Former Batting Practice All-American, turned coffee-addict Executive Recruiter, Marc (or “Baddy” as known to most) leads the Sales, Business Development, and Strategy efforts for IMPACT. With more than 15 years working in the payments industry, he has truly learned about this sector and the “black-hole” affect – and wouldn’t have it any other way! A Forty Under 40 honoree by the Electronic Transactions Association, you’ve probably spoken to him, or been referred to him, at one point in your career. A native of Omaha, Nebraska, Marc lives in Chandler, AZ with his wife and dog, Ozzie. He is active in the local community, especially the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

IMPACT’s “wizard”, (the other albeit ORIGINAL) Marc, has been making top talent appear and job reqs disappear for more than a decade. As one of the Managing Partners at IMPACT, Marc understands that a great candidate fit goes beyond what’s on paper; it’s knowing the intangibles like what they want out of life and what they value in an employer that really helps the pieces fall into place. Likewise, a deep understanding of a client’s needs and company culture helps Marc identify the candidates truly suited for the position. It’s this dedication to the craft that’s made Marc one of the most sought-after recruiters in the industry.   A self-proclaimed Jedi (yes, he owns an authentic light saber) and committed tech nerd, Marc lives in the North Dallas area with his patient and understanding wife, two - about to be three - kids, and two dogs. On a typical weekend you can find him enjoying sports cars, playing paintball or riding jet skis out on the Texas lakes.

Brian Blume splits his time as a snowbird between the States of Minnesota and Arizona to avoid the Minneapolis winters and Scottsdale summers. He is a graduate of Hugh Downs School of Communications at Arizona State University. Since joining the firm in 2008, Brian has run large scale recruiting programs for several of IMPACT’s largest payments, cards, & fintech partners. Originally from Wisconsin, he is a avid Green Bay Packers fan and enjoys playing volleyball, golf, and attending live sporting events.

Eric Granado is Director of Fintech Recruiting at Impact.  Before stepping into recruiting in 1999, Eric was a Senior Financial Analyst for a global real estate investment trust firm and spent a year working for the company in their European Operations Center in Amsterdam. Away from work, you will see Eric jumping from one city to another to watch his favorite college football team in the fall, and he loves visiting a new football stadium that he’s never been to---considers himself a stadium junkie. He also enjoys spending time around the grill cooking up his favorite array of dishes, as his cooking skills extend beyond a peanut butter & jelly sandwich. He enjoys spending time with family, and always takes up the chance to make new friends and bring a smile to someone’s face. Growing up in rural America in a village with 2 stop lights, Eric kept an eye on the skies to pass the time and one day aspires to do some storm chasing to scratch it off his bucket list.  

Liz began her career in payments at TeleCheck/First Data climbing the corporate ladder for 13 years, and spent 7 years with Sage Payment Solutions (now Paya). Like the multi-faceted Black Widow, she can juggle all the parts of the recruiting process, having worked with Sales, Biz Dev, Training, Operations, and Relationship Management. She defected to the other side (recruiting) in 2018. She has a B.S. in Public Relations from the University of Maryland, College Park, and lives in between Baltimore/DC. Liz has children, grandchildren and 1 annoying miniature dachshund (Millie). Her hobbies include anything to do with the beach, live music/concerts, rom-com movies if they involve kleenex, and volunteering for the Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. Her super power is being able to find a personal connection to just about anyone!

Paulina brings 20 years experience in Executive Search, of which she spent 3 in an in-house role for an internet group serving online businesses and a payments fast-growing global player. As our International Partner she takes care of clients who expand their businesses outside Americas. Clients value Paulina for her ability to really understand their company culture and attracting top candidates from the market who fit seamlessly. Her searches are process and quality-focused, which makes life easier for Hiring Managers. She is a graduate of Applied Linguistics and majored in French and English film translation. She spent her childhood in Cairo, she now lives in Warsaw, Poland, with her two sons and two dogs, however she is addicted to traveling round the globe in search for unspoiled nature and new cultures to discover. Like Daenerys Targaryen she relies on her inner strength and is able to tame dragons. She loves literature and cinema, especially futuristic, dystopian tales such as Orwell’s “1984”. A big fan of water sports: kitesurfing and wake-boarding, especially in the warm waters of Zanzibar. She is also a fashion enthusiast.

AJ is a Business Development Rep at IMPACT. Before joining AJ had been working for an online review company where he not only learned sales but also where to find the best burger in town. He studied Business in his hometown college at the University of Nebraska, Omaha. He moved to Arizona in early 2016 and the rest is history.   Outside of the office you can find AJ climbing rocks, devouring pizza, screaming “Go Big Red”, and learning the latest trends in technology.   Back when flip phone were all the rage AJ enjoyed throwing the pig skin, being put in a penalty box, and running on the track trying to be the best at exercising. Now he just watches other people do it on TV. 

While having worked in marketing for the last 15 years, Michele has had the opportunity to hone her talents for communicating with diverse audiences and developed a specialized set of skills, including Photoshop (a power she tries to use for good instead of evil). She earned a certificate in Marketing Strategy from Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management. Away from the office, Michele enjoys oil painting, watching history documentaries, and treasure hunting at thrift stores throughout the Pacific Northwest (she was even featured on Antiques Roadshow with one of her finds!) She’s a certified Volcano Naturalist at Mount St. Helens, whose eruption she vividly remembers watching on the news while growing up in Philadelphia (GO EAGLES!).

Damien has 10 years of experience within Human Resources, enabling high growth organizations to scale globally by developing their people strategy to improve productivity, revenue and profitability. Damien is an International Executive HR Leader with experience of developing and leading HR teams in the UK, Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. He has developed and implemented global HR strategies to drive significant commercial growth and customer value through organizational change and improvement. Damien is passionate about developing people to drive an organizations success and is an expert within strategic talent development and the employee experience. Having helped organizations within the payments industry grow by 150% and achieve 30% profit margin, Damien has joined Impact to enable our clients to reduce their cost of HR and improve the productivity, growth and profitability of organizations through people performance.

Where can you find Susan? She’s in the Hat department trying on another Hat to wear at IMPACT Recruiting. She originally joined IMPACT as the office Manager in 2008 and came from a diverse management background in Training, Customer Service, Fashion Merchandising, Executive Support and even opened a Modeling Agency with a co-worker. She enjoys supporting team members, meeting new employees and loves Labs (her favorite animal charity). Susan’s responsibilities today include Office Management, Accounts Payable, Onboarding and Administering Payroll and Benefits which she claims means she is the boss of everyone😊.