayzata. Hammer Residences provides services for more than 1,900 people impacted by disabilities, Hammer has 550 staff in locations across the Twin Cities region.

In addition to his leadership at Living Well, Tom is married to his high school girlfriend Susie. The couple have a 5-year-old son, Henry.  Tom serves on the board of directors for the Association of Residential Resources in Minnesota (ARRM), Minnesota ACO provider ALTAIR and The Non-Profit Insurance Trust. Gillespie and his family also volunteer their time with Minnetonka Community Education, The Woodbury Hockey Association, and South Washington County Schools. Gillespie has received an undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Minnesota, Duluth and an MBA from Concordia University St. Paul.

 

Falguni Desai, Managing Director, The Art of Shaving

Falguni Desai is an experienced marketing leader at Procter & Gamble who leads the North America Grooming  Direct-to-Consumer business & also serves as the Managing Director for The Art of Shaving.  

She’s spent almost two decades working across more a dozen iconic brands from upstream innovation roles to managing P&Ls across established businesses and start-up models. Falguni has a consistent track record of delivering breakthrough results in the most challenging of situations – here in the US and internationally. 

Falguni has been recognized with numerous awards not just for her marketing & management acumen but also on her ability to coach & nurture talent to create high-performing teams. She is a champion of organizational efforts and serves as a sponsor for the P&G Boston Women’s Network, Harvard Recruiting Team, and is active within the  Asian-Pacific American (APA) Network.  

After immigrating to the US from India at a young age, she grew up in the Midwest and earned her B.S. in Biology from Indiana University –Bloomington along with a Liberal Arts & Management Program (LAMP) certificate and  Political Science & Economics minors. 100% of her education was paid through scholarships & working through school. Falguni resides in South Boston with her family. 

Sundu Rathinam, Founder & CEO, ChainSys

Sundu Rathinam was born in 'Madurai' the cultural capital of India in 1972. Sundu is a Mechanical Engineer from PSG College of Engineering, Coimbatore, India. He is currently based in Davis, CA. He is blessed with a great family, married, and has a lovely daughter and a son. He is a very positive result-oriented leader. He has over 25 plus years of experience with Data Management, Product Engineering, Product Delivery, Sales, and Branding. Sundu founded ChainSys Corporation in 1998 along with his brother Ganesan Rathinam in Grand Ledge, MI. Later founded the ChainSys India Operations along with his sister Mekala Rajkumar in Chennai, India. ChainSys is a Data Management company offering their customers a great end to end Data Management no-code platform called 'Smart data Platform' to solve problems within Data Migration, Setup Migration, Data Integration, Data Reconciliation, Data Archival, Data Masking, Segregation of duty, Data Quality, Data Governance, Analytical MDM, Analytics, Security & Compliance, Data Cataloging, Low to No Code Application Builder, and BPA/QA Testing Automation.  We have succeeded in working with many Fortune 500 clients and completed over 500 data projects. Sundu is always eager to have a conversation about any data challenges.

"Dream is not that which you see while sleeping. It is something that does not let you sleep," says the greatest Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam

I founded ChainSys in 1998 in the United States along with Ganesan Rathinam (my brother), and later in 2000 founded ChainSys Global Development Center in India along with Mekala Rajkumar (my sister). I couldn't accept the stereotype of life, so I started ChainSys. I am having a great time of my life from 1998 till date to innovate and grow ChainSys. I am so happy to see ChainSys becoming one of the most innovative and most pleasing companies globally.

Our ChainSys experiment was to uplift society by accomplishing significant Technological innovations. This social experiment helped several thousands of Chains identify their technical acumen and quickly become successful technology experts. Every successful Chain creates 10-20 stronger Chains, sometimes even more than twenty. This organic organization model is a successful cyclic process that enabled us to grow and succeed.

We developed high-quality data products for Enterprise Customers and innovated them every day to make it the greatest of all times and useful for all. We are marching on the right path of achieving our Goals with our Smart Data Platform products and constant incredible innovations from our "Dream Team." We have succeeded in working with many Fortune 1000 clients and completed over 500 data projects.

ChainSys Smart Data Platform helps to solve your data management needs in Data Migration, Setup Migration, Data Integration, Data Reconciliation, Data Archival, Data Masking, Segregation of duty, Data Quality, Data Governance, Analytical MDM, Analytics, Security & Compliance, Data Cataloging, Low to No Code Application Builder, and BPA/QA Testing Automation.

I am eager to have a conversation with you on a data project; however, complex it is. ChainSys team has overcome many complex and critical data challenges.

Anne Beiler, Founder, Auntie Anne’s®

Anne Beiler began twisting pretzels in 1987 to support her husband's vision of offering free counseling services in their community.  What started as a single farmer's market stand grew into Auntie Anne's®, the world's largest hand-rolled soft pretzel franchise. 

Anne's journey towards success began many years before she rolled the first pretzel when she and her husband experienced any parent's worst nightmare – losing a child.  This propelled Anne into years of darkness, depression, and despair but out of her pain came purpose and the desire to persevere towards personal and professional success. 

Anne is among an elite group of women who have founded national companies in America and is among an even smaller group that has owned an international franchise company. She was named one of America's 500 Women Entrepreneurs by Working Women and Entrepreneur of the Year by Inc. Magazine. Many television shows have featured Anne's Entrepreneurial insights and personal story, including Secret Millionaire, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, ANDERSON, and Food Court Wars. Her story is highlighted in numerous publications, including Fortune Magazine, Inc Magazine, Guidepost, and Nation's Restaurant News. Anne also received honorary doctorates from Eastern College and Elizabethtown College. 

Anne sold Auntie Anne's® in 2005 and authored Twist of Faith, a revealing look inside her life and business.  She followed up that book with The Secret Lies Within, which provides an inside-out look at trauma and how to overcome it through sharing your story.

Today, Anne speaks to audiences worldwide, inspiring people with her authentic stories and life experiences. Her mission is to help women overcome the pain, blame, and shame of their past by sharing their stories so they can lead with purpose. 

Thomas Hill, CEO, Kimray Inc.

Thomas Hill III is Chief Executive Officer of Kimray. As the grandson of Kimray’s founder, Garman Kimmell, Thomas grew up around Kimray. He has worked at the company in virtually every department, giving him an intimate knowledge of the processes and people involved from start to finish. Thomas manages the family-owned company with a sense of stewardship and heritage.

Thomas is also the author of the book Recovering Leadership: Musings of an Addict Leader where he shares his personal story of advancing in leadership at Kimray, spinning out of control, and the long and difficult road of recovery that transformed his life and leadership. He also writes weekly “Monday Musings” on various leadership topics.

Thomas currently serves on the board of Salt and Light Leadership Training, and he is vice-chair for Hope Is Alive ministry where he personally mentors a group of men recovering from addiction. He and his wife, Rebecca, both received their degrees from Oklahoma State University. They have been married for more than 30 years and have six children.

Re-Release: Fee Stubblefield, Founder & CEO, The Springs Living

Fee Stubblefield is the CEO, Founder and President of The Springs Living with its home office in McMinnville, Oregon.  Fee started The Springs Living in 1996, with an idea to build a retirement community his grandmother would want to live in as she faced the challenges of aging.

Today there are 12 communities in Oregon and 5 communities in Montana.  They offer senior living with options for independent retirement living, assisted living and memory care. The Springs Living has never focused on being the biggest, but simply to offer a high-quality experience for its customers and employees. Fee embraces the fact that the “magic” of our profession is in the daily interactions between the residents and direct care staff. The Springs Living has grown organically through acquisition and ground up development.  The Springs at Lake Oswego, Oregon and The Springs at Bozeman, Montana are the newest communities that opened in the winter of 2019.  Each community offers a full continuum of living options that include independent living, assisted living and memory care.

Fee is married and has three adult children.  He is the Immediate Past Chair of the Oregon Health Care Association (OHCA) and on the Operator Advisory Board of the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC). 

Ric Phillips, CEO, Elkay Manufacturing Company

Ric Phillips is a Senior Executive with deep experience developing strategy, driving execution, negotiating mergers and positively impacting organizational culture. He brings a track record of strong leadership and positive impact across businesses in sectors ranging from industrial to distribution, e-commerce & digital, consumer and healthcare.

Ric currently is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Elkay Manufacturing Company, a large privately held organization located in the Chicago area. Elkay is a leading manufacturer of world-class stainless steel and quartz sinks, in addition to drinking fountains, Smartwell Water Delivery Systems, and the award-winning ezH20 bottle-filling stations. Elkay also is a global designer and producer of commercial kitchen equipment and interiors for the foodservice, hospitality, education, and retail market segments, including Starbucks, McDonald's, and Dunkin Brands. Ric is building a long-term corporate strategy and prioritizing focus and investment. He is leading the senior management team in efforts to grow the business by commercializing innovations, expanding global presence, executing on acquisition opportunities, and maximizing shareholder return through enhancements in revenues, profitability, and growth.

Ric previously was President & Chief Executive Officer of Essendant, Inc. (formerly United Stationers, Inc.), a Fortune 500 wholesale distributor of workplace items. As CEO, Ric rebuilt the company’s overall strategy and oversaw the largest restructuring in its history. He delivered performance at or above Wall Street guidance in each quarter and share price increased by more than 50% during his tenure. He planned, negotiated, and announced a major industry-changing merger with a $2 billion competitor. He then navigated the company through an acquisition attempt that eventually led to the successful acquisition of the company, which was completed in January 2019.

Prior to his role as CEO at Essendant, Ric was President of ORS Nasco & Group President of Industrial Portfolio, with responsibility for three Essendant industrial business units totaling about $1 billion in revenue – ORS Nasco (industrial distribution), Medco (automotive aftermarket distribution) and CPO Commerce (B2C e-commerce player in power tools). He originally was recruited to Essendant as President of Online and New Channels.

Before joining Essendant, Ric was with McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm, for 14 years from 1998 – 2013, and was elected Partner in 2005. He led more than 60 engagements across the globe with healthcare and/or consumer businesses ranging from $1 billion to $100 billion. 

Ric began his career with Baxter Healthcare Corporation in 1992 as part of a finance rotational program and served in roles of increasing responsibility, including serving as National Accounts Project Manager, Renal Division. 

His extensive Board experience includes serving on the Follett Board of Directors, the Essendant Board of Directors (prior), Chicagoland Habitat for Humanity Board of Directors, and Indiana University Business School Dean’s Council.  He is a Member of the Economic Club of Chicago. 

Ric earned a Master of Management (with distinction) from Northwestern University Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a Bachelor of Science in Finance (with distinction) from Indiana University.

 

TJ Jiang, CEO, AvePoint

Dr. Tianyi Jiang (TJ) co-founded AvePoint in 2001 and has served as the organization's Chief Executive Officer since 2005. A recipient of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award in New Jersey in 2010, TJ received both B.S. and Masters in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Cornell University, and a Master of Philosophy and a Ph.D. in Data Mining from the Department of Information Systems, Operations Management, and Statistics, Stern School of Business, New York University.