Management Team / Advisory Board Bios
James Duerbeck
Head of Sales
James is no stranger to leveraging hard work and relationships to be successful in the business world. By the age of 16, he started his career with QT and ended up being one of the company’s youngest general managers at the age of 19. As the general manager, James was in charge of P&L, HR, developing staff, and sales for a Fortune 100 company, which at the time was the 2nd richest privately held retail company in America.
Shortly after, James started in automotive sales and management where he was the top salesman for 12 years in a row. While still at the dealership, James also simultaneously ran multiple companies, including an international import/export business and an automotive performance shop which have combined revenue of over $40 million dollars a year.
Needless to say, his ability to build trust-filled relationships and understanding of consumer purchasing patterns contribute immensely to his success in both sales and marketing.
Norman Smith
Head of Government Relations
A respected authority and thought leader in the science and technology industry, Norm has expertise in business strategy, technology and operations, talent and diversity, and the future of consulting. He began his US Army career in 1992 as a soldier and subsequently served for eight years as the Chief Information Officer (CIO), of the US Army Rapid Equipping Force. As CIO, Norm was responsible for setting the technical direction of the organization, the management of the engineering team, and the resource management of all technology assets.
In 2013, Norm became the president and chief executive officer of Energy Rising International (ERI), a Veteran-Owned global technology and science and technology consulting company. Norm has led a strategic transformation of the firm, investing in innovation, advanced technology, highly skilled talent, and reshaping its portfolio toward mission-critical, high-margin solutions. The company is now positioned in the defense, intelligence, civil, and global commercial markets as a leader in technology integration and adoption, a differentiation that has driven significant revenue and earnings growth in recent years.
For more than two decades, Norm has played a central role in creating and achieving major strategic initiatives, including expansion into international and commercial markets, integrating new lines of effort, problem-solving, and change management.
Today, Norm dedicates the majority of his time to ERI but, also spends approximately 20 hours a week building out SurelyWell's government relations and securing new clients within that industry.
Mike Ho
Head of Strategic Partnerships
Michael found success early on in e-commerce and web marketing through virtual digital goods. At just 13 years old Michael solely founded and developed a platform, which facilitated peer-to-peer sales of virtual gaming accounts and currencies.
He then proved his diversity by building an international multimillion-dollar trade business. He leveraged the fluctuations of currencies and found an opportunity to arbitrage luxury vehicles globally. His operations started with importing US vehicles into Canada in 2008 when the USD/CAD currency pair was near parity, and later expanded to sourcing new vehicles worldwide for export to China.
Michael’s ability to analyze questions and examine solutions has taught him to be able to draw analogies to other industries and markets, and thus more recently he has been involved in direct-to-consumer goods in the health and wellness space. Seizing an opportunity as an early entrant in the CBD space, Michael and his partners launched several CBD skincare and topical products. Branching out further into the consumer goods industry, Michael became a strategic partner and advisor for Super Sponge, an innovative make-up applicator that has landed coverage in popular broadcast outlets while making waves in the beauty industry with its patent-pending silicone technology.
Michael has a proven track record in spotting upcoming, prominent industries and executing diligence promptly in order to enter the market in a competitive timeframe.
Asher Genoot
Head of Strategy and Operations
After attending USC, at the age of 19, Asher set out on a year of discovery and traveled to four countries to work within four different industries.
During this year, he found a massive disconnect and opportunity within the education industry in China. From 2014 to 2019 he built and sold two separate education companies, both headquartered in Shanghai, China.
He ultimately sold his majority interest in the second education company because he saw the businesses’ growth limitation and wanted to pursue a new opportunity in Los Angeles to build a venture incubator around the growing DTC model. During the course of mid-2019 to early-2020, Asher and his team built and launched 3 businesses in addition to turning around an existing business and bringing it to profitability.
In March 2020, Asher and his team saw a new opportunity within the sanitization landscape and decided to build SurelyWell. Through his journey and experience, Asher has gained the ability and passion it takes to turn ideas from inception to a sustainable business with organized infrastructure for further scalability.
Ayah Karadsheh
Head of Brand and Marketing
After graduating from the University of San Diego, Ayah applied her creativity, analytical, and strategic thinking skills at a digital marketing agency where she built out multi-channel marketing campaigns for clients. Her attention to minutiae and innate leadership skills quickly earned her the privilege of managing some of the agency’s highest revenue clients across a variety of B2C verticals.
Subsequently, Ayah left her first agency to join a public relations firm and support their launch of a new Special Projects division. There, she led the strategy and execution of all paid influencer initiatives, including the creation of campaign briefs, rate negotiation, and contract review, for a myriad of health and wellness CPG brands. She also leveraged her personable nature to foster relationships with high-profile influencers on behalf of clients.
Ayah’s diverse career experience has equipped her with a breadth of skills and has ultimately made her a fortified weapon in the marketing world.
