She calls it SEC speech—and there are no Rosetta Stone classes to learn it. Lisa A. Gok picked it up during her 11 years as an assistant regional director for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Los Angeles and it has served her well in subsequent jobs. Maybe especially so at Cetera Financial […]
Features Region: West
Sean Dennison – CenterCal Properties LLC
No single project can make a career for a real estate attorney, but each can end one. Sean Dennison kept this in mind as his company embarked on the first phase of the massive mixed-use redevelopment in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland, Washington. The Village at Totem Lake it’s called, and since commencing in 2015, […]
T.J. Mattimore – Vaisala
For a Finnish company that literally sees the sky as its limit, there’s some irony in Vaisala doing so much unseen. Though that doesn’t seem to weigh too heavily on the mind of its president for the U.S. subsidiary and legal boss for the United States, Canada and Mexico. At the very least, T.J. Mattimore […]
Ashley Good – Acorns
As a young child, Ashley Good stored bits of change and odd job money in a bright pink cash box. She’s still watching every dollar today, albeit for much higher stakes at Acorns, a California-based fintech company specializing in micro-investing. The California native joined Acorns in March 2020 as chief legal officer, bringing sales and […]
Michelle Howland Zmugg – SpotOn
As Michelle Zmugg joined San Francisco-based SpotOn in September 2020 as its first general counsel, she knew she’d be helping the company progress from a startup to a maturing tech venture. She had the experience in employment law and HR issues a growing company needs, but as SpotOn’s small business payment and management tools are […]
Jerry Joondeph – XOJET Aviation
In a normal year, Jerry Joondeph would accumulate around 100,000 miles of air travel. He’d visit places around the U.S., Europe and Asia—not uncommon for a top executive at an aviation company. But the COVID-19 pandemic shut down most of his regular travel, forcing Joondeph to pivot in his roles as chief administrative officer and […]
Shannon Castellani – Age of Learning
When she got the opportunity to interview for a new position at Age of Learning, the parent company behind the popular ABCmouse and Adventure Academy children’s education platforms, Shannon Castellani sought insight on the product from an expert: her son. “He was around four at the time, and I wanted to know if the product […]
Megan Croce – Banfield Pet Hospital
Recently, Megan Croce took her rescue dog Sadie, an Australian shepherd and beagle mix, to a local Banfield Pet Hospital for routine dental work. Later that night, after the hospital had closed, Croce received a call from a veterinarian who wanted to discuss Sadie’s health. Little did the vet know that Croce was the general […]
Mark Weinstock – CCI
There’s some irony here, and it might be most pronounced in California where the housing crunch is so severe that even Silicon Valley companies can be hard-pressed to attract and retain employees earning a decent income. Yet for myriad reasons, the builders say it’s very difficult to develop ground-up, affordable, multifamily complexes in the Golden […]
Stephanie Westermeier – Trinity Health
In these days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Stephanie Westermeier doesn’t have to look far to see the devastating impact of coronavirus—both at work and at home. As the general counsel at the Boise, Idaho-based Saint Alphonsus Health System—a subsidiary of Michigan-based Trinity Health, the sixth largest healthcare system in the country and third largest non-profit—Westermeier […]
