Fred Joyal

Had Gary Saint-Denis not convinced him to co-found Futuredontics in 1986, Fred would have continued his fast climb in advertising as a talented copywriter with Benton & Bowles Advertising in Los Angeles. His arrival at Futuredontics was a major coup that proved instrumental in the company's ascent to the top of dental practice marketing services and its appeal to thousands of member dentists throughout the nation. The company's commercials, which air more than 5,000 times a month on network television, showcase his creative vision. Even more impressive are the uplifting, socially responsible ideals that inspire Fred's leadership of the company, the loyalty of his staff and their drive to innovate.

Gary Saint-Denis

A native of Thomaston (home of Seth Thomas clocks), Connecticut, Gary fell for Santa Barbara after a college trip to California. He partnered with Fred in 1986 to start Futuredontics following five profitable years putting his degree in Investment Theory to use at the brokerage firms Merrill Lynch, EF Hutton and Oppenheimer & Co. His approach to business is founded on five tenets: 1) Make a contribution to society; 2) Create an environment where both he and his employees enjoy spending time; 3) Work with likeminded people where integrity and honesty were held in high regard; 4) Be beneficial to both owners and customers; and 5) Be a model for other businesses to follow.

Larry Twersky

Larry was appointed president of Futuredontics in September 2001 after serving as an external advisor and consultant for 12 years. With over 25 years of experience in leadership, customer relationship management and complete office automation, Larry is considered an industry leader. He previously served as president of GoldMine Software Corporation’s CRM division. Prior to that, he founded Corporate Computer Center, which was one of the most successful networking, CRM and consulting practices in the industry. Since joining Futuredontics in his role as president, Larry has led the company through several major acquisitions, significantly affecting our continued success and growth.

Larry is a member of the National Periodontal Disease Coalition and president of the alumni association of California State University, Northridge. He is also a member of the National Speakers Association, and has lectured on a variety of topics, including oral health, motivation, leadership, CRM, marketing and call center excellence.

He is a four-time marathoner, enthusiastic snowboarder and an avid wine collector who lives in Tarzana, CA, with his wife, Renee, and two daughters, Skyler and Mya.

Ron Joyal

Ron joined Futuredontics in 1989, bringing nearly 20 years of experience in the automotive industry with him. Utilizing his technical and selling skills, Ron’s first responsibility was the expansion of the call center, where he served as Vice President for four years. He quickly became the resident expert in telephony and was key in the development of the second-generation 1-800-DENTIST referral system software, as well as in the company’s overall technological expansion. Soon after, he moved up to Chief Operating Officer and took command for five years before moving on to direct Membership Development and Member Services as the Chief Marketing Officer. He recently resumed his duties as Chief Operating Officer, overseeing Membership Development, Member Services, Operations and Inventory Management.

Bret McAllister

Leading a department of hardware and software experts developing applications in the latest Microsoft .NET technology, Bret is the chief architect of Futuredontics' proprietary referral delivery, monitoring and reporting software. In creating www.1800dentist.com in 2002, his department brought to the Internet the same algorithms used for matching patients with member dentists in our call center. Before joining Futuredontics in 2000, Bret was the president of a systems consulting firm that provided systems, infrastructure & planning and business management consulting services to clients in the aerospace, entertainment, legal, healthcare and insurance industries. Bret's technical competence is backed by certifications in networking from Microsoft and Novell, and in both application development and database administration from Oracle. Bret earned an MBA from Pepperdine University and two bachelor's degrees in International Relations and East Asian Languages & Culture from the University of Southern California.

Stu Goldfaden

Stu joined Ernst & Ernst (now the Big Four accounting firm Ernst & Young) in 1968, fresh out of New Jersey's Upsala College. He became a Certified Public Accountant, licensed in New Jersey, New York and California, and worked on the accounts of major multinational companies, such as Gulf and Western, Inc. and Coca-Cola. After leaving public accounting in 1976, Stu began his career in private industry, serving as executive vice president, chief operating officer and chief financial officer at a variety of private companies, all industry leaders. He has been hard at work helping Futuredontics expand and prosper since 1994. Stu is the proud father of four sons, each born in a different decade. He claims to have no interest in trying to make it five for five.

Steve Sorensen

After graduating from the U.C. Davis in 1985, Steve started his career as vineyard manager for the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. In addition to developing Biltmore Estate's fine wine vineyards, Steve also helped coordinate commercial and newscast video shoots on the estate. His interest in film production led him to subsequently earn an MFA in Film and Video Production from the California Institute of the Arts. Steve worked in feature and commercial film production and is proud of his credits as writer/director of Pirate's Dagger and as a writer on The New Adventures of Jonny Quest. In 1994, Steve was attracted to 1-800-DENTIST and has achieved the position of vice president of operations. He enjoys managing the company's largest department as they strive to become "the best call center in the world." Steve, and wife Gladys, are dedicated parents of Elisabeth and Christopher.

Naomi Cooper

Naomi is a native of San Francisco and currently resides in Marina Del Rey, California. She joined the team at Futuredontics in 2000 and since then has been instrumental in building the 1-800-DENTIST brand at every turn, cultivating business-to-business and business-to-consumer projects. An alumna of the University of California at Los Angeles, Naomi worked in advertising on the agency side before she was tapped by Pacific Bell’s prestigious Leadership Development program. This position quickly allowed Naomi to man the helm of their sports marketing efforts in LA. There she negotiated and put into play multimillion-dollar sponsorship deals. A director of business development opportunity at the height of the dot-com era lured Naomi to a well-funded startup, where she created and leveraged strategic business partnerships. As vice president of marketing, Naomi oversees marketing two major brands, 1-800-DENTIST® and Patient Activator®. Each service is completely unique and requires her unwavering attention to detail. Naomi is the fearless leader of an ever-increasing creative staff and is committed to continuing education for herself and her team. With her focus on consistently reevaluating our marketing strategy, maintaining a strong, positive brand image and developing key strategic partnerships, she continues to be an enormous asset to the company.

David E. Call, MBA

Since joining Futuredontics in 1989, David has served as a key member of almost every department. After a stint as a top sales producer, he moved to a then-fledgling Member Services department, where he developed a staff who provided customer support. Next, he created the Quality Assurance department, instituting procedures for processing and screening membership applications, and ensuring policy compliance by Operations, Sales and Member Services staff. Over the next five years, his leadership as Vice President of Inventory Management maximized sustainable revenue growth through complex strategies that fully utilize the company’s considerable call volume inventory. David went on to manage our internal marketing program, Patient ActivatorSM, which encourages members’ existing patients to more frequently visit their dentist and educates them about all the services and benefits offered by the dental practice. His role in this enterprise encompassed all aspects of product development, fulfillment, promotion and sales. Now, as Executive Vice President of Membership, David comes full circle to oversee both Membership Development and Member Services, coordinating their efforts to foster membership growth and retention.

Karen Bengtson

Radio and network television are invaluable tools for promoting the benefits of the Futuredontics brands to consumers. The company entrusts the responsibility for making the daily and long-term media decisions to Karen. She purchases targeted media for 1-800-DENTIST and such company clients as Teledontics and 1-800-ATTORNEY. Other clients that have enlisted Karen's services through 1-800-DENTIST include 1-800-BEAUTIFY, 1-800-DOCTORS, 1-800-FIX-A-CAR, 1-800-4STOCKS, 1-800-WEDDING, Dermalogica, Discus Dental and Michael Thurmonds Body Makeover. Starting as a media buyer in 1990, Karen moved up the ranks to media director and now serves as the vice president of Media. Karen's reputation for getting the maximum bang for every buck spent on mainstream media has gained her acclaim, as seen in her selection to a special panel on healthcare advertising at the 1998 Direct Response Television Conference in New York. Prior to coming on board at Futuredontics, Karen worked at KMPH-TV in Fresno, California.

Amy Shouse

Amy has been with Futuredontics for over 15 years and brings a style of leadership that works well in a wide range of settings. Her role at Futuredontics encompasses the Member Services team in Los Angeles and Carlsbad. Always conscious about giving members the best possible experience, she communicates regularly with member dentists and their staffs, and collaborates with her team in trouble-shooting and problem-solving efforts. In 1990 Amy began as an operator for the company. She soon moved up to Sales, and eventually found her true calling in Member Services as an account representative. In 1996 she was promoted to manager of Member Services and became the department's Director in 2002 and is now Vice President. For Amy, the company offers the dual advantages of a growing corporation with innumerable opportunities and an organization that has kept the close-knit culture of its earlier days.

April Anani

Before joining 1-800-DENTIST, April was a Senior Auditor at the international public accounting firm, Ernst and Young. While at the firm, her clients ranged from Fortune 500 companies to smaller, privately held companies — one of which was Futuredontics/1-800-DENTIST. Through this two-year business relationship, we became familiar with her excellent skills and personality, realizing that she’d make a great addition to the 1-800-DENTIST team. April is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of California, and holds a bachelor's degree from Boston College, as well as a Masters degree from the University of Virginia.

Russ Stiverson

Russ oversees the complex and technical process of determining how many member dentists the company can support in any given section of the country. It’s a vital role in terms of the company’s commitment to our members as well as our continued growth overall. Russ spent six years in Inventory Management before being named vice president, serving as senior data analyst and, most recently, as manager. The Ohio native came to Futuredontics in 1995 as an operator, and later went on to hold various positions in the Operations and Membership Development departments. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Biola University with a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership. An avid runner and cyclist, Russ has a pair of triathlons under his belt, and has twice completed the 575-mile California AIDSRide, helping raise thousands of dollars for AIDS-related charities in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Russ lives in Santa Monica, where he and his fiancée are busy planning their 2009 wedding.

Joni Gaudes

Joni Gaudes joined the Futuredontics, Inc., team in May 2006 as General Counsel. Joni earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in pre-law from the University of California at Santa Barbara and her law degree from Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles. Prior to joining 1 800 DENTIST, she was the hiring partner at Breidenbach, Huchting & Hamblet in Los Angeles, where she specialized in general business and insurance litigation. As General Counsel, Joni manages day-to-day legal and risk-management issues and also oversees both the Quality Assurance and Human Resources departments. Joni is happy to have moved in-house to such a fun, forward-thinking company. She lives in beautiful Manhattan Beach with her husband.

Zohreh Malek

With 20 years of experience in information technology and a degree in Computer Science, Zohreh successfully manages Futuredontics’ team of software application specialists. She joined the company in January 2004 and helped to build a software development team that designs and maintains the company’s proprietary software and business support systems. They complete an astounding number of projects every year to help the company’s various departments better serve member dentists and consumers – an achievement that makes her feel very proud. Another source of her pride is her family – one son attending medical school and another pursuing a degree in banking and financial investment. Futuredontics is lucky to have Zohreh, and the feeling is mutual – she loves the company’s friendly, dynamic and supportive environment.