Executive Bios

Mike S. Wilstead, President and Chief Executive Officer - Mike has worked in the healthcare industry throughout his corporate career. Prior to joining Career Step, he served as the CEO of InteliStaf Healthcare, one of the largest nurse staffing companies in the U.S. His background also includes executive positions with QuadraMed Corporation, STERIS, and AMSCO International. Mike currently serves as a Board Member for Carefx Corporation, a Healthcare IT company, and a Board of Trustee for Dixie State College in Southern Utah. Mike is committed to building a strong team to deliver Career Step's proven products and unwavering customer services to an increasing share of the healthcare market. Mike holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration. He and his wife have three sons, two daughters-in-law, and several grandchildren.

Mark N. Thomas, Chief Operating Officer - Mark has extensive corporate experience in finance and operations gained over a career spanning 25-plus years. After earning an MBA from Wharton Graduate School, Mark has spent nearly 20 years in executive positions in the property-casualty insurance and healthcare industries. Prior to Career Step, he served as CFO for InteliStaf, a healthcare staffing company principally owned by the Carlyle Group. He is focused on team-based solutions to achieve operational excellence and on investments in R&D to enable Career Step to enhance its market leading position in online healthcare education. Mark and his wife have two sons.

John Hiatt, Chief Financial Officer - John brings a wide range of experience to the management team with over 25 years of progressive accounting and finance experience with firms like Sorenson Development and Ameritech Library Services. Additionally, John has a proven record of increasing profitability for closely held companies through the implementation of internal controls and business processes. John has worked with both public and private companies in numerous types of business, including manufacturing, construction, property management, distribution, and software development. John is a CPA in Utah and holds a B.S. in Accounting from Brigham Young University. He is also a member of the AICPA and the Utah Association of CPA's. John and his wife have five children.

Ryan Ewer, Vice President of Marketing - Ryan has over 10 years of experience in marketing strategy and implementation. Prior to joining Career Step, he served as the Director of Marketing for Helius, a Hughes Company, leading the traditional and interactive marketing initiatives for the company. His professional experience also includes management positions with MyFamily.com, Ancestry.co.uk, Provo Labs, QualitySmith, and PointeCast. Ryan is focused on developing the Career Step brand, interactive, demand and retention marketing strategy, while bringing the Career Step opportunity to more students and improving the student experience. Ryan holds a bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University. He and his wife have two daughters and two sons.

Jerolyn Carter, Vice President of Operations - A Career Step graduate herself, Jerolyn has been in the healthcare documentation industry since 2002. After graduating from the Career Step program, she briefly worked as a pharmacy technician and attended the pharmacy program at the University of Utah before being offered a position with Career Step as the Skills Assessment Coordinator. In 2009, Jerolyn was promoted to Vice President of Operations, where she establishes and oversees the processes that help students easily transition into the Career Step learning environment. Jerolyn holds a degree from Stevens-Henager College of Business in Office Administration. She has one son and two daughters.

Michael R. Hodgson, Vice President of Enrollments - Mike has over 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry. Prior to joining Career Step, he served in various executive positions, including time with Medical Staffing Network, Quadramed, and Mediclick, Inc., among others. In all of these positions, Mike was responsible for driving positive change in sales, operations, and finance. He is focused on improving productivity through strategic business planning and is committed to finding positive solutions that strengthen Career Step's position within the online healthcare education market. Mike holds a bachelor's degree in Finance from the University of Illinois.

David B. Monson, Vice President of Program Development - Before joining Career Step, David spent over 17 years helping various companies develop quality products and effective education systems. He has previously held executive and management positions with Oasis Venture Group, High Point Performance, Alpine Media, CommComm, and Allen Communication. In all of these positions, David was a leader in identifying market trends and key market offerings and developing training programs and education systems to meet company goals. At Career Step, David is committed to using his knowledge and experience to develop and expand the Career Step course offerings. David holds a master's degree in Instructional Technology from Utah State University and a bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University-Hawaii. David and his wife have two sons and three daughters.

Justin Pettit, Vice President of Business Development - Justin has 10 years of experience in private equity investing, transaction advisory services, and corporate strategic planning. Prior to joining Career Step, he served as a Principal with DW Healthcare Partners, a private equity firm, where he originated investments in and served on the Board of Directors of four DWHP portfolio companies. His previous background includes providing M&A advisory services to companies at the smaller end of the middle market. He began his career as an analyst with the strategic investment and strategic planning groups of Electronic Data Systems (EDS), the large IT Services company. Justin received a BS degree in Accounting from Brigham Young University and an MBA degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Cameron Loflin, Vice President of Business Services - Prior to joining Career Step, Cameron had been in and around the field of medical transcription for 20 years. This experience and familiarity with the medical transcription industry has uniquely positioned him to build Career Step's business partnerships as the VP of Business Services. He works extensively with colleges, universities, and employers to build relationships and make the Career Step curriculum available to a growing number of students. Cameron earned a liberal arts degree from Colorado State University and a master's in Management from Webster University. Cameron and his wife have three children.

Lynn Thackeray, Information Technology Manager - Lynn is a results oriented leader with over 20 years of software development and technical management experience. His background includes the design and implementation of enterprise level banking solutions, workflow management tools, and library and inventory control systems. Institutions using the solutions designed and implemented by Lynn include the Smithsonian Institute, Northwestern University, Chrysler Corp, Chase-Manhattan, and Peking Public Library. Lynn has also built and led world-class development organizations for both large corporate environments and small start-up organizations. His implementation of a successful agile based development and management process received industry recognition. Lynn holds a bachelor's in Computer Science from Brigham Young University and a master's in Instructional Technology from Utah State University.