For nearly 22 years Thomas was a serial entrepreneur. He founded or co-founded six businesses in both the US and overseas in fields as diverse as construction, graphic design, and water bottling. He has an extensive cross-cultural background which includes living 10 years in the Middle East, traveling with significant cultural exposure in over 50 countries, and operating at different times in four other languages. He is fluent in Arabic. Thomas has also served as a professional educator, teaching recently as a Professor of Philosophy at CSU-Pueblo and PPCC. He has given guest lectures in many academic and professional contexts over the last 25 years on topics like business, startup principles, philosophy, theology, world religions, and cultural intelligence.
Before starting ECatalyst, Thomas trained on the MIT method of entrepreneurship and set up for-profit ecosystems with LIFE (The Leadership Institute for Entrepreneurs).  
Thomas has his BA from Cornell University in Mathematics, Psychology, and Religion, and graduated summa cum laude in his MDiv from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He currently lives in Colorado Springs with his wife Stephanie and his two amazing red-headed kids

Thomas Carlson, Founder & CEO, ECatalyst

The road to the middle market CEO corner office is paved with mile markers that guide in surprising, unpredictable, and some might even say “mysterious” ways! But how do you get such a widely coveted position? This is the question often heard during decades of ROI’s executive search interviews, conducted with top-level executives. ROI’s Into the Corner Office podcast is a new inspiration and answer platform which premieres visionary tales of adventure with great endings and highlights, from powerhouse CEOs driving the formidable success of the U.S. economy’s middle market sector. The CEOs behind this impressive growth reveal insights which equipped them to lead their organizations. Showcasing dynamic leadership stories, Into the Corner Office dives into the heart of what informed and formed these CEOs. Guests share their backgrounds, talk about their early years, and explore what shaped them before they were known for their successes in growing, developing, and leading extraordinary mi...

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Kevin Akeroyd is CEO of Sovos.
From a small town in Missouri to Stanford business school and 3-time CEO, Kevin Akeroyd is not the proverbial polished CEO. A man who is not afraid to go off message and proclaims, be “overt, loud and challenging” to get things done. A CEO who declares it his mission to “keep business leaders out of jail” by helping companies traverse the complex and sometimes dangerous waters of compliance. A leader who puts his money where his mouth is and approaches diversity not with PR platitudes but by personally funding an annual college fund for underprivileged youth.​
​With countless mergers and acquisitions under his belt and having worked for small venture-backed endeavors to being a division head for industry heavyweights like Oracle and Salesforce, Kevin is a builder who works to understand where companies are stagnating, where to innovate and find their break-through potential and ultimately how to move from point solution to platform. ​
Kevin built the enterprise stack for the Chief Communications Officer at Cision, the Chief Human Resource Officer at Magnit and now is working at Sovos to deliver the global compliance system of record for the Chief Financial Officer. The Sovos Compliance Cloud is the first and only platform to bring together tax compliance and regulatory reporting into a single view for business. At Sovos he is building a new category, a new line of business for compliance, and taking the industry on a journey to conquer the complexities and challenges of compliance.​
​Kevin’s leadership philosophy is that it’s not enough to be brilliant. Transparency and communication are paramount and it’s the job of the CEO to look around corners and see what’s coming. Bad CEOs let things happen and good CEOs make things happen and at the end of the day, everything is your fault. Kevin brings this level of accountability to his customers, partners and employees. His mission at Sovos is to evolve compliance from its current state of being a painful requirement for business to being a force for growth in every company, in every industry and in every country.

Kevin Akeroyd, CEO, Sovos

Herb Cogliano leads his own advisory practice, Aspire Growth Advisors, leveraging the Scaling Up Performance Platform, described in Verne Harnish's award-winning book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits-Scaling Up.
As an International Business Coach, experienced CEO Scaling Up Practitioner, and Professor of the Scaling Up Masters Business Course, he has learned firsthand what it takes to overcome many business challenges. Herb is pursuing his passion of working with leaders of growth companies to achieve more freedom by helping them create industry leading strategies, a culture of accountability, flawless execution along with a healthy cash flow within their organizations.
Herb was formerly CEO of Sullivan and Cogliano Designers, a 53-year privately held family owned, Technology Staffing and Workforce Solutions firm and in 1993, he also founded the Sullivan and Cogliano education business.
Sullivan and Cogliano joined a select group of companies that have appeared on the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Company list multiple times. The Inc. 5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth over a four-year period. This achievement puts us in a unique position, especially if you consider that over 27 million businesses are registered in the USA.
His firm was a Multiyear recipient of Boston and South Florida Business Journal Best Places to Work Award. This honor recognizes Sullivan and Cogliano achievements for changing the business landscape, in creating a positive work environment that attracts and retains employees through a combination of employee satisfaction, working conditions and company culture.
Herb serves on the Carroll School of Management Board of Advisors at Boston College. He has served as a Board of Director of the American Staffing Association. He is past president of the Massachusetts Association of Staffing Services, and previously served on the boards of Employment Resources, Inc. and Junior Achievement.
He received his BSBA from Boston College in 1987 and his MBA from University of Massachusetts (International Honor Society Beta Gamma Sigma) in 2016.

Herb Coglino, Founder, Aspire Growth Advisors

Jeremy Macdonald is the CEO of Bonney Plumbing, Electrical, Heating and Air where he and his team are on a mission to build the most trusted home services company in California.
Prior to joining Bonney, Jeremy worked as an entrepreneur in South Africa’s rapidly evolving telecoms industry. Jeremy moved to the US with his family 5 years ago in search of better opportunities and adventure. At Bonney, Jeremy Macdonald is focused on constantly improving company culture, hiring and developing talent and pursuing sustainable growth.

Re-Release: Jeremy Macdonald, CEO, Bonney

Manos Kalaitzoglou is the co-founder and CEO of Arcweave and is a Greek founder originally from Crete, Greece. Before becoming a founder, Manos studied architecture in the National Technical University of Athens, then switched to becoming a web designer as he was always fascinated by design, tech and storytelling. He worked with various startups in design lead and consultancy roles, which eventually led him to realise he and his teams were not efficient with the existing collaboration tools for interactive experiences. He founded Arcweave to help lower the bar of game design and development and allow everyone to take their first steps in this fascinating industry.

Manos Kalaitzoglou, Co-founder and CEO, Arcweave

Nick is a Co-Founder and Partner at Four Pillars, a Private Equity firm that partners with entrepreneurs and investors to purchase and operate lower middle-market businesses ($20M to $250M in sales) with an untapped potential for growth. Four Pillars isn't your typical PE firm. We take a relationship-first approach and aren’t about financial engineering or extreme cost-cutting. Instead, we leverage our experience as entrepreneurs to help grow companies in terms of revenues and employees. 
So far, they have invested millions of dollars in seven businesses, including Southwest Steel Fabrication, the longest-operating steel fabricator in the Kansas City region, involved in projects like fencing around the White House and work on bridges and dams nationwide. To make these purchases, Four Pillars has worked with well known capital providers including Capital for Business (nearly $1 billion in portfolio company revenue) and Peninsula Capital ($2 billion in assets under management).
Nick has 15+ years of experience as a private equity investor and is highly regarded in the PE community for his ability to find and invest in businesses that last far into the future. Over at Four Pillars, most of Nick's activities revolve around fundraising as well as deal origination and execution. He also runs a popular YouTube channel with over 250K+ views, where he regularly shares knowledge about the ins and outs of private equity investments with his growing audience of over 1,700 subscribers.

Thomas Carlson, Founder & CEO, ECatalyst

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