Steve Pizzolato
President and Founder
Steve founded AVALA in 1997. He has 25 years of marketing experience, many of those spent working with leading companies in the marine and recreation industries. Prior to establishing AVALA, Steve was the vice president of database marketing for Maritz Inc., a $2 billion marketing service company in St. Louis, Missouri. Specializing in strategic planning, marketing research and database marketing, he provides lead support to all clients. Steve holds a BA in Advertising and Marketing Research from Northern Illinois University.

Terry Domian
Vice President, Project Management
Terry was the first employee at AVALA in 1997 and was brought on as an Operations Manager. Terry worked as an Events Coordinator for Maritz Travel Company right out of college and later was the owner/operator of two different national franchises. He then rejoined Maritz initially as a project manager then moved on to account management and sales. He currently oversees all project managers supporting marketing, data management, research, advertising, promotions, consumer/product research and lead management programs. Terry holds a Bachelor's of Science degree in Business with a concentration in Marketing from the University of Kansas.

Brian Rappaport
Vice President, Business Management
Brian has been with AVALA for over 10 years. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware. Upon graduation from college, Brian worked within the sports and entertainment industry in various capacities. Brian has been involved with inaugural openings and management trainings at four baseball stadiums and six NFL stadiums. At one point his career, Brian supervised over 1200 employees. Currently, Brian manages AVALA's internal operations as it relates to customer and product research, technology, and dealer channel marketing projects. He oversees the overall work flow process for AVALA's client deliverables and administers over 125 on-going CSI and research projects.

Jim Webb
Senior Vice President, Strategy & Business Development
Jim has 22 years of agency experience with 16 in the marine industry including strategy development, advertising, branding, creative, PR, research and database. His corporate clients have included Domino's Pizza, K-mart, Stroh Brewery, Westin Hotels, Brunswick Corp., Sea Ray Boats, Attwood, Cannon Downriggers, Bottom Line Fish Finders, Eaton Corp. and Steelcase. At AVALA, he provides direct strategic management for the Brunswick Freshwater Boat Group, Bayliner, Maxum, Trophy, Meridian, Nutro, Johnson Outdoors and Mercury. Jim has a Bachelor of Science degree in advertising and marketing from Central Michigan University.

Jeff Coffman
Senior Account Executive
Jeff holds a BA in journalism with a concentration in advertising from the University of Missouri at Columbia. In addition, he holds an MBA with an emphasis in Marketing from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to graduate school, he spent four years in sales and management for Medical Alliance - a national mobile medical service company in St. Louis. Upon completing graduate school, Jeff went to work as a marketing analyst for American Airlines in Fort Worth, Texas. He’s been with AVALA for 7 years and worked in various account management, strategic marketing and business development capacities.

Steve Morrissey
Senior Account Executive
Steve began his career with Hyatt Hotels and assisted with the launch of Hyatt’s resort expansion at Hilton Head Island, SC. Steve then joined the ITAGroup for 10 years during which time he developed marketing strategies for GE Capital, Lincoln Financial and Wickes Lumber. In 1997, Steve established the Chicago office for Cypress, a $90M Kansas City based meetings and incentives firm. At Cypress, Steve called on AVALA Marketing for database administration, web technology and creative communications to support a $2M dollar distributor incentive for the Square D Company. In 2006, Morrissey launched The Motivation Shop where he developed channel-marketing and incentive strategies for clients like International Truck, HSBC, GMAC Mortgage, Castrol and McKesson Health. Steve has a BA from Johnson and Wales University and is an avid triathlete.

Rich Pizzolato
Senior Account Executive
Rich has over 20 years of marketing experience during which he has held senior management positions in both manufacturing and service organizations. He has deployed multiple marketing, sales and eBusiness strategies for both public and private companies. He has been published in “For the Record”, “Cyber Angler” and “HFM” magazines. Most recently Rich was President and CEO of Short Grass Technologies, an IT solutions provider and manufacturer for the leisure industry. He is a USCG licensed captain and part time guide in the Tampa Bay area. Rich has a MBA from Governor State University.

Spencer Ward
Manager, Business Development
Spencer has over 5 years experience in channel marketing including traditional communications such as direct mail and advertising as well as new media such as eCRM, Internet ads and re-targeting. He also has in-depth knowledge of manufacturer programs including lead management, dealer certification strategies and owner clubs. Prior to AVALA, Spencer worked with Mercury Marine, Boston Whaler and most recently Triton Boats. He holds a BA from the University of Mississippi.

Lisa Grimm Mitchell
Director, Marketing
Lisa has over 15 years experience developing brand strategies and ROI objectives as well as overseeing collateral development, copy writing, web design, advertising, database configuration, competitive research, sales training, public relations campaigns and special events. She established the international marketing department for UniGroup, the parent company of United Van Lines and Mayflower Transit, and created the industry’s first global brand and the company’s first eBusiness program. Previously she worked with UniGroup as the British Petroleum account executive, Hitachi Consumer Electronics as an international procurement analyst and the United Nations as an assistant strategic planning officer. Lisa holds an MBA with an emphasis in marketing from the International University of Japan and a BA from Webster University Vienna, Austria.

Tom Kasperski
Director, Interactive Strategy
Tom has over 15 years experience designing and directing digital work for world-class brands such as 7-UP, AOL, Bacardi, Chicken of the Sea, Edy’s Ice Cream, Diet Coke, eBay, Energizer, Exxon/Mobil, Jim Beam, Kinko’s, Maytag, Miller Brewing Company, Motorola, Nestlé Purina, Nextel, Quizno’s, T-Mobile, Splenda, Verizon and Visa. He’s worked on hundreds of websites, online promotions, Internet ads, email campaigns, CRM programs, kiosks, social media activities and mobile marketing campaigns. Tom has won numerous industry awards including Adweek’s BUZZ Award for Best Wireless Promotion, PROMO Magazine PRO Award for Best Use of New Media and Best Multi-Discipline Campaign, PROMO Magazine Dialog Award for Outstanding Interactive Promotion, Creative Excellence Awards from the International Web Page Awards, and APMA Worldwide Globes Award for Best Use of New Media. Tom attended the Kansas City Art Institute and Columbus College of Art & Design.

Brad Kovach
Director, Communications
Brad has 15 years of marketing experience. He spent six years with Time Warner and the Bonnier Corporation and wrote for various magazines including Caribbean Travel & Life, Motor Boating, The Island Packet and Cabin Life. His responsibilities at AVALA include project management and copy writing for catalogs, web sites, product videos and sales collateral. He works with Boston Whaler, Miracle Recreation, Monaco RVs, Pierce and Sea Ray. Brad holds a BA in journalism from Indiana University.

Bill Moran
Director, Research
Bill has 12 years experience with consumer lifestyle segmentation, geo-demographic research and customer profiling. He joined AVALA in 2003 and quickly became the keystone of AVALA analytical programs. Bill received his BA and MBA in Marketing from St. Louis University. Upon graduation he began work at Save-A-Lot food stores, a $4 billion dollar retailer, initially in the real estate department. He moved on to establish the marketing analytics department and conducted customer profiling, sales analysis and site selection tools during a period of rapid growth. He then worked as a senior marketing analyst at GMAC Insurance where he used his customer analytical experience to enhance the company’s direct marketing efforts and establish customer value measures. At AVALA, Bill manages all client research and analysis and is integral in formulating project designs.

Dan Ramler
Director, Information Technology
Dan has over 10 years of information technology experience including writing specification documentation, customer interaction, system architecture, software development, quality assurance test and systems analytics. He is a tremendous asset to AVALA since he has a keen technical understanding and a proven ability to both communicate with and manage resources and personnel effectively. His technical capabilities include C#, VB .Net, JavaScript, VBScript, Microsoft.Net Compact Framework as well as ASP.Net, AJAX, jQuery, CSS, HTML, XML, XSLT. Dan is also familiar with SQL Server 2008/2005/2000, Oracle, Microsoft Analysis Services, T/SQL, MDX, DTS and SSIS. And, he works with multi-dimensional analytics, OLAP and Business Objects 5.x – XI 3.0. Prior to AVALA, he worked at Anheuser-Busch Companies. Dan holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems from Missouri State University.

Gretchen Wolpert
Director, Creative & Interactive Services
Gretchen joined the AVALA team in 2004 initially as a project manager. Her success as the AVALA point of contact for clients and ability to manage day-to-day operational aspects of projects made her the natural choice to oversee both the creative and interactive team. She manages collateral, advertising, national promotions and research projects for some of our top-tier clients such as Boston Whaler, HGTV, Monaco RV, Pierce, Playpower and Sea Ray. Gretchen is a strong team leader with the ability to prioritize, delegate tasks and make sound decisions quickly while maintaining a focus on timelines and the bottom line. She has a Bachelor of Science with an emphasis in marketing from St. Louis University.

Frank Steiner
Senior Creative Director
Frank designs advertising, collateral, promotions and point-of-sale materials. A graduate of Washington University with a BFA in Graphic Communication, Frank spent more than twenty years at Maritz, Inc., as a designer and illustrator, where he created artwork for major corporations such as Anheuser-Busch, General Motors, Citicorp, Chrysler, United Airlines, Nissan/Infiniti and Shell Oil. Frank has produced artwork for national magazines such as Reader's Digest, Golf Illustrated, Berkley, Bantam, and Scholastic Books. His work has won numerous awards from the Society of Illustrators New York and Los Angeles and the Advertising Federation of St. Louis. Frank was chosen by the U.S. Olympic Committee to create artwork for the 1994 Winter Olympic Games held in Lillehammer, Norway.

Ted Wright
Creative Director
Ted designs advertising, collateral, promotions and point-of-sale materials. His work has appeared in America's leading Illustration and Design Annuals such as the Society of Illustrators New York and Los Angeles, New York Art Directors Club, CA Arts, AIGA, Print and Graphics. He has won over 100 major design and illustration awards. He has created artwork for Coors, Eddie Bauer, Lexus, Mercury Records, Nike, Pepsi, Toyota, The Tiger Woods Foundation, U.S. Tennis Open 2010 and U.S. Olympic Committee. Prior to AVALA, Ted spent nearly twenty years at Maritz, Inc. as a designer and illustrator.

Tom Haag
Interactive Art Director
Tom has over 15 years experience designing websites, emails, Internet ads and flash files for top-tier clients such as Allergen, Anheuser-Busch, Enfamil, Honeywell, Intel, International Truck, Microsoft, OfficeMax and Wendy’s. He is a hybrid designer that understands how development tools work in order to create designs that are accurate, functional and aesthetically appealing. Tom holds a BA in graphic design from Webster University and an Associates of Arts in graphic design from St. Louis Community College.

Russell Lewis
Interactive Art Director
Russell has over 15 years experience in creative design. Russell’s strengths include all aspects of multimedia including conventional design and layout as well as web site and email campaigns. He has won many awards over the years for design including multiple first place awards at the St. Louis Gallery of Printing Excellence and Target Advertising and Marketing (TAM) Awards. Russell has also provided design work for many local non-profit organizations such as Food Outreach and St. Louis Ambassadors and has been involved in the Rockwood School District’s Partners in Education program. He is currently broadening his skills with software development classes at ITT Technical Institute.

Jonathan Domian
Manager, Interactive Operations
Jonathan has been with AVALA for over five years. Initially he worked on client projects pertaining to analytical studies, promotions performance analysis, marketing and lead management campaign effectiveness reports as well as inbound and outbound call center research. He quickly transitioned to the Interactive Department due to his proven skills in digital marketing. He has worked with AVALA’s top clients on web site and email campaign design and programming, web analytics, email campaign effectiveness reporting, organic and paid search engine optimization as well as database development using federal CAN SPAM regulated opt-in techniques. Jonathan also manages AVALA’s eStudio platform, an internet-based storefront for customized ad building by our client’s sales channels. Jonathan holds a BA with an emphasis in marketing from the University of Missouri.

Sara Husenica
Manager, Production
Sara works on pre-press, print and web production. She is involved with advertising, collateral, promotions, point-of-sale materials and direct mail projects. Sara is also solely responsible for categorizing and archiving all AVALA client art work so it is secure and readily accessible as needed. A graduate of Truman State University with a degree in industrial technology and an emphasis in graphic arts, Sara worked with various pre-press companies around the St. Louis area for 10 years before joining AVALA.

Mike Brickner
Senior Developer and Applications Engineer
Mike has a degree in business administration and management information systems from the University of Missouri at St. Louis and has worked in the information technology field for the past 12 years. He manages and executes AVALA’s lead management and CRM systems as well as database storage applications. His IT experience runs the gamut from developing critical path batch jobs using COBOL on mainframes, to developing highly complex database schemas and .Net website applications using VB and C# and VB .Net, Microsoft SQL Server 200/2005, SSIS, Silverlight and Oracle. Prior to AVALA, Mike was a developer at Byrne Software, Kanbay and A.G. Edwards.

Tom Priscu
Senior Developer and Applications Engineer
Tom is certified in computer science through Maryville University and has worked in the software development field for nearly 10 years. He manages all of AVALA’s consumer and product research databases and applications as it relates to Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI). His areas of expertise are C# and VB .Net, Microsoft SQL Server 2000/2005, SSIS, Silverlight and Oracle. Prior to AVALA, Tom worked with Forest Pharmaceuticals and previously a freelance IT consultant.

Franklin Jones
Software Developer and Applications Engineer
Franklin has more than a decade of IT experience designing and implementing enterprise level solutions utilizing a number of different technologies ranging from classic ASP web application and Visual Basic 6 windows application, to more current web applications such as ASP.NET, VB.NET and C#. He has developed numerous web applications over the years, including Fleet Management Systems for both Forest Pharmaceuticals and American Railcar Industries. Franklin received his Computer Science degree from Northwest Missouri State University.

Danielle Grubs
Manager, Social Media
Danielle organizes the planning and implementation of social media marketing campaigns by assisting clients with branding and recognition, strategic web interaction, platform integration, data tracking and corporate synergy. She manages social channel operations for Sea Ray, MarineMax, Monaco RV and other AVALA clients. She holds a bachelor's degree in Communication and Sociology from the University of Missouri. While in college, Danielle worked as an intern at St. Louis news outlets FOX Channel 2 and KPLR Channel 11. She is currently work on her first literary work, entitled, "Peanut Butter: The Downfall of Society.

Amanda Fish
Project Manager

Amanda manages interactive projects including fully integrated digital campaigns, email promotions and electronic newsletters as well as dealer development programs for key OEMs.  Prior to AVALA, she worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as a sponsored copy manager. Amanda holds a BA in advertising and marketing from Southern Illinois University.

Michelle Sneathen
Project Manager
Michelle manages traditional print projects as well as market segmented radio ads.  She also manages the agency’s print vendor relations and external traffic.  Prior to AVALA she was involved with marketing projects for D'Arcy Benson and Mars Advertising Inc., the St. Louis Cardinals, Anheuser-Busch and Thorp & Company Public Relations. She graduated with a BA in Communications from Maryville University where she was also the Sports Editor for the campus newspaper. In her spare time she's a personal trainer and aerobics instructor.

Fred Harrell
CFO
Before joining AVALA, Fred was President of Wetterau Foods (a $3 billion dollar food distributor) and in charge of their store site selections and real estate acquisitions. At AVALA, he manages financial matters as well as overseeing analytic services. Fred helped develop many of the deliverables AVALA offers today including lead management and campaign ROI reporting, local market segmentation studies and CSI reporting. Fred has a MBA from the University of Missouri and is a CPA.

Laurie Fleis
Manager, Accounting & Human Resources
Laurie has over 10 years experience in accounting and human resource management. She is responsible for AVALA accounts receivables/payables, income statements, balance sheets, cash flow, bank reconciliations, P&L statements and tax preparation. Laurie also manages pay roll, bonuses and commissions, medical insurance and 401K plans. Prior to AVALA, she worked at TGL, Inc. and Citicorp Mortgage. Laurie attended Jefferson College.

Anna Nicoloff
Administrative Manager
Anna joined AVALA in 2008 as a receptionist and her role was quickly expanded due to her attention to detail and willingness to learn. She now manages CSI verification for all AVALA clients and social media posts for Monaco RVs, Nautic Global and Sea Ray. Previously Anna worked at St. Louis County Orthopedic Group. She attended Kaskaskia College and is currently completing a business degree at Jefferson College.