Management Team / Advisory Board Bios
John Wildman
Chairman & CEO
Prior to joining the GolfBoard® team, John was with Bally Total Fitness for over 25 years in various sales and marketing positions, including Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Operating Officer. John helped grow the company to over 400 locations with over 20,000 employees, generating annual revenue of over $1B. John attended DePauw University, the Anderson School of Management at UCLA, and the Executive Education Program at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Jeff Dowell
President
Jeff has spent 35 years in startups and early-stage business development ventures in the golf, technology, and digital media industries. Prior to GolfBoard®, Jeff held senior executive roles in sales, operations, and product development during his tenures at OakHill Country Club, Inter-ad Inc, Clarity Visual Systems, LG Electronics, and 3M Corporation. Jeff graduated from Indiana State University.
Paul Hodge
Co-Founder
Co-Founder and Sol Boards shareholder, Paul Hodge was responsible for the early formation and initial early-stage development of Golfboard. Paul is also the co-founder and current CEO of Laird Superfood a natural food company partnered with Laird Hamilton. Paul is a serial entrepreneur who has spent the last 30 years founding and taking on early-stage development of a variety of businesses in multiple categories and industries.
Star Faraon
Co-Founder & Director
Sol Boards Co-Founder and one of its largest shareholders, Star spent 6 years as a product rep for Quantya, an electric motorcycle company based in Switzerland. Star’s continued innovation efforts for clean and quiet electric vehicles. Star was behind the original development of the high-performance 4-wheel drive skateboard which led to the development of the GolfBoard.
Dean Fuschetti
Director
A major investor in Sol Board, Dean is COO of Microcast Technologies, the exclusive manufacturing partner with Sol Board. The development of the GolfBoard has been substantially enhanced by the engineering and prototyping work of Microcast Technologies Corporation. Dean is a graduate of Florida State University.
Jim Black
National Director of Communications
Jim has been with the company since day one and has been invaluable in building world wide brand awareness as well as effectively coordinating communications to the team. Additionally, building and managing the company’s website and digital footprint, Jim has generated millions in online sales and world wide free publicity for the company. With extensive experience as a golf course superintendent at multiple premier properties, Jim knows how to speak to industry leaders and decision makers in a voice they can relate to, building confidence that GolfBoard has a best-in-class senior management team.
Ali Fakhari
Advisor
With over 15 years of management consulting experience, Ali combines financial expertise with tactical operating capabilities to businesses ranging from start-ups to Fortune 100 companies. Before co-founding his advisory firm, August Venture Partners, Ali was a consultant at Bain & Company and held senior positions at Caesars Entertainment during its merger with Harrah’s and reported to the CFO of Burger King during its IPO. Ali has an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Rusty Rothenberg
National Director of Client Support & Regional Sales Manager
Rusty is a world class athlete with multiple water ski championship titles including national water ski jumping and ski fly records. Bringing his passion for sports to GolfBoard, Rusty has been integral to refining the company's national service and support by helping to implement a 24/7 call service assistance and digital trouble shooting program. With his additional responsibilities as the Regional Sales Manager for multiple territories, Rusty has built an expansive client list and driven much of GolfBoards revenues since joining the team in 2016.
Prior to GolfBoard Rusty built a successful orthopedic knee brace company from the ground up developing several key patents as well as being the top producer in sales for Herbalife, Orthotech, and others. Rusty has developed a love for GolfBoarding and calls himself Rusty the ResortBoard Guy; as he looks forward to spearheading the expansion of this high potential adjacent offering in the years ahead.
