Our Team, Your Security Partner

Michael Dorrington, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing

Michael joined AMAROK in 2016 to transform a fledgling team into a high-powered sales and marketing machine. During his tenure, he has introduced a high-energy culture mixed with a strong data discipline to achieve record-setting performances. In 2020 and 2021, Selling Power Magazine named AMAROK, the “#1 Organization to Sell For” in the United States.

Thanks to his overwhelming success, Michael became Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing in 2021.

Michael came to AMAROK with 20+ years of experience in leading sales teams to success. While at Valassis, a leader in intelligent media delivery, he served as Vice President of Sales, taking his product development and sales teams from $0 to $92MM in annual sales. He managed a diverse project portfolio, including new product development, CRM implementation, data and analytics programs, as well as sales leadership training.

In a prior role as Director of Sales for Cintas Corporation, Michael led the hiring, training and development of sales teams charged with growing the company’s key business units for the top sales region.

Michael holds a BA in Communications/Public Relations from Michigan State University with formal sales training in both the Challenger and Requirements Based Selling methods. He is a native Midwesterner and avid runner, and recently relocated to the Columbia, SC area with his wife, son and daughter.

Nathan Leaphart, CPA/Chief Financial Officer 

Nathan joined AMAROK as Chief Financial Officer in June 2007 following its initial private equity recapitalization. In his role at AMAROK, Nathan is responsible for overseeing overall financial strategy, human resources, compliance & government relations, and legal. Within his finance role, he oversees accounting, tax, treasury, and financial analysis and planning. Within compliance and government relations, he oversees AMAROK’s permitting and licensing activities as well as its legislative strategy. 

Prior to joining AMAROK, Nathan was the Chief Financial Officer of publicly-held manufacturer Glassmaster Company and held various roles in public accounting. He is a certified public accountant and was recognized as one of The State Newspaper’s 20 Under 40 in 2007.

Nathan graduated from the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina where he currently serves on the Business Partnership Foundation’s Board of Advisors. He lives in Chapin, SC with his wife and two daughters.

Mark Madej, Senior Vice President of Operations

As Senior Vice President of Operations, Mark oversees field and warehouse processes, installations, and service and support functions. His priorities include consolidating and improving supply-chain logistics and procedures, which is indicative of our rapidly growing enterprise. By focusing on increasing customer satisfaction, improving cross-functional communication and collaboration, and evaluating and implementing new efficiencies to drive improvements and cost savings, Mark will help AMAROK continue to grow, both as an industry leader and career builder.

Mark has prior logistics experience on the global stage with nThrive, where he served as Vice President of Global Enablement, expanding nThrive’s operational footprint in Asia. He also worked for Iron Mountain and Recall, where he held a variety of operational roles, including Vice President of Integrations and Divestures. 

Mark served as an Army officer, graduated from the University of North Carolina, and lives in Charlotte, NC, with his wife and four children.

Ashley Spicer, Chief Information Officer

As CIO, Ashley is focused on driving AMAROK’s IT Strategy, Technology Roadmap, and Technical Operations to support the explosive growth and scale of the business. Since joining AMAROK in May of 2022, Ashley is leading the optimization and risk management of Data and Compute Architecture, delivery of timely support to end users, as well as continuing to adapt and enhance functionality and user experience of core applications.

Ashley has served in executive IT leadership roles in both large and mid-sized companies across several industries, among them Huntsman Chemical, Abercrombie and Fitch, Belk Stores, LPL Financial, and most recently Henry Schein Pharmaceuticals. For each company, Ashley led technology transformation and operations to enable business strategy and achieve company objectives. She spent the last four years building technical infrastructure, applications, and shared services for mid-sized operating companies within Henry Schein Pharmaceuticals.

Ashley holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from the University of West Florida.

Kerry Gibson, Vice President of Marketing

Kerry joined AMAROK in 2019 as Director of Marketing. Kerry leads all marketing strategies and initiatives for AMAROK and maintains relationships with major industry organizations to ensure that AMAROK shares the perimeter security expertise it has developed.

Kerry’s immediate and sustained positive impact with AMAROK earned her a promotion to Vice President of Marketing in 2021.

Kerry has had extensive leadership experience in B2B marketing with highly technical organizations. She was the Strategic Marketing Manager for Spirax Sarco, a steam system solution organization based out of the UK, where she focused on driving thought leadership and building a revenue marketing model. She also was a leader in the marketing department at Avtec, now a Motorola Solutions company, and helped build infrastructure and processes to develop a best practice lead generation organization. Prior to that, Kerry was a member of the marketing and business development team at Sensor Electronic Technology, a semiconductor company.

Kerry graduated from The University of South Carolina’s Moore School of Business with a degree in Marketing and HR Management. She lives in Lexington, SC, with her husband and daughter. She enjoys spending free time on Lake Murray with her friends and family.

Sean Moening, Vice President of Product Management

As Vice President of Product Management, Sean drives the development, validation, and launch of AMAROK's complete product portfolio.

Sean has extensive product management experience within the security industry from his time at Allegion and InVue. At Allegion, Sean was the Global Locks Portfolio Manager for the Kryptonite, Trelock, and AXA brands. In that role, Sean led a diverse and global team of product managers, engineers, and procurement professionals for the three brands. After Allegion, Sean joined InVue as a Senior Product Manager, where he continued to develop security products for the retail and consumer electronics industry.

Sean lives in Charlotte, NC and he holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from Michigan State University.

Shara Turley, National Account Director

Shara joined AMAROK in 2014 as an Outside Sales Representative for the Dallas market. Her role quickly expanded due to her passion for the business and tenacity to grow her territory and responsibilities, including establishing solid relationships with several key national accounts, and taking on the role of National Trade Show Coordinator.

Shara’s natural ability to nurture relationships with many of AMAROK's top industry contacts led her to a National Account Director role in 2018, the culmination of a personal vision, focus and determination to exceed company expectations and sales goals.

Shara takes pride in her ability to be a team player and in building close business relationships to increase sales. Shara holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Wesleyan College and resides in Dallas with her husband and daughter.

Eric Lipson, National Account Director

Eric joined AMAROK in late 2017 as a Regional Account Executive for the Carolinas. Previously, Eric worked with a regional security integrator as a sales representative, working his way up to the National Director of Sales for the entire wholesale division. In his first two years at AMAROK, Eric sustained the largest year-over-year growth in consecutive years in the company’s most mature market. He now works for AMAROK’s National Account team.

Eric has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Lenoir Rhyne University in Hickory, NC. He is an avid golfer and lives in Charlotte, NC with his wife and daughter.

Brian Roades, National Account Director

As National Account Director, Brian is responsible for the development and execution of AMAROK’s growth strategy within our National Account portfolio. Brian has held various leadership roles responsible for driving revenue and margin growth for global companies such as Avis Budget Group and InterContinental Hotel Group. He has a diverse selling background that consists of technology and data solutions, mobility services, and corporate travel programs for clients in the government, transportation, healthcare, finance, real estate, entertainment, and technology space.

Brian played baseball and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of California, Irvine. He resides in Orange County, CA with his wife and two daughters.

Josh Ott, Director of Strategic Accounts

Josh joined AMAROK in 2012 as an Inside Sales Executive. Since Joining AMAROK, Josh has sold more AMAROK systems than anyone in the history of the company. After years of being a top sales performer, Josh transitioned to Director of the Inside Sales department in 2015 where he oversaw the growth of the department by 175% in his 4 years as Director. In addition to working with and driving relationships with AMAROK’s top National Accounts, Josh spent many of his years as a member of the Inside Sales Department, engaging with and growing multiple new National Accounts for AMAROK. Because of his ability to succeed in this measure, Josh was tabbed to head the newly formed Strategic Accounts Division for AMAROK in late 2019.

Josh has an extensive sales and marketing background, including prior experience at ADT and Bell Aviation where he was awarded “Rookie of the Year” in 2005.

Josh is a graduate of Midlands Technical College and currently lives in his beloved small hometown of Batesburg-Leesville with his wife Melissa and their 4 children (Noah, Nathan, Nichols & Nina Ray)

PeggySue Harper, Director of Strategic Accounts

PeggySue joined AMAROK in 2011 as the first outside salesperson for the company. She helped build and develop the outside sales process. Pioneering this role, the team has now grown to over 25 regional reps nationwide. PeggySue has led the sales team as the top seller in the organization for 8 years. Given her success and relationships she developed over the years it was a natural step for her to move to the Director of Strategic Accounts position.

Prior to her time at AMAROK she spent 30 years in the Security industry in a number of different roles designing fire alarm systems for commercial businesses. She displays a high aptitude for technology and has the NICET I Certification. PeggySue studied Marketing at FIDM Los Angeles.

Katie Stevens, Director of Sales Operations & Enablement

Katie joined AMAROK in early 2018 as a Sales Operations Specialist. Previously, Katie worked in data and process management in both medical and higher education fundraising organizations. During her first two and a half years at AMAROK, Katie spearheaded the implementation of numerous sales enablement platforms to increase efficiency and effectiveness of the sales team. She made impactful changes in the sales process to aid in decreased sales cycles and increased win rates.

In late 2020, Sales Operations and Enablement was developed into a stand-alone department and Katie was the natural choice to lead this group.

Katie has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of New Hampshire. She enjoys spending time outside with her family or at their home in Chapin, SC.

Michael Pate, Director of Government Relations

Michael joined us in 2008 and is responsible for all code compliance west of the Mississippi.

Michael has a rich and varied sales, marketing and entrepreneurial background. In 2006, Michael formed "The Preserve at 5 and 20", an environmentally sensitive residential development and acted as developing partner.

Prior to that Michael served for four years as vice president of marketing and sales for Supply Chain Solutions, a provider of contracted third party labor services. He has held several other positions in sales, management and marketing in the entertainment, communications and medical fields.

Cindy Williams, Director of Government Relations

Cindy has been a part of the company since 2008 and is responsible for code compliance east of the Mississippi.

Prior to joining, she had a 25-year career with GTE/Verizon Communications, where she held various positions in Computer Operations, Wholesale Ordering/Billing Operations and IT Requirements before retiring in 2007.

Cindy is a graduate of the University of North Carolina with a bachelor’s in Business Administration, and currently lives in Myrtle Beach, SC.

Joseph Quesenberry, Director of Sales—East, Southeast

Joe came to us with a proven track record of high-level performance in the financial, industrial and medical industries. He has won numerous leadership awards throughout his career and most recently served as a district sales manager for G&K Services in West Central Florida.

Joe’s team-first approach coupled with his sales acumen and strong coaching methodology are instrumental in his role as regional director of sales at AMAROK, covering the Atlanta, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida markets.

Joe holds a political science degree from Lee University and an MBA from the University of South Florida. He recently relocated to Atlanta with his wife and two daughters, Sophie and Ellie.

Austin Rappe, Director of Sales—Midwest, Central

Austin came to AMAROK with over 18 years of experience as a B2B sales manager with proven history of revenue and profit growth. Most well-known for his amazing returns as a sales director at NuCO2, a beverage gas and equipment solutions company, Rappe spearheaded a team of outside sales representatives that covered 14 states. During his five-year tenure, he was named to the company's Presidents Club three times.

Austin’s ability to create innovative new services, products and customer solutions is complemented by consistently building, managing and motivating high-performance teams. His high-performance track record and commitment to the team are career signatures and the right fit for a home-run in his role with AMAROK.

Austin is a graduate of Virginia Tech, where he was a four-year varsity baseball player.

Mike Thompson, Director of Sales—West

Mike joined the team in 2014 as an Outside Sales Representative for Washington and Oregon, and he demonstrated an immediate desire and aptitude to learn the outdoor security industry. He achieved year-over-year sales growth from day one and was instrumental in AMAROK gaining ground among exploratory market segments. Mike earned the distinction of our Top-Producing Outside Sales Representative in 2017, when he also assumed sales responsibility over Northern California.

As Regional Director of Sales—West, Mike typifies our company culture of advancing high-performing employees to new heights. He attributes much of his success to others who have helped him along the way.

Mike holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business management and resides in Vancouver, Washington, with his wife and two children.

John Armstrong, Director of Sales—Pacific

John joined the team in 2017 as an Outside Sales Representative for Northern California. John immediately took to the surround the deal concept and was an advocate for working with his inside partners. John achieved year-over-year sales growth from day one and grew Northern California into the number one market in the company! John was the Rookie of the Year in 2018 and the Rep of the Year 2019-2021.

After setting the record for total new RMR sales in 2021, John was promoted to Regional Director of Sales—Pacific. John’s ability to train and desire win has been instrumental in the success of his new team.

John holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from UCSD in Political Science and resides in Sacramento, California with his wife Crystal and son Cashel.

LaDonna Edwards, Director of Install Controls, Training and Support

Ladonna joined the AMAROK team in 2017 as a Project Manager and quickly advanced to Senior Project Manager in 2018. As a result of LaDonna’s unrelenting customer commitment and her expertise in product deployments, she was promoted to the Director of Install Controls, Training and Support in late 2020 where LaDonna will be keenly focused on the team’s capacity and capability expansion.

Prior to joining the AMAROK Team, LaDonna lived in St Petersburg, FL where she worked for Aveda as a New Business and Sales Manager for a territory spanning 8 states.

LaDonna graduated from the University of South Florida with a BS in Marketing. LaDonna lives in Lexington, SC near her two daughters.

Nikki Huggins, Director of Compliance

Nikki joined AMAROK in 2016 as a Compliance Manager. She proved to be a major asset to her team and was promoted to Lead Compliance Manager in 2020. During this time Nikki displayed tenacity and dedication to obtaining permits, changing local and state codes, and anything else required to gain government approval for AMAROK.

Nikki’s commitment to streamlining compliance processes, cross-functional development, and success in gaining government approval resulted in her promotion to Director of Compliance in 2021. Nikki’s primary focus is on capturing compliance quickly, process improvement, and capacity expansion.

Before joining AMAROK, Nikki spent 15 years at AT&T in Sales and Service in the Customer Escalations & Retention area, with six of those years managing a Sales and Retention team of 27 representatives. The four years prior, Nikki served as Team Lead to a Center of 200 representatives.

A South Carolina Native, Nikki currently resides in Lexington, SC, with her fiancé and son.

Crystal Gurtisen, Director of Capacity and Vendor Management

Crystal joined AMAROK in 2012 as a Project Manager and quickly advanced to Senior Project Manager in 2014 and Installation Manager in 2016. Based on Crystal’s ability to rapidly expand AMAROK’s installation capabilities and growth capacity, she was promoted to Director of Installation in 2019. Crystal brings extensive background in installations, operations, sales and project management — not to mention an entrepreneurial spirit and ability to build rapport, as a previous business owner.

In 2020, Crystal was named AMAROK’s Director of Vendor Management, focused on further expanding the organization’s installation footprint and capabilities to continue to align with the rapidly expanding product portfolio.

Crystal is a graduate of Southern Wesleyan University and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business management as well as a degree in Accounting and Marketing. Crystal lives in Lexington, SC, with her two daughters and son.

Tim Luporini, Director, Sr. Field Service Operations

Tim joined the Field Operations team at Amarok as a technician covering the mid-west territory in 2006. He worked diligently with customers to keep them secure and helped establish standards with our fastest-growing client. He was promoted to Operations Manager, drawing on 10+ years of management experience, he drove his team to improve efficiency and effectiveness while keeping customer service our top priority.

Tim was promoted to Regional Director of Field Operations in 2020. He continues to drive, develop, and promote his team through his leadership and commitment to AMAROK—the ULTIMATE perimeter security provider in North America.

Bryon Candiano, Sr. Director, Field Installation Operations

Bryon Candiano joined AMAROK in 2003 as a Field Technician, covering the Northeast. Bryon’s expertise and passion for training resulted in him becoming a Lead Technician in 2010, supporting Customers and Technicians nationally. In 2018 Bryon took the role of Regional Field Manager East, where he drove key initiatives focused on driving improved response times and quality as well as serving our rapidly expanding Field Installation Team. Bryon was promoted to Regional Director of Field Operations in 2020 and Director of Training & Installation in 2022.

Bryon continues to drive, develop and promote his team through his leadership and commitment to AMAROK—the ULTIMATE perimeter security provider in North America. Prior to his time with AMAROK, Bryon proudly served in the US Air Force and in law enforcement. Bryon resides in New England with his family.