Officers and Members

Are you an active officer or member? Please e-mail bio for inclusion on the Officers and Members page to cindy (at) sales-executives. (dot) com.

OFFICERS 2010-2011

Immediate  Past President   Kristopher Fisher is currently employed within the financial services industry as a regional manager of an insurance company. He and his wife, Danita just celebrated their eleventh wedding anniversary in March of this year. He is the proud father of a nine-year-old son, Daylen Kristopher.

Kristopheris heavily involved in numerous volunteer activities. He serves as the cubmaster and as a den leader for his son’s scout pack. He serves as the district membership chairman for the Middle Tennessee Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He is a charter member of the MetroLeaders Toastmasters Club in Brentwood, Tennessee, where holds the designation of a Competent ToastMaster (CTM). He also served as the clubs secretary/treasurer, and was the 2009-2010 president. He is the director of a vocal ensemble and serve as the group’s secretary/treasurer. He, also, plays saxophone in a brass band ensemble. He is an officer for the Grand Lodge of Tennessee’s Long-Range Planning Committee. However, the most rewarding volunteer service in which he participates is as a member of the Board of Governors for the Shriners’ Hospital for Children in Lexington, Kentucky. This is the same hospital where he was a patient twenty-five years ago.

President  Andrew Callaghan is a business consultant at Crowe Horwath, a top 10 public accounting and consulting firm.  A native of Alexandria, Virginia, Andrew has lived the majority of his life in Nashville, apart from a six-month experience living abroad as a student of International Management in Belgium.  

Andrew works in the Performance Services business unit of Crowe Horwath, which provides revenue enhancement, operational improvement, and change management solutions.  Andrew is trained as a black belt in six sigma and holds the Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) designation, a certification requiring in depth knowledge of operations management.   Andrew’s background in finance, paired with his experience in operations make for a well rounded consultant, however his commitment towards continuous improvement, both personally and with clients, drives him.

He is an active member of the Nashville Junior Chamber of Commerce and a volunteer for VITA, Nashville’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program.   Andrew is also a member of the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence (TNCPE) Board of Examiners. Andrew is currently Treasurer for Metro Leaders

VP of Membership  Barbara Stewart is the owner and Managing Director of shapingHR, LLC, an independent HR consulting firm, that focuses on a broad range of HR services and training products targeted at helping employers ensure compliance and to better manage and develop their human capital to achieve organizational goals and objectives.  Barb’s client base is not industry-specific, and client size ranges from 20 to 2,000 employees.

She started her consulting business in 2003 following a successful career as an HR professional working primarily in the manufacturing industry for two Fortune 500 companies. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Professional Communications and Business Management from Alverno College, Greenfield, Wisconsin, and is certified as a Sr. Professional in Human Resources.  
She has managed a wide variety of HR functions over the past 20 years, including recruitment and staffing, performance management and training, compensation and benefits administration, HR policy and employee relations.  She has held leadership roles in both corporate and field assignments, in union and non-union environments, in multiple-location business units. 
Barbara is a member of Middle Tennessee Society of Human Resource Management (MT-SHRM), as well as the National SHRM organization, and Metro Leaders Toastmasters.  She serves on the Board of Directors for MT-SHRM, and the HR Committee for the Girl Scout Council of Cumberland Valley.  Barbara is a past board member for Mediation Services of Middle Tennessee, and also has served as a volunteer mediator with Mid-South Mediation Services.  She is a qualified EEI Testing Coordinator and an affiliate for Vital Learning Corporation focusing on employee development programs in leadership and customer service. 
 For more information about Barbara’s business, visit www.shapingHR.com 

VP of Public Relations  Durward Blanks is a REALTOR/Broker with The Oxford Company of Middle TN. With offices in Leiper's Fork, The Oxford Comany is a full service real estate company, representing area builders as well as indiviual clients.  Durward has extensive educatiion and experience in several areas of real estate, including Luxury Homes, First time buyers, and is a Certified Short-Sale Professional.  In additin his real estate practice he is involved with several other business interest.   After so many guest appearances on local radio station WAKM 950 AM, Durward was asked to be co-host for the SPOTLIGHT on SPRING HILL program every Monday morning., which he has done for the last year.  Recently, Durward began a BlogTalkRadio program and  expects to have a full time internet radio station in operation by Christmas 2010.  The current internet radio program is broadcast weekly is inspirational and motivational, with guest that have achieved lifetime dreams, or made a remarkable difference in other lives.                                                          Durward has also  been a professional Santa Claus for over 20 years.  His goal is to make at least one person smile every day.  Listen to the internet broadcast at The Summit Lounge   and for your real estate needs visit the RealtySanta

 Secretary Joey Sims is an account executive for NuVox Communications in Brentwood, TN.  NuVox is a voice and data service provider that has been serving small to mid-size business customers for 10 years.  NuVox provides local, long distance, Internet, private networking, VOIP, and security solutions.  At NuVox, we focus on the customer and pride ourselves in providing top of the line customer care while helping our customers to use technology to be more efficient and to positively impact their bottom line.

Joey has nine years in the telecom business working with companies like AT & T, Southeastern Telecom and now NuVox.  Prior to that, she was in the food industry selling for Carvel Ice Cream and Frito-Lay.  Joey graduated from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville where she was involved with the American Marketing Association and Sigma Kappa Sorority.  She is the mother of three and enjoys coaching her daughter and son's basketball teams.  Joey is the current director at Lakeview Elementary for the WWBA basketball league.  She is a member of St. Stephen's Catholic Church in Hermitage, TN.
Her company website is nuvox.com.

Seargeant - at- Arms Marie Garner has dedicated her life to helping people get healthy and stay healthy. In 2007, she launched her own personal training company, Elite Performance. She has helped over 300 people lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle.  Marie is currently creating wellness programs for small businesses and church organizations. Not only does Marie provide a service, but she also works independently with Ardyss International, a unique wellness company providing reshaping garments and nutrition supplements that help with weight loss, back pain, and nutritional deficiencies. She is an true believer in "green living" and holistic medicine; and enjoys organizing community events to combat obesity. (You can reword this however you like)   
Her love for public speaking started in high school.  Marie won numerous speech contests, and challenged herself all the way to become a Zone Winner.  She graduated in 2008 from MTSU with a BBA in Entrepreneurship and became a certified personal trainer in 2006.  Marie is also a member of NASP and the Nashville Chamber of Commerce.  Marie has one son and is an active member at Bethel World Outreach

Members 2010

  Cindy Houston Hazen (founding member) enjoys over 25 years of involvement in the sales field, starting  at 8 years old selling Girl Scout cookies, and continuing through her 20 years as a “road warrior” sales representative for three different companies.
At Hunt Manufacturing she sold to all levels of the distribution chain, selling to distributors, wholesalers and retailers in addition to the end user. She futher developed her skills at long sales cycles and relationship selling by selling commercial furnishings products to architects, designers and commercial dealers.
In 1999, Sales Executives was launched by Cindy and her partner to address a deep void in the Middle Tennessee market--the lack of recruitment firms specializing only in sales. Sales Executives experienced a warm welcome from local corporate clients that quickly expanded the firm into a national recruiting firm. Today, Sales Executives offers recruiting services throughout the US in many different industries. The specialty is sales and management and the goal is matching the right sales professional to the right job with the right company.
For more information about Cindy's business, visit www.sales-executives.com

 Past President Jayson Campbell with RE/MAX Elite:

Joined Metro Leaders Toastmasters July 6th, 2007.

2008-2009 Metro Leaders Toastmasters President.

2009-2010 Metro Leaders Toastmasters Sergent at Arms.

RE/MAX Elite Broker/ Owner (11 offices and approx 350 agents), 12 years in real estate. 2009 Home Builders Association of Middle TN Chairman. 2009 Sales and Marketing Council President (HBAMT). 2008,2009 GNAR Habitat for Humanity committee member and group leader. Past President of the Smyrna Jaycees.

>From Atlanta, GA. Moved to Nashville Tennessee in 1999.

Married Christy Campbell in 2003.
9 yr old step daughter (Cambryn) and a 1 yr old daughter (Chloe). Strives to keep in shape through triathlon racing.  Jayson is currently our Sgt. At Arms.

 Members 2009

Jeff Turner (Past VP of PR)                                    is president and founder of Turner Machine Company,  a custom automation machine builder that specializes in applications. As president of Turner Machine, Jeff’s primary role is to shape and communicate the vision for his company to all of his team members. Doing this requires him to work closely with a large number of people representing a broad range of personality types and educational levels. Realizing the importance of effective communication led Jeff to join Toastmasters 2 years ago.  Since then, he has become an active member and past officer of Metro Leaders Toastmasters. Jeff Turner is a native Nashvillian who balances the rest of his time between four women – his wife “Gwen” of 17 years and his three daughters ages 8, 11, and 15. Jeff is an avid outdoorsman, a muscle car enthusiast, and is very active in his church in Murfreesboro, TN.

Chester Butler (Club President 2007-2008) began his career as a school teacher in North Georgia. His interest in financial markets led him to the securities business and subsequently to a successful career in the insurance business. He has been an active member in the Professional Insurance Agents of TN for many years, having held numerous offices, including the presidency, and having been recognized on numerous occasions for his dedicated service.

Recently, Chester was elected to the Robert E. Musto Insurance Hall of Fame at Middle Tennessee University for his contributions to the Tennessee insurance industry. He continues to teach, speak and write on insurance topics while serving as President of The Butler Company, Inc. and it's related internet businesses.In August of 2008, Chester was honored as one of the oldest continuous members of the Brentwood Cool Springs Chamber of Commerce. Also in August of 2008, Chester was honored by the Society of Certified Insurance Counselors for having fulfilled the requirements to keep the Certified Insurance Counselor designation for 20 years, an honor reserved for only 1% of insurance agents in the U.S. But business is not his only interest. Believing that business should be environmentally responsible, he is proud to have led such organizations as the Tennessee Scenic Rivers Association and the Brentwood Area Transportation Management Association.