Tony Holden, Founder & CEO
Tony Holden is a serial entrepreneur. He thrives on working with and serving other entrepreneurs. Good business and the relationship opportunities it offers are a driving force in his professional pursuits. He has been a principal in 18 start-up or early stage business ventures and has over 33 years of sound business experience in sales, marketing, finance, venture capital brokerage, consulting and business development. He has been licensed in real estate, securities, investment advisory, mortgage banking and insurance. He has been a principal in several highly successful entrepreneurial ventures including real estate development, residential and commercial mortgage brokerage, advertising and media, professional speaking, training and consulting and online commercial barter businesses. His corporate consulting clients have included Bank of America, Wachovia, Wells Fargo, CHASE, Countrywide Home Loans, GMAC, BB&T, Century 21, Re-Max, E.R.A., Ameriprise Financial, Carolinas Health Care System, AAA Automotive and many others; however he is quick to note that his real passion is working with grass roots entrepreneurial business. Inclusive of his own business ventures and real estate finance, He has been instrumental in raising conventional and alternative capitalization for various ventures, in excess of $373 million dollars. Within the last three years he has successfully launched a Charlotte, NC-based marketplace community where entrepreneurs meet, exchange ideas and concepts and work in a collaborative effort to build and prosper their businesses. This organization, Cre8tive Synergy Group, became the incubator and genesis for the business model of SynergyStreet. Tony Holden is masterful at the art of communication, negotiation and motivation and has a proven ability to recognize and capitalize on market trends and enterprise. SynergyStreet offers the consummate forum for the culmination of his talents and expertise.
Jim Cathcart, Senior Advisor and Spokesperson
As of May, 2008, Mr. Jim Cathcart, President of the Cathcart Institute, Inc. has accepted the position as Senior Advisor and Spokesman for SynergyStreet. Jim Cathcart, CSP, CPAE is founder and president of Cathcart Institute, Inc. and an advisor to the Schools of Business at Pepperdine University and California Lutheran University. He is one of the most widely recognized professional speakers in the world. As the author of 14 books and scores of recorded programs, his students number in the hundreds of thousands. He is a past president of the National Speakers Association (NSA), winner of the Cavett Award, member of the Speaker Hall of Fame (CPAE), Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), a member of the exclusive Speakers Roundtable, 20 of the world's top speakers, and, in the year 2001, recipient of the Golden Gavel Award from Toastmasters International. In 2007 he was listed as one of The Top 100 Minds on Personal Development by Leadership Excellence magazine. Jim's “Relationship Intelligence” programs are a natural complement to the strategy of SynergyStreet to develop commerce, community and collaboration among its members.He is very well known and respected as an advisor in a variety of industries and brings tremendous high value relationship capital to the SynergyStreet venture.
Dianne Stewart, Chief Marketing & Public Relations Advisor
Dianne Ennis Stewart, has over 20 years experience in the communications industry and has worked with virtually all major media sources nationally and worldwide, serving clients such as GMAC Mortgage, EQ Mentor, McKinney Personnel, Total Quality Logistics Services, ReMax Realty, ExecuRead, PathWayUSA and many others. She is President of BSA PR & Marketing a full service public relations, special events and marketing consultancy and offers a one-stop public relations, promotions, special events and media service to her clients. Her talents, abilities and resources present a unique combination of valuable service to the SynergyStreet community.
Bruce Kamm, Chief Trade Advisor
Bruce Kamm CTB, is the Chief Executive Officer, President and Founder of Intertrade Capital, with more than 30 years’ experience in sales, marketing, advertising, promotion, information technology and barter. Formerly the CEO of an information technology company, the Managing Director of a fast growth trade exchange and the designer and developer of online information and transactional services for TradeBanc, VirtualBarter, Interep and the Regional Bell Operating Company’s information service gateways. Concurrently with his career, Bruce founded and managed a real estate development company that used trade and offset as a component in many real estate and construction transactions. Bruce specializes in capital engineering utilizing trade, countertrade, creative financing and innovative cross-marketing programs to expand business opportunities and bottom line profitability for Intertrade's clients by engineering programs that enable companies to maximize the value of their underperforming products, services, assets and capacity. He holds a BA in Administrative Science from Long Island University and accreditation from the International Reciprocal Trade Association as an Industry Certified Trade Broker (CTB). Bruce has been involved with the development of SynergyStreet from its inception. His vast experience and knowledge, as well as his industry relationships are an ongoing key to the direction and success of the company.
Craig Field, Chief Financial Advisor
Craig HD Field is a Chartered Accountant (SA) from South Africa and Candidate Chartered Financial Analyst. He completed articles with PricewaterhouseCoopers [previously Coopers and Lybrand] and qualified in as a Chartered Accountant in 1991. He spent 2 years post qualifying with FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) giant called Metro Cash and Carry and also served for a period of time in the Logistics industry with a London UK listed company called Christian Salvesen. In 1997 he purchased his own accounting and auditing practice which grew into the Kusasa Capital Group by 2007. The Kusasa Group is a financial services group offering a range of small business back office services including accounting, tax planning, IT and financial consulting. In 2008 Craig started Wealth Design International; a USA, Charlotte, NC based financial services company offering the same small business consulting services, to growing USA businesses. Craig's international connections, together with his comprehensive knowledge of IT, finance and accounting offer a tremendous value to the growth, stability and profitability proposition of SynergyStreet Media, LLC.
John Peluso, Chief Operations Advisor
John Peluso has been appointed to the position of Chief Operations Advisor for SynergyStreet as of July 2009. He has been a resource to the CEO/Founder of SynergyStreet since the company’s inception, serving in the capacity of advisor, investor, and founding Affiliate Marketing member. Since 2006 John has been a professional advisor to entrepreneurs and small business owners in Charlotte, NC. As owner of the FocalPoint business coaching franchise John has helped many clients grow their business, through a program designed to increase leadership effectiveness and execute better sales and marketing strategies. Prior to his work with independent entrepreneurs, John was an innovator on the inside of some of America’s largest and most respected consumer products companies. He rose to senior leadership positions in Product Development at Procter & Gamble, Kraft Foods and Kimberly-Clark. John has a Masters and Bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering. As SynergyStreet Chief Operating Advisor, John combines strong organizational and analytical skills with a practical understanding of entrepreneurial risk and reward, helping SynergyStreet to continue its rapid growth.
Jason Robinson, Chief Branding Advisor
Jason Robinson and his design thinktank, Robinson Thinks (www.RobinsonThinks.com), is the driving force behind the brand evolution that the Synergy Street family of companies is experiencing. Holding a degree from the Mary Schiller Myers School of Art in Graphic Design, Jason decided to transplant to the Charlotte region nearly a decade ago. Jason's work has garnered acclaim and awards from such organizations as Graphic Design USA (American Design Awards), MAME (Major Achievements in Marketing Excellence), and PICA (The Printing Industry of the Carolinas) among others. His work has also been published in multiple design annuals and in such books as "Design for the Greater Good: The Best of Cause-Related Marketing and Nonprofit Design", "The New Big Book of Layouts", and "The Mini Book of Great Logos". Although Jason stays immersed in design and branding on a daily basis, he preaches the gospel of a balance between professional and personal development. Often he can be found in his free time hiking or climbing on mountains, boarding on water or snow, spiking a volleyball or tent stake, but always taking in the beauty of nature.
