Steering the ship

C. Esther de Wolde, CGA

Chief Executive Officer

As one of the founders of Phantom Screens, Esther has nurtured and grown the corporation to become the leading brand in the retractable screen industry. Her passion for business is matched by her care for people – believing that Phantom Screens can only be truly successful if it has served its people, its customers and its business partners with respect and with integrity.

Her success is complemented by her belief in values-based leadership. The company’s core values are at the heart of Phantom Screen’s culture and something that she believes sets it apart from other organizations. As she says: “they are our guiding star and keep us accountable to do ‘the right thing’.

Outside of her role as Chief Executive, Esther is a Certified General Accountant, a member of the Corporation Board of Directors of World Vision Canada and an active speaker and City Team member for the LeaderImpact Group.

Being a country farm girl at heart, she loves nothing more than spending time working in her garden and is currently taking on the challenge of English horse riding.

You can read her blog here: http://www.phantomscreens.com/blog/category/from-the-ceo/

Ross Tripp

Vice President, Sales

Ross has responsibility for the sales teams across the US and Canada, as well as our international sales operations. His role encompasses everything from strategic planning and execution, new business growth and maintaining and enhancing customer relationships across our distribution network and national retailers.

But there’s always more to a person than their career and Ross is no exception. He started his career as a Lecturer/Athletic Director at McMaster University, Ontario and has a Master’s Degree in Kinesiology. He continues to be involved in sports – coaching high school football as well as running and snowboarding.

Martin Loffler

Operations Manager

As Operations Manager, Martin has the responsibility of heading up a diverse range of departments including Order Fulfillment, Purchasing, Receiving, Warehousing, Production, Shipping and Facilities Maintenance. He and his team work incredibly hard to ensure timely, cost-effective, quality product delivery. His role involves everything from identifying opportunities and goal setting to budgeting and specifying new equipment and machinery, cost control, process development and just about anything in between!

Outside of work, Martin has a pretty packed schedule including wakeboarding, snowboarding, home renovation and landscaping projects as well as driving and fixing old cars including his 1968 Ford Mustang “California Special”.

Brent Foster

Product Manager

When it comes to our products, Brent’s the man with the encyclopedic knowledge! He’s responsible for bringing new products to market, technical support, installation training and field support, as well as product innovation and engineering (for example creating, designing and developing our Legacy door screen).

Brent values the sincerity and dependability of all the people he works with at Phantom Screens. Having worked with the company as a supplier before joining us, he is glad he made the move. As he says: “It’s such an amazing collection of people with dedication to integrity, honesty, compassion and the innate valuing of people.”

Paul Ackah-Sanzah

Senior Marketing Manager

Paul leads our team of marketing specialists and harnesses their creativity to communicate Phantom’s brand, products and services to the market. He also supports our distributor network with the tools and resources they need to ensure their marketing efforts are successful.  Part of his role is to ensure Phantom Screens’ brand messages are applied consistently across all marketing channels including online, broadcast, print, exhibitions, advertising and public relations.

Paul loves the collaborative working atmosphere at Phantom Screens. As he says: “Everyone here adds something unique that makes this place warm, friendly, exciting and fun place to work. Sure, we have our differences sometimes, but like family we work it out and stand behind each other when the chips are down.”

Andrew Matheson

Senior Finance Manager

When it comes to the serious matter of money, Andrew’s the go-to guy. He manages Phantom Screens’ finance department and ensures that we collect cash from customers, pay suppliers and produces monthly and annual financial statements for the Leadership Team and the Board of Directors, along with making sure our tax obligations are covered. Much of his role involves analysis of data and costing of product to support our decision making. He also has the onerous task of annual budget preparation.  Together with his team, he maintains banking relationships, and determines hedging requirements to cover our exposure to foreign currency fluctuations and aluminium prices.

He’s a fluent Spanish speaker and can apparently sing the Welsh National Anthem in Welsh. Although he hasn’t a clue what the words actually mean!

Terry Van Oort

Technology Solutions Manager

At the heart of any business operation is its IT system and Phantom Screens is no exception. Managing IT, technology and all the computer systems is the responsibility of Terry. His role entails developing and maintaining all aspects of the Phantom’s Information Technology systems that are used by the staff, distribution network and consumers.

If you spend time with Terry, you’ll soon get to understand what he loves about working at Phantom Screens. Simply put, and in his own words: “It’s the wonderful, caring people – from the CEO to the production floor – who appreciate the support provided, combined with a company-wide attitude that embraces continuous on-going improvement.”