CEOs You Should Know - Cleveland

Augustine “AJ” Wadian is the Co-Founder and CEO of Premier Home Pros, a home improvement company projected to hit $180 million in revenue by 2025. AJ sparked the idea for the company, launching it with his partners and closing their first sale within three days. He’s passionate about scaling smart, aligning sales, marketing, and installation through systems-driven leadership. Noah Jackson is the C...

Michael Sirpilla is a co-founder and CEO of Society Brands Inc., a tech-enabled consumer products company headquartered in Canton, Ohio that acquires e-commerce native brands. Society Brands recently raised $205MM for acquisition financing, one of the largest early stage raises in Ohio’s history. He has primarily focused on organic growth throughout his career. Prior to starting Society Brands, he...

Jeff Beck is a distinguished leader in the home improvement industry, known for driving innovation, operational excellence, and sustained growth. His career began at Leaf Home Solutions, where he rose through the ranks to become CEO. Under his leadership, the company expanded into the world’s largest provider of gutter protection with LeafFilter. Beck spearheaded the integration of advanced techno...

Fire-Dex, provides innovative PPE customized to keep firefighters safe. A family-owned company that is committed to the health and safety of first responders. Partnered with their sister company,  Gear Wash , the largest Independent Service Provider of PPE care and maintenance in the world, their mission is “to serve those who serve." Steve Allison took over operational responsibilities for the co...

India L. Birdsong Terry serves as Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA). She joined RTA in September 2019 and brings over 15 years’ experience working in positions of increasing responsibility in the public transit industry. Birdsong Terry began her career in 2006 when she joined the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), where she served i...

Mark Allen Roberts is a senior level sales and marketing leader with over 35 years of experience in driving profitable sales growth in market leading organizations. He has done so at companies like Timken, VMI, Gardner Denver, Mobility Works, and Frito Lay. In 2018, he received the Business Excellence award from NSME and in 2019, The Highspot Sales Enablement Award. He was also recognized by Sales...

Ted Otero: Ted Otero is a Cleveland native from Independence and now resides in beautiful Auburn Township with his wife and business partner, Kelly, and their two children Isabella and Austin. He is the founder and President of Otero Signature Homes. He holds a civil engineering degree from Case Western Reserve University and an MBA from Cleveland State University. He has over 25 years of real est...

Megan graduated from Marquette University with a liberal arts double major in Spanish and English and earned a minor in Philosophy. As an AFS student she attended the University of Sevilla and went on to attend the University of Madrid, Spain her junior year of college.  Her continuing desire to learn about other cultures and ways of life and to delve in completely through the language lead her to...

Nick Lopez attended Arvada West High School and left Colorado as a wide-eyed first-generation college student to work on a BS in business marketing from Michigan State University. His plan was to walk on to the wrestling team, which would ultimately pay for the cost of tuition and living. The reality was that a scholarship was a couple of years away, so Nick made the tough decision to hang up his...

Richard Klaben, CEO of the Klaben Auto Stores   Richard Klaben has been the CEO of the Klaben Auto Stores since 2010, but active in the business since 1974 when he began detailing cars for the founder of the business – his father, Albert Klaben Sr.  Throughout the years, Richard worked in various positions with responsibilities for every facet of the business.  The Klaben Auto Stores currently rep...

The Center for Black Health & Equity is a leading nationally recognized public health entity that provides solutions to issues impacting African American health. We engage health care organizations, public health officials, faith leaders, and African American communities in health promotion and disease prevention work. Our mission is to facilitate programs and services to benefit communities a...

Matt Jones, CPA serves as CEO of Affinity Whole Health. Founded in 2012, Affinity has assisted thousands of men and women with hormone therapy and injectable weight loss. Matt's career began in public accounting, he spent time in Fortune 500 sales and business operations. Matt is a life-long Clevelander and enjoys reading, exercise and spending time with his wife and two sons.  See omnystudio.com/...

Ilan Sobel has been the CEO of BioHarvest Sciences since July 2020. Ilan has brought the company’s first product, VINIA, to North America, building a direct-to-consumer machine that is now generating significant revenues. VINIA’s go-to-market success has established a template for the company’s near-term product pipeline of nutraceutical plant cell banks.  In addition to commercial focus and plann...

Robin Ganzert, Ph. D., serves as president and CEO of American Humane, the country’s first national humane organization and the first to serve animals, whenever and wherever they are in need of rescue, shelter or protection. She is the executive producer of the acclaimed documentary, Escape from Extinction, narrated by Dame Helen Mirren, and its follow-up, Escape from Extinction Rewilding, which f...

Richard F. Trice Jr., R.Ph., MBA  President  Glenbeigh Hospital & Outpatient Centers   Rick Trice is the President of Glenbeigh Hospital, part of the ARMC Health System. Before joining the ACMC Healthcare System in 2017, Rick served as Pharmacy Manager at University Hospital Health System Geneva Medical Center and Conneaut Medical Center. With 19 years of experience in managing clinical and no...

David has been a banking leader in Northeast Ohio since 2011, as part of a career that includes more than three decades of banking experience nationally, focused on corporate and commercial banking. Cleveland is his home, and he enjoys supporting his city and finding success for his company all at the same time. David is the first regional president for First Financial in Northeast Ohio. In his fi...

With over a decade of pioneering work at Heirloom Traditions Paint and my current leadership role as CEO of CamCoat, I bring a wealth of experience in product development and the creative direction of our products. My core competencies lie in transforming spaces with a keen eye for color, interior design aesthetic, furniture placement and kitchen & bath design. At CamCoat/Heirloom Traditions,...

Founder, CEO and Chairman of the Board Matt Calkins is Appian's founder, CEO, and Chairman of the Board. Matt grew Appian from a startup in his basement to the most successful software IPO of 2017 with only $10 million of outside capital. He serves on the board of the Sorensen Institute and sits on the Leadership Council for the Virginia Public Access Project. Matt was the top Economics graduate o...

Craig has worked in the arts in the United Kingdom, Australia and now, the United States. His current role is in Cleveland, Ohio as the President & CEO of Playhouse Square, a unique collection of 12 venues presenting an impressive season of performances and concerts as well as hosting eight resident companies. Craig was previously in London as CEO of the Royal Albert Hall, one of the world’s m...

Erika L. Anthony, a native New Yorker, is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Cleveland VOTES . Cleveland VOTES is a nonpartisan, democracy-building movement that works to reconstruct and strengthen power through active participation of our collective partners. Erika has held executive and senior positions with the Ohio Transformation Fund, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, and Oriana House, I...

The Cuyahoga County Veterans Service Commission understands the issues today’s veterans are facing. Most of the staff is comprised of veterans dedicated to serving their fellow veterans and their families. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Amber C. Gibbs joined Cuyahoga DD in 2008 and served in a variety of supervisory and leadership roles, most recently as Chief Administrative Services Officer, before becoming Superintendent and CEO in 2023. Her notable accomplishments include leading a major effort to eliminate the waiting list in Cuyahoga County and to find ways to serve the needs of all 13,000 county residents with developme...

Dr. Warren Morgan is Chief Executive Officer for Cleveland Metropolitan School District where he leads one of the largest school systems in Ohio. As an experienced educator, Dr. Morgan recognizes the potential of every child and advocates for equity and excellence. He previously served as Chief Academic Officer in Indianapolis, as Executive Director for Teach for America, as a Network Leader of Cl...

Travis Nelson is the CEO of Diversified Fall Protection, the largest turnkey fall protection integrator in the U.S. for regulatory-driven systems and services. Nelson is a distinguished leader and influencer in the fall protection industry and brings over 20 years of industry experience to the position. Nelson's journey with DFP began in 2019, initially as Vice President of Engineering and later a...

Presented by Cleveland, Ohio-based, non-profit organization,  Values-in-Action Foundation , the Kindland movement is bringing together communities, businesses, organizations, and schools by recognizing and sharing the acts of kindness around us in an effort to inspire a ground swell of positivity and goodness. Kindland relies on the power of the people to do, recognize, report, and share the acts...