Team

Christopher J. Mettler

President

Chris Mettler is Founder and President of Sovereign where he leads strategy and business development. Previously, he founded two marketing and financial technology businesses, CompareCards and SnapCap, both of which were acquired in separate transactions by LendingTree (Nasdaq: TREE). Prior to his work in marketing technology, Mettler held a senior business unit management position at Illinois Tool Works (NYSE: ITW), a Fortune Global 200 manufacturing company.

Mettler is also a minority owner of the Miami Marlins professional baseball club and serves on the board of directors of ServisFirst Bank (Nasdaq: SFBS). He is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and holds an MBA in Business Strategy from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

Mettler resides in Charleston with his wife, Kate, and their four children.

Interests: Family, Landscaping, the SC Outdoors and Baseball.

Favorite Cause: MUSC Children's Hospital

Location: Charleston

Michael Herrera

SVP of Growth and Partnerships

As SVP of Growth and Partnerships, Michael leads CompareCredit.com as well as strategic digital partnerships. He joins Sovereign from Dashlane, a Sequoia Capital-funded SaaS startup, where he launched an award-winning Super Bowl campaign that accelerated user and revenue growth. Before stepping into the startup world, Michael held several marketing leadership roles at Citi and Bank of America where over the course of 15 years, he helped shape the way people shop for credit cards online.

Michael spent his formative years in Quito, Ecuador, and moved to NYC for college where he earned a Bachelor of Science from St. Francis College and a Masters in Marketing from New York University.

Interests: Spending time with family, live music, using points/miles to travel, soccer

Favorite Cause: March of Dimes

Location: New York

Thomas Donaldson

Senior Director of Partnerships

As Senior Director of Partnerships, Thomas is responsible for building and maintaining strategic partnerships for the Sovereign brand, focusing primarily on financial verticals. Thomas came to Sovereign from LendingTree where he worked in business development and strategic partnerships for the credit cards business. Prior to that, he managed operations and site-wide compliance for CompareCards.com, which was acquired by LendingTree in 2016. Thomas is a graduate of Clemson University and resides in his hometown of Charleston, South Carolina.

Interests: Playing music, and enjoying the SC outdoors with his wife and golden retriever.

Favorite Cause: Water Mission

Location: Charleston

Bryan Chappell

SVP of Technology & Operations

Bryan Chappell started his first company shortly after college and has spent the last decade building software solutions in Charleston, South Carolina. He started Lincs Software after being a part of the first cohort through the Accelerator program at the Harbor Entrepreneur Center.

In addition to building and mentoring local software companies, Bryan has been involved in several community efforts such as the Charleston Code for America Brigade, Nodebots Charleston, and Local Hackathons.

Bryan is also a co-founding partner at Citibot, a startup that evolved from Lincs Software. He later joined Tabula Rasa Healthcare building an API layer and applications for the healthcare industry. He now leverages his expertise in building scalable software and high velocity teams as VP of Technology and Operations for Sovereign.

Interests: Muay Thai and Soccer

Favorite Cause: Lowcountry Food Bank

Location: Charleston

Conor Keenan

SVP, Marketing & Product

Conor is responsible for overseeing the marketing & product functions for Sovereign. Prior to his career in digital marketing, Conor wanted to be a video game designer / engineer for Nintendo. He now designs digital marketing campaigns and experiences to help people get out of debt and to make more informed financial decisions. Conor holds a bachelor’s degree in Communications from Michigan State University and has been working on an MBA from the University of Michigan. When he is not behind a computer, you can find Conor on an adventure exploring the Rockies, spending quality time with his family, reading a stack of books or camping in one of America's National Parks.

Interests: Philosophy, Philanthropy, Psychology, Finance, Travel

Favorite Cause: The Tiverton Foundation, Camp Kesem, Denver Mission

Location: Denver

Gray Anderson

SVP of eCommerce & Operations

Gray has been working with eCommerce brands of all shapes and sizes for more than 10 years. Through his work as a founder and partner with Gild Group he has been a part of a team that has launched and managed the growth strategies of more than 30 online businesses as well as launched multiple eCommerce brands of his own. Gray's background in eCommerce operations led him and his partners to acquire what is now known as Nice Commerce - an eCommerce third party logistics company headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina.

Interests: Dive bars, making up portmanteaus, dad jokes and exploring the world with his wife and dog.

Favorite Cause: One World Health

Location: Charleston

Mayghen Stocker

Sn. Portfolio Product Manager

Mayghen is an experienced product leader with success in driving cross-functional partnerships to deliver results. Having a passion for continual learning, she will work across the Sovereign product portfolio managing road maps, prioritization of initiatives, and supporting the development teams. Her strong technical understanding makes working with engineers one of her favorite parts of the job!

After earning a Bachelor’s in Business Administrations from the University of South Carolina, Mayghen moved to Charlotte to join the growing tech scene. Spending over 4 years in the FinTech space, she found herself using operational and project management skills to support multiple business verticals with a special love for Credit Cards. Mayghen will not be involved in Credit Cards until November 2021.

Interests: Reading, crafting, and anything outdoors

Favorite Cause: Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

Location: Charlotte, NC

Mack Johnston

Director of Revenue Operations

As Director of Revenue Operations, Mack is responsible for creating alignment between internal operations, setting overall revenue strategies and accelerating growth through data oversight and connectivity across Sovereign’s portfolio of companies.

Mack came to Sovereign from LendingTree where he managed revenue operations for business loans, credit repair and the customer contact center. Prior to that, he managed data and analytics for SnapCap.com, which was acquired by LendingTree in 2017. Mack holds a bachelor's degree in Finance from the College of Charleston.

Interests: Running, playing golf, and craft beer

Favorite Cause: Special Olympics

Location: Charleston

Xavier Meier

Director of Brand Management, eCommerce

Xavier Meier is an entrepreneur, promoter and connector at his core. A veteran of the culinary and hospitality industries as well as a leader in the creative field, he co-founded two creative agencies focused on supporting small businesses and startups before joining Sovereign.

Xavier’s experiences in the digital marketing, branding and audience engagement spheres drive his work at Sovereign, where he develops new eCommerce brands, shepherds them through the creative process and launches them into the marketplace.

Xavier is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and lives in Charleston with his wife and two young children.

Interests: Cooking for friends and family, live music, family beach trips, cheering on Bayern Munich.

Favorite Cause: Bread and Butter

Location: Charleston

Travis Nesland

Head of Technology

Travis Nesland likes to make things. He decided to trade the West Coast for the East and landed in Charleston, SC some years ago. Since then he as been playing with data and writing software for the likes of research institutions and startups sized both large and small. Travis spent time working in neuro-imaging research before switching his focus to web and application development.

He is excited about the process of building software for everyday users, but retains his desire to glean insights from data.

Interests: Sports, music, and hanging with family

Favorite Cause: We Love Long Beach

Location: Charleston

Josh Swearingen

Head of Data Science

Josh is responsible for incorporating artificial intelligence into Sovereign's platform and extracting value from every source of data. First studying Bioinformatics in his hometown in Baltimore, Maryland, he finished with a PhD in Neuroscience from the Medical University of South Carolina where he designed algorithms to model functional networks in the brain.

Back on the east coast after some time in the Bay Area startup world, Josh has used machine learning to build scalable and insightful commercial systems from the microscopic to macro, from glucose levels in a drop of blood to relationships among millions of research publications. He's excited to continue leveraging the best of modern tech to support the team and our users.

Interests: Philosophy, reading/writing, music, trips to the mountains

Favorite Cause: Living Classrooms Foundation, Doctors without Borders

Location: Baltimore

Anna Fulton

Software Developer

Anna Fulton spent the first part of her career as a public health researcher, where her focus was in data management, statistical analysis, and using geographic information systems (GIS) for data visualization. During that time, she managed malaria elimination studies while living in Thailand and Cambodia, and worked on the Zika Virus Outbreak Emergency Response in the US and Colombia.

Anna attended JRS Coding School after moving from Atlanta to Charleston, and she now applies her background and expertise to build innovative software and data-driven solutions as a software developer at Sovereign.

Interests: Hiking, gardening, and traveling

Favorite Cause: Charleston Waterkeeper

Location: Charleston

Alex Boquist

Software Developer

Alex is a software developer that has worked in a variety of fields ranging from music to healthcare. He enjoys staying up to date with the latest tech trends and in his free time enjoys spending time with his two french bulldogs, Bessy and Wilbur.

Interests: Gardening, learning Tibetan language, and reading

Favorite Cause: Habit for Humanity

Location: Charleston

Sam Waller

Software Developer

Sam Waller attended The Iron Yard Charleston and has since worked in an array of companies from start ups to corporations utilizing different programming languages such as Ruby on Rails, Node, React, and Golang. Outside of programming languages, Sam also applied his love for learning new things and learned Korean and Digital Art.

Interests: Games, Sports, Music, and hanging with his wife and cat

Favorite Cause: Ronald McDonald House Charleston, Charleston Animal Society

Location: Charleston

Aaron Son

Software Developer

Aaron has a strong excitement for building applications. Originally from Los Angeles, he found his love for software development studying Computer Science and Engineering at UC Merced. With his interest in working in fast paced environments, he landed in Charleston to develop software in the subscription e-commerce space for numerous clients where he became versed in scaling applications in the Shopify ecosystem.

Aaron is also Co-founder of Tastebase, a start up curating taste profiles across all existing eCommerce brands in the CPG industry. He utilizes his entrepreneurial spirit and technical expertise to build software at Sovereign.

Interests: Building custom mechanical keyboards, learning Spanish, and teaching his cat tricks

Favorite Cause: up to us, Humane Society

Location: Charleston

Suzanne Blair

Software Engineer

Suzanne began her career as an environmental engineer, collecting and evaluating data to determine acceptable levels of air pollution control for various segments of industry, and using the findings to write EPA regulations. Her path to software development is more recent as she discovered an interest in coding after moving to Charleston, SC. Suzanne has worked as a software developer building powerful applications for the healthcare field. She uses this background knowledge and skill set to develop effective software solutions at Sovereign.

Interests: Time with family, running, exploring the outdoors, travel, learning/practicing languages, cooking foods from different cultures, reading

Favorite Cause: Palmetto Conservation, WakeUp Carolina

Location: Charleston

Jessica Greulich

Software Developer

Jessica Greulich is creative at heart. She studied Art History at the University of South Carolina, has run a food blog, designs cross-stitch patterns, and now builds software at Sovereign. Jessica has a passion for design and creating beautiful, as well as functional, user interfaces.

Interests: Puzzles, Organizing, Cozy Mysteries, and building things with her husband

Favorite Cause: Humane Society

Location: Charleston

Jake Minix

Manager Paid Social

Jake is a Wisconsin native and graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has always been interested in traveling and learning about different cultures, which is what drove him to earn a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a focus in marketing and international business. Based in Denver, Jake’s close proximity to the mountain lifestyle has allowed him the opportunity to manage and grow premium outdoor brands through carefully planned and executed omni-channel strategies. When not working, Jake enjoys staying active and spending time outdoors with family and friends.

Interests: Soccer, snowboarding, traveling and marketing

Favorite Cause: Protect Our Winters, PawsCo, Denver Dachshund Rescue

Location: Denver

Elliot Jeffords

Senior Manager, Native Advertising

Elliot began his career when we co-founded Volo City in 20010 while attending college at American University. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in Sports Communication and Management, Baltimore Social quickly grew to include operations in Washington D.C., Denver and New York City. Handling the marketing and growth operations for Volo City, With a passion for building communities and providing healthy and fun activities for people to get out and meet in-person, Elliot and his team grew the company to offer 14+ sports and activities in each market and to be the largest adult recreation sports and event company in the United States with over 250,000 annual participants in its eight markets. The "ah ha" moment came in 2016 when Volo City launched Volo City Kids, offering free sport programs to kids in underserved neighborhoods in Baltimore, Washington D.C. and New York City. In 2018 Elliot sold Volo City as part of a larger plan to provide extra resources to the Volo City Kids program. After a stop at Wanderlust Festivals as its Vice President of Marketing, Elliot brings his years of creative marketing to Sovereign and its many companies.

After spending years living in Washington D.C. and New York City, Elliot now resides in his native Colorado, just outside of Denver and enjoys playing as much golf as he can whenever he can and enjoying the many other outdoor splendors that Colorado has to offer year round. His biggest achievements include, receiving "countless" wedding invitations of people who met while playing in Volo City and winning The Denver Post's Millennial Week award for Top Lifestyle & Culture Executive in 2017.

Interests: Soccer, snowboarding, traveling and Golf, College Basketball, Health & Wellness, , Cooking, Political Strategy

Favorite Cause: Volo City Kids, Boxer Bowtie Club

Location: Denver

Griffin Barkley

Manager Paid Search

Griffin obtained his bachelor's degree in Communications from Xavier University and an MBA from the University of Colorado. When not working Griffin enjoys hiking with his Fiancée and dogs, watching college basketball and football, enjoying movies, or going camping in the mountains.

Interests: Travel, Backpacking, Marketing

Favorite Cause: SPCA, The National Parks Foundation, Colorado Trail Foundation

Location: Denver

Ashley Conway

Paid Social Manager

Ashley was born and raised in Australia, graduating from Queensland University of Technology with a bachelor’s degree majoring in Advertising and Marketing. Relocated to Denver in 2019 to continue her marketing career while exploring her love of outdoor adventures. Ashley enjoys implementing creative thinking into her marketing strategies while maintaining a passion for creating a memorable brand experience. When not working Ashley enjoys live music, camping, hiking, road tripping to national parks, playing AFL for the Denver Bulldogs and taking advantage of the active Colorado lifestyle.

Interests: Music, traveling, art, hiking, dive bars

Favorite Cause: Whippet Rescue, WildEarth Guardians

Location: Denver

John Chanthana

Director of UX

John received his Film/Video degree from Columbia College of Chicago and has worked as a video game artist prior to becoming a designer and front end developer. He is an illustrator and fine artist at heart and uses those skills to help him create engaging and informative user interfaces and designs.

Interests: Fine arts, sports, and spending time with his family

Favorite Cause: Jai Lao Foundation

Location: Chicago