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In 1977, Gary Church started American Athletics formally known as Phidippides. American Athletics became NIKE"S #1 Independent Running Store in the United States. Mr. Church then became an Independent Sales Representative and Consultant for Converse Shoes World Wide in 1994. In 2000 Gary started an independent internet store for sales of Converse Shoes under the name of Last Pair. The new company has becomes Converse's # 1 individual internet retailer in the world.
Thomas M. Leonard, Jr. is a journeyman, state certified industrial electrician, and inventor. He has developed his skills in electrical and mechanical troubleshooting in chemical industrial maintenance where he has worked for the past 32 years. He also has an associates degree in mechanical engineering, is a journey millwright and a Vietnam veteran. For over ten years Tom has been directly involved in inventing and developing products through Research & Design Specialties, Inc. (RDS) for global companies, including the automotive industry and the piping industry. He is also the co-inventor of several products in the consumer market. Outside interests include refurbishing houses and spending time with his eight children and respective grandchildren.
Mark Howell is a gifted and creative image specialist. He has a degree in Applied Science for Graphic Design. For over a decade, mechanical drawings, renderings, visual illustrations, and other graphic tools have provided a foundation for his forte' and craft. Mark is a co-inventor on one patent pending, in which he also prepared the artwork that will be used when the patent issues. He has many other published logo art and image examples in use today. Mark's skills with image and concept graphics combined with his creative inventiveness and technical equipment training have provides a valuable resource to the product design and development process. Mark's creativity is further exhibited in the fact that he is an accomplished guitarist of merit, a song writer and recording artist, with several albums, publications, and air play credits across his career. He is married and has two boys.
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Brian Church entered the investment industry in 1997 with Putnam Investments where he specialized in modern portfolio construction and advanced client marketing. In 2001, Brian became the youngest Vice President in Putnam's History and ran Putnam and Allstate's joint marketing arm in the states of Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky. In 2003, Brian became the sole owner and President of Last Pairs Inc., a division of American Athletics and lead the start-up to generate over one million dollars in gross revenues within the first year. In 2004, Brian accepted a position to become the General Manager at Shoemaker Financial, a financial planning firm that currently manages over 400 million dollars for its clients. In two years, Brian has planted a new branch in Nashville, TN for Shoemaker Financial and has built a team of 12 employees who generate more than a half-million in revenues a year. Brian has a B.A. degree in Economics from Hampden-Sydney College and is a Registered Principle with series 24,7,6,63,65 qualification. 
Van Walworth is a product design and development specialist and practitioner. A primary application of his skills has been focused on products which relate to and/or incorporate resilient components. His career spans over three decades practicing product R&D, tool & equipment design, process establishment & improvement, troubleshooting, project management, and spontaneous creativity. To date, six resilient product patents have been issued based on his work, with a numerous additional patents pending. Van has a BS degree from the University of Alabama in mechanical engineering drafting and design. Van is an internationally recognized technical educator for in-plant seminars and is a seminar instructor for the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee.
Robert Edwards has been in the high-tech arena his entire career, beginning at the Motorola Space and Systems Technology Group as a senior communications specialist, and later becoming manager of media and analyst relations for Motorola's Network Solutions Sector, which was responsible for the company's wireless broadband initiatives. Prior to Blue Sand Consulting, Robert joined Brodeur Worldwide, the world's 13th largest marketing consultancy. Robert's professional expertise is in the areas of strategic messaging, market positioning and brand development. He also has valuable experience in financial communications, having consulted for companies in advance of earning calls to companies executing M&A and spin-offs. Robert is now the managing member of Blue Sand Consulting Group, LLC, a company that specializes in marketing and business brokering. Before entering the corporate world, Robert served as an engineering officer assigned to a US Navy destroyer. Robert has a bachelor's degree in history from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD and a master's degree in journalism-public relations from Regent University in Virginia Beach, VA. 
David B. Hook is a product engineer and inventor. His design and development strengths draw upon his background in the construction and maintenance of residential, commercial, and industrial facilities. His passion for inventing and developing products has become his full time career. For over ten years he has worked as a product design engineering consultant, designing and/or developing products for global companies. He is the co-inventor of numerous products, which include automotive components, Industrial seals, pipe restraint systems, mechanical hand tools, and multiple consumer products. The fruits of his development efforts include multiple pending patents and the pursuit of selected manufacturing processes for these products. David attended Lakeland Community College and has certification in leadership management and higher education. 
Dr. Brian Miller serves as Senior Research Analyst and consultant for Resources Development and Implementation, a Nashville based consulting company specializing in strategic planning and implementation. Dr. Miller received his BS in physics form MIT and his Ph.D. in physics from Duke University. After finishing his PhD, he served as Academic dean for a Durham-based leadership institute. During that time, he developed training materials to assist leaders in understanding the impact of science, philosophy, and religious faith on different professions, such as business, law, and education. He also traveled internationally speaking and teaching on issues of science, faith, and culture. After moving to Nashville, Dr. Miller pioneered an initiative to train leaders to create positive change in the marketplace, and he consults on this topic with churches and other non-profit organizations.
Ian Byron Fawknotson , senior analyst at Resources Development and Implementation (RDI) is Bahamian by birth. Prior to assisting with founding RDI, he was employed as Senior Accountant with Fisk University. Byron spent some 10 years as a banker in the Bahamas. He worked at notable banks including the Advances department of Barclays Bank and as Assistant Manager Business Development with the Royal Bank of Scotland. In advance of his departure for Nashville he served as Assistant Vice-President for AIBC Ventures, which was the venture capital arm of American's International Bank. Byron has extensive experience in developing high-level business plans, as well as direct support and implementation of these plans. Byron is also a trained teacher having taught Economics and Office Procedures at secondary and post secondary levels for seven years. He is a published author and essayist. 
David Litwin has been in the branding, advertising and design industry for over 16 years, working with such notable Fortune 100 companies as Hewlett Packard, IBM, Sony, Pacific Bell and Sun Mircosystems. David's first design department, an internal design operation of California-based Professional Exhibits and Graphics, took the tradeshow display company from 1 million in yearly revenue to over 4 million in under two years. Since that time he has started two of his own agencies, the second of which generated over 3 million dollars in revenue in its first 24 months of operation. David specializes in brand strategy, and is able to develop branding, advertising and marketing/promotional material that are visually superior and demographically laser accurate through his proprietary 'Needs Based Analysis' System. David is an expert in all print and digital formats. 
Craig Whitaker is an Industrial Designer and product development specialist. His product design skills include concept development, project management and mechanical engineering with extensive Computer Aided Design experience. His career spans 20 plus years and includes many years as a designer, engineering manager, project manager and account manager in both the corporate and consulting world. He has an extensive background in a variety of markets including medical, electronic, automotive, industrial and consumer products. He has worked since 2003 as an independent design and engineering consultant. Craig has seven patents with numerous additional patents pending.
Christopher Yates has been in media for over 20 years. He started at a large TV station in He left the station as Traffic Manager and went to college for a business degree. In 1990 he left to live in Europe and returned to work with IBM in software sales. 1992 he left the software world to work at a Radio Station in Detroit. He started as an Account Executive and was promoted to Promotions Director and eventually General Sales Manager. In 1999 the radio station changed formats and Chris went to work for a start up internet company in Nashville with Gaylord Entertainment. His job assignment was as a Web Cast Producer and traveled the U.S. producing web-based programs. In late 2000 Gaylord Digital closed it's door and Chris started a consulting firm, Capitol Ideas. In March of 2006 Chris joined Salem Communications a large publishing and broadcast company as a Marketing Consultant. Chris graduated from the University of South Florida with a BS of Business.