Staff

“Through our pedigree of fair and balanced reporting, ConsumerAffairs can achieve the best outcomes for both brands and consumers.”
Zac studied Engineering and Sculpture at Dartmouth College and lives in Tulsa with his wife their beautiful son, daughter and a pet fish named Giacometti. His volunteer activities include the Children's ...

“Most people are way too trusting, way too polite and not nearly inquisitive enough. If everyone spent a little time reading worthwhile history, science and journalism instead of listening to blowhards and con artists, the American middle class wouldn't be imploding quite so quickly.”
A graduate of Southern Illinois University, ...

“I think consumers need someone to listen to them and I find taking on that role to be very gratifying.” Mark has written about consumer issues for ConsumerAffairs.com since 2004. Previously, he was a news correspondent for the Associated Press Radio Network, Westwood One Radio Networks and Marketwatch.com.
Huffman also ...

Christopher Maynard is a New York-based writer and editor who has worked as a security guard, high school teacher, theatrical lighting designer and volunteer fireman. He is a graduate of Marist College. He has performed writing and editing duties for Brainstorm Health Services and ConsumerAffairs and spends his spare time ...

“The Internet gives remarkable power to consumers but it affords even greater power to corporate interests, which is why it's essential to have sites like ConsumerAffairs.com to give consumers a voice and dig out information that's useful and illuminating to them.”
A veteran Associated Press newsman, Limbach worked for more ...

“Consumers need to stand up, make noise and demand the service and product quality they are entitled to. This includes taking an active interest in politics and voting for candidates who don't move their lips when they read. Aggressive journalism and educated, civic-minded citizens are what made America great – ...

Kristen Dalli is a New York native and recent graduate of Marist College. She has worked as a writer and editor for several different companies and publications, including Thought Catalog, The Oddysey, Thomas Greco Publishing, and several travel blogs. She's currently pursuing her MFA in Creative Non-Fiction at Fairfield University ...

Amy Martyn is a writer and investigative reporter now based in San Diego by way of Tijuana, BC, Dallas, TX and Los Angeles, CA. She primarily writes about how consumers, taxpayers and businesses are affected by corporate and government policies.

Daryl Nelson is a contributing writer for ConsumerAffairs.com. Before joining Consumer Affairs Daryl has written for Readers Digest, Townsquare Media, AllHipHop.com, The Urban Post, Impose Magazine, Crumbs for Men Magazine, and a number of other print and online publications. He's a native New Yorker, and attended both Virginia State University, ...

A graduate of New York Law School and Le Moyne College, Joan is an attorney who writes frequently about consumer issues. She is the author of ConsumerAffairs.com's Guide to Small Claims Court and has been published in The Washington Post, Better Homes & Gardens, Entrepreneur, and the American Bar Association ...

Jan Yager, Ph.D. is a sociologist, trainer, speaker, coach, and author of numerous nonfiction books on work and relationships and other topics including: Friendshifts, When Friendship Hurts, Work Less, Do More: The 14-Day Productivity Makeover, Creative Time Management for the New Millennium, Business Protocol, Road Signs on Lifes Journey, Victims, ...

Robbie Miller Kaplan has traveled a long and interesting road to becoming a successful author. When she started writing career books, she had no idea she would eventually write about travel, social issues, loss, and grief. It's her personal experience and desire to make a difference that motivates her to ...

Sarah has been writing and editing for ConsumerAffairs since 2015. Her areas of interest include technology and cybersecurity news, retail news, and home and living news. She is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, an interior design enthusiast, and a mother of two.

Jonathan Hood is a New York City attorney who practices intellectual property law. He is also knowledgeable about consumer class actions and criminal defense.

Ron Gasbarro, PharmD, is a pharmacist, medical writer, and principal at Rx-Press.com.

Gary Guthrie is new to the ConsumerAffairs team. His main beats are technology and travel. Prior to ConsumerAffairs, he was a programming consultant for radio and TV stations in some 20 markets around the U.S., as well as a presentation developer for the likes of Jack Daniel's, Procter & Gamble, ...

Celebrity Nutrition & Fitness Expert JJ Virgin is author of New York Times bestseller “The Virgin Diet: Drop 7 Foods, Lose 7 Pounds, Just 7 Days.” JJ specializes in weight loss resistance related to food allergies and food sensitivities and has helped thousands create fast fat loss. She is also ...

Shelley Webb is a registered nurse, geriatric care manager and freelance writer who concentrates on the subjects of eldercare, health and social media. She cared for her father in her home for more than four years.

Benji Waters has been working in the electronic cigarette industry for over 3 years. He is a well known blogger on What E Cigarette? and Electronic Cigarette UK and regularly consults with suppliers and manufacturers on current products and future technology. He has a unique insight into the world of ...

Shelley Elmblad is a freelance writer with years of experience covering small business, personal finance and tax software and mobile apps for About.com, Examiner.com and other websites. Shelley’s goal is to help others choose the best software to run a small business, track personal finances and save money.

Erin Huffstetler is the Frugal Living Guide at About.com, and the founder of MyFrugalHome.com. If there’s a way to get something for less, Erin will find it, and tell you about it.

Neal Frankle is a Certified Financial Planner in Los Angeles. He is the publisher of WealthPilgrim.com, an information resource for consumers. Before Neal finished high school, his parents passed away. His father had a small life insurance policy that made all the difference to Neal and his three siblings. His ...

Melissa Hincha-Ownby is a freelance writer who finds joy in doing her taxes, testing new tax software programs and sharing her experiences with others. When she's not busy researching tax and other personal finance topics, Melissa writes about autism issues for her blog, The Autism Education Site. Melissa, her husband ...

Michele Lerner, author of “HOMEBUYING: Tough Times, First Time, Any Time”, has been writing about personal finance and real estate for more than two decades. Michele writes for regional, national and international publications in print and online for a variety of audiences including consumers, real estate investors, business owners and ...

Erin Raub is a freelance writer, content marketer and blogger. She writes about home security and family safety, as well as digital marketing and business. Erin is also an experienced travel writer, and knows having a trustworthy security system can make any time away from home even more enjoyable.

Zachary Shahan is the director of CleanTechnica, the most popular cleantech website on the planet. He is also the director of leading green news site Planetsave and is the founder/director of SolarLove.org, EVObsession.com, and Bikocity.com. Zach’s key areas of focus since 2009 have been solar energy and electric vehicles. He ...

A recognized expert and leader in pet nutrition, Dr. Ken Tudor has written over 200 articles on the subject. He also has a featured weekly blog on petMD, is published in major veterinary journals and is a frequent internet media guest expert. He is the founder of Hearthstone Homemade, a ...

Mark Brooks has advised the CEOs of over 100 companies in the Internet dating industry. He's been focused on the dating industry since 1998 and is currently the CEO of Courtland Brooks, a consultancy-agency for the Internet dating industry, and is President of the Internet Dating Excellence Association (IDEA.gp) and ...

Matthew Brodsky is an established expert on insurance, having written hundreds of articles and other pieces of content on the subject, interviewed countless practitioners, and attended dozens of conferences and events. He served as an editor at industry magazine Risk & Insurance for six years, during which time he covered ...

Jessica Assaf & Alexis Krauss are the co-founders of Beauty Lies Truth, a website dedicated to educating consumers about the ingredients in personal care products.
Jessica is an award-winning activist and entrepreneur on a mission to change the beauty industry. She has spent the past ten years spreading awareness about ...

An independent journalist, Joseph Burns is the health insurance topic leader for the Association of Health Care Journalists and contributes to AHCJ’s Covering Health blog. He has also written about health policy and the business of health care for a wide variety of publications, including Healthcare Finance News, Hospitals & ...

Andrew G. Poulos, EA, ABA, ATP, is principal of Poulos Accounting & Consulting, Inc. in Atlanta, GA where he works with individual and business tax clients and represents clients before the IRS and state labor agencies. A self-made entrepreneur and real estate investor, Andrew is an author, national speaker and ...

Michelle Baran is a senior editor at Travel Weekly, where she has been reporting on the travel and river cruise industries since 2007. Baran has sailed the Danube, Rhone, Volga, Mekong, Yangtze, Nile, Amazon, and Irrawaddy rivers, among others. Her cover story about women traveling the globe solo, “Courage and ...

From the front desk of a busy FBO to the captain's seat of a commercial airliner, Erika Armstrong has experienced everything aviation has to offer. She is the author of A CHICK IN THE COCKPIT and her aviation articles can be found at Consumer Affairs, Plane & Pilot, Flying.com, Disciples ...

Lisa Montgomery is a seasoned journalist who has covered and reported on a variety of topics in the home automation industry for more than 15 years. As one of the founding editors of Electronic House magazine and a contributing editor for CEPro magazine, she has followed the evolution of smart ...

Barbara Friedberg, MBA, MS is a former investment portfolio manager with decades of financial experience. Friedberg taught Finance and Investments at several universities. Her published work includes Personal Finance; An Encyclopedia of Modern Money Management, Invest and Beat the Pros-Create and Manage a Successful Investment Portfolio and How to Get ...

Beverly Harzog is a nationally-recognized credit card expert, consumer advocate and author. Her latest book, The Debt Escape Plan: How to Free Yourself From Credit Card Balances, Boost Your Credit Score, and Live Debt-Free (Career Press, 2015), is an Amazon bestseller. She’s also the author of the award-winning and #1 ...

Lauren Fix is an automotive expert who earned the title of The Car Coach, and is recognized throughout all forms of media as a woman with in-depth knowledge on vehicles, technology, automotive finance, repair and trends. She has been the National Automotive Correspondent for NewsMaxTV and USA Radio-DayBreak and has ...

Rob Douglas is an information security consultant specializing in the investigation and prevention of identity theft and scams. Rob is one of the nation’s leading authorities on the use of social engineering, impersonation, fraud and pretext to steal personal information. For two decades, Rob has assisted the financial services sector, ...

Born in New York City, and having spent several years of his adult life living and working in Chicago, Jim Angelus settled in San Francisco in 2000. Jim returned to his restaurant roots in 2003. After managing a couple local restaurants, Jim decided to open his own business, a decision ...

Specializing in health and medicine, Sandra Gordon has written extensively about cord blood banking for national and regional parenting magazines. She also has written about baby products, including breast pumps, for national and regional parenting magazines, blogs and books. Her work has appeared in hundreds of publications, including Parents, Prevention, ...

An avid photographer and generally curious geek, John Biehler discovered 3D printing in 2009 and built his first 3D printer shortly thereafter. Since then, he has been actively sharing his knowledge about the technology with thousands of people at various events, workshops and conferences, on television and radio, as well ...

Former newspaper reporter, Cyril Tuohy, has covered the insurance industry for more than 15 years. He is an expert at writing about personal and commercial property-casualty insurance and covers life, annuities and retirement as a staff writer for a top insurance trade magazine aimed at insurance agents and financial advisors. ...

WeGoLook is changing the way businesses and individuals collect or verify information to make decisions while getting more done. With the click of a button, one of its 20,000+ Lookers can be dispatched at a moment's notice to collect real-time data, photos or video and complete tasks on your behalf. ...

Mark Barroso is an editor, writer and researcher who has been featured in various print and online publications including Fitness Magazine, Muscle & Fitness, Men’s Fitness, Muscle & Fitness Hers, FLEX, Spartan Race and Tough Mudder. A fitness enthusiast who practices what he preaches, Barroso enjoys researching and testing the ...

Joseph Truini is a home improvement expert who writes extensively about do-it-yourself home remodeling and repair, woodworking projects and tools and techniques.
He has authored seven books, the two latest being: Stanley Homeowner’s Guide to Tiling, and Building Sheds, both released in 2016. Joe’s work has appeared in several national ...

Michael J. Breus, Ph.D., known as The Sleep Doctor, is a Clinical Psychologist and both a Diplomate of the American Board of Sleep Medicine and a Fellow of The American Academy of Sleep Medicine. He is on the clinical advisory board of The Dr. Oz Show and is a regular ...

RecruitMilitary makes sure veterans are taken care of when it comes to searching for a job by connecting veterans with employers. All of their services are free of charge to veterans and their spouses, including hundreds of job fairs across the nation.

Rose Spinelli, founder of The CrowdFundamentals, is an internationally recognized crowdfunding specialist, mentor, trainer and writer. A former journalist, she was an early adopter in the crowdfunding space, focusing on the importance of storytelling to attract backers.
In 2012 she launched The Crowdfundamentals. She quickly established herself as an authoritative ...

Ellen Muraskin has been writing about telecom and IT since 1993 when she joined the marketing department of Dialogic. In 1996 she joined the editorial staff of CMP’s Computer Telephony Magazine, rising to Executive Editor before joining Ziff Davis Media to launch the VoIP topic center of their eweek.com site. ...

Greg Chick has worked as an entrepreneur for over 40 years. He has an educational background in plumbing, irrigation, pools and water heating. He is a Certified Water Manager and also has LEED AP certification and advanced solar heating certification. Greg is licensed by Green Plumbers USA and is a ...
Lisa Ann Schreier has been involved in the timeshare community since 1998. She is the author of, ‘Surviving A Timeshare Presentation...Confessions From The Sales Table’ and ‘Timeshare Vacations For Dummies.’ She is a frequent contributor to major media outlets and a sought-after speaker at consumer advocacy groups. She is a ...

Darryl Specter graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with an accounting degree and has over 25 years of experience in the debt recovery industry. He is the past president and founding member of the Recovery Management Network. He now serves as president of Debt Collection Consulting where he matches national ...

Jim Blankenship is a Certified Financial Planner with an Enrolled Agent designation and over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. He is the founder and principal of Blankenship Financial Planning, Ltd. where he works as a NAPFA-registered, fee-only financial advisor. Prior to establishing his independent firm, Jim ...

Ben Mannes is a noted subject matter expert in public safety, exam integrity and investigations. He began his work in public safety in 1994 and has a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership and a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice from California Coast University. He is both a Certified Exam Security ...

Lisa Kaplan Gordon is a real estate developer of luxury housing in Fairfax County, VA. She is a prize-winning writer and editor with more than 20 years of experience crafting compelling stories for print and online media. Lisa has written real estate and home improvement stories for Zillow, Realtor, Popular ...

Whitney Roban is a Doctor of Philosophy with a degree in clinical and school psychology from Hofstra University. She is the author of the Devin & Evan Book Series where she uses common themes to teach children why sleep is so important. She is the founder of SLEEP-EEZ KIDZ, SLEEP ...

Ryan Woodley is a graduate of Southeast Tech with a degree in Sports Turf Management. He is a Field Operations Manager with over 15 years of experience working in the professional groundskeeping and green industry. Ryan has been a part of many international baseball events ranging from the World Baseball ...

Erica Spiegelman is an author, motivational speaker, and addiction and wellness specialist who works with individuals, couples and families on personal growth and overall wellness. Erica provides a holistic approach to helping people overcome their struggles with addictions and dependency by giving them the tools they need to create healthy ...

Sharee Collier is a blogger and RV lifestyle expert. She has explored the country while living and working on the road full-time for five years and is the author of the “Live.Camp.Work.” blog, podcast and book. A mother of four, Sharee is no stranger to adventure, and she is passionate ...

A Certified Payroll Professional since 1993, Loy Loveless has completed the Global Certificate Program with the American Payroll Association and is an active member of the Dallas Chapter APA. After receiving an associate degree in accounting from Brookhaven College and a bachelor's in business administration from Amber University, Loy acquired ...

Clark Kendall has over 30 years of domestic and international investment and wealth management experience, focused on serving Middle-Class Millionaires. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in finance and economics from James Madison University and is a former equity seat holder on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). ...

Jeffery Daigrepont specializes in healthcare automation, system integration, operations and deployment of enterprise information systems for large integrated delivery networks. A popular national speaker, Daigrepont is frequently engaged by respected organizations, including many non-profit trade associations and state medical societies. He authored the top-selling book “Complete Guide and Toolkit to ...

Shawn Bayless is an experienced HVAC mechanical design engineer and project manager with a unique perspective and knowledge of heating and cooling systems. He has worked for some of the top contractors in Oklahoma and is highly skilled in design layouts, project estimation and planning and construction. Bayless studied engineering, ...

Joey Thurman is a nationally recognized health, fitness, nutrition expert, and television host. He is the author of "365 Health and Fitness Hacks That Could Save Your Life." He was named the best trainer in Chicago by the Chicago Sun-Times in 2015 and NEWBEAUTY.com's top 3 favorite celebrity trainers. He ...

Once receiving his master’s degree in government and public administration from Amerian University, Howard Mills decided to enter the political realm. He was first elected supervisor of Wallkill, New York and later a member of the New York State Assembly. Following his time in office, Mills served as Superintendent of ...

Michael Nranian has over 30 years of experience in product development, intellectual property, patent litigation, legal and technical compliance, and product liability litigation. He is a licensed attorney in Michigan, Texas and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He conducts analyses of all intellectual property aspects, including patents and ...

Dr. Michael Duplessie is a cornea transplant and LASIK pioneer. Dr. Duplessie performed over 30,000 LASIK procedures, organized the first LASIK surgery course in the United States and published the first textbook chapters on the subject. He has received education and experience from establishments such as the University of Notre ...

Dr. Maxine Sears has over 25 years of experience in the trucking industry. She spent 11 years as a driver herself before serving as the safety and training manager at ABCO Transportation, one of the largest trucking companies in North America. Then as Director of Training at Gypsum Express, Dr. ...