Management Team

Yavor Efremov became President and Chief Executive Officer in 2022. He joined the company as a director in 2021.

Prior to joining the company, Yavor served as the CEO of Motorsport Network, where he was responsible for upgrading the IT infrastructure, processes, and company strategy to support the integration of more than 30 businesses around the world. Yavor also served as a senior executive at Liberty Media Corp., where he was instrumental in sourcing, financing, and growing Liberty’s investments in multibillion-dollar businesses, including Charter Communications and Formula 1. Prior to that, Yavor worked as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs & Co. and as a corporate lawyer at the law firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton.

Yavor holds a B.S. in mathematics and a B.A. in economics from Furman University. He also holds a J.D. from Yale Law School and a Ph.D. in economics from Yale University.

Graham was appointed Chief Operating Officer in 2019.  Since joining the company in 2004, Graham has held various leadership positions.  Most recently, he was President of the New Ventures Division. Prior to that, Graham was Senior Vice-President Sales where he implemented an industry leading performance management system.  Graham also launched the highly successful Nu-X new product development engine and led transaction teams for many of the Company’s most important strategic initiatives.  Before joining TPB, Graham spent 7 years at Philip Morris, USA, where he served in senior sales and sales management positions.

Graham holds an A.B. from California State University, Chico.

Louie was appointed as Chief Financial Officer in 2021. He joined the company as Vice President of Business Development in 2019 and subsequently became the Chief Business Development Officer in 2020. Prior to joining the Company, Louie spent nearly two decades in the finance and investment industry working at Point72 Asset Management, Waterfront Capital Partners, Perella Weinberg Partners and Vestar Capital Partners in various roles deploying capital across different industries. He began his career as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs & Co.

Louie holds a B.S, Summa Cum Laude, in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University and an M.B.A from Stanford Graduate School of Business where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar.

Brittani is Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, responsible for managing the day-to-day responsibilities of the TPB legal and external affairs groups. Brittani joined the company in 2014.

Brittani currently serves on the National Association of Tobacco Outlets Board of Directors. She also participates in a number of other industry trade associations, including the Cigar Association of America, Coalition of Independent Tobacco Manufacturers of America, and the Coalition of Manufacturers of Smoking Alternatives.

Prior to joining the company, Brittani spent five years at Xcaliber International, Ltd., L.L.C., where she was most recently the General Counsel, responsible for all legal affairs.

Brittani holds a B.S.B.A. in Business Management from the University of Tulsa and a J.D. from Washington and Lee University School of Law.

Marc joined Turning Point Brands through the acquisition of International Vapor Group in 2018. Marc’s current responsibilities include strategizing and leading the Sales, Marketing, Supply Chain and Customer Service for the Vape Channel as well as overseeing the fulfilment operation for TPB.

Prior to joining TPB, Marc spent 5 years as the COO and Vice-President at International Vapor Group building and managing an industry leading vapor company specializing in B2C sales and distribution. Additionally, Marc has held multiple Director level positions in Operations, Supply Chain Management and Distribution in various industries. He started is professional career in financial accounting and but found his passion in Logistics.

Marc holds a B.S.B.A. from Florida Atlantic University

Christian joined the company in 2005 as Senior Software Developer and progressed through the ranks holding positions in business analysis, ERP management and business analytics. Christian has responsibility for all Information Technology services throughout TPB. Under Christian’s leadership, IT resources across TPB and acquisition properties have merged to most efficiently address the information needs of the organization.

Christian has a B.S.B.A. in Computer Information Systems from the University of Louisville in Louisville, KY.

Janet is the Senior Vice President, Sourcing for Turning Point Brands. She is the former Senior Vice President of Sourcing for JCPenney, Under Armour and RadioShack and has 35 years of comprehensive knowledge of product from creation to in store. Janet has a proven track record and brand expertise in all facets of sourcing and merchandising. She has an emphasis in optimizing supplier partnerships, verticalization of sourcing and merchandising processes and organizational optimization.

Janet previously served as Chair of the United States Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel (USA-ITA) and has testified before The House Ways and Means Committee on trade issues as a leading advocate for ethical and free trade.

Janet is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University with a B.A. in Advertising where she was also a two-time captain of the Penn State women’s volleyball team.

Barry Hopkins was appointed Senior Vice President, Leadership Development in 2021. Previously, Barry was the Senior Vice President Sales & Marketing. In 2011, Barry began consulting with TPB where he served in several different capacities including working with the Executive Team to build Performance Management infrastructure, Executive Coaching, and Strategic Planning. In addition, Barry assisted with management of post-acquisition transitions.

Prior to joining the company, Barry was employed at Philip Morris USA/Altria for 33 years where he held several Executive Leadership roles in Sales, Trade Marketing and the Senior Team Strategic Planning task force. His last position was Vice-president of National Accounts.

Barry holds an A.A. degree from Staten Island University and attended Bernard Baruch Business College.

Chuck was appointed the Senior Vice President, Sustainability in 2021 with oversight of the company’s ESG program. Since joining the company in 2006, Chuck has held various key leadership positions in Product Integrity and Operations, including Vice President of Product Integrity; General Manager, Louisville Operations and Senior Vice President, Operations & Quality Assurance, and Senior Vice President, Scientific Affairs.

Prior to joining the company, Chuck spent 22 years with Swedish Match North America and its subsidiary, the Pinkerton Group. Before leaving Swedish Match North America, Chuck was the Vice President of Research & Development and Corporate Quality Assurance, where he was responsible for all new product development and product improvement projects and initiating and monitoring corporate quality assurance programs including six sigma, cost of quality, and lean manufacturing programs. Chuck also served on the worldwide Scientific Advisory committee for Swedish Match.

Chuck holds a B.S. in Biochemistry from Centre College and an M.B.A. from Vanderbilt University Graduate School of Management.

Jim is the Senior Vice President of Business Planning. Since joining the company in 2000, Jim has held key leadership positions, first as Vice President of Marketing and then as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

Previously, Jim held various Marketing and Sales roles with Brach’s Confections and the American Tobacco Company. Prior to leaving the American Tobacco Company, Jim was Vice President of Premium Brands. Jim started his career with Nielsen Market Research.

He has been a guest lecturer in economics at both Fairfield University and Fordham University and also taught Excel for Business at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Jim holds a B.S. in Marketing from Fairfield University and an M.B.A. from Fordham University School of Business.

In 2021 Frank was promoted to Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing. Frank has responsibility for strategic development and direction of the Marketing, International Sales, and domestic Sales teams. Previously, Frank was the Vice President of Sales.

Frank joined the company in 2018 and as the Senior Director of National Accounts where he was responsible for developing and leading go to market strategies, training, development & advancement for our National Accounts Team.

Prior to joining the company Frank was a Partner and Vice President of Sales for Global Brewing Solutions in Orlando, Florida. Before that, Frank spent 30 years with Altria where he held various leadership positions in Sales, Marketing and Trade Relations.

Frank holds a B.S. in Marketing and Finance from St. Thomas University in Miami, Florida.

Brian is responsible for adherence to generally accepted accounting standards, Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) compliance, and ensuring Company compliance with SEC reporting requirements. Brian is a CPA and started his career with Ernst & Young where he had various progressive positions. Most recently, Brian served as an assistant controller with GE Appliances.

Brian graduated from the University of Kentucky with degrees in accounting and business administration.

Jim joined the company in 2021 in the newly created role of Vice President, Fulfillment & Distribution. In 2020 he was instrumental, as a consultant, in the successful launch of our new state of the art distribution facility in Shepherdsville, KY. These new capabilities and capacity have allowed us to in-source our fulfillment, optimize our freight, and poises us for future growth.

Jim began his career with UPS where he held many operations, engineering, and continuous improvement roles over a 15-year period. From 2000-2017 Jim served as SVP of Operations and Fulfillment for Alliance Entertainment where he led many high velocity, complex, ecommerce and brick and mortar start-ups, integrations, and new product launches . In 2017 he joined Galls, LLC, where as VP of Operations and Supply Chain he helped transform the manufacturing and delivery networks and helped with a successful transition to a new Private Equity sponsor.

Jim serves on multiple industry Boards, supports both Bullitt and Jefferson County’s Economic Development Councils, and was a member of the Governor’s Special I-65 Task Force.

Don was promoted in 2021 to Deputy General Counsel and Vice President, Legal Affairs. Don joined the company in 2016 as Assistant General Counsel. He provides legal services on contracts, supply chain issues, certain diligence, marketing, new products development and leads the regulatory team responsible for FDA compliance.

Prior to joining the company, Don worked for 18 years at Yum! Brands, Inc. where he was responsible for insured litigation at KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell domestically along with managing a contracts team. While at Yum, Don was also General Counsel for Long John Silvers and A&W Restaurants. He provided expertise in insurance coverage disputes, risk management, franchising, FCPA and food safety. Don previously worked for Aegon and Prudential Insurance, and he served in the U.S. Air Force Special Operations.

Don holds undergraduate degrees from Troy University and the Air Force as well as a JD and MBA from the University of Louisville.

Lance was promoted to Vice President Business Intelligence in 2020. Since joining the company in 2002, he has held various leadership positions in Sales and Trade Marketing Departments. In 2019 he founded TPB’s Business Intelligence group, where his responsibilities include management of the TPB sales budget, unifying the BI functions for the Core Tobacco and New Gen business segments, and direction of the Trade Marketing group.

Prior to joining TPB, Lance spent 6 years with ExxonMobil in retail operation management.

Lance holds an undergraduate degree from Buffalo State College.

Steve is currently the Vice President International Sales and has held this position since 2015. In his role, Steve leads strategic growth initiatives for TPB business in South America, Europe and Canada. Prior to taking on responsibility for International Sales, Steve led our national accounts team developing strategic business plans and growth opportunities for many of the Company’s largest domestic customers. Steve has over 35 years of industry experience and previously held various leadership positions in Sales and National Accounts at Swedish Match and RJ Reynolds.

Steve holds a B.S. degree in Marketing from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

Lorenzo is an entrepreneur whose company, Solace Technologies, was acquired by Turning Point Brands in 2019.  Lorenzo manages Nu-X Ventures overseeing product development, product launches along with the marketing and promotional campaigns that support strategic product introductions for the broader organization.  Prior to joining the company, Lorenzo started and worked for a number of different startups across the technology and product sector. 

Lorenzo holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Southern California and was listed in Inc. Magazine’s 30 under 30 in 2017.

Kelly joined the company in June 2004 as a member of the Finance team and was promoted to Manager Accounts Receivable in June 2005. She joined the HR Team in March 2014, managing Payroll & Benefits, named Director Human Resources in February 2017, Promoted to Senior Director of Human Resources in August 2018, and Named VP Human Resources in January of 2020.
Prior to coming to TPB, Kelly spent her career in either Finance or HR in the Healthcare industry and did a short stint in teaching Business and Computer classes.

Kelly holds a B.S. in Business Management from Sullivan University and M.A. in Teaching (Business Education) from Spalding University.

Trent was promoted to Vice President, International Operations in 2020 where he is responsible for the entire tobacco supply chain and responsibility for managing all international manufacturing sites. He has 40 years’ experience in the tobacco industry previously working for Philip Morris and Lorillard Tobacco where he held progressive manufacturing positions. Trent joined the organization in 2001 and has previously served as Director Manufacturing and Senior Director Manufacturing.

Scott joined Turning Point Brands in 2021 and is focused on strategic initiatives and acquisitions. Prior to joining, Scott spent over 15 years as an investor and Board-level advisor managing investments across the capital structure in both public and private companies. Scott founded Vindico Capital after working nearly a decade at Magnetar Capital, and previously worked at Soros Fund Management in its private equity division. Scott started his career at Merrill Lynch in its investment banking group.

Scott received an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BA from Columbia University majoring in Economics.

Gregg is the Vice President, Domestic Operations. Joining National Tobacco in July 2020, Gregg was brought on board to assist the company with strategic vision and planning. With a background in engineering, manufacturing, quality and project management, Gregg brings a fresh vision to the future of the company.

Prior to joining the company, Gregg spent 20 years with two companies in the manufacturing sector. For the last 14 years of that time Gregg worked for Lohmann Corporation and its subsidiaries across the United States. During his time at Lohmann Gregg held different positions such as Technical Manager, Director of Operations and most recently Director of Engineering, Process Excellence and Strategic Sourcing. Before leaving Lohmann, Gregg was the Director of Engineering, where he was responsible for all new product development and product improvement projects. Gregg oversaw all capital investment projects for the company for all locations in the United States and also led several global initiatives for the company during his tenure. Over the last 5 years while at Lohmann, Gregg led initiatives to design, source and oversee construction of medical grade clean rooms for wearable medical device manufacturing as well as to serve the lateral flow industry which is today providing much needed tests to the market in the midst of a global pandemic. During Gregg’s time at Lohmann he had responsibility for operations, quality assurance, design and development, maintenance programs and initiated the Lean Manufacturing initiative for Lohmann, starting in 2008.

Gregg holds a B.S. in Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (Virginia Tech) and is also a certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt with over 12 years of hands on Lean Manufacturing experience.

Cortni is currently the Vice President of Retail & Marketing Operations. Her responsibilities include the strategic development & execution of online strategies for the Vape Channel as well as overseeing the authorized retailer program for brand stores.

Prior to joining the Marketing team, Cortni was the Vice President of Retail Operations at International Vapor Group overseeing all brick and mortar development and management within their retail portfolio of stores. With over 25 years of retail experience, Cortni has worked for several retail outlets including Solstice, Brookstone, & Limited Brands, Inc.

Matt is Vice President, Customer Experience. Matt is responsible for leading our world-class Customer Service teams for our online retail and wholesale vape divisions. He oversees all customer-related activities, including our contact centers, sales teams, wholesale customer service, customer privacy and customer communications. Matt has over 30 years’ experience in developing and overseeing customer service and sales programs for Home Depot, Dish Network, DirecTV, Verizon, AT&T and Stamps.com. Matt keeps us looking at things from the customers’ perspective and that allows us to serve the only reason we exist, our customers.

Angela Reins was promoted to Vice President, Sales in 2021. Her responsibilities include the strategic development, direction and execution of our sales organization including Field Sales and National Accounts (Retail and Wholesale).

Previously, Angela was Director of National Accounts leading teams on effective account management and purposeful account strategies to build stronger relationships with the trade to ultimately grow market share of our portfolio brands.

Angela started her career with Turning Point Brands in 2020 as a National Account Manager. Prior to joining the company, she was an award winning, results driven sales leader with extensive experience in sales and marketing account leadership in her 31-year career at Altria.

Angela holds a B.S. in Marketing from University of Maryland, College Park, MD.

Eric joined Turning Point Brands in July 2019 through the acquisition of Solace Technologies. Eric was a co-founder of Solace and served as a managing partner and chief marketing officer. Eric manages the strategic marketing and advertising initiatives for existing brands, as well as new brands developed under the Nu-X Ventures division. He is responsible for the management and growth of the Nu-X Ventures and Zig-Zag e-commerce platforms. Prior to joining the company, Eric founded and worked for multiple startups in the CPG and advertising sector and has worked with brands like Pepsi, Kagome and Sparkling Ice.

Eric holds a B.S. degree in business and marketing from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California and was listed in Inc. Magazine’s 30 Under 30 in 2018.

Casey started with the company in 1989 as a Territory Sales Manager. He has had progressive sales leadership positions including Assistant Regional Manager, Regional Manger, Director National Accounts, Senior Director Metro Account Managers, and Senior Director National Accounts.

Prior to joining the company, Casey worked in the food brokerage business and attended both Northern Kentucky University and the University of Cincinnati.

Justin serves as the Senior Director Logistics responsible for Company-wide logistics of traditional products, vapor products, and fulfillment operations.

Justin has over 10 years of operations, supply chain, inventory and quality control experience. Throughout Justin’s career he has focused on building internal control procedures to maintain asset integrity, establish operational best practices, optimizing supply chain systems, driving process improvement initiatives and bolster employee growth and development.

Justin has a B.S. in Marketing and Finance from Suffulk University in Boston, MA.

Brendan joined Turning Point Brands through the acquisition of his co-founded company, Solace Technologies, in July 2019. McDermott joined the Nu-X Ventures team in order to continue the pursuit of his forte, product development of functional and active ingredients. He has a proven track record of anticipating the next avenue of public interest in a forever transforming and adaptive industry.

Brendan’s responsibilities include operational oversight of Solace branded products, new product development for both NU-X Ventures and Core specialty products, as well as development of sustained growth opportunities through white label, OEM and ODM services.

Prior to co-founding Solace Technologies, Brendan had co-developed two other successful start-ups. In these three previous ventures, McDermott held executive leadership roles. His executive specialty is engaging and encouraging colleagues through specifically challenging transitional periods, such as company mergers and adjustments from start-up mentality to full operational business.

McDermott holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston University.

Rob is the Senior Director, Corporate Quality Assurance for Turning Point Brands. He is responsible for the design, implementation, and oversight of best in class Quality Management System programs for all Company products. Rob previously held various Quality positions within the Food and Beverage and Medical Device industries. Most recently, he worked in the spirits industry at Barton 1792 Distillery.

Rob has a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Engineering and Management from Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY.

Curtis started with the Company in 2004 and has focused much of that time growing Zig-Zag as the Brand Director. Curtis has 20+ years’ brand building experience in the smoking category. Prior to joining TPB, spent 5 years at Natural American Spirit growing brand awareness and market share. Curtis has worked with trade channel programs, consumer events and product/packaging development.

Curtis holds an undergraduate degree from University of Connecticut in Business and Marketing.

Ted became Director National Accounts in August 2021. He joined the company in 2014 and has served roles in both Field Sales and on the National Accounts teams.

Prior to joining the company, Ted served in various sales management roles at Natural American Spirit, Odwalla, and Pepsi-Cola.

Ross brings 13 years of industry experience to his current role as Director, Business Development. His responsibilities include overseeing transition plans with new acquisitions as well as managing key growth initiatives within the organization. Previously, Ross held various field sales and management roles with ITG Brands and TPB. Most recently, he was National Sales Manager focused on the alternative channel, where he was responsible for developing sales, marketing, and e-Commerce strategies.

Ross holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Oklahoma State University.

James joined the organization in early 2019 as the Director, Marketing Support. He guides a team of experts in a wide variety of fields that ideate, create and produce forward facing communications for the company’s brands, including: multimedia, graphics & design, photography, written content, email marketing, e-commerce marketing, and product packaging design & development. James is a seasoned marketing executive who specializes in leading productive teams, building brands, gaining market share, and maximizing profitability. James previously served as Director of Consumer Development at Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy in the Wine & Spirit Packaged Goods division.

James has a B.S. in Marketing and Public Relations from the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL.

Jorge joined the organization in 2017 as a Senior Developer and in 2019 was promoted to Director, Development. His current role utilizes Jorge’s 20 years of industry knowledge ranging from development, design, marketing and management to elevate TPB’s web development team. Prior to joining the company, Jorge’s previous employment ranges from ecommerce, financial, digital agency and custom web development.

Tommy began his career at Turning Point Brands in 1997 as a Territory Sales Manager in Eastern Tennessee. Since then he has served various management roles in Sales, Marketing and Manufacturing. In his current role of Director, Marketing Services he and his team serves as a bridge between Marketing and Sales, ensuring maximum efficiencies across our brand portfolio and consumer communication platforms, digital and material.

Tommy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Management and Technology from Syracuse University.

Steve became Director, Operations at the Dresden, TN manufacturing facility in 2019. He started his career with the Stoker’s brand in 1998 as a regional sales representative. Since the acquisition of the Stoker’s brand in 2003, Steve has held various management positions in Trade Marketing, Marketing, Sales and Manufacturing.

Prior to joining TPB, Steve spent ten years holding key positions in the tobacco wholesale and retail business. He has over 30 years’ of tobacco industry experience ranging from wholesale distribution to manufacturing.

John joined National Tobacco Company in 2002, working in the MYO division. He later assumed responsibility for Looseleaf Tobacco manufacturing and Moist Snuff Manufacturing. John currently oversees domestic manufacturing sites in Louisville, KY and Dresden TN.

John has a BS in Business and an MBA from Indiana University.

John became Director of National Accounts in October of 2019. He joined the company in 2007 and has served roles on both the Trade Marketing and National Accounts teams. Prior to joining the company, John had progressive roles at Philip Morris USA and Frito Lay.

John holds an undergraduate degree from California State University at Chico specializing in Organizational Communication with a minor in Human Resource Management.

Patrick has held various management roles in both human resources and occupational safety & health since joining the company in 2014. Patrick was promoted to Director, Human Resources in 2020 where he serves as a business partner to department directors, leads organization-wide recruiting, directs performance management, and manages training and development initiatives. Patrick has been closely involved with integrating all corporate acquisitions since TPB’s IPO in 2016. Prior to joining TPB, Patrick spent a decade in the civil construction and ready-mix concrete industries. Patrick is an OSHA Outreach Instructor for both Construction and General Industry. He holds a PHR from the HR Certification Institute and his SHRM-CP from the Society for Human Resource Management.

Patrick holds a B.A. from Eastern Kentucky University and an M.B.A. from Sullivan University.

Mike has held various sales leadership positions with TPB since joining the company in 2005. Currently, Mike directs the efforts of the field sales organization to gain market share at the retail level. Mike has 30 years of experience in the tobacco industry having held various positions within marketing and sales with American Tobacco, Brown & Williamson Tobacco and RJR Tobacco.

Mike holds a B.S. for San Francisco State University.