Anthony currently serves as the Director, Facilities & Energy Management for ULTA Beauty in Chicago, IL. Anthony’s relationships, professional work experience, post graduate education and community involvement positions him well to add value and perspective to the Connex Association Board of Directors. His professional work experience includes Retail (Big Box to Specialty), Warehouse, Distribution, Grocery, Healthcare, and work as a service provider. (Facilities, Construction, Store Operations, Energy & Sustainability, Safety, and various support roles)

Grant Baecker has been an executive in the real estate services industry for 16 years. Grant co-founded his current company, Authority HVAC in 2006 and led it from start-up to one of the industry’s leading national and self-performing HVAC companies. As a Connex board member, Grant works to position the association to capitalize on the industry trends occurring over the next 10 years. In his free time, Grant enjoys spending time with his family.

Kim Goei leads Fexa's operations and delivery teams driven by a passion for innovation and genuine partnership. Kim began her career in retail, lending her leadership talents to Anthropologie, Reading International, Pier 1 Imports, and Virgin Group. Prior to joining the Fexa family Kim founded Goei Group, a boutique consulting group catering to facilities maintenance and technology companies’ growth initiatives. Kim earned her BA from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her Master’s from New York University.

Biography

Tony DiSpirito, Director of Store Preservation at Sephora, has been working in retail for the past 25 years. He spent most of his career working at Gap Inc., where he started as a Sales Associate and eventually promoted into HQ roles in Store Operations, Retail Facilities and Store Development. Tony has been at Sephora since 2017, leading his team in supporting 540+ stores throughout the US and Canada with all repair and maintenance needs. He is a people-focused and empathetic leader, the result of an educational background including a BA in Psychology and a master’s degree in Social Work. Tony lives just outside of Boston with his husband Tom and their rescue dog from Taiwan, Cooper. He is originally from Long Island and is an avid New York sports fan - unfortunately, for all the teams that stink.

Biography

Tom Kay is the Chief Revenue Officer for SMG Holdings LLC, where Tom leverages his knowledge of both sales and marketing to drive growth, align all revenue-generating departments and build strategic partnerships.

Tom has been involved with Connex for nearly a decade supporting Women In Action (WIA), Board Nomination, Best Practices, Editorial, Membership and the Membership Task Force Committees.

Biography

Tenured six years into Facilities, Amanda previously spent 10-plus years in Senior Level Retail Operations, which has given her a well-rounded perspective of all sides. Amanda’s expertise lies in creation and implementation of customer SLA’s, best practices and SOP's driven by employee/client engagement, and KPI analytics. Serving as Chair for Connex's Fundraising Committee and receiving the 2019 Volunteer of the Year Award showcased Amanda’s lifelong passion for leadership and progress through my commitment to service.

Biography

Sid is a SaaS and Marketplace platform leader with deep experience in account management, strategy, platform dynamics, business operations, analytics and in leading high performing teams to take solutions to market. He has led multiple functions at ServiceChannel over the past 12 years, where I was a consultant/partner to more than 400+ customers across multiple industries. Today, Sid is responsible for overseeing their largest accounts. Previously, he was the Director of Engineering & Facilities at Steve & Barry's, a 350+ location retailer.

Biography

Steve Hearon was appointed President of BrandPoint Services in January of 2012. Prior to that Steve was the Vice President of Franchise Development for CertaPro Painters, North America’s largest franchised painting company, from 2005 through 2011, and prior to that Director of Operations for AAMCO Transmissions. Steve’s contracting and construction background dates back to 1992, when he obtained his BSBA from Bucknell University and immediately opened his own contracting business. His 25 years of business management bring effective customer needs analysis, strong operating systems, and quality execution in the field. Steve’s vision for BrandPoint is to consistently deliver “painless and seamless” solutions to our clients, so they come back to us year after year, for all of their construction service needs.

Garrick Brown is one of the leading real estate analysts in the United States; he speaks frequently at industry events and is regularly quoted on retail matters by the Wall Street Journal, the CBS Evening News, NBC News, CNBC, National Public Radio, Women’s Wear Daily and dozens of Business Journals and other industry publications. He was the recipient of the International Council of Shopping Center’s (ICSC) Lifetime Achievement in Research Award in 2019. He is a 25-year veteran of commercial real estate analysis focusing on all property types.