The Management Team

Jim Steeb, President and Chief Executive Officer
Steeb was hired in January, 1999 to lead the company as president and CEO, bringing over 26 years of experience in both large corporate and small start-up environments. Prior to joining Salu, Steeb was chief operating officer of CareWise, Inc., a profitable, venture capital-backed company specializing in healthcare consumer management services, which was acquired by PhyCor in 1998. Steeb was also an original member of the senior management team of Access Health, Inc., serving as senior vice president and chief information officer from 1989–1996 for this highly successful venture capital-backed company specializing in demand management services for hospitals and managed care organizations. Prior to his tenure with Access Health, Steeb served for seven years as director of Operations for the Management Services Division for at Baxter Healthcare Corporation where he was responsible for overseeing the marketing of products and services to hospitals nationwide. He holds a BA in Management Information Sciences from Western Illinois University, and an MBA with concentrations in finance and marketing from the University of Chicago.

Steve Brown, Chief Operating Officer
Joining the company in January of 2007 as chief operating officer, Brown brings over 20 years of retail management experience to the company. He served as senior vice president of Operations for GameFly, Inc. from 2002 to 2007, where he grew revenues for this online video game rental service to more than $50 million by 2006. Brown also served as senior vice president of Marketing and Merchandising for Wherehouse Entertainment, Inc. where he worked his way up the corporate ladder for 17 years for this major retail chain of music, movies, and other entertainment products with 350 stores and revenues of $500 million nationwide.

John Crisan, Chief Financial Officer
Having joined the company in July, 2000 as chief financial officer, Crisan brings over 30 years of financial and administrative experience to the company. Most recently, he served as chief financial officer of Access Health, Inc., where during his five-year tenure, the company grew annual revenues from $7 million to over $100 million, made several acquisitions and successfully completed a $50 million secondary public offering. He also served for four years as chief financial officer to Value Health Sciences’ behavioral health subsidiary, and five years as chief operating officer of Partners National Health Plan’s Western Pennsylvania HMO. Crisan is also a Certified Public Accountant, and worked for six years for Ernst & Young, Cleveland, Ohio.

Marc Cawdrey, Vice President, Marketing
Joining the company in April of 2007 as vice president of Marketing, Cawdrey is a specialist in new business development, strategic planning and management, team-building and creative marketing communications solutions, He brings more than 25 years of multi-discipline marketing and advertising experience to the company. Cawdrey was founder, partner and managing director of Brandfusion, a $40 million internet, advertising and public relations agency, co-founder and COO of a direct marketing and retail manufacturing company, Laura DuPriest LLC, and corporate product planning and brand development manager and account director for three different technology and business-to-business advertising agencies in San Francisco. He is an honors graduate of Washington State University with BAs in both business and marketing.

Bobby Lyons, Vice President, Technology
Lyons joined Salu in 2000 as director of technology and was promoted in 2004 to vice president. Lyons has nearly 20 years experience in technology and began working in ecommerce in 1996 when he launched his first B2B/B2C ecommerce website. Prior to Salu, he ran his own software consulting company, and served as the Manager of Logistics Information Systems for the U.S. Air Force, managing software development and customer support. Lyons holds a BS in Informaton Systems Management with a minor in Computer Science from Park University, graduating with top honors. Currently he oversees all aspects of technology, graphics design, and search engine optimization for Salu.

Jeff Askenas, Vice President, Buying and Merchandising
Askenas brings more than 25 years experience in the cosmetics industry,most recently serving for six years as vice president, Merchandising for Ulta, the largest beauty retail superstore in the country, where during his tenure, he was responsible for overseeing merchandising and promotions for all prestige cosmetics, fragrance, and skincare products. Prior to his work with Ulta, Askenas was vice president, Merchandising for JC Penney in Dallas, Texas, where he was responsible for overseeing the cosmetics business for this more than 1,000 store major retailer. Askenas also served for six years as senior vice president, general merchandising manager for Elder-Beerman Stores in Dayton, Ohio, where he directed merchandising efforts for the cosmetics, accessories, intimate apparel, shoes and kids departments. He holds a BS in Sociology from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

Michael Choe, Managing Director, Asia Operations
Choe joined the company in October, 2004 with responsibility for leading the company’s expansion initiative into Asia using South Korea as the initial point of access. He currently manages all International concerns for the company including operations in Australia. Prior to joining Salu, Choe was a consultant to the Valley Economic Development Center and the Fashion Institute, and he served six years as president and chief executive officer of LA Shirts and LA Shirts Australia PTY, LTD (an INC 500 company). In 1997, Mr. Choe won the Small Business Administration’s “Man of the Year” award. Additionally, Choe serves as an instructor in the Santa Monica College MBA program.