Our Team

TJ is a coach and professional mentor who loves entrepreneurship almost as much as he loves technology. For over 20 years he’s held senior and executive leadership roles in engineering, architecture, and strategic business development. He’s been an IT executive, consultant, entrepreneur, and the head of one of the industry’s most dedicated technology operations teams.

A visionary with a down-to-earth approach, TJ is on a mission to make service providers, enterprises, and public sector organizations successful in cloud.

A grateful husband and “girl-dad”, TJ’s personal goal is to make a positive difference every day – both at work and in his personal life. When he’s not in the office or on the playground, this John C. Maxwell certified educator is helping others achieve their goals through his coaching, mentoring, and speaking engagements. TJ holds a bachelor’s degree in organizational studies and business from Arizona State University and is currently completing an MBA with emphasis in Marketing & Strategic Leadership as well as a Master of Finance from the University of Cincinnati.

Pete Bell knows what it takes to be a leader. In his more than 25 years of sales leadership experience, Pete has built, recruited, managed, and grown global sales operations for top organizations on 3 different continents. A proud alumnus of Emerson College, his previous roles include SVP titles at many innovative cloud technology firms, where he oversaw and contributed to record growth. Pete’s wide range of experiences in the Cloud Technology space compliments OTAVA’s reputation for industry expertise. 

Pete’s natural abilities as a leader have proven themselves invaluable as OTAVA continues to evolve. Blending business and technology to create effectives sales strategies, he brings his own unique formula for success to the table. As the Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing , Pete uses this and his industry insights to steer our sales efforts towards growth and expansion. 

No stranger to the outdoors, Pete’s favorite things to do in his free time include hiking, skiing, and taking advantage of everything his home-state of Colorado has to offer. Outside the borders of CO, he prefers long days on the beach at his favorite vacation spot, Anna Maria Island, Florida. Pete lives in Denver with his wife and 2 of his children, where you can often find him walking his two dogs, Colby and Pirate. 

Cyndi is a customer experience, service delivery, and operations trailblazer with a passion for creating exceptional client relationships. Her nearly 30-year career spans a wide range of industry disciplines including product, technology operations, professional services, marketing, and more, that combined, contribute to her passion for customer experience.  Cyndi excels at leading strategic business initiatives to help organizations realize their vision.

 As OTAVA’s Vice President of Customer Experience and Strategy, Cyndi is the champion for customer advocacy and upholds the company’s principle of excellence. She is a strategic visionary and her drive for enriching product and service delivery is achieved through innovation, collaboration, process improvement, and organizational development.

Cyndi has a diverse professional background with a deep affinity for building teams, business units, and strategic planning. She joined OTAVA in 2018 and has served as the head of OTAVA’s product, marketing, and business strategy and has led the company’s operations team where she was responsible for ensuring the development and implementation of efficient processes and systems for the business. 

She is a wife and mother of two teenage girls and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Customer Experience Management from Michigan State University. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Austin is OTAVA’s VP of Finance and Controller, responsible for the company’s financial reporting, annual budget, and strategic financial planning process. He is an experienced finance leader that brings more than a decade of experience with technology, cloud, and software organizations to this critical role. He is passionate about helping the company grow and achieve its mission of making cloud easy through the strategic financial planning process, including M&A analysis and support and process/team development. His previous experience includes Controller at ForeSee, where he oversaw all aspects accounting and finance. He has also held other accounting roles and was an adjunct professor at Concordia University in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Austin is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Management Associate (CMA). He holds a B.B.A. in Accounting from Concordia University and an MBA in Accounting from Liberty University. Austin is a husband and father of two and enjoys basketball and golf.

Melissa is a twenty-plus year human resources professional.  She graduated from Bethel University with a bachelor’s degree in Organizational Leadership.  She holds multiple professional certifications:  SHRM-SCP, PHR, CCP.  She currently serves as a director on the Schurz Foundation Board.

Melissa served both television and broadband companies for Schurz before joining the OTAVA leadership team.  Today she directs the implementation of people and culture strategies, initiatives, policies, and programs to ensure we attract, manage, develop, and retain the technical skills needed to achieve current and future business objectives.

She is also a fun-loving mom, a joy chooser, and an interior designer wannabe.

Ben isn’t new to the technology game. Since 1996 he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of the industry: Sales, Support, Engineering, Consulting. You name it, and Ben’s probably done it. But his real passion for growing businesses stemmed from starting and selling one of his own, and has inspired him to lead other organizations to their revenue objectives. His track-record in tech includes building sales teams, channel programs, doubling and tripling revenue streams using effective strategies, and creating a culture of success.

As Director of Enterprise Sales at OTAVA, Ben uses this wealth of experience to insightfully navigate our sales strategy toward its goals. Leading by example, Ben puts in the work and walks-the-walk every day, never missing an opportunity to share his knowledge with his colleagues. A coach, mentor, and all-around team player, Ben is the engine behind OTAVA’s accelerating growth and an invaluable asset to the team.  

While scarce, in his free time Ben enjoys restoring old boats, cars, and trucks in his garage. His most recent project is restoring his Hummer H1. If he’s not tinkering around, Ben can likely be found on Austin’s Lake Travis fishing, waterskiing, or otherwise enjoying the water with his family. Ben lives in Austin, TX with his wife, two sons, and two dogs, Archie and Brownie.

Michael is a sales and marketing leader with 30 years of experience under his belt. As OTAVA’s Director of Colocation Sales, he has successfully executed digital, direct and social media strategies that have been integral in OTAVA’s market growth. Not only is he a wiz at aligning strategy between the Sales, Product and Marketing teams, he’s a passionate storyteller who enjoys sharing the possibilities of cloud and automation with potential clients.  

Michael shares his expertise at technology industry conferences, including Healthcare Information Management Systems Society conference (HIMSS), Veeam Velocity, SecureWorld Detroit, mHealth Summit, Healthcare Compliance Association’s Compliance. He has also planned and promoted several OTAVA-sponsored events. After hours he jams out to any type of music (yes, any) and will happily share a Diet Mountain Dew with you.

Bio Coming Soon!

Jason Pohlman specializes in architecting end to end cloud solutions to address unique business challenges. With over 25 years of IT experience ranging from operations to sales, tailoring comprehensive solutions providing visibility, flexibility, transparency, and improving time to value for our customers has been the staple of his efforts and success. He has been with OTAVA for over five years and holds a CPT degree from Purdue University.

Bio Coming Soon!

Bio Coming Soon!

Ioana is very passionate about psychology, and comfortable in building human relations and providing professional mentoring and guidance to people around her. Inspired by human relationships, she believes continuous development and learning always drive personal and professional success. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology,  from Cluj – Napoca – Romania and has an international Train the Trainers certificate.

Over the past 15 years of her professional experience, she has acted in a few different strategic Human Resources roles, providing leadership guidance. Ioana helps drive business growth at OTAVA in the international and US markets through her Human Resources strategies and recruitment processes.

Ioana is always looking to add a valuable impact in the people and culture at OTAVA. She is passionate about exploring new cultures and diverse human approaches to life, hence her extensive traveling around the globe. She is dedicated to her family and always looking to enjoy good time with friends – especially at live music events!