Conference Speakers

Tina Breen is the vice president of sales & marketing at Manufacturers Reserve Supply (MRS). She is focused on the strategic direction of MRS, developing her team to operate at their personal best, and negotiating programs for her customers that grow business and profits. Tina is a seasoned expert in sales strategy, change management, and leadership development. She aspires to use her education to find new ways to build a better workplace through culture, coaching, recruitment, and retention. Tina recently graduated from Purdue University Global with her BS in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and is currently in graduate school.

John Marshall has more than 40 years experience in business development, organizational/operational development, team building, and executive management. Prior to joining Wilson Lumber, he had managed in 17 different industry sectors. As chief operating officer at Wilson Lumber, he has helped lead the company through a 400% growth in organic revenue and 300% operational growth over the last six years. John has traveled extensively providing products, services, and management around the world.

Steve is the CEO and co-founder of Kodiak Building Partners and is responsible for the overall vision and execution of Kodiak’s strategy as well as guarding the unique culture that Kodiak has created. In addition to his role as CEO, Steve serves on Kodiak’s Board of Directors and is the chairman of the Kodiak Building Partners Foundation. Steve serves on the Dean’s Council for the Abilene Christian University College of Business Administration, Brush Creek Partners Investment Committee, US Fence Solutions Board of Directors, and as a senior advisor to Letterpress Capital. Steve earned his undergraduate degree in Accounting at Abilene Christian University and his MBA in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin. Outside of Kodiak, Steve enjoys skiing, snowshoeing and hiking in the mountains of Colorado, and traveling with his family.

Thea Dudley is an expert in the field of credit in the LBM industry. A career spanning three decades brought her to executive roles in companies such as Guardian Building Products and SRS Distribution. She is now an independent credit consultant and coach, as well as a columnist for LBM Journal. A frequent speaker and podcast contributor, Thea is on the Board of Directors at the Mountain States Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association, and serves as the board’s treasurer.  She is an advisor with Roofers Coffee Shop and a member of the advisory panel for Levelset. Thea is active in National Women in Roofing, and a member of the National Association of Credit Managers.  She hosts a monthly webinar with LBM Journal, and just released her debut book “The Credit Overlord’s Guide to Credit and Collections,” available on Amazon.

Rob Walker is the sales and service manager for BLC Projects, a division of Beisser Lumber Company in Grimes, Iowa. Rob has been in the building materials and construction industry for over 35 years, the last 27 years at Beisser Lumber. In 2006, Rob was instrumental in starting the Installed Sales division, as well as the re-branding to BLC Projects two years ago. Overseeing a full time staff of carpenters, service techs, and sales support, Rob and BLC Projects staff strive to exceed expectations on all projects, large and small. In his free time Rob enjoys traveling, cheering on his favorite sports teams, sampling new bourbons, and hosting weekly Sunday night dinners for his whole family.

As a fourth-generation addition to the Builders’ General roster, TJ began his career as a teenager filling summer help needs in the yard and warehouse, later moving to driver and sales. After graduating from college with degrees in Business and Drama, TJ leaned on both skill sets to assist his ever-evolving career as a branch manager at multiple locations, and then as sales manager for their LBM sales and cabinet teams. Builders’ General celebrated its 90th anniversary last October. In 1931, the Shaheen family emigrated from the country of Lebanon and founded Builders’ General in Cranford, NJ. Today, the company operates seven locations within NJ. TJ is the executive vice president, an officer, and a board member for Builders’ General. He is also an active board member trustee for the NJ Building Materials Association (NJBMDA), and serves on the legislative, education, and convention committees on behalf of the NJBMDA and the Northeastern Retail Lumber Association (NRLA).

As a 30+ year veteran of the LBM industry, Dena has held various positions in her career, from trading commodities, purchasing, and sales management for Georgia Pacific and Boise Cascade, to regional sales director of the Mountain Region for Foxworth-Galbraith Lumber Company. Most recently, she held the position of Vice President of Organizational Development for Kodiak Building Partners, and prior to that, she served at the Executive Vice President for Mountain States Lumber Dealers Association. She also worked with Blue Tarp Financial as the national corporate sales manager, which served to expand her knowledge of financial challenges experienced within our industry, where she built a communications platform to bridge the world of finance and banking to the world of LBM. She studied at the University of Northern Colorado and Kennedy University, and holds a degree in business management.

Matt Ellis is the VP of talent management & marketing for DW Distribution, a recipient of the 2021 Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award. Like building a home, there is a process to building an exceptional place to work. Most leaders don’t know where to start. Matt’s ability to present complex things in a simple way ensures you will walk away with a blueprint to begin the process and understand what it takes to achieve your culture goals.

Jean joined Do it Best in 2012 as a regional sales manager for the Western US. She then took on a divisional manager position in LBM, overseeing purchasing and sales of building materials, cabinets, and flooring in 2017, including millwork in 2019. Since July 2022, she has served as the company’s LBM division manager of business development. In these leadership roles, she has worked collaboratively to develop and deploy the division’s strategic plan. She is currently responsible for executing on key LBM member recruitment initiatives while expanding the company’s engagement with existing LBM members. Her focus includes expanding Do it Best LBM operations across the US and overseeing regional LBM offices in the West and Midwest. Jean earned her MBA from the University of Phoenix, a Bachelor’s degree from St. Cloud State University, and has a green belt in Six Sigma. She enjoys camping, hiking, traveling, and being Irish.

Stefanie Couch is the director of sales for American Builders Supply, owned by Kodiak Building Partners, based in Orlando, Florida. In the Central Florida market, she
oversees a team of sales managers. Prior to joining ABS, Stefanie grew up working in a family-owned retail lumberyard in Georgia, where she worked from her teenage years through college in 2012. She developed a lifetime passion for the building industry through this experience. In her ten years at Boise Cascade, Stefanie held several management positions, culminating in the position of Regional Millwork Marketing Manager. With a bachelor’s degree from Piedmont University, Stefanie has served on the alumni board of directors since 2019. Stefanie was awarded the 2020 ProSales Four Under Forty award and the HBS Dealer’s Business Excellence Award, and she has also spoken at several women’s leadership events. She currently resides in Orlando, Florida with her husband Ben and her fur baby, Heidi Pearl.

Jay Ward was the president and fourth-generation owner of Ward Lumber until March of 2021. In 2021 Ward realized a long term vision of transitioning his family owned, 130 year old company to employee ownership through a worker-owned cooperative (as opposed to an ESOP). Ward Lumber is a successful two-unit lumber yard, hardware and paint store operation located in the Adirondacks and North Country of NY state. The company is now directly owned by more than 40 of the 60 employee team members. Jay is working for the employee team as the CEO and reports to the worker-owned cooperative board of directors made up of employee owners.

Ariela Wagner is the founder of SunRay Construction Solutions, one of the largest online construction document services in the country. Her company secures $10 billion annually for thousands of general contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers.  Some of the national suppliers include ABC Supply, Winsupply, City Electric Supply, and L&W Supply. Ariela is known as a lien and bond claim guru. In 2021 her company was voted as one of the Top Tech Firms by Construction Executive magazine.

John D. Wagner is a managing director for 1stWest Mergers & Acquisitions, which has transacted $1 billion+ in deal values and has a specialty practice in the distribution and LBM sectors.  John is also the M&A columnist for LBM Journal. He has served as a sell-side and buy-side advisor on dozens of M&A deals reaching back to 1999. John is the author of 19 books and 2,500+ articles that have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and many other outlets. His most-popular book is M&A Basics For People in a Hurry!, now in its 3rd edition.

Katie Bodiford is the executive vice president of the Construction Suppliers Association in Atlanta, GA and has 20+ years of experience working with associations in the lumber and building materials industry. With a background in marketing, graphic design and event planning, she has spent the majority of her career helping members better serve their customers through employee education, marketing consultation and customer service training. The Construction Suppliers Association serves independent lumber and building material dealers in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma.

The son of an LBM manager, Bradley Hartmann was born into the lumber business, where he worked throughout high school and college. After graduating from the University of Illinois, Hartmann spent 11 years in construction management and purchasing with Pulte Homes, earning an MBA along the way. In 2011, Hartmann launched his own training and consulting firm helping dealers make it easier for builders to buy. As CEO of Hartmann & Co., Hartmann’s five core service areas are sales strategy facilitation with executive teams, customized sales management coaching, sales performance analytics, sales rep coaching/workshops, and keynote speeches. Hartmann has written 9 books for the industry and hosts The Behind Your Back Podcast, an LBM-specific sales leadership podcast sponsored by LBM Journal.

Brock Lacy is an analytics expert who has focused his talents in the real estate industry for over a decade. His professional experience includes a concentration in market and housing analysis along with risk assessment and forecasting. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Utah and holds dual Master’s degrees from Boston University and The London School of Economics. Lacy lives near Dallas where he coaches an overly-competitive Texas 10U baseball with Bradley Hartmann.

Josh Johnson is general manager of Ivey’s Building Materials in Northwest Louisiana, a business founded by his grandfather in 1969. After graduating college, Josh took an unconventional route to the family business, and spent seven years on the road with a nationally touring rock band. In 2011, he returned to Ivey’s, which has added a location and seen significant growth under his leadership. Josh is always seeking to learn, and knows that many disciplines inform Ivey’s vision and strategy, believing, “All of my success has largely come from seeking out and listening to people much smarter than me.” Away from the yard, Josh enjoys spending time with his family, travel, good restaurants, and writing/playing music with his old band buddies.

Crystal graduated from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Business Management, with a double major in Marketing and Operations. Crystal relies on her experience and inquisitiveness to help her lead the creation, management, and execution of all of Mid-Cape Home Centers’ marketing and communications strategies, with a special focus on business development. From multi-channel media campaigns and comprehensive digital strategies to internal and external branding and communications, events of all shapes and sizes, and relationship marketing focused on both builder and community engagement, Crystal is passionate about advancing Mid-Cape, its team, and the communities it serves.

Fabian Galeana is the credit manager for TAL Holdings LLC. Based in Vancouver, Washington, TAL Holdings is a family-owned company with over 25 different lumberyards in the Pacific Northwest Fabian started his career as a credit manager at a small furniture store. Wanting to expand his Credit knowledge to a larger setting, the opportunity became available to be in the lumber business with TAL. What started as overlooking credit for four branches, he is now helping oversee 25 different locations.

Ted Rieple is the managing partner and founder of 1stWEST Mergers & Acquisitions. The company currently maintains operations in the US, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. Having founded 1stWEST M&A in 2008, Ted’s experience includes the completion of over $1 billion in M&A transactions around the globe. Prior to 1stWEST M&A, Ted was president & CEO of Strategic Distribution Inc., and Diversey Chemicals North American operations. Ted graduated from St. Mary’s University and is a U.S. Army veteran who was assigned to the Staff Judge Advocate (JAG Corps).

Mike McDole has been in the pro-dealer industry for 40-plus years. After 20 years at National Lumber in Massachusetts, he started Firing-Line LBM Consulting in 2021. McDole’s consulting expertise is in bottom-line improvement, metrics to improve efficiency, product categories, employee education, sales training, and more. He has written monthly columns for trade magazines, and has spoken at numerous conferences. McDole is involved with Building Industry Partners, Building Supply Channel, Inc., NRLA, and Rhode Island Lumber Dealers Association.

Rick’s introduction to the LBM industry began in 1990 with Building Material Retailer magazine, and continued with the launch of LBM Journal in 2003. Since then, Rick and a team of hardworking, high performing publishing pros have built LBM Journal into the leading national media brand serving the LBM distribution channel. With degrees in English and marketing, Rick is passionate about delivering insights and information to help readers run their businesses better and smarter.