Team
Editorial Staff
Marcy Buffington ( Senior Editor ) Marcy is a homeschooling mother of two girls, and she creates curriculum and facilitates classes for educational cooperatives. Her educational background includes Masters Degrees in English and Anthropology, and two years as a Stegner Fellow in Writing at Stanford University. She held the Texas Institute of Letters Dobie-Paisano Fellowship and her work has appeared in numerous literary publications. Her practical experience includes teaching writing at Southwestern University and 10 years as Editor of a consumer-interest automotive publication. She began writing for the toy and baby industries in 2005.
Elizabeth Warren ( Editor ) brings creativity, enthusiasm, and an impressive background in writing to SmilesIncluded. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence with a BA in English, Elizabeth worked as the Marketing Content Manager for Wayport.com, a leading high-speed wireless Internet provider. She also has many years experience as a music educator in public schools, in the private sector, and with special needs children. Elizabeth brings a unique combination of practical skills, education, and work experience to her position as editor at SI.
Katie Winfrey is a home schooling mother of two. She holds a degree in Anthropology from The University of Kansas. She has designed and implemented curriculum for several educational cooperatives, and has served as instructor for many others. She has experience as an educator of children of all ages, and has a strong retail background in children’s literature. Katie also provides respite care for foster families in need.
Carol Farley. As a parent and educator, Carol has created, organized and facilitated educational activities for large and small groups of children, surrounding topics such as physics, literature, and history. Carol also created and moderates an on-line support group for home school parents in Central Texas, which has grown to include over 400 active members. Carol has a BA from the University of Kansas in Theatre and Media Arts/Film Studies. She is the recipient of several awards and scholarships for her academic work, and is experienced in creating both text and video content for magazines, trade shows, and special events.
Theresa Adams is a registered and licensed occupational therapist with experience working with young children from birth to age three years. She holds a bachelor’s degree in occupational therapy from the University of Texas at El Paso, has worked in both public school and hospital settings, and is skilled at involving families in intervention programs for children with developmental issues. Her expertise in using toys and manipulatives with children in their homes has resulted in positive outcomes for many families facing challenges. She will bring these skills to her job as a reviewer at SmilesIncluded.
Angela Derrick has worked with children as a physical therapist since 2000. She is highly qualified both in terms of education and practical experience. She holds Master’s and Doctorate Degrees in Physical Therapy from St. Louis University. She specializes in working with babies and toddlers in their homes, using toys to enhance and promote development. A parent herself, Angela also chooses toys for her daughter that are engaging and encourage developmental progress. She joins SmilesIncluded as a product review editor.
Cory Vas holds MS and Doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. He has many years’ experience providing therapy and assessment for families and young children in need, and currently teaches at New Mexico State University. His background as a therapist gives him unique insight into the needs of children and their families, which will guide him in his role as editor at SmilesIncluded.
Judson Kusy has been providing family therapy with a focus on early childhood mental health in the Las Cruces, NM area since 2003. His continuing education includes the completion of a postgraduate endorsement in Early Childhood Mental Health in May 2008. His specialty is helping parents learn about and build healthful, joyous parent-child relationships and he will use this focus as an SI reviewer. He’ll also utilize the skills he’s honing as the father of a young son!
Management Team
Ernest Tarango ( CEO & Co-founder ) is a native of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Early in his career, he worked for Federal Express, starting off as a box handler and advancing to Dangerous Goods Agent and Team Leader. In 2000, Ernest began working for M Industries, a distributor of coin operated vending machines - or whatever - where he used his FedEx experience to service M Industries’ many routes. M Industries owner began teaching Ernest the business. In 2004, when M Industries was sold to Susan Hustace, she saw Ernest’s value to the business and brought him on as a full business partner.” It was a dream come true,” says Ernest, “when I was able to become a partner, and growing our business was always exciting. I look forward to using my entrepreneurial experience to launch our new company, SmilesIncluded. And as a parent, I know the value of talking to other parents, and hearing what they have to say about all the children’s products there are to choose from. That’s what SmilesIncluded is all about.”
Susan Hustace ( Co-founder & President, Content) has been a serial entrepreneur since 1995 with a focus on animation, digital art, interface design and real estate investment. Over the last three years she helped build and run Robot-Tractor.com, an e-commerce toy store. Her bachelor’s degree from The University of Texas and many years of additional training and education, combined with 12 years of entrepreneurial experience will be a valuable asset during the development stages of SmilesIncluded.com. Susan created the SmilesIncluded name and logo design, and helped develop and refine the site concept, mission/goals, organization, specifications, and business strategies. She will be the primary interface with our development team on design and functionality to ensure that the site supports our objective of providing an unparalleled user experience that is both compelling and enjoyable.
Randy Nargi ( Vice President, Video Production & User Experience ) brings nearly 20 years of marketing expertise to the SmilesIncluded team. As VP of Marketing for Classmates Online, Nargi helped the company reach net income profitability for the first time by repositioning them as a viable online community. In addition to his work as a senior-level marketing executive, Nargi is also a skilled writer, producer, and web designer, and has written and produced dozens of ads for television, radio, and print. His clients have included General Mills, Proctor&Gamble, Bank of America/Seafirst Bank, and Earthbound Farm. With his passion for online start-ups and his diverse marketing and advertising skills, Randy will be a valuable addition to both our Marketing and Video teams.
Gloria Vaquera ( Director of Business Development ) is the co-founder of the design firm Innovative Touch, Inc. For the past nine years, Gloria has served as vice president as well as business manager responsible for the strategic and operational leadership of the company. Innovative Touch started as a graphic design firm and eventually expanded into a full ad agency providing services from graphic design to web development and marketing to audio and video. In 2006, Gloria also co-founded and served as the editor of the magazine Tu Revista Latina. She was also the administrator in charge of total management and direction of the magazine including managing the overall operations and resources of the organization. Tu Revista Latina is a bilingual lifestyle magazine that celebrates Latino achievement and culture, while at the same time deals with serious issues that Latinos face today. Turevistalatina.com came soon after with empowering information and resources for the Latino community. Gloria is a serial entrepreneur based in Las Cruces, with experience building businesses devoted to developing content across a variety of media— video, online and print.
Christopher Campbell ( Toy Industry Guru ) is a Consumer Products leader with over 20 years experience in marketing in the toy industry, having served as Vice President of Marketing for Mattel and Tyco, among other companies. In addition to industry leaders Mattel and Tyco, he has worked for such powerhouses as Hasbro and K’NEX, and has successfully turned around lagging brands such as Lincoln Logs, Viewmaster, and Magna Doodle. He is well known in the industry for his marketing successes, his passion for new products, and his innovative and successful consumer research concepts.