Our Team

Meet the Rock Stars That Make This Company Great

Rick Black and White Headshot

Rick Blabolil

President

Under his leadership Rick Blabolil has spearheaded tremendous growth for Marketing Innovators during the past decade, enabling MI to become one of the largest incentive marketing companies in the U.S.

Over his 30-year tenure, Rick has driven the overall business strategy of the company, and the personal approach to engaging with clients and their challenges. He provides thought leadership to the performance improvement industry and serves on a variety of organization boards within the industry: Board Member, Business Marketing Association; Board Member, Norwegian American Hospital; Past President, Incentive Marketing Association; Past President/Founder, Forum for People Performance Management; Past Vice President, Incentive Research Foundation: Performance Improvement Council; Past President/Board, Incentive Gift Certificate Council; Board Member, Incentive Federation; Incentive Legislative Committee.

Rick holds an M.B.A. from Northwestern University, J.L. Kellogg School of Management and holds a Certified Professional of Incentive Management (CPIM) designation from the Incentive Marketing Association.


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Marketing Innovators Team Member - Molly

Desiree Martinello

VP, Office And People Services

Desi brings over fifteen years of business experience to her role as leader of Human Resources and Office Services. She has been an instrumental part of supporting both the CEO and President, while strategically influencing the company’s culture, employee engagement and well-being initiatives.

Her areas of responsibility include recruitment, benefits, learning and development, employee relations, performance management, payroll and office management. People are the company’s most important asset and Desi takes a personal approach in aligning the values of the company and our employees.

Desi has a passion for health and fitness. She loves trying out new fitness routines and after a good workout curling up to a good book and a cup of tea.

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Paul Black and White Headshot

Paul Jopa

VP, Information Technology

Paul is primarily responsible for managing the development of PPM Suite solutions, ranging from new implementations to complex change requests. He has worked in the information technology field for more than nine years, on projects ranging from web development, databases and web services to desktop applications. He holds a B.A. in computer science and statistics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Paul joined Marketing Innovators in 2007. In addition to his expertise in information technology, Paul is a fantasy football expert except, he says, when things don’t go his way.

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Stephanie Galioto Black and White Headshot

Stephanie Galioto

VP, Customer Experience

Stephanie brings more than eight years’ experience to her role as leader of operational processes and procedures associated with new program implementation. She also oversees the account management team, which acts the internal and external customer’s single point of contact during program launch and ongoing program management. Previously, Stephanie was an MI account manager, serving as liaison to major clients. Prior to Marketing Innovators, Stephanie spent six years managing program training and implementation for the Food Safety division of Ecolab. A graduate of Northeastern Illinois University, Stephanie holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration. In her free time, Stephanie enjoys being outdoors, taking motorcycle rides and volunteering.

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Marketing Innovators Team Member - Desiree

Molly Erfort

VP, Marketing

As Manager of Marketing, Molly oversees the strategy and implementation of MI’s integrated marketing plans. With an extensive background in digital and analytics, Molly brings new and creative ways to drive success for the MI brand. She has worked on a variety of successful campaigns, such as Super Bowl ads with Bank of America and advanced digital marketing campaigns with the CDW solutions teams. Molly graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Business and Spanish. In her free time she loves to travel, discover new dive restaurants and work-it-out at spin class.

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Headshot of Matthew Clancy

Matthew Clancy

Director, IT

Matt's day to day responsibilities, as the Director of IT, is to oversee the MI IT department and ensure that in-house vendor/client projects, change requests and implementations are met with a high standard of quality. He has held a variety of positions at MI from technical support to lead web developer.

Matt first joined MI in 2012 and has been in the IT field for over 10 years. He is a graduate from Illinois State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Insurance Information Systems. In his free time, he loves to Peloton®, golf and go on walks with his wife and dog.

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Headshot of Billy Boor

Billy Boor

Regional Business Developer

As Regional Business Developer, Billy is dedicated to building the MI brand, generating new business and creating a successful customer experience.

He comes to MI with over twenty years of sales knowledge and an expertise in B2B SaaS sales.

Billy is a graduate of Butler University, enjoys watching his kids play sports and traveling with family.

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Sue Black and White Headshot

Sue Murphy

Manager, Operations/Product Services

MI customers can count on Sue’s team of customer care and award fulfillment coordinators for prompt order fulfillment and great customer service. s manager, operations/product services, Sue oversees client orders, fulfillment of award mailings, customer service, invoicing, award printing, gift card ordering and inventory for MI reward and recognition programs. he works closely with JCPenney clients, and also oversees MI’s merchant relations department, where she has created, and maintained, relationships with many of MI’s 300-plus vendors. In her spare time, Sue can be spotted at Chicago’s Wrigley Field watching her beloved Cubbies, or at one of Chicago’s music venues, catching an old favorite or new band. She’s also an avid traveler, biker and walker who recently took up boot camp to balance out her love of baking (and Rice Krispie treats). Sue holds a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin and has been with Marketing Innovators since 1991.

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Headshot of Sam Taraszka

Samantha Taraszka

Account Manager

As an Account Manager, Sam brings her three years’ experience as a Solutions Specialist for MI to work closely with clients to fully understand and manage their programs and objectives. Her understanding of other MI departments allows for her to address client needs quickly. Sam holds a B.S. in Small Business and Entrepreneurship Management from Illinois State University. During her free time, she can be found with friends and family, cheering for the Chicago Cubs and Blackhawks, and enjoying concerts.

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Anthony Guida, product owner and business analyst at Marketing Innovators

Anthony Guida

Product Owner / Business Analyst

As the Product Owner/ Business Analyst, Anthony is responsible for the oversight of Marketing Innovator’s technology platforms. Anthony strives to bring value to each user by aligning MI platforms' features and functionality to the client's specific needs and requirements. He uses data and market research to help guide software development projects from inception to deployment and define the vision of MI Technology platforms.

Anthony is a US Navy Veteran who served and deployed as an Information Systems Technician onboard the USS George H W Bush during Operation Inherent Resolve. Anthony has a bachelor’s degree in Business Analytics and Information Technology from Rutgers Business School and is experienced in product management, tech, analytics, finance, and sales. When Anthony is not working, he enjoys traveling, lifting weights, martial arts, and going to the beach.

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