Brandon Palazzolo joined Amway in 2013 as a bilingual Korean customer service representative, worked in New York City as an Account Manager and is now the Sales Lead for the Build Young Leaders team. His current position is focused on working with markets around the world to develop and implement their Build Young Leaders strategy.
Brandon is a graduate of Michigan State University and earned his Masters degree at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea.
Colt is a Strategic Alliance Manager at Avalara. He has been with Avalara for 3 years and has over 10 years in sales and business development experience. Colt manages the Direct Selling vertical at Avalara and has helped partners, business owners, and finance professionals in maintaining compliance and leveraging best-practices across the industry. Joining Colt for this session will be their customer, Jimmy Lin, CFO of Damsel in Defense.
C. Lee Peeler, Esq., is President and CEO of the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council (ASRC) and Executive Vice President, National Advertising, Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB).
Mr. Peeler is responsible for leading the advertising industry’s system of self-regulation, a system dedicated to fostering truth and accuracy in advertising. He oversees the operation of ASRC investigative and appeals units; briefs elected officials on self-regulatory initiatives, works to expand advertising self-regulation to industries that are not yet regular participants and consults with representatives of foreign governments on the value of industry self-regulation.
Mr. Peeler joined ASRC and BBB in 2006, following a 33-year career at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), where he held a number management positions. While at the FTC, he served as Associate Director of the Division of Advertising Practices (1985-2001) and Deputy Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection (2001-2006.)
He has spoken and testified widely on consumer protection issues including truth in advertising, consumer credit, electronic commerce, privacy and data security. Mr. Peeler received his B.A. and J.D. degrees from Georgetown University.
Meghan (Edwards-Ford) Rissmiller guides companies through the thicket of U.S. merger clearance. Whether before the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Meghan has the experience and know-how to help companies develop effective clearance strategies, particularly when the transaction is complex and the antitrust issues are challenging.
She counsels clients on a range of non-merger antitrust and consumer protection issues and has litigated antitrust cases in federal court and administrative actions. Meghan is experienced in the technology, media, and telecommunications; aerospace, defense, and government services; and consumer and retail goods industries. Her deep understanding of her clients’ business needs and challenges has made her a trusted advisor to many global companies.
Meghan joined Hogan Lovells after clerking for the Honorable Jane R. Roth of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, giving her valuable insight into judicial thinking and how to successfully advocate for her clients. Prior to attending law school, Meghan spent two years as a national security analyst for a major U.S. defense contractor based in Virginia.
In addition to maintaining a rigorous legal practice, Meghan is active in the American Bar Association’s section of antitrust law. She’s a Vice Chair of the Pricing Committee and a former member of the editorial board of the Antitrust Source. She’s a longstanding member of the law school and judicial clerk recruitment committee at Hogan Lovells and supports many of the firm’s diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Dan spent over 20 years with Merck & Co., Inc, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, quickly rising through a variety of positions of increasing responsibility in both field-based and headquarters positions that included roles in sales, sales management, sales training, strategic analytics and planning, sales operations and marketing and sales within large institutional markets
With an educational background in financial planning and years of experience in analytics, strategic decision making and field level tactical planning, Dan brings unique set of experience and skills to his current role as head of Global Compliance at Forever Living Products.
Dan has consistently demonstrated the ability to identify patterns and trends for both purposes of finding new opportunities for growth as well as areas of potential compliance related risk to both the company and the direct selling industry.
Mr. Smith began his career with the Internal Revenue Service in 1988 as a Revenue Agent in the former Albany New York District. He examined a variety of returns until he entered management in 1999. Mr. Smith is currently a Territory Manager in Examination, Small Business/Self Employed Division (SB/SE) of the IRS. Prior to becoming Territory Manager, Edwin was detailed to SBSE HQ Operation Support as a senior analyst with primary program responsibility for hiring and budget. His previous assignment was as an analyst on the South Atlantic Area’s Directors Staff as a Technical Analyst and Training/Hiring Coordinator. Edwin also served as a Front-Line Group Manager in General Program as well as being a manager of an Abusive Tax Avoidance Transactions Group.
Jeremy Smuckler is VP General Counsel, Corporate & Global Markets, for ACN, Inc. Jeremy joined ACN in 2011 after serving a brief stint as a Federal District Court law clerk and then spending several years in private practice with McGuireWoods LLP in Charlotte. Jeremy currently leads ACN’s North America and corporate legal operations. He also advises the business in certain global markets. Jeremy attended Vanderbilt University, where he received both his undergraduate and law degrees.
Michael “wrote the book” on understanding consumers. Literally. Hundreds of thousands of business students have learned about Marketing from his 30+ books including Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, and Being — the most widely used book on the subject in the world. His most recent trade book is Marketers, Tear Down These Walls: Liberating the Postmodern Consumer.
Much in demand as a keynote speaker, Michael often is asked to provide briefings to global executive teams who want significant increases in their bottom line and who understand that’s accomplished by a deeper connection with their customers. He has been involved with the direct selling industry for several years, where he has worked on projects to ramp up distributors’ engagement. He is a DSEF Fellow.
Michael’s mantra: We don’t buy products because of what they do. We buy them because of what they mean. He advises global clients in leading industries such as apparel and footwear (Calvin Klein, Levi Strauss, Under Armour, Timberland), financial services and e-commerce (eBay, Progressive), CPG (Procter & Gamble, Campbell’s), retailing (H&M), sports (CrossFit, Philadelphia Eagles), manufacturing (DuPont, PP&G) and transportation (BMW, United Airlines) on marketing strategies to make them more consumer-centric. He regularly appears on television shows including The Today Show, Good Morning America and CNN to comment on consumer issues, and he is frequently quoted in major media outlets such as The New York Times, USA Today, Adweek and Time. Michael also is a regular Contributor at Forbes.com, where he writes about retailing, consumer behavior and branding.
As a Professor of Marketing (in the Haub School of Business at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia) and an industry consultant, Michael combines cutting-edge academic theory with actionable real-world strategies. He helps managers get inside the heads of their customers so they can anticipate and satisfy their deepest and most pressing needs – today and tomorrow. An executive at Subaru said it best: “The man is a scholar who is current and street-wise.”
An industry veteran with over 20 years of experience in sales, marketing, leadership, and development both in the Field and in corporate roles, Jesse is currently the National Field Development Director for Pampered Chef in Chicago, Illinois. Through his experience both in the field and working for the field, Jesse believes strong partnerships and a deep understanding of the Field are some of the best tools to grow and develop a successful and growing organization. Recognized by DSN’s Forces Under Forty, a guest speaker at Loyola University in Baltimore, Maryland, a member of DSA’s Industry Research Committee and a special liaison to the Communication Committee, Jesse is committed to the success of Direct Sellers and all that this amazing industry has to offer.
