Meet the Vistage Executive Team

Real experience fosters real leadership.

Vistage Worldwide is an executive coaching organization that has assembled an experienced management team with a wide range of achievements in different industries and professions. Each executive has more than 20 years’ experience in executive and senior management positions with Fortune 1000 companies, start-ups, and divisions of multinational firms, government agencies and running their own consulting firms.

Sam Reese, Chief Executive Officer

Brian Casazza, Chief Information Officer

Joe Galvin, Chief Research Officer

John Kenney, Senior Vice President of US Sales Operations

Nick King, Senior Vice President, International

Andy Nielsen, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Products

Elias Olmeta, Chief Financial Officer

David Pearson, Chief Operating Officer

Mary Ellen Sheehy, Senior Vice President of Member Programs and Alliances

Teigue Thomas, Chief Legal and Administrative Officer

Sam Reese, Chief Executive Officer

Sam Reese brings over 25 years of experience leading and advising senior leaders in complex organizations. As Chief Executive Officer of Miller Heiman, Inc., he implemented an effective international strategy and redesigned the business model to position the company as a brand leader in executive development. The independent distribution model he and his team built became a model for other companies to follow and contributed greatly to outstanding customer experiences and extremely high retention rates. Reese also previously held senior positions at Corporate Express (now owned by Staples), Kinko’s, Inc. and British Telecom.

In addition to his professional experience, Reese serves on multiple boards, mostly in the technology space. He is the author of two published books on account management and an experienced keynote speaker. He holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado and has completed various executive programs at Stanford University and Northwestern University.

Brian Casazza, Chief Information Officer

Brian has a profound knowledge of and extensive experience with social networks, product strategy, mobile technologies, and other digital entertainment technologies, which he brings to bear in his role as Chief Information Officer.

Brian was previously the CEO, USA of Zed Worldwide before transitioning to the Regional Director of North America and Australia. Brian drove Zed’s strategy of delivering cross platform digital entertainment as a member of its global operational board, by focusing on product innovation and process improvement to significant results. He was instrumental in the successful sale of MonsterMob Group PLC to Zed in 2007, where he directed the company’s day-to-day operations in North America.

Prior to Zed, Brian was co-founder and CEO of 9 Squared Inc. He grew the business from $0 to $100 million in 5 years by developing an innovative business strategy and a focus on continued development of nextgen mobile entertainment services. As a board member of the nonprofit mGive Foundation, Brian has worked to give back to the community by helping charities leverage the mobile channel to raise money. Brian has been named one of the Denver Business Journal’s 40 Under 40, Global Telecom’s Business 40 Under 40, and a finalist in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of The Year awards. Brian holds an MBA in Venture Management from the University of Denver – Daniels College of Business.

Joe Galvin, Chief Research Officer

As Chief Research Officer for Vistage, Joe Galvin is responsible for providing Vistage members with the most current, compelling and actionable thought-leadership on the strategic issues of small and midsized business. This proprietary research is focused on best practices from the exclusive Vistage community of more than 45.000 CEOs, senior executives and business owners across a broad array of industries in 20 countries. Through collaboration with other thought leaders and curation of the highest quality content, Vistage members benefit from impactful business research on the strategic challenges and opportunities they face.

Joe’s mission is to continuously uncover, measure and analyze the innovations and emerging trends that drive the performance of the most successful small and mid-sized businesses.

Joe is an established thought leader and business analyst from his former roles as Chief Research Officer for CSO Insights – Miller Heiman, VP Sales Optimization Strategies at SiriusDecisions and VP/Research Director CRM for Gartner. He has researched and presented to business leaders around the world on advanced concepts in customer management, world-class sales performance and CRM-SFA Technology. Joe has published more than 400 research briefs and engaged audiences at hundreds of conferences, forums and executive presentations.

In addition to 15 years as a business analyst, Joe learned the importance of the customer with 17 quota bearing years as a sales professional in client facing roles in field sales and sales management. Joe also created and led the global sales operations team at Gartner during years of expansive growth. Joe brings expertise in customer management, sales strategy, sales performance, sales productivity, sales technology, and marketing automation to Vistage. He graduated from Illinois State University.

John Kenney, Senior Vice President of US Sales Operations

“JK” brings 25 years expertise in building and leading Fortune 1000 company sales operations on a national scale in the consumer goods, franchise, business services and sports entertainment industries. In his current role as Senior Vice President of US Sales Operations, he is responsible for optimizing our world-class sales organization by integrating field effectiveness with operational productivity at our San Diego headquarters to ensure full member value is delivered to our community. Since joining Vistage in 2008, John has led all internal sales, service and retention operation activities for the company, helping Vistage to deliver its largest membership count in its 60-year history.

His previous career positions include executive sales roles with E & J Gallo Winery, The Upper Deck Sports Company and Mail Boxes Etc. Corporate.

John earned a BS in Sociology from Denison University, Ohio where he became their first athlete ever drafted by a professional sports organization, selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 23rd round of the amateur baseball draft in 1982.

Nick King, Senior Vice President, International

Nick King joined Vistage in 2015 as Senior Vice President, International, responsible for driving the overall growth strategy by expanding existing markets and assessing new markets. Nick will also provide management, oversight, alignment and support for Vistage’s affiliates and partners in 16 countries across the globe.

Nick has a background in strategy, marketing, product and commercial leadership, with significant accomplishments in a variety of market sectors, including e-commerce, digital media, information, entertainment and publishing. He has recently completed an interim assignment for Tesco PLC, the UK’s largest supermarket group. Prior to Tesco, Nick was VP of Product with Getty Images, where he led product management and development. As President of International at Nielsen Entertainment, a division of The Nielsen Company, he oversaw multiple product and service launches, including entry into several new markets. Nick’s prior career was in the music industry, with EMI and Virgin Records, and with start-ups in the early days of digital media.

Nick graduated from Oxford University with an MA in English Language and Literature and earned his MBA at INSEAD. He is a member of the Worcester College Society Advisory Council and serves as a business advisor and mentor to a number of small businesses.

Andy Nielsen, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Products

Andy brings more than 12 years of experience working with companies ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies. He most recently started Valor Consulting Group, working primarily with startups and nonprofits in Southern California. His previous consulting experience also includes Consultant, LEK Consulting focusing on the Firm’s Private Equity and Aviation practices. Prior to LEK, Andy was Consulting Actuary at Towers Watson. He also worked as VP Business Development at Specialized Data Systems, advising and driving strategic initiatives for a niche financial software developer, and as Actuarial Assistant at Great-West Life in their health care business.

Andy is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, earned his B.S. in Actuarial Science from Ball State University, and earned his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Elias Olmeta, Chief Financial Officer

As Chief Financial Officer for Vistage, Elias leads the accounting and finance functions of the company while playing a significant role, both strategically and operationally, in driving the company forward. Elias has 25 years of financial leadership experience at companies such as Solera Holdings, Cambridge Place Investment Management Inc. and JP Morgan Chase & Co. Elias has a proven track record as CFO. Most recently he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Mitchell International, a billion dollar revenue provider of technology solutions to the property and casualty insurance industry.

Elias received a bachelor’s degree in economics and an MBA from the University of Rochester.

David Pearson, Chief Operating Officer

David’s more than 20 years of leadership experience includes strategic planning, sales and operational leadership, change management, business development, global expansion, and process improvement. He has worked with companies such as PlaneTechs, TrueBlue and Miller Heiman.

Throughout his career, David has translated his expertise in sales and sales management into effective executive leadership. As President of PlaneTechs, a TrueBlue subsidiary, David helped drive exceptional revenue increases. As a result, TrueBlue appointed him as their SVP of sales to run their $1.6B business unit.

David specializes in aligning organizations to consistent, repeatable processes and efficient enterprise applications. He is widely respected as a thought leader in sales and leadership and has presented to companies including Google, Honeywell and Coca-Cola.

He graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno with a bachelor’s degree in Speech Communications & Business Administration.

Mary Ellen Sheehy, Senior Vice President of Member Programs and Alliances

Mary Ellen brings more than 25 years of business development, sales, marketing and events experience to her role of Senior Vice President of Member Programs and Alliances. Prior to joining Vistage, she spent 16 years at Gartner, where she served in a number of leadership roles within the $160m worldwide events organization, including six years as Group Vice President, Strategy and Planning, more than three years as Vice President Business Development, and three years as Director of Sponsorship Sales. Most recently, she served as the Managing Director for the Dartmouth College Fund, Fellows Program at Dartmouth College.

Mary Ellen holds a BA in English Literature from the University of Michigan.

Teigue Thomas, Chief Legal and Administrative Officer

Teigue joined Vistage in 2014 as Chief Legal Officer, responsible for the company’s worldwide legal operations and compliance. She is a corporate counsel veteran, having practiced over 20 years as an in-house lawyer.

Teigue’s broad experience includes Law Department leadership in companies ranging from startups to multi-billion dollar global enterprises. She was previously Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary with Acer America Corp., one of the world’s largest computer companies. Prior to Acer, Teigue was VP, General Counsel at Gateway, Inc. and was previously Senior Counsel at Zurich Financial Services in Boston where she was lead trial counsel in state and federal litigation. Teigue is also co-founder of YourKidVid.com, which provides professional editing services to consumers for video captured on cell phones or any other devices.

A frequent speaker at local and national conferences on a variety of topics, Teigue also serves on the Global Board of Directors of the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) and has served as President of ACC’s San Diego and Southern California Chapters. She is also a Board Member of Providence Speech and Hearing Center and chairs the Governance Committee as part of this involvement.

Teigue’s education includes a BA in Marketing from Bucknell University, a JD from New England School of Law in Boston, where she was an editor of The New England Law Review, and study at the Boston University MBA program.