July 31, 2019

Kathy (Hay) Stine: Wanted to share a picture with you from our 4th of July celebration with a few Wharton friends on Long Beach Island. Karla Fernandez Perez, Santiago Perez, Massimo Armanini and Elena Zanetti joined Craig and myself for a few days of sun, sea and sand. We were so happy to reconnect and enjoy a bit of summer not so far from our old Philadelphia stomping grounds!

Sauro Nicli: I began a new chapter in my life in early April of this year… as an independent professional. Upon turning 58, I took the opportunity to leave my employer and ease into early retirement. I will remain active nonetheless: I launched my own firm (LOFOS CONSULTING LTD) to transfer knowledge and experience to start-ups and to do private equity/angel investing on my own. Still living in Morges/Lausanne (Switzerland) with Marie-Christine and our three daughters Solenne (21), Chiara (18) and Salomé (15) – all doing great. Wishing you all good health and lots of happiness!!!!

Kacey Carpenter: It’s been an exciting summer with relaxing 4th of July weekend in Sonoma kayaking on the Russian River, eating great food and tasting good wine, and relaxing on the California coast. Started in my new role as Assoc Director with the Sierra Club directing National Chapter Digital to help create urgency to save the planet from climate disaster. Family is doing great with Cass in her 4th year of medical school, Rob working in New York as paralegal, Emma teaching in Oregon, Kevin starting a new position with HP Enterprise in Texas, and Kathy taking great care of me, being recognized as employee of the quarter at Cisco, and enjoying living in Berkeley

Brian O’Connell: Since I can’t remember the last time I posted an update, I figured it was about due. In deep into my second iteration of living in Minnesota just outside Minneapolis, and for the last 14 years have been one of the owners of Key Surgical. We manufacture and distribute consumable supplies used in the operating room, sterile processing and endoscopy departments of hospitals and surgery centers. Two years ago we partnered with Water Street Healthcare Partners, a Chicago-based specialty healthcare private equity firm. Since then, we’ve tripled our revenues through acquisitions here in the US and Europe and we’ve continued the double-digit growth rates in all of our business that we’ve enjoyed for the last decade. We now have operations in the US, Germany and the UK and sell in 71 countries around the world. I’m very thankful for our growth and success. On the personal side, my wife Lynne and our two sons Declan (14) and Logan (12) are enjoying summer in MN as we have to bank thoughts of warm days to remember when we’re complaining of the polar vortex in February. If anybody is passing through the Twin Cities, please feel free to drop me a line. We’re usually flyover country here, but Minnesota has a lot to offer in terms of business, culture, food and recreation. Skol Vikings!

Amy (Shapiro) Guenzl: I recently re-entered the work force (after an extended 25 year break) and am now a luxury travel advisor, with Elli Travel in Larchmont, NY. I’m really enjoying combining my passion for travel with my entrepreneurial, marketing, and organizational skills. My new business email address is amy@ellitravel.com.

Brett Sewell: After a fabulous year living in the Netherlands, my family moved back to Silicon Valley this summer. William (15) is starting high school, and Georgia (13) and Charlotte (11) are in middle school. I have started a search fund (www.deodoracapital.com), a small private equity fund whose goal is to acquire a small to mid size company. I will join the acquired company as CEO, leading the company to an exit at some point down the road. I’m actively networking with private company operators and investors to find targets to acquire, as well as co-investors. I’d appreciate any introductions coming from Wharton classmates. As always, we welcome the opportunity to see alums who are visiting or living in the Bay Area!

Massimo Armanini: We had a lot of fun with classmate Kathy Stine and Elena Zanetti, as well as Santiago and Karla Perez in Long Beach Island in July.  Santiago took both of these photos below.  Can you tell which one is from 1990?