Chris Kenny is a co-founder and Managing Partner of L5 and a member of L5’s Investment Committee. Chris is also a co-founder and Chairman of Level 4 Yoga. He was previously CEO of Level 4 Yoga from 2009 to 2019 and CEO of Big Blue Swim School from 2019 to 2020. Chris has been investing and operating in the consumer services sector since 2009, actively evolving best practices that now form the basis of Acceleration Services’ playbook. Prior to L5, Chris held executive roles at Elevation Data Centers, Palladian Development, Group Chambers and Level 3 Communications. Chris received a B.S. in finance and international business from Georgetown University.

Neil Hobbs joined L5 in 2018 as a partner and member of the Investment Committee. Neil serves as a board member for Big Blue Swim School and L5 Fitness. In his role at L5, Neil is responsible for evaluating new investment opportunities, advising portfolio company management teams, managing investment team resources, guiding firm strategic initiatives and enhancing the value of L5’s portfolio companies. In addition to being at partner at L5, Neil is Chairman of euNetworks and serves on the boards of Bandwidth IG and Telarus. Previously, Neil was Chairman of New Signature, SummitIG and BSI Partners as well as a board member of Cologix, all of which executed benchmark setting sale processes for investors and management teams. Neil has extensive experience as an operator having held senior management and CEO positions managing multi-hundred-million dollar international businesses over the course of his career in the technology industry.

Charles Meyers is a co-founder and Chairman of L5 and a member of L5’s Investment Committee. He is also a co-founder of Level 4 Yoga. Charles is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of Equinix, the world’s largest data center provider, operating in 65 markets globally with annual revenue of more than $6.6 billion. Charles joined Equinix in 2010 with more than 25 years of experience in executive leadership positions at leading technology and IT companies, including Verisign, Level 3 Communications and BellSouth. Charles earned dual master’s degrees from Northwestern University’s J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management and McCormick Graduate School of Engineering. He also holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Colorado.

Jeff Nathan joined L5 in 2023 as an operating partner. In this role, Jeff works closely with portfolio company management teams, L5 Capital Partners, and L5 Acceleration Services throughout the investment life cycle to drive the value creation & growth agendas, with a focus on sales growth, margin enhancement, and operational efficiency. Prior to joining Level 5, Jeff spent 8.5 years as a leader in the portfolio operations group at L Catterton, where he collaborated with dozens of consumer growth brands to deliver sustainable bottom line improvements and attractive shareholder returns. Previously, Jeff worked in brand management at Kraft Foods and as a consultant in Bain & Company’s Consumer and Retail practice. Jeff graduated with High Honors from Harvard University and earned his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Danny Kenny joined L5 in 2018 and is a principal on the Investment Team. In this role, Danny is involved in deal sourcing and diligence, portfolio company operations, overseeing portfolio company integration with AS, investor relations and day to day management of the Investment Team. Danny additionally served as Director of Corporate Development for Big Blue Swim School from 2018-2020 where he was responsible for launching the franchising business. From 2015 to 2017, Danny managed public and private investments at Bayshore Global Management, a multi-billion-dollar private family office in Palo Alto, CA. Prior to Bayshore, Danny was a vice president at Goldman Sachs in Chicago, IL. Danny received a B.A. in political philosophy and economics from Georgetown University and an MBA from the University of Chicago in statistics and analytic finance.

Duane LeVine joined L5 in 2021 and is a principal on the investment team. In this role, Duane is involved in deal sourcing and evaluation, portfolio company investment oversight, portfolio company integration with AS, investor relations and day to day management of the Investment Team. Duane has experience in private placement and leverage buyout investments in the lower middle-market since 2013. Most recently, Duane was a member of the investment team at Seaport Capital for nearly six years, focusing on recurring revenue businesses across various industries. Prior to Seaport, Duane was a M&A analyst at DH Capital, an investment bank focused on middle-market internet infrastructure, telecommunications and SaaS companies executing equity and debt private placement and traditional M&A advisory services. Duane graduated from the University of Georgia with a BBA in finance and a certificate in personal and organizational leadership from the Institute for Leadership Advancement at the Terry College of Business.

Brian Collet joined L5 in 2022 and serves as its General Counsel. In this role, he works with and advises the senior leadership team, facilitates and executes on transactions with the investment team, supports portfolio companies in conjunction with AS and advises on all legal matters across the organization. Brian has spent nearly 20 years working in finance and private equity in various functions. Most recently, Brian was General Counsel for Global Support and Development, an operationally intensive non-profit organization focused on humanitarian response to natural disasters. Prior to GSD, his experience includes General Counsel for Bayshore Global Management, a single-family office in Silicon Valley, the head of the U.S. legal team for Partners Group, a Swiss-based private equity asset manager and an associate with Nixon Peabody LLP in its private equity group in New York City. Brian holds a Bachelors of Science in zoology from Weber State University and a Juris Doctorate from Washington University in St. Louis.

Adam Szymoniak joined L5 in 2020 as Vice President of Fund Administration. At L5, Adam focuses on fund and portfolio company accounting, fund formation, investor relations, compliance and general fund administration. Before joining L5, Adam spent over two years with Ultra Capital, a private equity firm that invests in small to mid-sized infrastructure projects focused on sustainability in the agriculture, energy, waste and water sectors. Prior to Ultra Capital, Adam was a finance team lead at Jump Trading where he was responsible for financial reporting, financial planning and analysis and regulatory filings. Adam started his career in the assurance practice at Ernst & Young, focusing on financial services clients. Adam holds a B.S. in finance and accountancy from the University of Illinois and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Ruth Utin joined L5 in 2021 and is a fund controller on the finance team. In her role at L5, Ruth works closely with various stakeholders within the L5 network to maintain fund financials and meet quarterly and annual reporting goals. Ruth has 12 years of experience working in various fund accounting roles within the hedge fund, real estate and private equity industries. Ruth was born and raised in Atlanta, GA and attended Georgia State University, where she received a BBA in accounting.

Meghan Whitney joined L5 in 2021 to lead investor relations and strategic communications. At L5, she spearheads fundraising, investor relations and portfolio company reporting. Prior to L5, Meghan was a member of the investor relations and fundraising team at Crestview Partners, a middle market private equity firm with $9 billion in assets under management. At Crestview, Meghan was part of the team that raised Crestview Partners IV, a $2.5 billion fund. Meghan started her career in investment banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch as an analyst in the mergers & acquisitions group. Meghan received a BA in political science and economics from Wellesley College and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Laura Mueller joined L5 as an investment associate in 2021. Laura provides support to the principals by evaluating potential investments, managing due diligence processes, helping integrate and monitor investments and preparing investments for exit. For Fund 1, Laura focuses on Big Blue Swim School and L5 Swim. Prior to L5, Laura worked at Morgan Stanley for four years as an analyst and associate in their public finance investment banking group. In those roles, Laura provided executional support on financings totaling over $12 billion where Morgan Stanley was the lead bookrunner. Laura graduated summa cum laude and phi beta kappa with a major in economics from Union College (NY) in 2017.

Connor Dolan joined L5 as an investment associate in 2022. Connor provides support to the principals by evaluating potential investments, managing due diligence processes, helping integrate and monitor investments and preparing investments for exit. For Fund 1, Connor focuses on L5 Fitness and L5 Be Well. Prior to L5, Connor worked at Fifth Third Securities as an analyst in the investment banking group with a focus on the consumer & retail industry. Connor graduated magna cum laude with a major in finance and certificates in entrepreneurialism and personal & organizational leadership from the University of Georgia in 2019.

Blake Werner joined L5 as a senior analyst in 2022. Blake provides support to the principals by evaluating potential investments, managing due diligence processes, helping integrate and monitor investments and preparing investments for exit. For fund 1, Blake focuses on Heyday and L5 Skincare. Prior to L5, Blake worked at Piper Sandler Companies as an analyst in the Consumer investment banking group. Prior to Piper Sandler, Blake worked at Regions Securities as a corporate banking analyst in the financial services group. Blake graduated summa cum laude with a major in finance and a Masters of Science in finance from the University of Alabama in 2019.

Kristina Eastman joined L5 in 2021 as President of Acceleration Services. In this role, she oversees L5’s proprietary operating division that embeds the operational expertise and resources required to unlock non-linear growth and maximize enterprise value within L5’s portfolio companies and owned assets. Kristina spent the last two decades working in high-growth retail and technology concepts including: Enjoy (NASDAQ: ENJY), Apple, Google Nest, The Gap, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom. She is also Co-Founder of To&From, a gifting intelligence company that leverages data-driven curation to deliver a great gift every time. Kristina received a BS from Sam Houston State University and an MBA from Arizona State University.

Susan Grubb, CPA joined L5 in in 2021 and is a managing director on the portfolio company finance team. Susan began her career in the Atlanta office of PricewaterhouseCoopers in the audit and assurance business practice. She moved through the finance and accounting ranks within notable organizations such as Porsche, Randstad and Global Payments. Most recently, Susan led the finance and operations team for Citizens M&A Advisory, the investment banking arm of Citizens Bank. Susan received her undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Alabama. She is a member of The Georgia Society of CPAs and currently serves as a board member and Treasurer of The Women’s Collective.

Sharon Lynch joined L5 in 2021 and is Managing Director of the Portfolio Company Finance team. Sharon has more than 25 years of financial leadership experience at high growth technology companies, including Dun and Bradstreet Software, equity-backed ClickFox and privately-held Adaptigent. At L5, Sharon is responsible for building and managing the financial functions within L5's portfolio companies as well as driving financial discipline, business growth and performance. She also partners with the AS team to help build and demonstrate value for services delivered. Sharon is a CPA and holds a BS in industrial management from Georgia Tech.

Dave Robinson joined L5 in 2022 as Managing Director of the Marketing, Insights and Technology team. Prior to L5, Dave was at Facebook, where he led strategy and product development in support of franchise brands and local ecosystems. In his 11 years at Facebook, he held numerous roles across finserv, tech&telco and restaurants in a business development and marketing strategy capacity. He played a key role in Facebook’s strategy pivot and development of direct response products and most recently led the development of Facebook’s first franchise playbook. Prior to Facebook, Dave worked across a variety of industries in gaming and entertainment (Sony; NCsoft; Turner Broadcasting) in similar roles. Dave graduated from the Ohio State University.

Ariel Weiss joined L5 in 2018 and has served as Chief of Staff to Managing Partner Chris Kenny since 2019. Ariel works very closely with Chris in carrying out strategic initiatives at L5, overseeing program management and communicating objectives between departments. She also manages the implementation of L5’s operating system, a playbook of the company’s best operating practices within L5 internally and at each of its portfolio companies. Ariel ensures the people at L5 and its brands have the right systems and processes in place to communicate effectively and scale quickly. Ariel graduated with a B.A. in English from Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA.

Justin Waltz joined L5 in 2021 and is currently Vice President of the Franchise Operations team. Prior to this role, Justin served as Vice President of Franchise Operations for Big Blue Swim School, an L5 portfolio company. Justin also served as Vice President of Operations for Premium Service Brands as well as Founder and Senior Manager of Franchise Operations for College Hunks Hauling Junk & Moving. Justin is a two-time franchisee of College Hunks of Dallas, TX and Handyman Connection of South Florida. Justin got his start in franchise operations as a front-line team member, operations manager and general manager for 1-800-Got-Junk? of Baltimore, Maryland and West Palm Beach, Florida. Justin received a BS in management from Towson University. He is an active member of both the Tampa Bay Wave Entrepreneurship Incubator and International Franchise Association. Justin also serves on the Board of Advisors for a private logistics and technology firm based in New Freedom, PA.

Melanie Brasher joined L5 in 2021 and is currently Vice President of the Human Resources team. Melanie started her career at Andersen Consulting (Accenture), working in the systems integration and change management consulting practices. She transitioned to HR at Accenture and served in HR leadership positions supporting the US and global strategy and management consulting practices for 20 years. After leaving Accenture, Melanie spent seven years standing up HR functions in a southeastern based management consulting firm as well as at a multifamily real estate investment firm. Melanie earned a BA in Business and Computer Science from LaGrange College and an MBA from the University of Georgia.

Kyle McKenna joined L5 in 2019 and is a Director on the Real Estate Services team. Kyle works closely with L5’s portfolio companies and their franchise partners to grow store locations through real estate site acquisition and negotiation. Prior to L5, Kyle was a Real Estate Manger with Blink Fitness and Jamba Juice Corporation where he oversaw real estate transactions nationwide. Additionally, Kyle has held development related roles in strategy, new store openings and construction management. He has a BA from Rutgers University and an MBA from San Diego State University.

Nate Minnis joined L5 in 2018 and is currently a director on the Real Estate Services team. Prior to L5, Nate spent 12 years with Jimmy Johns, Great Clips, HuHot Mongolian Grill and Cowboy Chicken where he facilitated real estate transactions nationwide. In addition to his real estate experience, Nate has five years of field operations experience with Subway and Cold Stone Creamery, for whom he opened and supported franchise partners of over 200 stores. His real estate market knowledge is not limited to major metropolitan markets as he has traveled to many rural towns and every college town of schools with over 20,000 students.

Erin O'Brien joined L5 in 2021 as Director of Training after building Big Blue Swim School's training program and platform as an instructional designer starting in 2019. Erin's career began in television advertising where she supported advertising sales executives, media buyers and a local television ratings data sales team. Erin made a shift from sales to training in 2011 when she joined Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen in an administrative role and eventually transitioned to the training team. In her time at Popeyes, Erin learned instructional design, managed a team that developed operations training for 2,000 domestic restaurants and served on the Popeyes Women's Leadership Forum board in four volunteer roles including President. In 2017, Erin joined the boutique consulting firm Manual Makers (now White Deer Group) and led a team of technical writers that created operations manuals and training materials for emerging, national and international franchise concepts including American Girl and Tropical Smoothie Café. Erin earned a BA in speech and communications studies from Clemson University.

Joe Risinger joined L5 in 2022 as a director on the Marketing, Insights and Technology team. Prior to L5, Joe was at Facebook where he advised restaurants brands, on both the corporate and franchisee levels, on their marketing strategies across Facebook’s family of apps. Within Facebook, he was also the performance marketing lead for the restaurant vertical, providing best practices for direct response campaigns on both national and local levels. Prior to Facebook, Joe held roles at multiple ad agencies, both large and small, leading paid social and digital strategies for brands in the retail, CPG and telco industries. Joe received a BA in global business leadership from College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University.

Rae joined L5 in 2021 as Director of Real Estate on the Real Estate Services Team. Rae oversees site selection and real estate expansion across all L5’s portfolio companies in the Mountain West region. Prior to joining L5 Capital, Rae served as Senior Real Estate Manager at Sprouts Farmers Market responsible for new store growth and developing long-term market strategies in designed territories. Rae is an Arizona native and studied business and organizational leadership at Arizona State University.

Michael Chiert joined L5 in 2022 and is a controller on the Portfolio Company Finance team. Michael has over 15 years of experience in finance and accounting at real estate private equity firms including Crown Acquisitions, Cofinance and the Promise Homes Company. At L5, Michael is responsible for leading best in class financial practices for the L5 Swim and L5 Skincare Shops portfolio companies. Michael is a CPA and earned a degree in accounting from Yeshiva University.

Denis O'Hare joined L5 in 2022 and is a controller on the Portfolio Company Finance team focusing on L5 Be Well. Denis has 15 years of experience in accounting and finance, including roles at Coca-Cola, Porsche and Fiserv. Prior to joining L5, Denis spent 3 years at an equity-backed management services organization in the healthcare space in various functions within accounting, M&A and treasury. At L5, Denis is responsible for building out, managing and continuously improving the financial reporting system and accompanying processes to help drive business performance of L5 Be Well. Denis is a CPA and holds a BS in finance from the University of Georgia, a master of accounting degree from the University of North Carolina and an MBA from Emory University.

Maddy Flair joined L5 in 2021 and currently leads the company's recruiting efforts. Maddy started her career with Macy's in its Executive Development Program, leading a team of in-store talent through sales, customer experience, visual merchandising and operations. She transitioned to HR with Kirkland & Ellis, supporting the recruiting efforts, education and development programs, employee integration and DEIA initiatives. Maddy graduated from the University of Maryland with a bachelors degree in psychology.

Jordan Cook joined L5 in 2018 and is currently a director on the Real Estate Services team. Having first joined as a strategy analyst, Jordan now leads a team of analysts that is responsible for understanding L5 portfolio companies’ customers’ behavior in order to strategically map out markets nationwide, which in turn optimizes territory site selection for L5’s brands. Jordan also supports other functions at L5’s portfolio companies with customer and business intelligence. Prior to L5, Jordan worked on the site acquisition team for a commercial real estate developer that owns and manages properties across the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions of the US. Jordan graduated from Miami University’s Farmer School of Business in 2016 with a major in finance and certificate from the China Business Program.

Chris Kenny is a co-founder and Managing Partner of L5 and a member of L5’s Investment Committee. Chris is also a co-founder and Chairman of Level 4 Yoga. He was previously CEO of Level 4 Yoga from 2009 to 2019 and CEO of Big Blue Swim School from 2019 to 2020. Chris has been investing and operating in the consumer services sector since 2009, actively evolving best practices that now form the basis of Acceleration Services’ playbook. Prior to L5, Chris held executive roles at Elevation Data Centers, Palladian Development, Group Chambers and Level 3 Communications. Chris received a B.S. in finance and international business from Georgetown University.

Neil Hobbs joined L5 in 2018 as a partner and member of the Investment Committee. Neil serves as a board member for Big Blue Swim School and L5 Fitness. In his role at L5, Neil is responsible for evaluating new investment opportunities, advising portfolio company management teams, managing investment team resources, guiding firm strategic initiatives and enhancing the value of L5’s portfolio companies. In addition to being at partner at L5, Neil is Chairman of euNetworks and serves on the boards of Bandwidth IG and Telarus. Previously, Neil was Chairman of New Signature, SummitIG and BSI Partners as well as a board member of Cologix, all of which executed benchmark setting sale processes for investors and management teams. Neil has extensive experience as an operator having held senior management and CEO positions managing multi-hundred-million dollar international businesses over the course of his career in the technology industry.

Charles Meyers is a co-founder and Chairman of L5 and a member of L5’s Investment Committee. He is also a co-founder of Level 4 Yoga. Charles is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of Equinix, the world’s largest data center provider, operating in 65 markets globally with annual revenue of more than $6.6 billion. Charles joined Equinix in 2010 with more than 25 years of experience in executive leadership positions at leading technology and IT companies, including Verisign, Level 3 Communications and BellSouth. Charles earned dual master’s degrees from Northwestern University’s J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management and McCormick Graduate School of Engineering. He also holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Colorado.

Jeff Nathan joined L5 in 2023 as an operating partner. In this role, Jeff works closely with portfolio company management teams, L5 Capital Partners, and L5 Acceleration Services throughout the investment life cycle to drive the value creation & growth agendas, with a focus on sales growth, margin enhancement, and operational efficiency. Prior to joining Level 5, Jeff spent 8.5 years as a leader in the portfolio operations group at L Catterton, where he collaborated with dozens of consumer growth brands to deliver sustainable bottom line improvements and attractive shareholder returns. Previously, Jeff worked in brand management at Kraft Foods and as a consultant in Bain & Company’s Consumer and Retail practice. Jeff graduated with High Honors from Harvard University and earned his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Danny Kenny joined L5 in 2018 and is a principal on the Investment Team. In this role, Danny is involved in deal sourcing and diligence, portfolio company operations, overseeing portfolio company integration with AS, investor relations and day to day management of the Investment Team. Danny additionally served as Director of Corporate Development for Big Blue Swim School from 2018-2020 where he was responsible for launching the franchising business. From 2015 to 2017, Danny managed public and private investments at Bayshore Global Management, a multi-billion-dollar private family office in Palo Alto, CA. Prior to Bayshore, Danny was a vice president at Goldman Sachs in Chicago, IL. Danny received a B.A. in political philosophy and economics from Georgetown University and an MBA from the University of Chicago in statistics and analytic finance.

Duane LeVine joined L5 in 2021 and is a principal on the investment team. In this role, Duane is involved in deal sourcing and evaluation, portfolio company investment oversight, portfolio company integration with AS, investor relations and day to day management of the Investment Team. Duane has experience in private placement and leverage buyout investments in the lower middle-market since 2013. Most recently, Duane was a member of the investment team at Seaport Capital for nearly six years, focusing on recurring revenue businesses across various industries. Prior to Seaport, Duane was a M&A analyst at DH Capital, an investment bank focused on middle-market internet infrastructure, telecommunications and SaaS companies executing equity and debt private placement and traditional M&A advisory services. Duane graduated from the University of Georgia with a BBA in finance and a certificate in personal and organizational leadership from the Institute for Leadership Advancement at the Terry College of Business.

Brian Collet joined L5 in 2022 and serves as its General Counsel. In this role, he works with and advises the senior leadership team, facilitates and executes on transactions with the investment team, supports portfolio companies in conjunction with AS and advises on all legal matters across the organization. Brian has spent nearly 20 years working in finance and private equity in various functions. Most recently, Brian was General Counsel for Global Support and Development, an operationally intensive non-profit organization focused on humanitarian response to natural disasters. Prior to GSD, his experience includes General Counsel for Bayshore Global Management, a single-family office in Silicon Valley, the head of the U.S. legal team for Partners Group, a Swiss-based private equity asset manager and an associate with Nixon Peabody LLP in its private equity group in New York City. Brian holds a Bachelors of Science in zoology from Weber State University and a Juris Doctorate from Washington University in St. Louis.

Adam Szymoniak joined L5 in 2020 as Vice President of Fund Administration. At L5, Adam focuses on fund and portfolio company accounting, fund formation, investor relations, compliance and general fund administration. Before joining L5, Adam spent over two years with Ultra Capital, a private equity firm that invests in small to mid-sized infrastructure projects focused on sustainability in the agriculture, energy, waste and water sectors. Prior to Ultra Capital, Adam was a finance team lead at Jump Trading where he was responsible for financial reporting, financial planning and analysis and regulatory filings. Adam started his career in the assurance practice at Ernst & Young, focusing on financial services clients. Adam holds a B.S. in finance and accountancy from the University of Illinois and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Ruth Utin joined L5 in 2021 and is a fund controller on the finance team. In her role at L5, Ruth works closely with various stakeholders within the L5 network to maintain fund financials and meet quarterly and annual reporting goals. Ruth has 12 years of experience working in various fund accounting roles within the hedge fund, real estate and private equity industries. Ruth was born and raised in Atlanta, GA and attended Georgia State University, where she received a BBA in accounting.

Meghan Whitney joined L5 in 2021 to lead investor relations and strategic communications. At L5, she spearheads fundraising, investor relations and portfolio company reporting. Prior to L5, Meghan was a member of the investor relations and fundraising team at Crestview Partners, a middle market private equity firm with $9 billion in assets under management. At Crestview, Meghan was part of the team that raised Crestview Partners IV, a $2.5 billion fund. Meghan started her career in investment banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch as an analyst in the mergers & acquisitions group. Meghan received a BA in political science and economics from Wellesley College and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Laura Mueller joined L5 as an investment associate in 2021. Laura provides support to the principals by evaluating potential investments, managing due diligence processes, helping integrate and monitor investments and preparing investments for exit. For Fund 1, Laura focuses on Big Blue Swim School and L5 Swim. Prior to L5, Laura worked at Morgan Stanley for four years as an analyst and associate in their public finance investment banking group. In those roles, Laura provided executional support on financings totaling over $12 billion where Morgan Stanley was the lead bookrunner. Laura graduated summa cum laude and phi beta kappa with a major in economics from Union College (NY) in 2017.

Connor Dolan joined L5 as an investment associate in 2022. Connor provides support to the principals by evaluating potential investments, managing due diligence processes, helping integrate and monitor investments and preparing investments for exit. For Fund 1, Connor focuses on L5 Fitness and L5 Be Well. Prior to L5, Connor worked at Fifth Third Securities as an analyst in the investment banking group with a focus on the consumer & retail industry. Connor graduated magna cum laude with a major in finance and certificates in entrepreneurialism and personal & organizational leadership from the University of Georgia in 2019.

Blake Werner joined L5 as a senior analyst in 2022. Blake provides support to the principals by evaluating potential investments, managing due diligence processes, helping integrate and monitor investments and preparing investments for exit. For fund 1, Blake focuses on Heyday and L5 Skincare. Prior to L5, Blake worked at Piper Sandler Companies as an analyst in the Consumer investment banking group. Prior to Piper Sandler, Blake worked at Regions Securities as a corporate banking analyst in the financial services group. Blake graduated summa cum laude with a major in finance and a Masters of Science in finance from the University of Alabama in 2019.

Kristina Eastman joined L5 in 2021 as President of Acceleration Services. In this role, she oversees L5’s proprietary operating division that embeds the operational expertise and resources required to unlock non-linear growth and maximize enterprise value within L5’s portfolio companies and owned assets. Kristina spent the last two decades working in high-growth retail and technology concepts including: Enjoy (NASDAQ: ENJY), Apple, Google Nest, The Gap, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom. She is also Co-Founder of To&From, a gifting intelligence company that leverages data-driven curation to deliver a great gift every time. Kristina received a BS from Sam Houston State University and an MBA from Arizona State University.

Susan Grubb, CPA joined L5 in in 2021 and is a managing director on the portfolio company finance team. Susan began her career in the Atlanta office of PricewaterhouseCoopers in the audit and assurance business practice. She moved through the finance and accounting ranks within notable organizations such as Porsche, Randstad and Global Payments. Most recently, Susan led the finance and operations team for Citizens M&A Advisory, the investment banking arm of Citizens Bank. Susan received her undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Alabama. She is a member of The Georgia Society of CPAs and currently serves as a board member and Treasurer of The Women’s Collective.

Sharon Lynch joined L5 in 2021 and is Managing Director of the Portfolio Company Finance team. Sharon has more than 25 years of financial leadership experience at high growth technology companies, including Dun and Bradstreet Software, equity-backed ClickFox and privately-held Adaptigent. At L5, Sharon is responsible for building and managing the financial functions within L5's portfolio companies as well as driving financial discipline, business growth and performance. She also partners with the AS team to help build and demonstrate value for services delivered. Sharon is a CPA and holds a BS in industrial management from Georgia Tech.

Dave Robinson joined L5 in 2022 as Managing Director of the Marketing, Insights and Technology team. Prior to L5, Dave was at Facebook, where he led strategy and product development in support of franchise brands and local ecosystems. In his 11 years at Facebook, he held numerous roles across finserv, tech&telco and restaurants in a business development and marketing strategy capacity. He played a key role in Facebook’s strategy pivot and development of direct response products and most recently led the development of Facebook’s first franchise playbook. Prior to Facebook, Dave worked across a variety of industries in gaming and entertainment (Sony; NCsoft; Turner Broadcasting) in similar roles. Dave graduated from the Ohio State University.

Ariel Weiss joined L5 in 2018 and has served as Chief of Staff to Managing Partner Chris Kenny since 2019. Ariel works very closely with Chris in carrying out strategic initiatives at L5, overseeing program management and communicating objectives between departments. She also manages the implementation of L5’s operating system, a playbook of the company’s best operating practices within L5 internally and at each of its portfolio companies. Ariel ensures the people at L5 and its brands have the right systems and processes in place to communicate effectively and scale quickly. Ariel graduated with a B.A. in English from Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA.

Justin Waltz joined L5 in 2021 and is currently Vice President of the Franchise Operations team. Prior to this role, Justin served as Vice President of Franchise Operations for Big Blue Swim School, an L5 portfolio company. Justin also served as Vice President of Operations for Premium Service Brands as well as Founder and Senior Manager of Franchise Operations for College Hunks Hauling Junk & Moving. Justin is a two-time franchisee of College Hunks of Dallas, TX and Handyman Connection of South Florida. Justin got his start in franchise operations as a front-line team member, operations manager and general manager for 1-800-Got-Junk? of Baltimore, Maryland and West Palm Beach, Florida. Justin received a BS in management from Towson University. He is an active member of both the Tampa Bay Wave Entrepreneurship Incubator and International Franchise Association. Justin also serves on the Board of Advisors for a private logistics and technology firm based in New Freedom, PA.

Melanie Brasher joined L5 in 2021 and is currently Vice President of the Human Resources team. Melanie started her career at Andersen Consulting (Accenture), working in the systems integration and change management consulting practices. She transitioned to HR at Accenture and served in HR leadership positions supporting the US and global strategy and management consulting practices for 20 years. After leaving Accenture, Melanie spent seven years standing up HR functions in a southeastern based management consulting firm as well as at a multifamily real estate investment firm. Melanie earned a BA in Business and Computer Science from LaGrange College and an MBA from the University of Georgia.

Kyle McKenna joined L5 in 2019 and is a Director on the Real Estate Services team. Kyle works closely with L5’s portfolio companies and their franchise partners to grow store locations through real estate site acquisition and negotiation. Prior to L5, Kyle was a Real Estate Manger with Blink Fitness and Jamba Juice Corporation where he oversaw real estate transactions nationwide. Additionally, Kyle has held development related roles in strategy, new store openings and construction management. He has a BA from Rutgers University and an MBA from San Diego State University.

Nate Minnis joined L5 in 2018 and is currently a director on the Real Estate Services team. Prior to L5, Nate spent 12 years with Jimmy Johns, Great Clips, HuHot Mongolian Grill and Cowboy Chicken where he facilitated real estate transactions nationwide. In addition to his real estate experience, Nate has five years of field operations experience with Subway and Cold Stone Creamery, for whom he opened and supported franchise partners of over 200 stores. His real estate market knowledge is not limited to major metropolitan markets as he has traveled to many rural towns and every college town of schools with over 20,000 students.

Erin O'Brien joined L5 in 2021 as Director of Training after building Big Blue Swim School's training program and platform as an instructional designer starting in 2019. Erin's career began in television advertising where she supported advertising sales executives, media buyers and a local television ratings data sales team. Erin made a shift from sales to training in 2011 when she joined Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen in an administrative role and eventually transitioned to the training team. In her time at Popeyes, Erin learned instructional design, managed a team that developed operations training for 2,000 domestic restaurants and served on the Popeyes Women's Leadership Forum board in four volunteer roles including President. In 2017, Erin joined the boutique consulting firm Manual Makers (now White Deer Group) and led a team of technical writers that created operations manuals and training materials for emerging, national and international franchise concepts including American Girl and Tropical Smoothie Café. Erin earned a BA in speech and communications studies from Clemson University.

Joe Risinger joined L5 in 2022 as a director on the Marketing, Insights and Technology team. Prior to L5, Joe was at Facebook where he advised restaurants brands, on both the corporate and franchisee levels, on their marketing strategies across Facebook’s family of apps. Within Facebook, he was also the performance marketing lead for the restaurant vertical, providing best practices for direct response campaigns on both national and local levels. Prior to Facebook, Joe held roles at multiple ad agencies, both large and small, leading paid social and digital strategies for brands in the retail, CPG and telco industries. Joe received a BA in global business leadership from College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University.

Rae joined L5 in 2021 as Director of Real Estate on the Real Estate Services Team. Rae oversees site selection and real estate expansion across all L5’s portfolio companies in the Mountain West region. Prior to joining L5 Capital, Rae served as Senior Real Estate Manager at Sprouts Farmers Market responsible for new store growth and developing long-term market strategies in designed territories. Rae is an Arizona native and studied business and organizational leadership at Arizona State University.

Michael Chiert joined L5 in 2022 and is a controller on the Portfolio Company Finance team. Michael has over 15 years of experience in finance and accounting at real estate private equity firms including Crown Acquisitions, Cofinance and the Promise Homes Company. At L5, Michael is responsible for leading best in class financial practices for the L5 Swim and L5 Skincare Shops portfolio companies. Michael is a CPA and earned a degree in accounting from Yeshiva University.

Denis O'Hare joined L5 in 2022 and is a controller on the Portfolio Company Finance team focusing on L5 Be Well. Denis has 15 years of experience in accounting and finance, including roles at Coca-Cola, Porsche and Fiserv. Prior to joining L5, Denis spent 3 years at an equity-backed management services organization in the healthcare space in various functions within accounting, M&A and treasury. At L5, Denis is responsible for building out, managing and continuously improving the financial reporting system and accompanying processes to help drive business performance of L5 Be Well. Denis is a CPA and holds a BS in finance from the University of Georgia, a master of accounting degree from the University of North Carolina and an MBA from Emory University.

Maddy Flair joined L5 in 2021 and currently leads the company's recruiting efforts. Maddy started her career with Macy's in its Executive Development Program, leading a team of in-store talent through sales, customer experience, visual merchandising and operations. She transitioned to HR with Kirkland & Ellis, supporting the recruiting efforts, education and development programs, employee integration and DEIA initiatives. Maddy graduated from the University of Maryland with a bachelors degree in psychology.

Jordan Cook joined L5 in 2018 and is currently a director on the Real Estate Services team. Having first joined as a strategy analyst, Jordan now leads a team of analysts that is responsible for understanding L5 portfolio companies’ customers’ behavior in order to strategically map out markets nationwide, which in turn optimizes territory site selection for L5’s brands. Jordan also supports other functions at L5’s portfolio companies with customer and business intelligence. Prior to L5, Jordan worked on the site acquisition team for a commercial real estate developer that owns and manages properties across the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions of the US. Jordan graduated from Miami University’s Farmer School of Business in 2016 with a major in finance and certificate from the China Business Program.