Who We Are: YourSourceNews Contributors

Alan Wolf is Editor of YourSource magazine and chief contributor to YourSourceNews.com (YSN). A Senior Communications Specialist for AVB Inc., he joined the merchandising organization in 2019 after covering the appliance industry and consumer tech retail for 20 years at This Week in Consumer Electronics (TWICE). Contact: Alan.Wolf@AVB.net

Janet Weyandt is Communications Specialist for AVB Inc. and writer/copy editor for YourSource magazine. A regular contributor to YourSourceNews.com (YSN), she was an award-winning reporter in Wisconsin and Indiana before joining AVB as a contract writer in 2015 and then a full-time employee in 2022.
Contact: janet.weyandt@avb.net

Dori Easterson is the Director of Communications and Branding Operations at AVB Inc. In addition to managing the production of YourSource Magazine and YourSource News, she coordinates internal and external communications for AVB BrandSource. She helped launch YourSource in 2015.
Contact: communications@avb.net

Daniel Abramson is a lecturer, business coach and consultant. He is Founder and President of StaffDynamics, which helps mid-size companies increase productivity by fusing talent, analysis, strategy and execution. Contact: Daniel@staffdynamics.biz

Paul MacDonald is a BrandSource service consultant and past president of the UASA who ran his own 38-tech service business. He currently heads the Expert Service Program, which helps servicers manage their operations more efficiently and profitably. Contact: Paul.M.MacDonald@gmail.com.

Gordon Hecht is Senior Regional Manager/Strategic Retail Group at Serta Simmons Bedding and a featured columnist for YourSource magazine and YourSourceNews.com (YSN). Contact: GHecht@SertaSimmons.com

Rich Lindblom is a past principal of Advanced Maytag Home Appliance Center, a family business founded 64 years ago in Schaumburg, Ill. After working at and eventually leading the company for more than four decades, he and his brother Bud sold the operation and formally stepped down in November 2020. A former member of the Maytag Council, Lindblom  is now sharing his 40-plus years of hard-won retail experience with fellow BrandSource members in a regularly appearing column for YourSourceNews.

Contact: EGVRich@gmail.com

Joe Higgins is the former National Sales Director at Whirlpool Corp. where he spent 35 years, and before that was an Account Manager at General Electric. He is currently a conference speaker who has addressed companies and conventions across the country on such topics as leadership, corporate culture, the U.S. economy and customer service. Contact: @Q4QwithJoe (Twitter)

Stephen Paczkowski is a Buyer/Channel Manager at Expert Warehouse, the tech distribution arm of YSN publisher AVB Inc. Prior to rejoining EW in 2018, Paczkowski was a Senior Sales Manager Operations for Shanghai Optics and Director of Client Management for OnBase Consulting. Contact: Steve.Paczkowski@Expert-Warehouse.com

Sam Brown is “Professor of Appliance Repair Mastery” at BrandSource partner MasterSamuraiTech.com (MST), an online training academy for appliance repair personnel, and administrator of its sister tech support site, Appliantology.org. For more information, email Sam at samuraitechhelp@gmail.com or call (603) 290-5516.

Janice Salmon is the founder and CEO of JustPressOne, a business process outsourcing company and AVB partner that provides claims administration services for independent service companies and self-servicing dealers in the home appliance industry. For more information visit JustPressOne.com.

J.R. Zirkelbach is a business development specialist at New Leaf Service Contracts and a 30-year veteran of retail and retail services. J.R. implements New Leaf-administered extended service programs at BrandSource dealer locations, which helps members provide exceptional service to their customers, create earnings opportunities for their salespeople, and increase their overall profitability.

Justin Bowen is a Vendor Relations Manager at AVB Marketing, the advertising, e-commerce and digital marketing arm of AVB BrandSource. He works with furniture vendors and dealers to build online product catalogs and enhanced online merchandising strategies for furniture members, and he’s a contributor to YourSource News (YSN).

Contact: Justin.Bowen@avb.net

Anastasia Stefanova is Director of Marketing at AVB Marketing, the advertising, e-commerce and digital marketing arm of AVB BrandSource. She guides members on maximizing revenue from SEO and CTV tactics and shares her expertise in digital marketing with members in YourSource News (YSN) and YourSource Magazine.

Contact: Anastasia.stefanova@avb.net.

Mark Baird is Creative Director/Video at AVB Marketing, where he writes, directs and edits video content and contributes how-to marketing articles for YourSource magazine and YourSourceNews.com (YSN). Contact: Mark.Baird@AVB.net