Sales & Marketing
Jason Walker
Jason has been working in the promotional products industry for over 10 years. The first half of his illustrious career was spent as a distributor - so he gets your business and what you do. He founded Creative Merchandise in 2003 with the intention of bringing that distributor experience to the service provider side. As a lover of all things gadget and technology related, the evolution into web development seemed natural. Jason primarily handles sales now, and is usually the person you will talk to when interested in finding out more about our product.
Jason spends all of his free time catering to the every whim of his wife Joy and daughter Mia. During the rare moments when both are asleep he can usually be found sitting in front of a television. Odds are he's playing video games or watching something ultra dorky like Battlestar Galactica. If you're ever in the "JapanTown hood" where he lives stop by for a serious whooping in Halo 3 or Rock Band.
Customer Support
Irvin Hubler
Irvin Hubler is your first contact whenever you have a question or need something done. He hails from Oregon, a graduate of the University of Oregon, and has a strong back ground in service. He joined Creative Merchandise in February 2008.
Irvin lives in the colorful Lower Haight area of Hayes Valley, in San Francisco, with his girlfriend and their cat, Lester. If you stop by, he will invite you in for a Manhattan, no doubt, and a game of chess.
Web Developers
Rob Kristie
Rob has been a graphic and web designer since 1996. Originally from western Connecticut, he moved to the Bay Area 14 years ago with a band, ended up getting a job as a designer, quit the band and has been designing websites ever since. He has experience working for large global clients and small local ones. He lived in Las Vegas and ran his own web design company for a few years, but now resides in the East Bay with his wife, dog and two cats, all of whom are Oakland A's fans.
Samantha Stoller
Samantha wears many hats at Creative Merchandise. From web programming and database development to graphic design and working her magic at tradeshows, there's never a project too big or too small. One of the founding members of CM, Samantha is responsible for the core system that is in place today and continues to develop the software with the same dedication and critical eye that led Creative Merchandise to success.
Samantha was born in London, England and at the ripe old age of ten moved to America with her family. She spent several years in Arizona and since has lived all over the United States, currently residing in San Francisco. The jack-of-all trades’ attitude she brings to Creative Merchandise clearly carries over into her personal life as well. Besides keeping up with her piano playing, Samantha enjoys building amateur model rockets and practicing the art of origami. During her “off-time”, you can find Samantha cooking trendy vegetarian meals for her loved ones and tending to the many needs of her button-nosed cat, Kylie.
Gwendolyn Warfield
Gwendolyn is a programmer and designer with a passion for the internet. At Creative Merchandise she is one of the go to people for customizing stores, from designing a whole new template to making the text on the pages just right. She is skilled with programming and design technologies, loves to learn new things, and delights in helping make the internet both functional and attractive.
Gwendolyn has a background in the arts, both visual and musical. In school, she studied classical musical composition with an emphasis on Twentieth Century techniques and computer music, though she has an extensive jazz background. She has played and competed on six instruments. In the evenings, you can usually find her reading programming manuals or caring for her many exotic animals.
Supplier Relations
Tori Engel Sovocool
Love the hills, embrace the hills, make the hills your friend" was my motto during years of running and cycling through the beautiful bay area. I follow this in my professional life as well and believe "No" only means you have to work a little harder to reach your goal.
Tori stumbled into the promotional products industry as Vice President Sales for Quake City. Apparently no one goes to college thinking they will be selling schwag one day. However, she discovered a knack for selling in a competitive, deadline-driven, relationship based industry. Eventually looking to increase her product offering, Tori joined Leed's as the territory sales manager for Northern California. Leed's impressive array of products, brands, service capabilities and sales tools gave Tori a tremendous breadth of product knowledge and selling skills. Tori was consistently recognized by Leed's and her customers as a top sales rep.
Her first passion might have been running, but her life's purpose now is being a mother to two children, wife, dog walker, and chef. Luckily she had some multi-sport training because life is all about multi-tasking now.
Pauline Szeles
It is coronation time once again around here, and we are pleased to crown PJ Szeles as Queen of the Database. PJ comes to us with tons of industry experience, a cool English accent, and a husband who is a stage hypnotist. What more could you possibly ask for in somebody responding to your product error submissions and working with the suppliers to ensure product accuracy?
PJ lives in sunny Pacifica with her husband Jim and their three cats, Dexter, Scout and Trouble. She is also a volunteer with the Peninsula Humane Society's feral cat program.
System Administrators
Shane Wadleigh
Shane has been working as a Systems Administrator for over a decade and has been with Creative Merchandise since day one. Shane and Samantha attended university together at Hampshire College where they forged an unbreakable bond. When it came time to find a trusted person to manange our machines and keep things running smoothly, Shane was an obvious choice.
Shane hails from the East Coast and currently resides in Toyko, Japan. Beyond creating secure environments keeping our systems hacker free, Shane enjoys creative writing, photography and the art of fine whiskey.
Brian Koloszyc
Brian has been in the field of information technology since 1999, and has worked at a variety of institutions, ranging from Seattle Children's Hospital to the independent game studio Gas Powered Games. He enjoys the continual flood of knowledge and new technologies, and strives to increase his skill set to match the onslaught. At Creative Merchandise he is responsible for all things relating to system administration as well as giving a helping hand wherever the need may fall.
He is originally from Massachusetts, and received a BA in English and Philosophy from UVM. After spending seven years in Seattle, he has settled comfortably into his new life in San Francisco. Brian spends most of his free time reading literature, working on fiction, watching movies, playing guitar, watching the Mariners, and being buried beneath whatever creative project satiates his current fascination.