“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
– Ferris Bueller
Jon led company strategy and operations as the Director of Global Operations & Strategy at BigCommerce. Prior to that, he assisted with the successful $1.68B acquisition and integration of Magento to Adobe, along with managing high-level partnerships, revenue portfolio management, and strategic initiatives.
Jon spent the first decade of his career beginning at Bear Stearns & Co. before moving on to Optiver and RockView Capital. Graduating from Duke University with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and minor in Economics, Jon’s experience utilizes his technical acumen to improve efficiencies within the business.
Jon plays golf and tennis competitively and skis every winter as well as being a rated backgammon and chess player.
“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”
– Henry Ford
As the former Director of Business Development at Iapetus Holdings LLC, drove revenue growth, led product expansion and fostered channel partnerships across the family of businesses. With diverse roles, including President of Atlas Commodities, Strategic Advisor to Soaring Eagle Technologies and Strategic Advisor to Atlas Retail Energy, he showcased expertise in restructuring, mergers & acquisitions, international expansion, and renewable initiatives. In his role at the holdings company, Alex managed investments, strategic initiatives and maintained crucial capital relationships.
Previous experiences at Trafigura Trading LLC and Goldman Sachs & Co. highlight his extensive background in energy trading and structured transactions. A Duke University graduate with a BA in Economics, Alex brings a global perspective as a dual citizen (US & EU) and fluent in Greek.
He and his wife Jamie have lived in Houston for 15 years and have two young and very cute daughters Zoe and Maia.
“If you don’t ask, you don’t get.”
– My dad
Lenny started in the exhibit industry at age 19 as a custom fabricator and installer, and quickly displayed an aptitude for leadership. Almost immediately, he became the supervisor of a team of 30+ members. Later experiences as Production Foreman, Estimator, Purchaser, and Production Manager prepared him for his leadership roles at Exhibit Network.
The reputation that Exhibit Network holds throughout the trade show industry is the direct result of Lenny’s passion for quality workmanship, innovation, and creative problem-solving. He holds himself and the employees to high standards of integrity and excellence.
Lenny is an avid outdoorsman who can be found fishing in Alaska, and hunting in Texas, Pennsylvania, and Namibia.
“Whatever you are, be a good one.” (attributed to Abraham Lincoln)
Kathleen has a lifelong desire for learning, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, followed by countless classes in Business, Accounting, and Real Estate. Kathleen is a 2012 graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program, and she is close to completing a degree in Organizational Leadership at the College of Biblical Studies in Houston.
Kathleen loves to read. Her favorite book is “How Christianity Changed the World” by Alvin J. Schmidt.
“There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.”
– Bruce Lee
Joann Salazar, Operations Director, is a seasoned exhibit professional. Respected and admired by clients, show contractors, and the entire Exhibit Network team, Joann focuses on results and won’t quit until a problem is solved.
Joann’s professional experience includes purchasing, inside sales, office management, accounting, payroll, profit analysis, finance, supervision, customer service, estimating, and trade show project management. Joann has by far the greatest number of commendation letters from clients and five star google reviews.
Joann’s talents are at the heart of Exhibit Network’s sales, design, and production teams, making sure our booths exceed clients’ expectations, while keeping an eye on our company’s efficiency and profitability.
Most importantly, Joann always has a smile on her face and inspires all those around her to excel and follow their dreams.
In her spare time, Joann can be found at the gym or spending time with her family.
“Every day is a Fashion Show and the World is your Runway.”
– Coco Chanel
Nicole Papakostas, one of our Project Managers, born in New York City is half Greek and half Colombian. She believes she comes from a very exotic culture combination and loves both cultures, and spending time with her family in both countries. Nicole had the opportunity of growing up in Colombia where she completed her Bachelor in International Business before moving back to New York City. Nicole graduated fall of 2023 with her Masters in Business Management with focus on Project Management from Purdue University. She is proud to say that she is officially a Purdue Boilermaker. She also completed her Bachelor of Business Administration with Sam Houston State University, and has her certification in Austrian Economics from Mises University.
Nicole worked in the Financial Industry since 2019, where she was responsible of maintaining store profitability increasing revenues from $2 million to $7 million with high levels of customer service. Before she moved to the Financial Industry, she worked in the Fashion Industry in New York City with a global manufacturing company, coordinating production efforts of manufacturing facilities in Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Vietnam, China, and California.
Nicole is a world traveler, and she is also fluent in English, Spanish, and has some conversational proficiency in Greek and Portuguese. She loves reading, cooking, playing clarinet, and spend time with her family and friends at the ranch.
“I think I can, I think I can. “
– The Little Engine That Could
Kathryn Salazar, one of our Project Managers, has been in the exhibit industry since the first time she misbehaved and her Mom took Kat to work with her. Nobody remembers how long ago that really was.
Kat has an Associate’s Degree in Business Administration and recently earned a Certification of Completion for Lean Introduction (Six Sigma). Kat’s clients love the fact that Kat advises them on the best use of their exhibit properties. Kat spends a lot of time inspecting the fine print on show service forms to be sure her clients receive the exact services they need at the lowest prices possible. In addition to project management, Kat is skilled at sourcing, campaigning, and closing new deals.
Kat loves spending time with her family, watching movies, and shopping. When Exhibit Network announces company fishing trips at Hackberry Rod and Gun, Kat is always one of the first to sign up.
“Life is like a box of chocolates…”
– adapted from Forrest Gump
We have a member of our team who prefers to remain anonymous – something about Witness Protection, whatever, it’s none of our business. This person, in addition to handling the day-to-day tasks of keeping Exhibit Network operating smoothly, holds the title of Director of Fun. This person arranges and hosts our monthly Birthday Celebrations and strategically implemented a scheme to celebrate Unbirthday months as well.
In our employee break room, you will see Yellow Light Bulbs and Purple Smiley Faces, the brilliant idea of our Director of Fun. Team members nominate themselves for a Yellow Light Bulb by coming up with an ingenious idea to make our work simpler and faster. Team members nominate each other with a Purple Smiley Face when someone goes the extra mile to help the team or a client. Once a month, our Director of Fun collects the nominations and holds a drawing for two $25 gift cards – one for the Yellow Light Bulbs and one for the Purple Smiley Faces.
Check out our dry erase board in the break room. You’re bound to see puzzles or games like Hang Man, or funny caricatures of our team. Our Christmas parties (that are absolutely hysterical, by the way) are planned and executed by our Director of Fun.
You can usually find our Director of Fun, in the office or out, obsessing about chocolate.
“A smile is a curve that can set a lot of things straight…”
– Anonymous
Erik Salazar, our Warehouse Supervisor and Lead Installer, brought his contagious energy and wittiness to Exhibit Network in 2017. Not only are we and our clients delighted with Erik’s hilarious sense of humor, but exhibitors in neighboring booths usually get a laugh, too.
Erik is ingrained with an urgency to complete every task on time, on budget, and with a smile from his background in the food service industry. He is always coming up with ways to work better, faster, and smarter. And he’s such a nice guy, too. Hardly anyone can escape Erik’s thoughtfulness, as he has a habit of helping exhibitors on the show floor who are struggling with their booth.
In Erik’s spare time, he enjoys fishing, gaming, and spending time with his niece and his dog, Ferguson. Erik also likes to try out new restaurants and to post pics of interesting entrees on Instagram.
“Love your neighbor as yourself”
– Matthew 22:39
Alex was born in Uruguay, but we’re so fortunate he landed his talents at Exhibit Network. Alex is a talented architectural cabinetmaker who has also been in the trade show industry almost 10 years. We appreciate him because he maintains and thrives in a clean and organized work environment.
Alex enjoys the family atmosphere at Exhibit Network and appreciates being an integral part of the tightknit team.
When not working, Alex enjoys Remote Control Airplanes, reading books, and practicing Reiki for grateful family and friends.
“Failure is not an option.”
– Gene Kranz
George is a native Houstonian and has been with Exhibit Network since 2021 with a background of 20 years in the trade show industry. George is multi-talented – he fabricates, warehouses, delivers, installs, and dismantles exhibits and also performs small repairs and upgrades in our facility.
George likes the friendly, family work environment at Exhibit Network. When he’s not working, you can find him hunting, fishing, or traveling.
George is a world-wide traveler, having visited over 20 different countries (so far!).
“Always workin’ in silence, let my success make the noise.”
– Russ Vitale
Wes Galicia was born in Monterrey Mexico, but was raised in Houston so we consider him a true Texan! Wes is indispensable in our warehouse. From storing crates strategically in the warehouse to documenting their locations in a user-friendly computer file, Wes is our go-to for “Hey, where’s the XXX crate?” You will also see Wes on the show floor unpacking those crates and setting up exhibits.
Wes likes working at Exhibit Network because he learns something new every day.
In his spare time, Wes makes and sells his own art and collaborates with other artists to improve and refine each other’s talents. Wes is also an accomplished self-taught music producer. We are sure he has many other undisclosed talents as well!