George Lee
Founder / President / CEO
George has led the growth of Probus OneTouch, an Internet retailer, since 2003. In 2010, Inc. Magazine recognized Probus OneTouch as the 24th fastest growing privately held retailer in America. The Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal ranked Probus as #4 among the 50 fastest growing private companies in Minnesota. From 2000 to 2003, George was president and CEO of a vendor/supplier of consumer products to big box retailers, including Target, Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Walgreens. Between 1973 and 2000, George was a senior marketing executive in the financial services industry. George earned his bachelor’s degree in international business at Pacific Western University in California. George is also the founder and president of Jobs Foundation, a nonprofit organization that creates employment opportunities for the underserved, and serves on the boards of Courage Center Winter Sports, Social Enterprise Alliance (MN Chapter), and Prism.
Tom McCullough
Executive Vice President
Since 2003, Tom has been principal partner at Probus OneTouch Inc., an Internet retailer. Currently, Probus OneTouch operates 5 niche websites properties and conducts business out of offices in Plymouth, Minnesota; Kansas City, Missouri; and Shanghai, China. The company was recognized in 2010 by Inc Magazine as the 24th fastest growing private held retailer in America. From 1985 to 2000, Tom was the principal owner of several large cellular phone dealerships whose efforts specialized in large enterprise, wide cellular contracts and medical niche marketing. Tom holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the Carlson School of Management, with an emphasis in Marketing, Transportation and Finance. Tom is married and enjoys his family cabin in northern Minnesota with his wife Debra and grown children Chaney and Taren. He is active in competitive tennis and loves fishing and hunting.
Bob Wood
Search Engine Marketing
Bob Wood is a partner on the dot-com side of the Probus business organization. He has been working in the field of Internet marketing for 7 years. Bob was a business turnaround consultant prior to joining Probus and discovered that without a strong Internet strategy, a business was unlikely to succeed in the 21st century—thus his interest and work in Internet marketing. Bob’s focus is on conversion optimization and research best business practices for search engine marketing strategies in an R&D (research and development) capacity.
Bob holds an undergrad degree in marketing as well as a Master of Science degree in marketing, both from the University of North Dakota, where he was a full-time faculty member for five years. Three of those years he was also head of the marketing department at the college.
Bob is married to Beth, who is an artist, and they have three grown boys: Ryan, Grant, and Jon. Bob and Beth are avid travelers and active in faith-based organizations.
Henry Peng
President of Probus China
Henry is the manager of the Probus China office, overseeing all Probus employees and manufacturing facilities based in China. He is responsible for purchase orders, quality assurance, new product development, and finance in the Probus representative office in China.
Henry has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical design and manufacturing. From 2000 to 2001, Henry worked at Jianshe, one of China’s biggest motorcycle manufacturing companies, as an engineer. While at Jianshe, Henry was responsible for production technology in regards to motorcycle engine parts. From 2001 to 2003, Henry was the Sales/Project Supervisor for Taiwan Enlight Group, one of the biggest computer case manufacturers in the world. He was responsible for sales and new project development and worked with clients such as Intel, Dell, HP, and Compaq. From 2003 to 2005, Henry worked as the project manager for ZXEC, the leading tuner assembly and connection parts manufacturer in China. He was responsible for managing new product and sales development for clients such as GE, Emerson, Schneider, and Solectron. Henry joined Probus OneTouch as the China office manager in 2005. In his free time, Henry enjoys reading books.
John Ostman
Vice President of Sales and Marketing
John leads a cross-functional team of gifted and energetic analysts, designers, writers and sales people. Since joining Probus in 2007, he has owned the brand development process from inception through rapid growth stages for Probus’ private branded product groupings. John has also been successful in implementing sales and marketing strategies that have garnered national and regional recognition in the Inc. Top 500/5000, Internet Retailer 500/1000, and Minnesota Fast 50 lists.
John holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Bethel University and was previously a partner at Virtual Motorworks, a technology solutions and consulting company and a managing partner at Lumen Concepts, LLC, a nano-technology product development group. He enjoys cooking, softball and WWII history.
MaryEllen Jessup
Vice President of Shipping and Administration
I am responsible for managing ocean freight processes (imports from China) and managing small package processes (getting the product to our end users). “Administration” is a catchall for everything that needs to be done but isn’t designated for someone else to do! Officially I am a vice president. The meaning of that remains a mystery to me except that I am authorized to sign documents. Chasity says my job is to keep all the “boys” up here in line! There might be some truth to that, but I sure as heck don’t know how you put that in a job description. I am privileged to participate in such an others-focused organization.
I began working for Probus in 2006 as a warehouse/shipping specialist. Over the past 4 years my job has become more specialized and specific to shipping processes. My degree is in special education.
I enjoy the equine world. I teach horseback riding lessons, help horse owners work with their horses, and do a limited amount of horse training. I continue to be amazed at the relational depth and freedom of the horse. And even more that they allow us (humans) to participate in both with them. As Sir Winston Churchill said, “There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.”
My husband Jim and I have three grown children. We have enjoyed traveling, spending time in outdoor activities and playing board games together.
Guy Pugh
Vice President of Operations
Guy is the VP of Operations and the Department of “Make Stuff Happen.” He has been the manager of warehouse and operations since he joined the company in 2006. Previous to his career at Probus, Guy held positions in landscape/garden design and the home mortgage industry. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in kinesiology and psychology. In his free time, Guy currently spends his time restoring his 120 year old house in south Minneapolis. He also enjoys movies and long walks on the beach.
Chasity Solomon
Vice President of Customer Relations
I’ve been with the company for almost 6 years now. On most days if you asked me what I did for the company I would casually say, “I’m in customer service.” But if I’m trying to impress you I’d tell you that I’m the Vice President of Customer Relations. I started working with George and Tom back when they still worked their summer hours and I was only going to be part time (HA!).
Describing what I do is not always a short answer. In a big picture description, I run the customer service call center, which currently employees local customer service representatives and one representative who works from a remote location. Most days I am taking calls and getting yelled at by customers like everyone else. The main focus of my job is to keep our customers satisfied and our employees happy.
Rich Shanahan
Accounting Manager
Rich Shanahan is the one-man band for all accounting, regulatory and compliance activities for employees, corporate matters, taxes, and other areas. He earned his Master of Science degree at Cardinal Stritch, a mini MBA at College of St. Thomas, and a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting.
In his free time, Rich keeps busy serving as a Viking Council Scout Master for Boy Scouts, a certification instructor in the U.S. Army (retired as Master Sergeant), a money count supervisor for his local church, and a board member of a homeowner association.
Rich oversees rental property in a southern suburb of the Twin cities and owns property in northern Minnesota. He enjoys hunting, fishing, sports, singing, old movies, working on homes and automobiles, and putsing around.
