Dermazone Solutions is a St. Petersburg, Florida-based,
women-owned and women-run business.

	Executive Leadership
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Karalyn Schuchert, Founder and Chairman

With a passion for skin care, Karalyn Schuchert helps women improve the quality of their lives by enhancing their natural beauty. Schuchert founded Dermazone Solutions with the goal of delivering the benefits of anti-aging products.

Schuchert continues to play an active role in Dermazone, ensuring that the company's image, reputation and integrity remain on a carefully guided course. She is involved in the product development and selection process. Karalyn also works closely with Kara Vita's leading consultants in a field of 1,500 consultants to provide encouragement and guidance.

Deborah Duffey, President and Chief Product Development Officer

Deborah Duffey has a passion for entrepreneurial pursuits and more
than two decades of experience in leading and growing businesses. She’s held management positions that encompassed responsibilities including feasibility analysis, supply chain management and strategic planning. After four years as the sales and marketing director for Fountain Pharmaceuticals, she became partner and president when the company went private and relaunched as Dermazone Solutions, Inc.

In nine years, she grew the St. Petersburg life science company from
3 to 33 employees with over 1000 independent consultants nationwide; developed over fifty  new product formulas, opened a subsidiary company in 2003, developed new distribution channels for the company’s two brands of skin care products; and launched a contract manufacturing division to leverage the  cutting edge nanotechnology for pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical application . Duffey expects and inspires the highest standards of excellence and integrity in every aspect of the business, from product development and manufacturing to sales and marketing to the quality of relationships with customers, partners, and staff.

A recognized leader, trainer and speaker in her profession and the community, Duffey sits on an advisory board for the Personal Care Products Council; is a member of theControlled Release Society, the National Association of Executive and Professional Women, the CEW, is a diamond member of the Society of Successful Women; and a founding member of the Tampa Bay Chapter of the ARCS Foundation, an organization that provides scholarships for students studying science, medicine and engineering. Duffey was nominated this year for an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award and the Small Business of the Year award, and was a finalist for the 2010 Tampa Bay Business Journal Woman of the Year.

Carla Ash, CPA, Chief Financial Officer

A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the states of Wyoming and New York, Carla Ash, chief financial officer of Dermazone Solutions, has more than 30 years of experience in auditing, taxes, financial preparation and general accounting. She has experience auditing city and county organizations, non-profit organizations and private corporations as well as Sheridan Memorial Hospital and Sheridan College. While in public accounting, her firm won an award for preparing the “Most Correct Tax Return” in a Money magazine contest.

Ash is a member of American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
(AICPA), Wyoming Society of CPAs, and the Sheridan County Republican Women’s organization. She served on the Board for Sheridan’s Downtown Association during a major downtown renovation project, which won awards for its historical Main Street. Serving on the Board of Sheridan Dog and Cat Shelter, she oversaw a million-dollar construction of the new shelter as part of the building committee. Carla has also sat on private foundation boards including the Jentel Artist Residence Program and the Schuchert Family Foundation.

Alex Petrilak, Jr., VP Operations

Petrilak has more than two decades of executive consulting experience with Marketing Systems Management, Inc. and Bucknell-Petrilak & Associates, during which he provided clients in Tampa and London with C-level leadership and interdisciplinary operational counsel resulting in $759 million in sales, grants, funding and joint ventures. 

Consulting assignments have included operational analysis, corporate valuation and investment strategies for Dermazone Solutions; economic development work for SRI International; municipal/commercial partnering for ForceBell Companies; and business development and product diversification for Claro Scientific.

His areas of expertise include operational analysis and organizational innovation; tactical funding plans; public-private partnering; and P3, public and investor relations. 

Petrilak has also served as the deputy port director/director of international trade and real estate for the Tampa Port Authority; director at Price Waterhouse; and vice president of sales and marketing at the Paragon Group, Inc.

Maya Ivanjesku, Director of Formulation Development – R&D

Maya Ivanjesku has almost twenty years of experience as a scientist in
the pharmaceutical, cosmeceutical and biotech industries. As director of R&D for Dermazone, she has managed multiple projects, including OTC’s, cosmeceuticals, Rx topicals, topical medical devices, and nutraceuticals.

She has also worked as quality control manager for Cambryn Biologics, a
start-up company that is seeking cGMP status.  Her responsibilities
included building a team of scientists to support the R&D process, and organizing, writing and executing calibrations, validation and performance on all lab equipment.

Ivanjesku has worked in quality control and research and development for Oxygen Development, LLC where she guided chemists on developing new formulas; created sales and marketing strategies; and created products for Bare Escentuals, Mary Kay and Arbonne.  She was also a senior research scientist/project manager for Estee Lauder, where she led the development of new formulations and products.

Carolyn Veroni, Executive Director of Business Development

As Director of Business Development, Carolyn Veroni is responsible for the strategic direction of marketing and distributing Celazome Clinical Skin Care, a Dermazone division, across the nation and more than 20 countries worldwide. Under the marketing umbrella, she is responsible for the design and management of the Celazome website as well as social media interaction and engagement through Facebook [link to Facebook and Twitter and YouTube]. She has developed a comprehensive technical manual used in training distributors and presentations on new products.

With more than 30 years in the heath, beauty and wellness industry, Veroni has touched nearly every facet of the industry, with a particular focus on marketing, education, training and sales. She marketed organic essential oils to homeopathic centers, day spas and health food stores in the Southeast region for London-based Absolute Aromas. She served as director of sales for Harmonix Corp., a manufacturer of lasers, microdermabrasion machines, permanent makeup equipment, and skin care products. She also owned a salon specializing in hair, nails and skin for 15 years in South Florida.

She is a certified trainer for microdermabrasion, certified in lymphatic drainage from International Alliance of Healthcare Educators and a licensed trichologist. She’s also a member of the International Association of Trichologists and American Orchid Society. As a member of Aromatic Plant Project and American Botanical Council, she has distilled organically grown lavender and lemon balm in Davis, Calif. fields, and traveled to the far-flung jungles of Costa Rica, Malaysia and Thailand in search of orchids growing in the wild to photograph and document growth habits.

	Management
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Debbie Reed, Quality Assurance Manager

Debbie Reed has two decades of experience in GMP manufacturing environments, and has been overseeing quality systems and processes to ensure compliance with GMPs and product quality at Dermazone since 2007.  She acts as the key regulatory compliance liaison with regulatory agencies; and her other areas of responsibility include document control systems, batch record review, oversight of the stability program and the CAPA program. She manages two quality assurance auditors, a documentation specialist, and two quality control laboratory analysts.

She has also worked as a quality assurance manager at Catalent (formerly Cardinal Health), where she managed eight process quality auditors to ensure manufacturing compliance with GMPs, batch record instructions and standard operating procedures.

Reed has a bachelor’s degree in business management from the University of Phoenix.

Janice Gearhart, Quality Assurance Specialist

With 25 years in pharmaceutical and food manufacturing, Janice Gearhart has experience in all aspects of the manufacturing process, including project management, quality assurance, quality engineering, technical services, R&D, and operations.  Her areas of expertise include domestic and international production transfers; new plant and product start-ups; and manufacturing process development and improvement.

She was a process engineer II at Smith & Nephew, Inc., where she led a team of 11 to outsource skin care products to third party manufacturers in support of the facility’s closing. Her accomplishments included transferring 75 OTC, medical device and cosmetic products to three suppliers in the U.S. and India while meeting production timelines and resulting in a $1.1 million savings.

She has also worked as the director of quality at J&J Scientific Products; and prior to that, she spent eight at Cardinal Health, Inc., first as a quality engineering manager and then as a technical services specialist.

Gearhart has a bachelor’s degree in food science from Penn State University and has completed coursework in USF’s Engineering Management Master’s Program.  She is an ASQ Certified Quality Engineer.

Mike Herbert, Production Coordinator

Mike Herbert combines management and supervisory skills with solid experience in creating and overseeing safe and compliant operational environments. Most recently, he worked at Pfizer/King Pharmaceuticals for fifteen years where he served in various manufacturing positions before becoming the manager of EHA, responsible for environmental, health and safety issues for a facility employing 100 associates.  He also spent twelve years at Resource Recovery as the Plant Manager for the thermal treatment plant and hazardous waste Part B transfer facility.

In addition to studying industrial electricity and electronics at the Pinellas County Vocational Technical Institute, Herbert is certified in Standard Operating Procedures; Current Good Manufacturing Practices; OSHA for General Industry; DOT Hazardous Materials Transportation; DOT Security Awareness; and CFPA-cGMP and FDA inspections for the Pharmaceutical and Allied Industries.

Shauna Ulm, Supply Chain Manager/ERP Specialist

As Supply Chain Manager/ERP Specialist, Shauna Ulm oversees many aspects within enterprise resource planning (ERP) for Dermazone Solutions, such as fulfillment, receiving and production scheduling. With this responsibility, she manages the warehouse and ensures raw materials and packaging for Dermazone Solutions’ products are in stock,
as well as the marketing materials, office supplies and other essential elements. 

Ulm obtained a Bachelor of Science in molecular and microbiology from
the University of Central Florida. She previously served as a laboratory analyst within Dermazone’s quality control group.

Karolina Dilling, Sales and Service Coordinator

Before coming to Dermazone, Karolina Dilling worked for ten years as a patient care tech at Bayfront Medical Center’s emergency room, where
she trained new employees; developed customer relations strategies to encourage new business; and maintained confidential patient records.
She has also worked as a unit coordinator at Tampa General Hospital, serving as a liaison among staff, patients and visitors; scheduling tests
and maintaining records; and mentoring student workers.

While at Bayfront she received the Clinical Excellence Award for Nursing Support Staff; the MVP of the Month; and the Employee of the Month.

	Advisors
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Dr. Michael Fountain, Scientific Advisor

Over the past 25 years, Dr. Fountain has successfully created, financed and grown life science and high-tech companies. Currently, he serves as a scientific advisor to Dermazone Solutions, Inc. and its divisions, including Hyssop Health.

Dr. Fountain serves as the director of the University of South Florida’s (USF) Center for Entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship programs. Under Dr. Fountain’s direction, the Center was recognized as the top-ranked entrepreneurial specialty program in the country for its program in Life Sciences Entrepreneurship by the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) in 2004. The Center was recipient of the USASBE’s 2005 National Outstanding Innovative Entrepreneurship Education Course Award for the USF Strategic Marketing Assessments for New Technologies course and the Excellence in Entrepreneurship Education Award for Innovative Pedagogy for Entrepreneurship Education in 2006.

Developing interdisciplinary curriculum and research programs in entrepreneurship, Dr. Fountain holds faculty appointments within the Colleges of Business Administration, Engineering and Medicine. Additionally, he is chairman and CEO of Darkstar Information Company, LLC, a USF technology spin-out company. He also serves as the director of the National Consortium for Life Sciences Entrepreneurship, and provides direction to the Kauffman Venture Capital Fellows Program as a member of the Educational Advisory Board for the Center for Venture Education. A past Entrepreneur in Residence at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Dr. Fountain has amassed more than 40 domestic and international patents for his inventions.

Dr. Christopher Brown, Medical Director

Dr. Brown has served in many medical roles, domestically and internationally, throughout his career. Consulting for capital investment groups, Dr. Brown has evaluated many investment opportunities in the medical and biotechnology field. In 2002, he was named medical director and consultant for Dermazone Solutions and its divisions, including Hyssop Health.

He began his professional career as an expert in the laboratory of Immunoregulation at the National Institutes of Health. Taking leave from his fellowship, he served as an emergency room physician and volunteer physician with the International Medical Corps in Afghanistan. He also served as laboratory director of Projet SIDA in Kinshasa, Zaire.

For 10 years, Dr. Brown owned and managed The Sheridan Clinic, a group practice in internal medicine and infectious diseases in Sheridan, Wyo., and continued as medical director and physician after selling the practice. He also served as director of Sheridan Research Institute (SRI), a not-for-profit entity which promoted integration of evidence-based complementary and alternative therapies with traditional medicine.

Dr. Brown’s recent work on a melanoma screening research project with Dr. Rhett Drugge resulted in two abstracts being accepted at the Society of Investigative Dermatology, with manuscripts in preparation for publication. His research on skin cancer and cosmetic medicine continues, and in 2005, he established a private practice in cosmetic medicine and skin cancer in Rhode Island.

Dr. John McCarroll

During his 31 years of veterinary practice, Dr. John D. McCarroll has specialized in equine reproduction, lameness examinations and emergency surgery. Dr. McCarroll’s veterinary practice, Equine Medical Associates, is known as a leading facility for lameness examinations and treatments. His practice is located in the heart of Horse Country USA, Pilot Point, Texas, but his clients travel from across the nation and the globe because of his ingenuity and expertise.  He was one of the first veterinarians to use VET-PLEX at his practice, and discovered many successful applications for its use.

Dr. McCarroll is a member of many professional organizations, including the American Veterinary Medical Association, American Association of Equine Practitioners, Texas Veterinary Medicine Associates, Texas Equine Veterinary Association, Texas Cattlemen’s Association, National Cutting Horse Association and National Reining Horse Association.

After receiving his Bachelor of Science from Texas A&M University, Dr. McCarroll obtained his Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine in 1977 and completed an internship in Large Animal Medicine at Oklahoma State University. He is a member of Texas A&M’s 12th Man Foundation, which provides funding for scholarships, programs and facilities in support of championship athletics.

Dr. Steven Kushner

With more 27 years of experience in the field of nutrition, nutraceuticals
and cosmeceuticals, Dr. Steve Kushner’s focus is maximizing health and
well being with innovative methods. He was a student of Dr. Hazel
Parcells, one of the foremost nutritionists of the 20th century, and continues to utilize the concepts in his work.

Dr. Kushner is primarily engaged in the research and development of unique food, nutritional and topical products, including herbs, enzymes, homeopathic remedies, phytonutrients, vitamins, minerals and trace minerals, that provide properties associated with healing. He was the first to introduce homeopathic amino acids into the mass market for sports nutrition.

Many of Dr. Kushner's products have been used by notable individuals including professional athletes, celebrities, and heads of state. Some of the original formulations include:

• Come Alive, a nutrient-dense comprehensive nutritional supplement from whole foods
• Super Stay Alive, an anti-oxidant, immune, and energy enhancer
• Cygnus Explosion, a carbonated beverage with herbs and protein
• Cinnergen, a liquid whole food supplement available nationally for balancing blood sugar
• Source Multi-Vitamin-Mineral Liquid Supplement, a supplement utilizing nano-technology to deliver essential vitamins, minerals, and herbal foods for maximum benefits

Dr. Kushner is currently working to develop a line of proprietary products for a new exercise system including endurance/recovery formula, weight loss concentrate and sublingual vitamin C.

Dr. Tanya Rhodes, Regulatory Consultant

Dr. Rhodes has extensive experience in the health care market in areas ranging from identifying new markets to overseeing research and development, regulatory issues, and multichannel product distribution.

As president of Rhodes &Associates, her consulting work has included serving as the acting vice president of regulatory/technical affairs for three wound care and dermatology companies with multiple products being trialed, registered and commercialized internationally.  She was also the chief technology officer for a startup pharmaceutical company conducting international drug clinical trials and KOL development for cosmetic fillers, wound care and topical dermatology.

Rhodes has also been the general manager, medical division/global vice president, new product division for the Aso Corporation, one of the world’s largest suppliers of wound care products; president of the therapeutic gases division of Viasys Health Care, Inc.; and vice president of innovation for Smith & Nephew, Inc. a global medical technology business.