EVERYTHING YOU DIDN’T WANT TO KNOW about the Tech Guys team…

Mike Cline

Aliases: Mikey, Ninja Zer0, Lion-O

Mike’s evolution into the tech space all started with a Tandy TSR-80 that he first played with until becoming bored and then tearing it apart- while scratching up his mother’s countertop.

From there, it was all downhill; Visual Basic apps, basic tech support, outside service tech, Perl/PHP/MySQL programming, database engineering, remote system administration, discovered online marketing, technical backend for large scale online marketing efforts, process optimization, technical ninja for online marketing processes.

Mike just also happens to be a Rocket Scientist (yea, big surprise /sarc>). Mike received a degree in Engineering Physics from Embry Riddle in 2004. Even though Mike is a marketing ninja, he also has a passion for going to space! More importantly, he wants to build a summer home on Mars and drink Pan-Galatic Gargleblasters with the coolest cats on Betelgeuse.

Kevin Brkal

Kevin brings over 20+ years of digital marketing experience to Tech Guys. In the early days he was an affiliate marketer who built all of his sites from scratch. Over the years he has held various marketing positions with some well known online brands and then also spent time at a digital marketing agency. Today he offers clients a well-rounded approach to online marketing that connects all of the dots from SEO to Facebook Ads. He loves new challenges and delivers under pressure.

Bobby Buffum

A gamer to the core- Bobby is a Technology Ninja who brings the tenacity of a gamer to Tech Guys. This dogged determination to overcome obstacles, affinity for problem solving, and the idea that a challenge just means you need to “git gud” and beat it, is a driving force behind his client’s success.

He has a Bachelor’s in Game Software Development and over two decades of coding under his belt spanning many languages, game engines, Customer Relationship Management tools, and a splattering of web tools to support those. It’s likely that if he hasn’t worked with something specific, he’s worked with something similar.

When not saving people from their own technology nightmares, Bobby is known for being a craftsman and a cosplayer. If you’re not familiar with cosplay, it’s a portmanteau of “costume” and “play” that’s very popular in pop culture. It is wearing your underwear outside of your pants at Comic Con which makes him the Batman of our group; the one we call when there’s trouble and we need someone to save the day and look edgy/brooding while doing it.

Alex Chisholm

A decade and a half ago, at the ripe age of 16 years old, Alex started working as a freelance coder with a global set of clients as well as some local clients in his hometown of New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

Towards the end of high school, he became fascinated with physics and went on to get a B.S. at the University of Florida.

While studying physics and researching axion dark matter particles for ADMX, Alex continued freelancing before joining forces with Tech Guys Who Get Marketing.

Learning physics amplified his arsenal of skills with a focus on data analysis and critical thinking – great skills for handling clients’ toughest challenges such as platform migrations and systems architecture.

Alex loves to learn and travel and has his home base in Philadelphia nowadays with his growing family.

Thomas Culp

Thomas is our Lead Marketing Consultant and Lead Designer and brings 15+ years of marketing and Direct Response design experience to Tech Guys. He specializes in developing effective marketing strategies and campaigns designed to convert. On the design side, Thomas takes pride in bridging marketing aggressiveness with clean, modern, functional design. He’s always in favor of removing the dogma from marketing and putting things to the test.

When he’s not flying through marketing funnels and coloring outside the lines, Thomas loves spending time with his awesome wife and daughter.

Joleen Erb-Abplanalp

Joleen is a recent Long Beach, California transplant fleeing the cold of the midwest and has moved around so
much that it will take a five minute conversation to tell you where she is from. She blames her love for
adventure and travel for this! Joleen is a lifelong learner and is always looking forward to retaining new
information. She stumbled upon sales and customer success and found a passion for meeting new people and
helping clients discover their needs.

Her passion for the community she lives in shines through social involvement, volunteering and her love of
fostering cats! In her spare time she loves watching dramas, mostly Korean and Chinese dramas, listening to
music, hiking, biking with her boyfriend and of course traveling. She has a personal goal of visiting every
country!

Lori Keenum

Lori brings 25 years of banking and sales experience to the Tech Guys team. She’s worked as the Assistant Bank Manager at 1st Source Bank, Vice President of Mortgage Lending and served as a Board member and Chair of Lacasa.

When not crunching numbers for the team, she enjoys fishing, playing games on the computer, entertaining friends and sewing clothes for her little Yorkie Odie and Bolognese Cecily.

Mike Key

Mike, a customer-minded front-end developer, has been immersed in the web world since the days of GeoCities. Inspired by Gary Vaynerchuk’s “Crush It” in 2010, he began his freelance career.

A self-taught learner with a wide array of interests, Mike is always seeking to broaden his skill set.

Mike is an avid cold plunger, chicken farmer and book lover. When not at home, he can be found backpacking or camping in the mountains with his 3 daughters.

John Michael Moore

John Michael Moore, formerly a nuclear reactor operator on submarines for the U.S. Navy, decided to pursue his affection for mathematical knowledge after an honorable discharge. Since then, he has obtained two bachelor’s degrees in Statistics and Japanese and worked for a large company as a website analytics analyst. Recently he completed a master’s degree with distinction in software engineering focusing on cryptography, C++ optimization, and algorithms through multiple platforms and languages.

John has a passion for encryption cyphers, number theory, and just about all things nerdy in nature. His wide swath of titles includes Game Fanatic, World Circumnavigator, Shellback, Statistician, Fashionista, Amateur Twitcher, and Foodie. He’s donning his robe and wizard hat for the next adventure through software engineering and is always down for the road less travelled.

Outside of career-oriented goals, he loves theater, opera, ballet, art, tattoos, the British Premier League, and all things relating to the sciences.

Sheila NeSmith

Sheila brings more than 25 years business experience to the company. Under Sheila’s supervision as the Director of Finance & Capital Markets with a large commercial developer the company was able to maintain healthy, financially sound growth for the company. In addition to her business and finance oversight responsibilities, Sheila offered broad management, internal control, and strategic advice.

Sheila is also a licensed real estate agent in the state of Florida. She enjoys the Florida sun and you will find her on the water boating whenever she can.

Karissa Nyawera

Karissa’s journey into tech started like most people, with a simple “Hello, World”. With a background in customer service but an unwavering itch for tinkering Karissa blends a passion for customer success and management with her love for technology.

Karissa’s M.S. in Victim Service Management infuses a distinctive blend of empathy and innovation into Tech Guys Who Get Marketing.

When Karissa unplugs, you’ll find her binging anime with her husband, racing down snowy hills, or snagging quick cuddles from her bunny, Leo.

Mariah Osborn

Mariah serves as a Project Manager at Tech Guys in Colorado Springs, CO. At Tech Guys, Mariah champions seamless project execution, aligning with the company’s vision to harness technology and marketing for impactful change. With over two decades of experience, she’s managed a diverse range of projects from tech, academia, healthcare, and equine training. Her academic and professional journey is marked by a Master’s, Bachelor’s, dual Associate degrees, and certifications including the PMP, CAPM, and Google Project Management.

In her spare time, Mariah is often found traveling across the world. She enjoys reading, walking around town, hitting the gym, and trying her hand at the latest TikTok recipes. Her home is shared with two cats-River and the Bengal, Max, a rescued dog-Daisy, her boyfriend, and a daughter.

Andrew Pelletier

Andrew became fascinated with pushing technology to its limits at a young age. Whether it was modding games, systems, or glitch hunting – he never liked to be locked into artificial barriers. This thinking persisted through his personal and professional life.

Although he studied finance, actuarial mathematics and computer information systems in school, he found himself accepting a position at a B2B market research firm. Here, he gained nearly a decade of product management experience, helping build various decision-making tools, applications and websites used by professionals in some of the largest Fortune 500 companies.

An avid traveler, Andrew has visited over 18 countries – mostly by himself. He’s slept on the beaches of Goa, got tattooed by a monk with a stick in Thailand, thrown a grenade in Cambodia, bungee jumped in New Zealand, partied all night in Ibiza, hiked into unmarked trails in the Blue Mountains, and much more. Outside of work and travel, you’ll most likely find him playing video games, ripping trails on his mountain bike, experimenting in the kitchen or taking walks with his two puppers.

Matt Pignatore

Matt arrived at software development with a marketing degree. After three years working in the field, he realized he wasn’t so interested in data and analytics. What interested Matt was the marketing software he had gotten so familiar with on the job. He would wonder who built it, how it worked, and why it was designed the way it was.

After teaching himself the fundamentals and completing a 6-month, full-stack bootcamp, Matt began his transition from marketing into software development by picking up hours as a contractor outside of his normal 9-5. In spring of 2021, he finally transitioned into a full-time role in software development and has not slowed down learning and growing as a developer on different teams and projects.

Outside of work, Matt adores time spent with his wife and son. When he can find the time, he loves pouring energy into his hobbies writing and producing music, exercising, and watching films.

Tucker Rubin

Tucker, the Atlanta-based data engineer extraordinaire, is all about making data work smarter, not harder. His journey began in Actuarial Science, where he realized the immense potential of merging statistical expertise with technological prowess to tackle diverse challenges. This realization propelled him into the dynamic realm of data engineering and analytics.

With over a decade of professional experience, Tucker excels in guiding individuals and organizations to harness the power of their data, unraveling valuable insights and opportunities for stakeholders.

When he is not wrangling data, Tucker is a self-proclaimed hobby aficionado, always seeking out the next thrill or skill. You will find him cruising down snowy slopes on a snowboard, conquering trails on his mountain bike, honing his moves in jiu-jitsu, taking leisurely walks with dog Zoe,and passionately cheering on the Georgia Bulldogs alongside his wonderful wife and friends.

Steve Salve

From humble beginnings in Canada, Steve learned to code on his C64 while still in elementary school.

His passion for learning and digital creation continued, spanning almost three decades of work. He found himself in various markets including the banking, healthcare, social media, IoT, and blockchain spaces.

Steve enjoys the challenge (sometimes torture) of working at start-ups where every team member counts and marketing is so important. He’s been fortunate to have great mentors including a former astronaut and other big-brained people who he shares a tele-medicine patent with.

In his spare time, Steve enjoys spending time with his kids, nature, and finding spiritual hacks to this wonderful simulation we live in.

Amanda Winston

Amanda (she/her) is Operations Coordinator and Capacity Manager as well as the Lead Project Manager at Tech Guys. She manages and continues the training of new and current PM’s, ensuring our clients receive the same exceptional service they’ve come to expect. Originally from Carmel, Indiana, Amanda is a Butler University graduate and is a Chicago-based actor and stage manager with various credits in theatre, film, commercials, and voiceover. As an actor, she’s found that her understanding of the human condition makes her the perfect advocate for client needs, while also understanding the heart of what good marketing should seek to accomplish. When she’s not working or acting, Amanda loves going on adventures with her husband and dog and gaming/geeking around with her close group of friends.