The Team
Hiring the right marketing expertise early is a defining decision for successful start-ups. We work side by side with your team to grow your business.
Ken El-Sherif
Co-Founder and CEO
Ken El-Sherif started as an engineer before moving to the commercial side of the business. He has over 20 years of work experience at both start-ups and Fortune 50 companies. He has launched products in a variety of healthcare categories including diabetes, orthopedics, hearing, and pain. He has worked in MedTech, pharmaceutical, SaaS, and consumer products. His accomplishments range from launches between $5M and over $100 Million in first year sales. He has led commercial efforts ranging from the OneTouch business at Johnson & Johnson with over $1 Billion in sales in the United States to start-ups like InSound Medical that was purchased for over $170 Million.
Ken earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and his MBA from the Harvard Business School.
Jennifer Kealy
Co-Founder and Vice President
Jennifer Kealy is a talented and award-winning marketer with 20 years of experience working in both Fortune 50 companies and healthcare start-ups. Jennifer has a wide range of experience including roles in Sales, Consumer and Professional Marketing, Digital campaign development, International Marketing, and Reimbursement. She has led businesses in markets worth over $2 Billion in sales. Among her successes include the leadership of Lyric, growing the business from $5 Million in sales to a run rate of $25 Million in sales in just 18 months. Commercial results with Lyric exceeded industry benchmarks by 5x. Jennifer has worked in a range of healthcare categories, including diabetes, hearing and dental.
Jennifer has a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Connecticut and an MBA from Saint Mary’s College of California.
Stephanie Demeter
Market Maker
Stephanie Demeter has over 15 years of experience in pharmaceuticals and medical devices. She has extensive project management experience and has led project teams supporting both large and start-up companies, including Johnson & Johnson, ALZA Corporation, and Conor Medsystems. Stephanie’s project management expertise includes building a Program Management Office for project governance that allowed for executive project decisions as well as company-wide resource and budget allocations. Stephanie brings world class analytical and project management skills to every client she works with.
Stephanie has a B.S in Genetics with a minor in statistics from the University of California at Davis.
Cristina Fitzsimmons
Market Maker
Cristina has marketing experience in marketing campaign development and execution across a wide range of media, market evaluation, and entry strategy creation. She also specializes in product launch planning and support, forecasting, business planning, and production management. Her experience also includes customer relationship management and customer service optimization, management of major trade shows and conferences, and relationship development with key opinion leaders.
Cristina earned a BS in Economics and a BS in Business Management from the University of Florida. She also earned an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Kenan-Flagler Business School as Valedictorian.
Suzie Huber Roleke
Market Maker
Suzie Roleke has 20 years of work experience in brand management at industry leading healthcare companies and global advertising agencies. Suzie has been responsible for the growth, innovation, and commercialization of brands with annual sales as high as $1B. With experience in both B2B and B2C businesses and a broad range of categories including orthopedics, OTCs, baby, home, beauty, and personal care, Suzie has a deep track record of proven results leading multi-stakeholder teams to aligned strategic vision, insight-driven positioning, and impactful creative marketing that builds strong businesses and brands.
Suzie earned a B.A. in Art and Art History from Colgate University.
Rebecca Thayer
Market Maker
Rebecca Thayer has over 10 years of experience in marketing, sales, and corporate events. She began her career in the healthcare field in various sales and marketing roles for start-ups where she found her passion for launching new brands and developing protocols. With a keen eye for detail, she also specializes in corporate event planning from conception to execution. Her experience also includes key accounts management, search engine marketing, sales force incentives, and supporting C-level executives.
Rebecca earned her B.S. in Marketing from Arizona State University.
Mary Tsighis
Market Maker
Mary Tsighis is an award winning business leader with over 12 years of global marketing and sales experience for a Fortune 50 company. Mary’s expertise is in digital marketing, new business model development and Go-To-Market strategy. Mary has a passion for brand building through storytelling and creating memorable customer experiences to fuel business growth.
Mary earned her MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Kenan Flagler Business School and her BS in Marketing from Arizona State University, W.P. Carey School of Business.