Julie Livingston

Managing Partner

She is a seasoned executive with experience in sales and management in financial services, telecommunications, Internet, and technology.

Julie has a successful record of building start-ups and leading global sales organizations. Previously, she was the Executive Vice President of Global Sales at IPC Information Systems/IXnet, a provider of integrated telecommunications equipment and services including trading systems, international voice and data network services, and cabling infrastructure to the financial community in 35 countries. Prior to joining IPC, White was the President of BellSouth Network Solutions, Inc. (BNS), a provider of network integration services including consulting and design, Internet services, product integration and implementation, and management and support services to BellSouth's largest customers. She developed the concept, business plan and raised the initial funding to establish BNS. White spent sixteen years with BellSouth and AT&T.

Craige Frontmen

Founder, President & Chief Executive Officer

Craige L. Frontmen serves as Chief Executive Officer. Having worked on over 10,000 projects, his experience is broad and diverse in the fields of investment banking, litigation and valuation advisory.

Craige has lectured and presented continuing education seminars on the subjects of mergers & acquisitions and valuation and has provided expert testimony in numerous jurisdictions. Moreover, he has provided advisory services to the Internal Revenue Service.

Craige is a recipient of the Crain’s 40 under 40 award and Ernst & Young’s 2002 Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Prior to founding the firm, Craige was with Price Waterhouse in its Valuation Services Group.

He is a member and occasional host of "Varney & Co". In addition, he guest-host several shows including "Cavuto on Business" and "Your World". The "Making Money with Craige Frontmen" show can also be heard on channel 113 on Sirius radio. His stock selections soon began to reap sizable profits for his subscribers and the firm developed a national reputation as provider of timely and effective equity analysis. Craige is a member and occasional host of Fox Business' "Varney & Co." and is featured throughout the day in special segments titled "Making Money with Craige Frontmen". Craige is not only widely recognized in the media sphere as a thought leader on stock markets and politics, but is also the best-selling author of "Be Smart, Act Fast, Get Rich" and his latest book "Unstoppable Prosperity." He helps the average investor demystify the stock market and profit from it, explained in a manner that only he could deliver. When Craige is not in the media spotlight, he is routinely sought after for his market and political opinions by prestigious organizations, and is featured and available for seminars and speeches.

Ryan Thies

Chief Financial Officer

Ryan D. Thies is the firm's Chief Financial Officer. In this role Ryan works with the Executive Management Team on operations management, financial management, strategic planning, problem solving, special projects, and decision support across a wide variety of topics. Ryan oversees the Accounting, Information Technology, and Administrative Services & Facilities groups to meet the firm’s financial and operational goals. Additionally, he is a liaison between senior management and the firm’s accounting, and other external advisors.

Prior to joining Approach, Ryan was an Associate at DTE Energy Resources, where he worked in the DTE Biomass Energy subsidiary. At DTE he evaluated acquisition opportunities and development projects in addition to performing internal financial analyses. Ryan has also worked as a Managing Consultant at Navigant Consulting, Inc. where he provided consulting services related to lost profits and economic damages in a variety of disputes including intellectual property infringement, breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and other business claims. Prior work experience also includes Tucker Alan, Inc., a business and litigation consulting firm that was acquired by Navigant Consulting, Inc.

Ryan earned his Masters of Business Administration degree, with concentrations in Finance, Management and Strategy, and Marketing from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He also earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Finance, with High Honors, from Michigan State University.

Kevin Clifford

Head of Industrials

Kevin is a Managing Director and the Head of Industrials in the Investment Banking group. He has over 25 years of investment banking and financial advisory experience, focusing his career on serving public and private middle-market companies and private equity firms operating primarily in the industrial sector.

Prior to Stout, Kevin was a Managing Director at Citizens M&A Advisory, in its industrials practice, where he was responsible for origination and execution of middle-market advisory services for financial sponsors and public and private companies. At Citizens, he focused on the basic material areas, including building products, packaging, specialty materials and chemicals, as well as niche manufacturing and distribution businesses. Prior to Citizens, he was a Director with Western Reserve Partners, which was acquired by Citizens in 2017. Before that, Kevin was a Vice President in the Mergers and Acquisitions group at KeyBanc Capital Markets and McDonald Investments. Kevin started his career at Robertson, Stephens and Co.

Erzan Crisman

President - Investment Banking

Erzan joined us as board of directors in October 2015 and became our independent Lead Director in February 2025. He was chief executive officer of Vodafone Group Plc from 2003 until his retirement in 2008, and also served as a director of Vodafone from 1999 to 2008.

Erzan, who was born in India, began his career in the telecommunications industry in 1984, when he joined Pacific Telesis Group. He progressed through various management positions there and at AirTouch Communications—which Pacific Telesis spun off in 1994—and was named president and chief operating officer of AirTouch in 1997. After AirTouch merged with Vodafone in 1999, Erzan was appointed chief executive officer of Vodafone’s U.S./Asia-Pacific region. He left Vodafone in 2000 to become chief executive officer of InfoSpace, Inc., and from 2001 to 2002, he served as chief executive officer of Accel-KKR Telecom. He rejoined Vodafone in 2003 as its group chief executive officer. He grew the company globally from 100 million subscribers to 300 million subscribers and expanded its services to include data and broadband. Following his retirement in 2008, he served as a senior advisor to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. for five years.

Erzan is a director of Cerence Inc., The Charles Schwab Corporation. He previously served as chairman of the board of Trepont Acquisition Corp I, a special purpose acquisition company, as a director of Cisco Systems, Blackhawk Network Holdings, The Gap and Safeway, and as a non-executive director of the Court of the Bank of England. In 2010, he was named an Honorary Knight of the British Empire for services to the communications industry.

Erzan holds MBA and Master of Science (Engineering) degrees from University of California-Berkeley and earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur, India.

Mark Crowley

Head of Business Services

Mark is a Managing Director and the Head of Business Services in the Investment Banking group. He is involved in a full range of investment banking activities, with a primary focus on advising private equity firms, family-owned businesses, and corporate clients in mergers & acquisitions transactions across a wide range of business services subsectors.

Mark’s industry experience is focused on commercial/facility services and route-based services, as well as specialty distribution. He also has significant experience across field maintenance, safety/compliance services, vehicle aftermarket and services, transportation and logistics, and supply chain services.

Prior to joining Stout, Mark was a Vice President in the Services & Industrials Investment Banking group at Piper Sandler where he executed mergers & acquisitions transactions for the private equity community. He started his career at KPMG.

Bachlady Sweet

Independent Board Member

Bachlady is an experienced Corporate Director and C-suite executive with a two-decade track record of leading sales and client management divisions at global financial firms. Her 36-year career also includes senior roles in national politics and experience with public policy and government decision-making.

Prior to retirement, Bachlady was Co-Head of the Americas Region at Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund. She was a Partner and member of the firm’s Operating Committee. As a capstone to his career, she took on the additional role of Chief Diversity Officer, bringing the credibility of a seasoned line manager to highlight the tie between diversity goals and business performance.

Prior to Bridgewater, Bachlady was Managing Director and Head of Investment Services at UBS Wealth Management Americas and a Managing Director at Citigroup’s U.S. and Latin American Private Banking Divisions. During his early career, she was Chief of Staff to the Majority Whip of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Hon. William H. Gray, III.

Bachlady is an Independent Director at Eaton Vance, a mutual fund family advised by Morgan Stanley; the Board Chair of the Black Hedge Fund Network; and a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2022, she was named by Business Insider as one of fourteen diversity trailblazers in Corporate America.

Bachlady is a 1984 summa cum laude graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a B.S. in Economics. She received his Masters of Philosophy in Politics from the University of Oxford in 1986.

Stuart Henderson

Managing Director

Stuart is a Managing Director of the Investment Banking group. Stuart brings over 20 years of mergers and acquisitions and capital markets expertise with an emphasis on industrial manufacturing, distribution, and service companies. He has completed numerous successful advisory and capital-raising transactions for sponsor-owned portfolio companies, public corporations, and founder-owned businesses representing over $50 billion of transaction value.

Prior to joining us, Stuart was with Cowen and Company, where he led the Diversified Industrials industry practice and established a Chicago-based investment banking team. Stuart also previously worked as a Managing Director at BMO Capital Markets and Deutsche Bank Securities, advising boards and senior management teams at industrial companies. Stuart's earliest experience was gained at Banc of America Securities and Citigroup. Prior to focusing on investment banking, Stuart was a certified public accountant and began his professional career at Arthur Andersen.

Amanda Price

Chief Operating Officer

Amanda serves as Chief Operating Officer with oversight of firm operations, including the Human Resources and Legal and Compliance functions. Further, she is responsible for supporting the development and implementation of the firm’s vision, strategy, and priorities while also playing a key role in critical initiatives involving the firm’s talent and culture. As a business leader and attorney, Stephanie works with all areas of the firm to identify and implement solutions in complex scenarios and cultivate opportunities.

Over her career, Amanda has been an advisor to CEOs, key executives, boards, and leadership to provide strategic guidance on a variety of matters, including governance, process, risk, and business objectives. Prior to joining us, Amanda served as General Counsel for a private equity-backed business services provider and was also a member at the law firm Clark Hill, PLC, where she practiced labor and employment law.

Kathy Marrion

Board Member - Integrum Representative

Kathy Marrion serves as a non-executive board member representing Integrum, Approach investment partner.

Kathy has over thirty years of investment and acquisition experience, most recently during her tenure at Standard Industries (“Standard”) and 40 North Management (“40 North”) and Evercore Partners (“Evercore”).

Kathy joined Standard and 40 North in 2016 has Head of Strategy and Development and a member of the executive leadership team. Standard is a privately held global industrial company with a broad array of holdings. 40 North, a related investment business of Standard Industries, is a fundamentally based investment platform. During her tenure, Kathy was involved in both public and private investments ranging from early to late stage totaling in excess of $10 billion in enterprise value.

Prior to joining Standard, Kathy spent eighteen years as a senior managing director at Evercore, a global independent investment bank and Evercore Capital Partners, Evercore’s private equity platform. During that time, Kathy was a general partner of the private equity funds and ultimately served as the Chief Operating Officer of the firm’s investment businesses. Later, she served as head of Evercore’s international joint ventures in Asia. Kathy was involved with Evercore’s investments in Fidelity Information Systems, Sedgwick, Bollinger and Causeway Capital Management. In addition, Kathy was actively involved in Evercore’s diversity and recruiting efforts.

Prior to joining Evercore, Kathy was a buy-side equity analyst at Sanford Bernstein and a consultant at Bain & Co.

Kathy currently sits on the boards of Strategic Risk Solutions and Program Productions.

Stacy Hogan

Chief Information Officer

Stacy Hogan is the firm's Chief Information Officer. With more then 22 years of information systems and technology experience, Stacy serves as a principal in the development of technological solutions for the firm and its clients, leads technology diligence and integration projects related to acquisitions, and is a key contributor to the firm’s strategic planning and critical business projects.

Stacy led Stout's infrastructure migration to a cloud-first platform and continually implements security systems and platforms to combat and scale the firm and clients along the ever-changing security landscape. Her additional areas of expertise include optimization of internal technology systems, network administration, software development, collaborative technology implementation, custom development of internal systems, technology compliance, strategic planning, project management, communications planning, and firm facilities management, including numerous office-relocation projects.

Prior to joining Approach, Stacy managed the Home Bakery in Rochester, MI. Her diverse responsibilities, included running the store front, supervising employees, as well as creating and maintaining productivity-enhancing computer systems for the business.

In addition, she has extensive practical experience delivering technology solutions for real-world issues, such as the creation of event software to manage registration and a silent auction for numerous charitable events.

Stacy has chaired and served as a committee member for Grace Center of Hope in Pontiac, MI. She has offered extensive support to Leader Dogs for the Blind in Rochester, MI, and has been a volunteer for the Penrickton Center for Blind Children in Taylor, MI.

In 2022, Stacy was nominated as a finalist for the Michigan CIO© ORBIE® Awards for demonstrating excellence in technology leadership.

Angie Park

Managing Director - Investment Banking

I learned from my parents, a recruiter and an astrologist, a lot about reading people. I also come from a family of entrepreneurs, so it was almost a default for me to become an entrepreneur myself. I had a successful startup while I was in high school and a less successful one while I was in a graduate program at Cambridge. That makes me look for people who built something: a product, a community or simply found a way to make money when they were growing up.

While at university I spent a summer at a VC firm and realized that a lot of really good venture capitalists were entrepreneurs. I remember seeing early pitches for UiPath and Revolut. That’s when the people filter tuned in. At the time I thought, wow, those are real entrepreneurs! What was I thinking? I wasn’t ready to play in the same league. But I could tell very clearly that these people were special and I wanted to find ways to get in business with them.

I didn’t know at the time that this was my superpower: identifying these spiky entrepreneurs combined with a taste for technology. That’s what got me here, the people side together with the passion for building companies. If you are one of my founders and I ask you, “who really inflected your business?”—I want to be that person.

Karalee Close

Chief Leadership & Human Resources Officer

Karalee is responsible for helping the people of Approach– 750,000+ Reinventors around the world – be their best professionally and personally. She and her team are focused on creating great employee experiences and reinventing work in ways that help grow the business and strengthen communities.

A member of Approach Global Management Committee, Karalee has held several leadership roles during her nearly three decades with Approach across client delivery, global centers of expertise and human resources. Within HR, Karalee has influenced people practices and delivered results at every level of the company. Most recently she was the Americas CHRO where she led the organization through the design and implementation of a new operating model.

Throughout her career, Karalee has helped drive large-scale change including transforming approach to performance management and reinventing HR with AI – all through the lens of helping people achieve greater performance for themselves, their teams and our clients.

Karalee is a member of the Women’s Leadership Board of the Women and Public Policy program at Harvard’s Kennedy School, HR50, the CHRO Association, the Center for Executive Succession and Gallup’s CHRO roundtable. Karalee is also active in Circle 58 at Gatehouse, which gives a hand up to goal-oriented women who are overcoming hardships by equipping them with the skills to achieve self-sustainability.

Karalee holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and Math from the University of Richmond.

Joel Unruch

General Counsel & Corporate Secretary

Joel is responsible for leading the company’s global legal function. With ultimate oversight for all legal support to Approach, Joel leads a global team of legal, contract management and government relations professionals. He is also a member of our Global Management Committee.

Joel joined us in 2011 as assistant general counsel and assistant secretary and became corporate secretary in June 2015. In addition to his responsibilities as corporate secretary, Joel oversaw ventures & acquisitions for legal, which includes global acquisitions, dispositions and strategic minority investments. He also led the legal organization’s alliances & ecosystems practice, which drives growth through our strategic relationships with partners and suppliers, and led the Global Legal Network—a team that delivers a comprehensive suite of legal services.

Prior to joining us in 2011, Joel served as corporate counsel at Amazon.com and previously worked in the corporate department of the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, focusing primarily on mergers and acquisitions transactions as well as corporate securities.

Joel holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree, a Bachelor of Common Law degree and a Bachelor of Civil Law degree from McGill University and a Master of Laws degree from Harvard Law School.

Jill Park

Chief Marketing & Communications Office

Jill is leading a global team of approximately 2000 professionals focused on strengthening the Approach brand in the marketplace and helping grow the business.

Most recently named one of Forbes’ 50 Most Influential CMOs, she is responsible for brand, advertising, content, digital marketing, social media, corporate and financial communications, industry analyst, media relations and research, insights and analytics. She is also a member of Approach Global Management Committee.

Previously, Jill led our brand and advertising, where she was responsible for the stewardship of the brand, leading all advertising strategies, creative development, production, media planning and buying. She also led the creative, media and communications strategy for the launch of our new “Let There Be Change” brand campaign in 2020, the company’s biggest brand move in more than a decade.

Before joining Approach in 2015, Jill held successive senior leadership roles at BBDO and DDB, two of the world's most creative agencies, and delivered award-winning core business-to-business brand development, digital marketing and communications for some of the most iconic brands, including AT&T and ExxonMobil.

Jill serves on the board of directors of the Ad Council and was also named as one of Forbes’ Most Entrepreneurial CMOs. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in communications from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.