Episode 172: Seungah Jeong and John Salzinger

With experience driving the growth of companies at varying stages of the acquisition process, Seungah Jeong brings to MPOWERD the expertise and insider knowledge accumulated from almost two decades of senior executive leadership in CPG. After key managerial roles at Procter & Gamble and NARS cosmetics (a subsidiary of Shiseido Inc.) Jeong co-founded NEST Fragrances, quickly developing the brand into one of the most successful luxury lifestyle fragrance companies in the market. While serving in a variety of key leadership roles, most recently as the Chief Operations Officer, Jeong played a critical role in the structure and management of virtually every facet of the business – from product inception and operations to sales plans and marketing initiatives. As a strategist, she addressed the business needs of the burgeoning company through the creation of several separate business units within the structure of NEST itself, positioning the brand for equal viability in the mass marketplace as well as the licensing and private label sectors, leading to their acquisition by Tengram Capital Partners in 2012.

Joining MPOWERD as CEO is a homecoming of sorts for Jeong, whose passion for environmental sustainability led her to double major in Philosophy and Environmental Studies at the University of Chicago before earning her Masters in Geography (Environment & Development) at the University of Cambridge in England.

John Salzinger is a serial entrepreneur and is always looking for a problem to solve utilizing new technologies and new ways of ideating around them. Currently, as a Founder and Chief Business Development Officer, John devotes himself to overall strategy, maximizing the global distribution of MPOWERD’s innovative clean energy solutions, marketing to various verticals and markets simultaneously as well as developing new product lines. Together with principal inventor and one of MPOWERD’s original co-founders, Jason Snyder, he worked hand-in-hand to develop the Luci inflatable solar lantern after an earthquake in 2010 left thousands without power in Haiti and continues to play a leading role in developing innovative new solar products to positively impact the lives of people everywhere. Having begun his professional career in fashion photography, John worked in the global print market before shifting into television as a News Editor for ABC World Television News. Adapting to changing technologies, John became a Multimedia Producer, writing, editing and producing his own voiceovers for Associated Press Digital. Moving beyond news and into finance, John was instrumental in opening the NYC office for Heartland Payment Systems (NYSE: HPY) and subsequently founded Platinum Processing, an ISO of EVO Merchant Services where he hired and managed a staff of Sales Representatives, Value Added Resellers and supported hundreds of clients Nationwide, processing millions of dollars annually. Just before co-founding MPOWERD, John was a consultant at Clever Rooster and a Director of Sales and Content at social, local, mobile, tech start-up, gopogo.