Joe Navarro
For 25 years, Joe Navarro served as an FBI agent specializing in counterintelligence and behavioral assessment. Since retiring, he has authored 14 books in 29 languages dealing with human behavior and body language.His book “What Every BODY is Saying,” remains after a decade, the #1 selling body-language book in the world while “Louder Than Words,” was hailed by The Wall Street Journal as “One of the six best business books to read for your career.”
His work in the field of apprehending criminals and catching spies is renowned around the world through his lectures and his book Three Minutes to Doomsday which George Clooney optioned as a movie. But he is unequaled in the area of body language and nonverbal communication which can give you a tactical advantage in any situation.
Richard Grosvenor
Richard Grosvenor is the Owner and CEO of Speedy Recovery Services, Inc. in Atlanta, Georgia. With a career spanning over three decades, Richard is an industry veteran who — with his team — has built one of the most recognized recovery companies in the industry. He possesses an in-depth understanding of the legal and regulatory landscape surrounding asset recovery. Richard’s experiences and unique attention to detail has enabled SRS to maintain a remarkable reputation within the industry.
Apart from his achievements in the repossession business, Richard is known for his community involvement and commitment to giving back. He has actively supported local charities, participating in industry forums and mentoring emerging professionals in his field.
Overall, Richard’s history in precision-demanding and competitive environments has given him an exceptional perspective of the repossession business, one in which he hopes to continue to shape the standards for industry compliance, safety, and success.
Ray Franklin
With more than 26 years experience in the repossession industry, Ray Franklin owns and operates National Locating and Recovery (NLR) in Alabama. He began his career as a field agent working with his mother, long-time ARA member Mary Jane Hogan. In 2007, Ray moved into a management role inside the company and was instrumental in the company’s growth that year. In 2018, Ray took controlling interest in the company and continues to run the company today.
Dave Baker
Dave Baker joined American Recovery Service (ARS) in 2008. Over the next several years, Baker excelled in a variety of positions with the company before becoming Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) in 2015. Since that time, Baker has been assigned executive oversight of Vendor Compliance and Vendor Relations Management, Business Development, and leading the ARS2Market remarketing division, offering complete remarketing solutions to ARS’s clients across the nation. Baker attributes his leadership and inclusive management style to his 25+ year law enforcement career, culminating in his appointment as Chief of Police, to which he continues to serve today as Captain of Reserve Operations for a Northern California Police Department.
Baker holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice Administration from Columbia Southern University.
Ryan Balfe
Ryan Balfe is the founder of Cubepros, a full service national accounting, bookkeeping and back office advisory firm servicing small business owners and startups. Prior to launching Cubepros, Ryan supported the Investment Management division of Lehman Brothers and also served as an analyst for a private wealth management firm servicing ultra-high net worth individuals and foundations. Cubepros provides full charge bookkeeping, payroll, compliance, tax preparation and back office consulting and advisory services exclusively via Quickbooks Online and the applications within its ecosystem. Ryan holds an MBA in Finance and is an Advanced Certified Quickbooks ProAdvisor. In 2016, Ryan was appointed to the Intuit Accountant Council and is a member of the QuickBooks Payroll Council.
Todd Case
In 1998, Todd Case began a career in Law Enforcement that spanned over 16 years. During his tenure as a police officer, Todd was assigned to several different units including Evidence Technician, Field Training Officer, K-9 and Criminal Interdiction. Todd was noted for having the largest cash seizure in Hamilton County, Indiana, and was also awarded the Police Medal of Valor after he saved a woman from drowning in a frozen retention pond.
In 2011, Todd and his wife, Darcy, purchased Indiana Recovery Services. Todd remained in law enforcement part time until he retired from law enforcement in 2014. Todd and Darcy grew the company from a one location, two trucks, and four employees, to 34 vehicles, more than 50 employees, and four locations, with coverage spanning two states. Todd and Darcy are known for the addition of a vehicle transport division to their repossession company. Currently, they operate a seven-car semi and trailer combination, four car haulers, and six two car rollbacks, which are dedicated to only vehicle transport. They transport for all auctions in the State of Indiana and are responsible for transporting nearly 90% of all vehicles they repossess. Todd obtained his CDL in 2019 and assists in transporting cars for the transport division when needed.
Todd and Darcy live together in Carmel, Indiana with their three children, Stephen (26), Ethan (19), Adyson (17) and their German Shephard Jax.
Jeremy Cross
Jeremy Cross became the president and owner of International Recovery Systems in 2010, after working and owning a successful private investigations company. Jeremy serves on multiple industry related advisory panels and is a board member for American Recovery Association. When not involved in business, Jeremy spends time with his wife, Tiffany, and their two children, Jason and Sophia. He also enjoys making barbecue for friends and family and attending sporting events.
Michael Peplinski
Michael Peplinski started his career in the banking industry at HSBC Bank. After 10 years, he decided to move towards the more personal, client driven field of insurance. He quickly found that the repossession industry was his forte. Mike is now Vice President & Partner of the largest Insurance Agency specializing in repossession insurance. Mike insures about 500 collateral recovery companies nationwide. In 2016, Mike was able to start an Exclusive Repossession Insurance Program for Harding Brooks clients. His future plans are to continue fostering this program while working closely with the National and State Associations to educate their members on risk management.
Brennen Hamilton
Brennen Hamilton is the founder of Rapid Recovery Agency, Inc, established in 2007 as a one-person operation. Under his leadership, the agency has grown to more than 100 employees in five locations across Florida, one of the state’s largest repossession agencies. In 2019, after tracking key performance indicators in his own business became far too difficult, he set out to build a software tool to help. It worked so well that through dedication, hard work, and a lot of trial and error, he was able to share it with the industry. Insightt Basic was released in June 2023, and is revolutionizing how repossession businesses are tracking, collecting, and utilizing key metrics data to grow profitability.
Casey Harmon
Casey Harmon is an SVP at RunBuggy, overseeing Deliver Operations, Customer Success, Sales and Business Development. Has held executive positions at industry-leading companies Toyota Financial and Westlake Financial Services. Over the course of his 20-year automotive career, he has specialized in leading large corporate technology initiatives and forming profitable partnerships between organizations. Casey has also been a founder and adviser to a handful of innovative startups that are shaping the future of automotive lending, digital retail and transportation.
Matt Freeman
Matt Freeman is the owner of Professional Towing and Recovery Michigan and Ohio. He is a United States Navy veteran and has been in the repossession business since 1996.
Starr Sawalqah
Starr Sawalqah is the owner of Alpha Recovery in Phoenix, Arizona with multiple offices across the state of Arizona. Starr was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona where she attended Arizona State University. She held a management position at Wells Fargo before joining Alpha Recovery. After earning her degree, she joined the Alpha Recovery team where she oversees operations and a 60+ member team. Starr has been with the company since its inception and is responsible for the company’s high standards and excellent reputation in the repossession industry.
Jeremiah Wheeler
Jeremiah Wheeler is the President of the DRN & MVTRAC business units for Motorola Solutions Inc. (NYSE: MSI) leading operations, business development, data collection, government affairs and strategy efforts for the automotive, insurance, retail, and financial services industries. Prior to joining the company more than 12 years ago, Jeremiah was part of one of the largest repossession companies in the US, with more than 65 Trucks, covering 6 states and also had national coverage with the top 20 auto lenders for recovery services. He serves on three committees for the Receivables Management Association International, three committees for the American Financial Services Association, is an advisory board member for the American Recovery Association and is a founding member of the Auto Intel Council with Cherokee Media Group. He is very involved with numerous other organizations helping to promote legislative activities, fundraising and awareness campaigns. Jeremiah has been married for 21 years, has 2 daughters and enjoys spending time traveling with his family, golfing, teaching and mentoring students, mountain biking and most anything outdoors.
Nick Zulovich
Nick Zulovich is senior editor at Cherokee Media Group, overseeing a portion of company’s magazine and website portfolio including Auto Fin Journal, BHPH Report and SubPrime Auto Finance News. Nick also is one of the hosts of the Auto Remarketing Podcast and part of the company team that conducts industry events, including the Auto Intel Summit and Used Car Week.
Scott Aey, WreckMaster Lead Instructor
Scott Aey got his start in the towing & recovery industry at age 14, washing trucks at his family’s towing company. He began operating trucks two years later in 1984. Scott discovered WreckMaster at a seminar at the Baltimore Tow Show and attended his first class one week later. After attending a number of classes, Scott joined WreckMaster as a Field Instructor in 2006. Two years later, he became a Lead Instructor. Scott believes that WreckMaster is helping grow and educate a community of operators that are continually raising the bar of the towing and recovery industry.
Chris Kelley
Chris Kelley has been in the repossession industry for more than 25 years and has been an Agent with a couple of the most respected repossession companies in the country. Since 2005, he has been with United and has served as an Agent, the Field Operations Manager, Agent Training Director, and now leads Recovery Master. He has trained more than 500 repossession agents, new and experienced, in the past decade and his experience, real-world application, tone, candor, approach, and teaching methodology maximizes the learning experience.
Kevin Wilson
Kevin Wilson joined the family business in 2000 after three years as a financial consultant with Ernst & Young, LLP. Beginning his family business career at Memphis Auto Auction (now called United Auto Exchange) in 2000, he held positions from operations to marketing to sales and eventually to management. Since 2007, Kevin has led United Recovery & Remarketing as is COO. He has built a team and a culture that is innovative, creative, fun, gritty, and this unique team has made United a market leader in the repossession and remarketing space. Kevin has a BBA from Millsaps College, and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
Paul Rettenmaier
Paul Rettenmaier started in the automotive business as the National Sales Manager for the ServNet Auction Group. His duties included calling on the executive teams for all OEM, Captive Finance, Bank, Rental, and other institutional fleet accounts on behalf of twenty independent auctions that represented the ServNet brand. Paul was promoted to VP of the ServNet Group, then spent several years as Director of Business Development at two leading auto auctions: DAA Northwest and KCI AA. After this stint, Paul partnered with Kevin Wilson in the creation of Stream LLC. Stream is a nationwide network of best-in-class recovery agents that offer remarketing services direct from repossession yards. Paul is now Director of Business Development for all United Recovery & Remarketing family of companies, and leads United thru passion and friendships built. Paul has a BA in Communications Management and Sports Broadcasting from Missouri State University.