Instructors

Allison De Meulder

In 2014, I founded Matrick & Eve, a wholesale greeting card and gift company that offered a personalized, hands-on approach and dedication to hand-crafted design, printing, packaging, and shipping. Within a 3 year period, I cultivated strategic retail partnerships that enabled our company to achieve product placement in over 2,500 retail locations in the U.S. & Canada including Target, The Container Store, corporate-owned Hallmark, Paper Source and Sur La Table stores, as well as over 600 privately owned specialty stores. I not only focused on directing the company’s end-to-end product development, creative direction/concept design, merchandising & omni-channel digital marketing strategy but simultaneously was dedicated to client service and building long lasting relationships in the industry that enabled the company to operate in a very difficult, low-margin industry with few barriers to entry. I worked with multiple showrooms and rep groups, in addition to exhibiting at trade shows. We also won a Louie Award and had a few nominations. I built Matrick and Eve on the heels of Invitation Consultants. I had a vision for a better way to create and deliver invitations leveraging technology and founded IC, an Ecommerce invitation company specializing in a personalized approach for B2C & B2B clients. Within a 6-year period, IC achieved $6 million in revenue through a cohesive brand strategy across all online platforms. I also mentor and host a weekly podcast about entrepreneurship.

Phil Linder

Phil Linder is the Director of Operations for Sandboxx, a mobile technology company that offers a digital to print mail service for military families and recruits in basic training.

Sam Meek

Sam Meek is a co-founder and CEO of Sandboxx, a media and branding company based in Arlington VA, with over 50 teammates. The company's mission is to build content and technology to simplify the military journey. As a leading military lifestyle brand and channel platform, Sandboxx has a 70% acquisition rate for those joining the military with over 2 million users. A native of Sun Valley, Idaho, Sam spent his youth loving the wilderness and racing on the Sun Valley Ski Team. He attended Eagle Brook School and then Salisbury School. When 9/11 occurred, Sam followed family legacy into the Marine Corps after high school. He first deployed to Iraq in 2004 with 2nd Marine Logistics Battalion and again in 2006 with 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion. Sam loved his time in the Marine Corps and decided to transition as Sergeant of Marines in 2007, beginning a career on Wall Street at WR Platform Advisors, a hedge fund investment platform. There, he supported the executive team as Vice President of Business Development, developing several successful marketing strategies for the firm while playing a pivotal role in operations, technology, and capital raising. In 2011 Sam teamed with Major General Ray "Etool" Smith (USMC, Ret.), to found and launch the Sandboxx. Sam currently serves on various boards that support the military and startup community. He is a devoted husband, father, angel investor, and startup advisor. Outside of work and family time, Sam is an avid instrument rated pilot, enjoys all sports, and an outdoorsman. He resides in Fairfax Station with his wife, Kristin, son Oliver, horses, chickens, fish, llamas, bees and a black lab.

Tara Tonsetic

Tara has worked and consulted for organizations in both the for-profit and non-profit industries. With more than 18 years of experience in the world of marketing + events, she has quality experience in a variety of areas. She recently launched a passion business based on her love of greeting cards + events. Tara is married with a young son and resides in Cleveland, Ohio.

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