Meet Our Team
We’re funding, staffing, accounting, legal, marketing, M&A, and customer service experts who are never shy about working hard and caring for our clients.
Leadership
Jeremy first joined Advance Partners in 2004 and took the reins as Senior Director and General Manager for the company in 2019. As the leader for Advance, Jeremy has overall P & L responsibilities for the business, which has grown tremendously since the start of his tenure as senior leader. He prides himself on the Advance Team he partners with everyday, focusing on their growth and success while empowering them to offer guidance and vision that will define the future trajectory of the company.
Jeremy’s leadership style is heavily focused on teamwork and maintaining a great company culture, both of which he is extremely proud of when reflecting on his two decades with the company.
“We are true to our company values, both those we established before joining the Paychex family in 2015, and then intertwined with the values of our incredible parent company. They fit together like a perfect puzzle; it’s those values which have driven our success and will continue to drive our success into the future”.
Jeremy talks frequently about our business being a relationship business, grounded on developing trust and partnership with our clients: “Our Team hears me frequently say that the key to building long-lasting, mutually beneficial client relationships is finding ways to make our client partnerships feel anything but transactional. That requires effort, compassion and alignment on what is important. We truly care about the businesses and people we support, from the owners of the business to their in-house staff and perhaps most important, the hundreds of thousands of temporary staffing professionals that we help in the process through our various services. Being a part of something bigger than just Advance’s success is an amazing thing that I do not take for granted and I know our great Team is like-minded.”
One of Jeremy’s proudest achievements at Advance is bringing his commitment to the Cleveland Food Bank to the company. He volunteers there as often as he can, and after sharing his passion for the organization with coworkers, others began joining him to help support Northeast Ohio’s food insecure population. Advance has always been committed to philanthropic efforts in our community, which is a further demonstration of our values.
Jeremy is a member of the Cleveland Food Bank’s Finance Committee, as well as the Cleveland chapter of Young President’s Organization (YPO). When he is not working, volunteering or playing baseball, he loves spending time with his family and supporting the Cleveland Guardians, Cavaliers, Browns, and his alma mater, the Indiana Hoosiers.
Favorite food: “Wake & Bacon” sandwich at Melt Bar & Grilled (Cleveland)
Favorite movie: The Fugitive
Favorite hobby: Skiing
Shanna joined the Advance Partners team in 2020 as the Senior Manager of Client Service, having spent the previous 10 years with Paychex leading various service teams throughout the country. She currently leads the Advance Service team, supporting both our Full Service and Payroll Funding Services clients – a group that consists of more than 100 AP team members. Her team is committed to being friendly, reliable and knowledgeable partners for our clients to create the best service experience possible.
Shanna has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from The College of William and Mary.
Favorite food: Steak and potatoes
Favorite movie: Inception
Favorite hobby: Traveling/Hiking
Steve is the senior Corporate Counsel for Advance Partners. He brings with him over 10 years of experience working with banking and financial companies as a corporate lawyer. He comes to Advance Partners from a prestigious Northeast Ohio law firm, and even spent time as an Adjunct Instructor at his alma mater, Youngstown State University. Steve received his law degree from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.
Favorite food: Sushi
Favorite movie: Interstellar
Favorite hobby: River kayaking
Mike recently joined Advance Partners, having spent the previous 16 years in leadership roles at Advance’s parent company, Paychex. Mike comes with tons of experience helping entrepreneurs grow and intends to add value to our staffing firm clients after seeing first hand what helped his mid-market and enterprise-level clients at Paychex become successful.
“Personally, I look to challenge myself in my career to learn new things and areas of the business,” Mike says. “The more perspective I can gain, the more I learn and the more I can help Paychex, Advance Partners and our customers succeed.”
Born and raised in the Rochester, NY, area, he’s a Buffalo Bills fan through and through, but football doesn’t hold a candle to his first love: soccer. He played in both high school and college and coached youth soccer since 2000. He currently coaches U9 girls travel for his oldest daughter’s team.
Mike is married with three children, and in his free time loves coaching, reading, driving mustangs, golfing, and watching the History Channel.
Favorite Food: Seafood – specifically from Iggy’s Doughboys in Narragansett Rhode Island
Favorite Movie: The Game
Favorite Hobby: Playing Soccer
Kevin Elliott, CBA, is a senior credit analyst with Advance Partners. He has worked in the factoring industry for 13 years, including more than nine years analyzing credit. Kevin graduated from John Carroll University in 2007 with a BA in Marketing. He went on to receive his MBA from Cleveland State University in 2009 with a concentration in Operations and Business Management.
Neil joined the Advance Partners team in 2022 supporting Credit & Collateral teams before moving into the Senior Manager of Portfolio Management role in 2023. He spent the previous 16 years with Paychex leading Credit Risk Management teams. He currently leads the Advance Cash Management and Funding Reconciliation functions. These teams work closely with our Advance Risk and Service teams to ensure the highest level of Accounts Receivable integrity for our clients.
A native of the Rochester, NY area, Neil enjoys many sports and outdoor activities. Baseball and golf command a lot of attention, coaching and playing, while he also enjoys hiking, walking, and camp fires. Neil holds his M.B.A. from St. John Fisher University and B.S. Business Administration degree from S.U.N.Y. Geneseo.
Favorite food: Cheese
Favorite movie: The Fugitive
Favorite hobby: Golf and Baseball
Sales
Tiffany brings over a decade of business development experience, specifically in the staffing space, to her role as Senior Sales Manager. Having come spent the previous 10 years helping Advance Partners clients grow, she has a keen understanding of market dynamics and brings a unique and strategic approach to sales management.
Tiffany started at Advance in 2004 overseeing Cash functions, and has had many roles with the company since then. She has a Bachelors and Masters degree in Accounting from Cleveland State University.
“I love what I do, mainly because I feel challenged with a new scenario every day. I love the Paychex/Advance brand because the companies emulate the same values I hold near and dear.”
Favorite food: Shrimp and grits
Favorite movie: Apocalypto
Favorite hobby: Traveling
Gary has been helping Advance Partners clients grow for over 15 years and is proud of the relationships he has built in his career here. Before coming to Advance, he was a senior staffing manager at Robert Half and a business banking officer at Citizens Bank.
Gary earned his BBA degree at Cleveland State University, where he majored in Accounting. He is a lifelong Clevelander and loyal supporter of the Guardians, Cavs, and Browns. In his free time, Gary likes to play golf, billiards, chess, listen to rock music, and attempt to play the drums. One day, he hopes for a warmer retirement in Nevada or North Carolina.
Territories: Alaska, California, Canada, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota ,Utah, Washington, Wyoming
Favorite food: Pasta Bolognese
Favorite movie: Austin Powers – International Man of Mystery
Favorite hobby: Chess
David has been helping clients exceed their growth goals at Advance Partners since 2015. Prior to Advance Partners, he worked for 10+ years selling for Fortune 500 companies like CareerBuilder, Oracle, and Salesforce. David has a very consultative approach and adheres to a simple philosophy: whatever he can help his clients with, he will. His favorite thing is turning prospects into clients, and then clients into friends.
David received his BS from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Economics, and his MBA from DePaul University in Chicago with a focus on Finance and Entrepreneurship. An adventurous spirit at heart, David loves to travel and has been to over 30 different countries, including a six-month stint in Spain. Stateside, he loves hanging out with his family and friends, cooking, trying new restaurants, working out, supporting all the Cleveland teams, golfing, and trying new things.
Territories: Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Wisconsin
Favorite food: Geraci’s pizza
Favorite movie: The Shawshank Redemption
Favorite hobby: Golf
Elmer comes from a background in the tech and hospitality industries, often times combining the two in his professional endeavors. Having been in client-facing roles in the past, he understands the growth and progressive mindset needed to facilitate the advancement of a business.
He was born in Los Angeles, but has spent most of his life in Houston, where he currently resides…although he never lost his love for the Los Angeles Lakers.
In his free time, he enjoys spending time with friends and family, watching sports, and car spotting.
Territories: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Puerto Rico
Favorite Food: Steak cooked medium
Favorite Movie: Wolf of Wall Street
Favorite Hobby: Car Spotting
For over 35 years, Robert has devoted his career to working with staffing companies helping them to manage and grow their businesses. Having extensive experience in almost every vertical in staffing, he has proven success delivering working capital solutions to staffing companies and building partnerships.
A former entrepreneur, Robert operated his accounts receivable management company for 18 years managing the receivables and cash application for Fortune 500 staffing companies. In 2003, Robert joined Sterling National Bank (former Resource Funding Group, now known as Webster Bank) where he was responsible for managing the portfolio and credit and collections area of the payroll finance division.
After many years in credit and operations, he transitioned into client originations where he could work more closely with staffing companies to help them start and grow their business. As a former entrepreneur, Robert brings to the table a unique talent knowing what it is like to run a business. For two years, he held a senior position at Prosperity Funding developing their government contracting book before returning to Sterling in 2017 where he served as a Managing Director, Commercial Services. Most recently, Robert held a position as SVP, Managing Director Staffing and Government Originations at White Oak Commercial Finance where he furthered his knowledge of factoring and asset-based lending.
He is a member of multiple state staffing associations and serves on the board of directors for the NY and Massachusetts Staffing Associations where he is involved in various committees. He is an active member of the American Staffing Association, Staffing Industry Analysts and Affiliated Staffing Group and supporting diversity and inclusion across the industry. He is a Certified Paralegal (Georgetown University) and holds a bachelor’s degree (Kent State University).
Robert prides himself on developing and maintaining client relationships and is a strong proponent of consultative selling. In Robert’s words “It brings me great joy to be working with a company that shares my deep passion for the staffing industry, to which I have dedicated most of my career. I am looking forward to working with staffing companies of all sizes in helping them to start, maintain and grow their businesses.
When Robert is not traveling or visiting clients, he enjoys time with his family and grandkids, dining out and going to Broadway shows.
Territories: Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., West Virginia
Favorite Movie: Too many to count, but if I have to pick one, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King”. Easier choice would be for favorite play – has to be “Phantom of the Opera”
Favorite Food: Spaghetti Bolognese
Favorite Hobby: Swimming, kayaking, skiing
Sue has been helping clients get funded at Advance since 2014. Prior to coming to Advance, Sue worked at Madison Resource Funding for 25 years as the National Sales Director. In her decades immersed in the industry, she has made countless connections and helped clients grow their staffing business time and time again.
Sue received her degree in Business Management from Husson University in Maine. When she’s not in the office or on the road, Sue likes to play golf, do water sports, and travel all around the world, especially to Europe. Sue is also a dedicated volunteer with the Special Olympics and CASA, an organization that helps children in abusive situations.
Territories: Connecticut, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, United Kingdom
Favorite Food: Seafood
Favorite Movie: Goodwill Hunting
Favorite Hobby: Water sports
Strategic Relationships
Lillian comes to her role as Client Relations Advocate with more than 16 years of experience helping Advance Partners clients succeed. She began her journey here as a Customer Service Supervisor, helping her assigned clients navigate their payroll funding and ensuring that the ever present burden of cash flow was always handled. Now, she has a very fitting role of making sure each client is treated with utmost care, and ensuring all their needs are met and challenges solved.
“I put myself in the client’s shoes and understand exactly what their needs are and how I can provide that exceptional service and support they deserve.”
But perhaps her most endearing role at Advance is leading what we consider the soul of our company: our charity work. She captains our team for Race for the Place, an annual event that raises money for The Gathering Place, a non-profit organization that provides resources to individuals and families affected by cancer. She has also spearheaded efforts for our other charity efforts, like for Cleveland-based Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital and the “Stuff the Bus” school supply drive. Under Lillian’s leadership, Advance has raised thousands of dollars for various charities.
Favorite food: Seafood
Favorite movie: Shawshank Redemption
Favorite hobby: Watching Cleveland Browns football, cooking on the grill, and shopping
Laura is a recent addition to our Client Experience team, where she helps ensure our clients are achieving all of their growth goals and helps solve any challenges they encounter. The role is a natural fit because she’s able to draw on over two decades of experience helping staffing firms succeed, first at a temporary staffing firm, which she said gave her “real world experience of the growth challenges and pain points in staffing,” and then in a variety of client-facing roles at Advance for the last 20 years.
“Those [experiences] help me to empathize with our clients every day and allow me to help them grow,” she said.
Her free time is spent with her husband and adult children, who all share a love of baseball. In fact, they have a family tradition to go to the Cleveland Guardians baseball Opening Day game each year. She is also active in several charities, including a memorable experience wrapping donated gifts for pediatric patients at Johns Hopkins, where her daughter works as a Child Life Specialist.
Favorite Food: Dark chocolate
Favorite Movie: Boyhood
Favorite Hobby: Listening to books
Wife and mother to four children, (3 boys, 1 girl). I’ve been with Paychex for 16 years prior to joining the Advance team, having spent my entire career in service.
In addition to being the Strategic Relationship Manager, I also do hair and makeup on the side. I’ve operated a salon in my basement, as well as go onsite for wedding parties for the last 10 years.
When I’m not working my full or part time job, I coach cheerleading and basketball and am heavily involved in our youth organization serving on the board as Secretary. I enjoy being busy and maintaining an organized yet chaotic schedule.
Favorite food: anything Italian
Favorite movie: A League of Their Own
Favorite hobby: reading, especially anything by Colleen Hoover or James Patterson
Robin grew up in the historic city of Shaker Heights, an inner-ring suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, and after almost 40 years of living away moved back to Shaker to the same house she grew up in.
She has two adult daughters and two wonderful grandsons. She went to Purdue University and will always be a Boilermaker, even when they play The Ohio State University!
She has been with Advance Partners for over 20 years, the majority of which on the funding side. She loves to garden and is known to plant tall Zinneas each year, which she gives to friends and family.
Favorite food: Chips and dip, short ribs, and smoked salmon
Favorite movie: Remember the Titans
Favorite hobby: Watching college football, cooking, and reading
Stephanie has been with Advance for over 12 years, with six years as a FS Customer Service Supervisor before moving into her current role as a Relationship Manager. She started in invoicing and worked her way up through the department, from payroll to CSR to supervisor. This experience gave here a deep understanding of how all the different aspects of the business function, which enables her to help her clients with a wide variety of questions and requests. She loves problem solving, and doing the research to figure things out, and this role offers a lot of opportunity for that – it’s constant learning and growing, which keeps things fresh and interesting.
“I really focus on the Paychex values of Partnership and Service, as we have an amazing team here, always willing to help each other out and work collaboratively to solve problems, and customer service is the main goal of that teamwork. I enjoy working with my clients, building relationships and trust, and being a solid partner they can count on.”
She loves traveling, and has lived in or visited over 20 countries. She spent four years living in Europe, most of it in France: “I loved the time there. The food, architecture, art and languages are all very appealing to me, but ultimately there’s nothing like home and I came back to the US a few years before moving to Cleveland.” Her family origins are Scandinavian, so her two most recent international trips were see the glaciers, waterfalls, lagoons, and fjords of Norway and Iceland. She is married with two 3.5-year-old twins running around and talking up a storm.
Favorite food: cheese (especially triple-cream French cheeses, lol)
Favorite movie: Princess Bride or Inception
Favorite hobby: reading and traveling
