Meet the Staff

MaryEllen Tribby
Group Publisher

MaryEllen Tribby has led the Early to Rise team for the past 2 years as Publisher & CEO. With her, she has brought over 20 years of publishing and business experience; and most notably, her direct marketing expertise. With her killer instinct and passion for excellence, she has more than TRIPPLED ETR’s revenue in the past 15 months.

Her extensive publishing experience includes serving as President of Weiss Research, managing divisions of Forbes, Globe Communications, Times Mirror Magazines and Crain’s New York Business.

MaryEllen often speaks on expert panels at industry specific events including SIPA, FIPA and DMA. She is in the process of completing her first book “Changing The Channel: How to get Rich with Multi-Channel Marketing” co-authored by Michael Masterson and published by John Wiley and Sons to be released in October 2008.

She currently resides in Boca Raton, FL with her husband of 12 years, Patrick, and their three beautiful children, Mikaela, Connor and Delanie.

Judith Strauss
Senior Editor

Judith Strauss has been working for Michael Masterson for more years than either one of them will admit to. He took a chance on hiring her when she brought her rusty skills back to the workforce after having taken a decade-long break to be a stay-at-home mom.

Judith has a B.A. in English from the University of Illinois and almost has an M.A. in Literature. (Don’t ask.) Her first job after college was as editorial assistant for Commerce Clearing House in her hometown of Chicago. Before eventually settling in South Florida (and taking that full-time-mom break), she worked at the research library of the University of Idaho in Moscow … set up/staffed a one-woman technical library for 3M Company in Rochester, NY … was a crossword puzzle editor … and owned a craft gallery in Philadelphia.

In her free time, she’s a volunteer tutor for the Adult Literacy Project and dabbles in watercolors.

Charlie Byrne
Associate Publisher

Charlie Byrne is Senior Copywriter and Editorial Director for Early to Rise. Charlie spent the earlier part of his business career as a systems analyst, project manager and consultant in New York City for Fortune 100 companies including Philip Morris, Digital Equipment, and Citicorp as well as New York University and Columbia University.

He then spent over ten years at Reuters Ltd and Interealty Corp designing and implementing financial, real estate and news information services. In 2003, he joined Early to Rise as a senior editor and copywriter. Since then he has helped publish over 1000 editions of ETR, resulting in gross revenues of well over $25 million. He has also produced dozens of winning sales letters and promotions, including two that brought in over $200,000 in under 24 hours, another two that have grossed over $1 million each, and a single sales letter that sold 25 units of a $10,000 product.

Jon Herring
Health Editor/Copywriter

Jon is the Health Editor and a copywriter for Early To Rise. While his formal education is in finance, Jon has invested over 3000 hours in the study of health and nutrition. He is deeply motivated to provide people with the information and the inspiration to live a long and active life, filled with energy and free from disease.

Jon has also been a student of direct sales and marketing since an early age. Before he was 10 years old, he was selling door to door, and he has been an active entrepreneur ever since. After graduating from the University of Georgia in 1993, Jon moved to Jackson Hole, Wyoming where he learned how to build houses, climb mountains, catch trout, and ski fast down hill. However, after several years of poverty with a nice view, Jon returned to his hometown of Nashville to seek his fortune. Within two years – at the age of 26 – he had started a direct marketing business that was earning six figure annual revenues.

In addition to his passion for health, Jon has a strong interest in business and investing. He is also a staunch advocate for honest government and the libertarian values of privacy, freedom, and personal responsibility.

Charles Delvalle
Financial Editor

Charles Delvalle is a self-taught market-timing professional and value analyst who uses a combination of technical indicators and fundamental research to achieve consistent gains on stocks, commodities and options. In recent months, Charles has unlocked gains of 90%… 74%… and 45% – all in a matter of days.

He also recommended a tiny coal company which rocketed 30% within a month and a disregarded Palladium miner whose stock went up double digits in just days. And when everyone else was talking about gold, Charles was singing the praises of silver… which was up 50% just a few months later. Charles is also a staunch contrarian and takes pride in finding undervalued sectors and discovering great companies on the cheap. He questions government reports and the status quo.

In addition to swing trading options, Charles is also Co-Editor of the monthly advisory service - INCOME.

Andrew Gordon
Investment Director

Andrew is the investment director at ETR. He has 20 years of experience working in infrastructure and environmental projects around the world. When he wasn’t traveling, he taught marketing and finance courses at the state university of Maryland.

He is currently the editor of The Wealth Advantage and INCOME, and contributes a weekly column to Investor’s Daily Edge. Mr. Gordon has authored several books for McGraw Hill and other publishing companies on energy markets, global countertrade practices and the hot growth sectors of China and Russia. He is also a top-rated speaker at financial conferences.

Nicole Reynolds
Marketing Associate

Nicole Reynolds was born in New York City and raised in Jamaica, where her dad is a politician. There her family owns a hotel, so Nicole spent much of her childhood in that environment.

After high school, she came to Florida, where she attended Florida Atlantic University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing.

She currently works in the Marketing Department here at Early to Rise. But she spends most of her down time helping around the hotel in Jamaica.

Her goals are to finish her masters in Business Administration (MBA) and to open a business in Jamaica.

Suzanne Richardson
Managing Editor

Suzanne grew up in the high plains of north-central Montana, and you just can’t get the sky out of her. At 18, she left home for the wilds of New Jersey. And somehow – after living for brief periods in Atlanta, Cleveland and St. Louis – she’s landed in upstate New York. Just out of grad school, Suzanne was introduced to Michael Masterson. After working with him on Automatic Wealth for Grads, she was given the position of ETR editor where she has the joy of working with words every day.

At one time or another, Suzanne has been an emergency assistance intern, a poet, a cheerleader, a piano player, a house sitter, a paper shredder, a freelance writer, a choir member, or an adjunct professor. Three-fourths of her life so far has been spent being a student (she has a BA in English and an MFA in Writing) – and she hopes she’ll never stop learning.

Suzanne loves snow, skiing, similes, and star-filled skies. She hates tomatoes.

Sarah Wade
Events Coordinator

Sarah graduated with a degree in Business Administration from James Madison University in Harrisburg, VA. She has worked as a Media Buyer and SEM representative. After working for InterActive Financial Marketing Group, she joined the ETR and AWAI staff.

Sarah is responsible for delivering all teleconference programs at AWAI and works as Events Coordinator for ETR and AWAI conferences and seminars. Sarah moved from Virginia to sunny Florida in 2005. She is a huge music fan, loves the beach, anything to do with marketing and all things social.

Rick Pendergraft
Financial Editor

Rick Pendergraft has been involved in the finance industry for over ten years. He has been trading derivatives and providing market insights for the past five years at Schaeffer’s Investment Research. He earned the award as the company’s top trader on two separate occasions. In addition to his trading and writing, Mr. Pendergraft has been quoted in numerous periodicals including Business Week, Forbes, The USAToday, the New York Times, and the Washington Post.

He has given presentations at investment seminars and has a loyal following of readers. Prior to his trading career, Mr. Pendergraft was a Relationship Manager at a Dayton area bank where he was responsible for nurturing the relationships with the banks most affluent clientele in addition to generating new business for the bank. Mr. Pendergraft earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Wright State University.

Alexis Siemon
Search Engine Marketing Specialist

One of a few elusive natives, Alexis was born and raised in South Florida. Despite her aversion to high humidity, large insects, and hurricanes, she continues to live here for that one week in November when the weather is the stuff of postcards.

Having worked in the internet marketing industry since 1998, Alexis came on board the ETR staff as their first Search Engine Marketing Specialist. Knee-deep in keywords and click-through rates, she strives for ultimate search engine optimization.

When not “Googling” or “Digging” something on the job, she’s usually “Googling” or “Digging” something at home. Subsequently, her neglected husband and dog have been secretly staging a mutiny.

Jessica Kurrle
Marketing Associate

Jessica came to us from the not quite Northern and not quite Southern state of Maryland where she has lived all her life. Craving a new adventure and following her husband after he received a job transfer, she ended up in the Sunshine State.

With a B.S. in Marketing from Towson University and many years of experience in the e-mail marketing and marketing communications fields, she truly enjoys delivering Early To Rise to our readers everyday. Prior to Early To Rise, Jessica honed her e-mail marketing skills at Agora International in Baltimore as well as at small private tech companies.

Jessica enjoys decorating her house, relaxing at the beach with her husband, and walking her 95 lb yellow lab, Buddy when not at work.

Jedd Canty
Profit Center Manager

Jedd Canty was born in Western Maryland, but found the cold winters to be a little too harsh so he decided to venture down to sunny South Florida to finish his education.

He attended Florida Atlantic University and graduated with two Bachelor of Science degrees, one in Marketing and one in Business Management.

After college Jedd spent the next 6 years becoming an expert in both online and offline marketing. His experience ranges from managing a 10 million plus record database as the Marketing Manager for the premier diet & fitness online portal to directing a $30 million dollar advertising budget for one of the largest companies in the country.

Jedd manages the Financial, Real Estate, and Health Divisions at Early To Rise. In his spare time he pursues his entrepreneurial spirit, by launching multiple small businesses.

Erika Laguna
Graphic / Web Designer

Erika was born in Lima, Peru. She graduated from the "Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru" University and received a bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design. She has been working in the field for the last 15 years, 5 of them in Florida.

She came to America in 2001. As an immigrant, things were hard in the beginning. Her first job in America was at McDonalds. Later on, she took classes at FAU, and learned how to apply her design knowledge on the web. She started at ETR after working in web for more than 3 years designing and programming whole websites. She still works as a freelance on weekends, through her own website.

Erika enjoys drawing and reading in her free time. She loves to travel, old cities and history, and learn new things especially art related. On weekends, she likes to jump in her car and drive with no destination, in the company of her Min-Pin dog, Pixel.

Jason Holland
Editorial/Research Assistant

Jason Holland is from a military family and grew up overseas and in several states across the country. This experience instilled an open-mindedness to different cultures and ways of life.

Jason has called Florida home since he moved to Gainesville to study journalism at the University of Florida in 1997. Since then he has moved south every few years (the rest of the country gets too cold in winter), first to the Orlando area to work as a reporter at a local newspaper and then to Delray Beach to work for Early to Rise.

Since starting at ETR as an editorial/research assistant, Jason has had a great time becoming part of the ETR team and is looking forward to learning more about marketing and copywriting.

A new father, Jason spends his off hours with his wife and son. He’s a big fan of live music, nature lover, a wannabe gourmet cook, and dedicated world traveler.

Wendy-Leigh Montes de Oca, MBA
Vice President of Marketing and Business Development

Ms. Montes de Oca’s diversified background includes over 15 years of experience in marketing/media, financial services (institutional and retail), and law. She has a proven track record with both acquisition and retention efforts as well as has both editorial and copywriting experience. Her background includes multi-channel marketing (print, email, direct mail, radio, TV) with expertise in direct response marketing for the web, where her search engine optimization and lead generation tactics generated growth of more than 3160% and 162%, respectively. In addition, her marketing initiatives helped bring in millions of dollars in revenues. She was the editor of a quarterly investment newsletter and had several investment articles published in Hometown News. Her marketing articles have appeared in enewsletters such as Early to Rise and Makepeace Total Package as well as on various blogs.  She is also a distinguished speaker at prominent marketing conferences such as Specialized Information Publishers Association (SIPA).

Ms. Montes de Oca has worked as a consultant as well as for entrepreneurial companies and global leaders such as Chase Manhattan Bank, General Electric, ADP, and Salomon Smith Barney/CitiGroup. Prior to joining Early to Rise she led the eMarketing division at Weiss Research where she was the Senior Director of eMarketing and Business Opportunities.

She received a Bachelor of Science degree from St. John’s University and a Master of Business Administration degree from Nova South Eastern University.

Ms. Montes de Oca has been recognized throughout her career with various awards for quality, innovation, teamwork, and new product/new business development.  

Sharika Kellogg
Customer Service Manager

Customer satisfaction has been installed in Sharika’s work ethic since age 15 with her first co-op job at a chain department store. Making sure that the proper greeting, attention, and patience is made to internal and external customers have been the key to her success and a good relationship with customers in her career.
 
Sharika is a native of New Jersey and an unofficial Weather Girl – natural disasters follow her where ever she has lived since leaving NJ for college.  Sharika went to Ohio for freshman year of college only to have a record number of tornadoes hit.  She returned to NJ to finish college earning a bachelor’s degree in Mass Media Communications at Monmouth Univ. and the state experienced one of its worst snow storms.  Immediately, following college, she launched into the world of call-centers and customer service management in South Carolina - for the 1st time in 10 years the state received a snow storm.  Back in NJ, she worked in the conference planning industry.  Three years later, while on vacation for the first time in Florida, Sharika decided that she liked Florida, moved two weeks later, that year there was 2 huge hurricanes in the area.
 
Sharika is planning on finishing her MBA and wants to write a romance novel.  Her guilty pleasures are frequent travels to New Jersey for tax free shopping, motorcycle riding with her dad, reading “fluff” (romance novels), and watching boxing. She detests green vegetables and Kellogg brand cereal.

Melanie Segala
Managing Editor

Melanie Segala began her publishing career at CRC Press, a Times Mirror publishing subsidiary specializing in books and journals for science and medical professionals.  In 1990, Melanie was promoted to the position of Director of Editorial Production, managing a large department responsible for the timely publication of over 300 books and 12 journals yearly. 

During her tenure at CRC, she gained invaluable experience in the editorial development of scientific publications, refined her writing skills, and greatly increased her knowledge of science and medicine.  Among her other accomplishments, Melanie collaborated on the successful launch of new product lines, streamlined departmental operating procedures, and implemented new desktop publishing software platforms in her department.

In 1999, Melanie’s professional experience took another significant leap forward when she became Director of Publications for the Life Extension Foundation, an industry leader in the fascinating world of alternative medicine and nutritional supplements.  At Life Extension, Melanie took charge and organized their publishing program as editor of the 1500-page cornerstone reference book, Disease Prevention and Treatment, while managing their yearly 300-page product catalog, and contributing occasional feature articles to the monthly magazine.

Throughout her publishing career, Melanie has worked in a freelance capacity for several prominent publishers including McGraw-Hill Higher Education, Elsevier Science, and the American Pharmacist’s Association.

Melanie is a native of Buffalo, New York (go Bills!) and a graduate of Medaille College with a B.S. degree in education. She has taken additional graduate level courses in nutrition from the American Health Sciences University in Aurora, Colorado. Her personal interests include golf, classic literature, and her newest hobby of container gardening.  Melanie and her husband Edward happily reside in South Florida.

Rick Maggio
Search Engine Marketing Specialist

Rick Maggio was born and raised in sunny South Florida. After completing his studies in international business at the University of Florida in 2002, Rick decided to come back to South Florida and hasn’t left since.

Rick started his web marketing career in 2002 working on small web marketing projects for a small South Florida homebuilder. This experience was enough to spark his interest in Web and, from there, he went on to work full-time in web marketing managing several e-commerce websites. Rick’s interest in search marketing later led him to ETR where he currently works as a search marketing specialist.

On the rare occasions that this self-proclaimed web geek disconnects from the Internet, he likes to spend time outdoors participating in activities such as diving, climbing and playing kickball. Rick’s also likes to travel and his favorite foods are sushi and raw cookie dough.