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 Ryan Kubacki, President
Ryan Kubacki was recruited to Holden International in 2006 to solidify Holden’s position as the world’s leading sales effectiveness consulting firm specializing in competitive sales strategy. As President, Mr. Kubacki leads the firm’s strategy, team, research, and resources, as it helps client organizations “outsell their competition,” building upon the more than 600,000 sellers it has trained in 25 countries since its founding in 1979.
Mr. Kubacki is a recognized expert in winning competitive sales deals and spends a large amount of time working with clients around the world, conducting both keynote speaking and leading “must win” competitive deal coaching clinics for large pursuits. Mr. Kubacki is working on a new book about competitive sales strategy based on a 12 year research project of 28,000 enterprise sellers and over 1,000 deal coaching sessions.
Prior to joining Holden, Mr. Kubacki was at Microsoft Corporation, where he held sales and marketing leadership roles in both the field and headquarters. As Business and Marketing Officer for U.S. Central Region, he directed sales operations and field marketing for an 18-state region with a $1.4 billion quota. Before Microsoft, Mr. Kubacki was Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Calypso Systems, a Microsoft Gold Managed Partner. Mr. Kubacki started his career at A.T. Kearney, a global management consulting company, where he specialized in sales and marketing effectiveness.
Mr. Kubacki received an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School and an undergraduate degree in government from Harvard College. He and his wife Jana and their three children live in Naperville, IL. Mr. Kubacki serves as Vice President on the Development Board of Saints Peter and Paul School, is active on the Harvard Club of Chicago Schools and Scholarship Committee, is a member of the Corporate Directors Club, and coaches youth sports for the Naperville Park District.
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Jim Holden, Founder, Chief Executive Officer
Jim Holden founded Holden International in 1979, and throughout its almost 30-year
history, Holden has grown to be a world-renowned leader in the sales process improvement
field.
Mr. Holden's career has been marked by exceptional innovation. In 1990, he established
Holden as the first company to model sales effectiveness, an achievement that garnered
the Regional Entrepreneur of the Year award for the Service Industry.
Mr. Holden
is also a globally recognized business author, with titles including Power
Base Selling, World Class Selling, and
The Selling Fox.
Mr. Holden earned a B.S.E.E. with high honors from Northeastern University in Boston
and is a member of the National Engineering Honor Society, Tau Beta Pi, and the
National Interdisciplinary Honor Society, Phi Kappa Phi. He began his sales career
in 1974 with Teradyne, a Boston-based high-technology company. Prior to founding
Holden, he was Vice President of Sales for Aegis, a third-party distribution company
selling computer-based test systems into the manufacturing environment.
Mr. Holden and his wife Chris reside in the greater Chicago area. He was a founder/director
of the First National Bank of Roselle and has served as a director of two other
area banks and several
early development–stage companies. He is active in the community,
having founded the Partnership to End Homelessness in Chicago, and is a supporter
of many other charities, including cancer research. |
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Paul Dillon, Senior Vice President
 Business Development
Paul Dillon joined Holden International in 2007 and now serves as Senior Vice President of Business Development. He is focused on further developing our training and consulting business, while managing our management assessment capabilities. Mr. Dillon's responsibilities focus on driving sales achievement and key strategic initiatives for our clients through implementation and adoption of world-class sales effectiveness strategies and “compete” methodologies.
Mr. Dillon brings to Holden a depth of background in complex procurement and selling professional services. Prior to joining Holden, Mr. Dillon was a director responsible for a $600 million budget and the corresponding services at a Fortune 200 consumer packaged goods company. He has interviewed, negotiated and worked with over a thousand sellers globally.
Mr. Dillon has also held management positions at Accenture and Deloitte Consulting. Mr. Dillon has worked with senior management teams across leadership areas and industries to measurably grow margins through both top-line sales growth initiatives and bottom-line efficiency programs. His professional contributions have been covered by various publications, including The Journal of Commerce, Purchasing, and Traffic World.
Mr. Dillon received his M.B.A. from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and his B.A. with honors from Colgate University. Paul enjoys running and has completed several marathons.
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Matt Martin, Vice President
Consulting Services
Matt Martin leads Holden’s customized content design process and delivery practice in an effort to maximize client relevancy, adoption rates, and time-to-value of Holden’s consulting and training services. He has played an instrumental role in bringing to market Holden’s “10-Steps to Driving Impact” engagement model, Holden’s enhanced content and methodologies, as well as new tools and learning experiences.
An expert in sales effectiveness, Mr. Martin has spearheaded numerous strategic consulting engagements and facilitated hundreds of sales effectiveness workshops throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East. He has led over 100 competitive deal coaching clinics-- helping sales teams formulate competitive strategies for “must win” large pursuits. Mr. Martin is also an accomplished speaker who has provided keynote addresses to large audiences on competencies and personal attributes that drive sales effectiveness.
Prior to joining Holden, Mr. Martin was a recognized sales leader at The Coca-Cola Company where he led accounts and consistently exceeded quota at the local, regional, and national levels. As National Account Executive on Coca-Cola's largest global account, McDonald's Corporation, he had regional responsibility for the company's brand exposure, business penetration, and customer relationship management. Additionally, Mr. Martin provided consulting services on strategic selling processes to key Coca-Cola franchise bottlers across North America, resulting in record case volume and share growth.
Mr. Martin received a B.A. in communications from Michigan State University. He, his wife Courtney and their son reside in Glencoe, IL.
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Chris Holden, Chief Financial Officer
In 1979, Chris Holden cofounded Holden International and currently directs the
firm’s accounting practices. In this role, she manages the accounting department
and oversees the budgetary function, financial reporting, and all tax and audit
functions. She is also instrumental in developing and reviewing legal documents
for client user agreements.
An active member of several social programs, Mrs. Holden
cofounded the Partnership
to End Homelessness and worked with the Community Emergency Shelter Organization to establish best practices and results measurement. She is also a trustee
of the Brookfield Zoo and an active supporter of multiple melanoma cancer research.
Mrs. Holden graduated with honors from Lasell College, earning a degree in retail
sales and marketing. As a scholarship recipient, she also attended advanced finance
curriculum at Roosevelt University. |
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Jill Billhorn, Managing Director
Jill Billhorn joined Holden International in 2008 as a Managing Director to drive business development and key initiatives. She is focused on developing and growing new markets and evangelizing the Holden Sales Achievement Platform and Power Base Management Coaching program.
Prior to joining Holden, Ms. Billhorn spent 18 years managing and developing success sales organizations for companies like AT&T, Ameritech and MCI. Most recently as the Sales Center Vice President for AT&T in Chicago, she was responsible for significantly growing a $200M revenue base consisting of telecommunications services provided to many of the top 50 customers headquartered in Chicago. Her team utilized the Holden Sales Methodology platform to achieve the highest levels of sales performance.
Ms. Billhorn is a graduate of the University of Illinois in Champaign with a BS in English. She and her husband John live in Chicago and have three children. She is an avid sports fan and participant. Ms. Billhorn also enjoys her work on the board of the Namaste Charter School and her involvement in coaching and coordinating Girls on the Run. |
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 Glenn Coleman, Managing Director
A past Director on the Board of EADS North America Defense, Glenn Coleman has over
35 years of business development and marketing experience in the aerospace and defense
industry. Holding positions of leadership responsibility for diverse high-technology
product and service applications for land, sea, air, and space platforms and their
support systems, he has brought value to and realized successes in closing competitive
new business initiatives both domestically and internationally. His experience also
includes civil applications of military technology as well as commercial ventures
based on product applications of systems developed under federal government acquisition
processes.
As a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Mr. Coleman initially spent 10 years on
active duty as a line officer in the submarine service and as an intelligence officer
on shore assignment. His last active duty assignment was at the National Security
Agency. Converting from line to intelligence specialty, he completed 12 years of
reserve duty and retired as a Captain, USNR, in 1986.
Concurrent with leaving active duty, Mr. Coleman earned an M.S. in financial management
at George Washington University. His early industry career involved a variety of
assignments on classified programs for General Electric Space Systems Division at
Valley Forge, PA; Washington, DC; and Sunnyvale, CA. As his career matured, he held
a progressive set of responsibilities in marketing, business development, research,
and advanced programs for GE, RCA, and Litton, leading efforts in domestic tactical
and strategic reconnaissance programs and foreign airborne reconnaissance opportunities
in Saudi Arabia, U.A.E., and Kuwait.
It was during one of these campaigns that Mr. Coleman became the unwilling guest
of Saddam Hussein and served 4 ½ months as a "human shield" in Iraq, immediately
prior to the hostilities involved in the first Gulf War.
Following this mid-career adjustment, Mr. Coleman joined Lockheed Martin Information
Systems and continued to lead ventures both domestically and internationally. He
managed a multinational partnership, formed strategic alliances with Spanish, U.K.,
French, and Japanese partners in a variety of opportunities, and led capture management
campaigns in Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, and Taiwan. |
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Ghaffar Variend, Controller
Ghaffar Variend joined Holden International in 1998 as an Assistant Controller.
Presently, he heads Holden International's financial department. His responsibilities
include accounting, preparation of monthly and annual financial statements, and
management reports and policies.
Prior to joining Holden, Mr. Variend served as Controller for Plasti-World Products
Ltd., a plastic novelty items manufacturer in Montreal, Quebec. Mr. Variend has
over 15 years of experience in public accounting, providing financial audit services
to clients in the importing, manufacturing, travel/leisure, textiles, and wholesale
distribution industries. He has also provided small-business clients with management
consulting and advisory services in a broad range of corporate accounting disciplines.
In addition, Mr. Variend has played a key role in conducting research on a number
of technical accounting issues.
Mr. Variend received his bachelor's degree in accounting from Karachi University
in Pakistan. In his free time, he enjoys walking, bicycling, bowling, and maintaining
his own website. He is very involved in his community and served as president for
Quebec Memon Association in Montreal and Memon Association of America in Chicago,
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Dan McBride, Senior Consultant
With over 30 years experience in sales and marketing, Dan brings a keen ability to identify corporate strengths
and needs to his role as a consultant with Holden International. He understands the application of strategic
training and development in order to help his clients penetrate new markets and generate high-volume sales.
At Holden, Dan conducts implementation workshops globally and is certified in a variety of sales methodologies including Holden's
Power Base® Selling. Additionally, he is recognized as an expert in embedding Holden methodologies into Customer
Relationship Managment and Sales Force Automation programs.
His previous experience includes engineering management at General Motors Corporation and major account sales at
Motorola, Inc. Dan also owned an international sales training and consulting company, Dan McBride and Associates, through which
more than 500,000 people were trained.
Dan holds a BS in industrial engineering from General Motors Institute (now Kettering University). He lives in Southern
California where he enjoys spending time with his family and golfing. |
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Philip Max Kay, Senior Consultant
Max joined Holden International in 1994 as a program facilitator, bringing with him over 25 years of telecommunications and
high-technology sales and marketing experience. Since then, he has established himself as a skilled practitioner of Holden methodologies,
delivering Power Base® Selling workshops to clients globally. Max also facilitates our coaching, management, and creating sales programs.
Prior to joining Holden, Max founded his own competitive sales training consulting company specializing in programs for the
telecommunications industry. Clients included SBC Communications, Inc., Lucent Technologies, Toshiba America Inc., and Panasonic
Consumer Electronics Co., as well as numerous emerging telecommunications companies. He began his career selling NEC and ROLM
telecommunications systems. Max has also held the position of product manager for voice communications products at Wang Laboratories, Inc.
(now Wang Global Inc.), and telecommunications consultant at Arthur D. Little.
He is the author of the audio cassette program, How to Compete and Win in the Telecommunications Industry, and the
book Compete and Win in Telecom Sales.
Max earned a BA in economics from Colby College in Waterville, ME and an MBA in marketing from Boston University. A former
lieutenant in the United States Navy, he resides in Beverly Farms, MA, and is an active skier, sailor, scuba diver, and runner, having
completed 39 marathons. |
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