Featured Speakers
Harman Aulakh
Vice President – Marketing
Onvo
Harman Aulakh currently serves as the Vice President – Marketing for Onvo. Harman led the development and launch of the company’s rebrand from Liberty Travel Plazas to Onvo in 2020. At Onvo, Harman oversees all marketing and advertising activities and drives many innovation initiatives, including loyalty and app development, store remodels, and EV charging. Harman earned his bachelor’s in Marketing from Drexel University and his master’s degree from Temple University in Strategic Advertising and Marketing, and he currently serves on the NATSO Marketing Committee.
Mark Devlin
Senior Client and Program Manager
RJP Consulting Group, LLC
Mark Devlin is a Senior Client and Construction Program Manager at RJP Consulting Group with 40+ years of experience helping Owners and Developers take their visions and turning them into realities. Specializing in full turnkey construction program management from inception, feasibility, and buildability to site and building turnover.
Scott Duever
VP of Operations
RJP Consulting Group, LLC
Scott joined RJP in 2014 with broad experience in both business and construction. Prior to RJP, Scott first spent a decade in the banking industry as a VP of Operations, followed by 12+ years as a multi-unit franchise owner of a popular restaurant chain and a licensed general contractor. Following the sale of his restaurants in the late 2000’s, Scott continued working as a general contractor and business consultant working with other business owners on issues of operations, financial management, marketing, and strategy, up until joining RJP Consulting Group.
Meghann Erhart
Executive Vice President
Relay Payments
Meghann Erhart currently serves as Executive Vice President for Relay Payments, where she oversees growth and adoption of the fintech’s rapidly growing new product lines. As a fintech company headquartered in Atlanta, Relay is modernizing payments for the trucking and logistics industries.
Prior to joining Relay, Meghann spent 15 years at Pilot Flying J, where she led various business units including sales, support, and business process improvement for trucking, while helping the organization with its digital transformation.
A proven leader with 20 years of experience in trucking, Meghann is a sought-after speaker in the logistics, supply chain, and transportation industries. She graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in civil engineering and earned her MBA from the University of Tennessee. She currently resides in Tennessee with her husband and two teenage daughters.
David Fialkov
Executive Vice President Government Affairs
NATSO
David has been on the cutting edge of fuel policy since 2009. He currently leads one of the most active fuel policy teams in Washington’s legal strategy on a range of issues, including transportation, energy, labor, data security, payment systems, and taxes. He provides in-person advocacy before policymakers, drafts comments to federal agencies, legislation, and related messaging materials, hearing testimony, and amicus curiae briefs to federal courts.
Polly Flinn
Founder & Principal
Flinnstone Consulting
Polly Flinn is an accomplished operations, sales, and marketing leader. She is an expert in the energy, food, and retail sectors and has led businesses around the world, holding marketing and operations c-suite roles at BP, Walmart, Giant Eagle, GetGo Market Cafe, Castrol, and Arco ampm. Her experience spans multiple consumer shopping occasions from convenience to big box as well as strategic sales customer relationships with large-scale OEMs such as Ford and BMW. She has created distinctive strategies and grew organically and organically while always delivering her numbers and building successful and enduring teams and businesses. She is an innovator and a doer.
Jessica Frend
Senior Policy Advisor
NATSO
Jessi began her career in public policy in 2006 and has advised a broad range of clients on legislative and regulatory matters, including energy, tax, commerce, telecommunications, and financial services.
LeeAnn Goheen
Senior Director of Government Affairs
NATSO
Goheen implements the legislative, regulatory, and political strategy for NATSO in Washington, DC. As part of those efforts, Goheen represents the association before Congress and officials in the executive branch on matters relating to the retail fuels industry, including transportation, energy and fuels, labor, and financial services. Goheen also represents NATSO in coalitions aligned with the association’s advocacy goals and directs its political engagement efforts.
Goheen previously worked as a Government Affairs Advisor at Steptoe& Johnson LLP where she represented the retail fuels industry along with other clients in the financial services and transportation space.
Dan Harrell
Chief Innovation Officer
Invenco by GVR
As Gilbarco Veeder-Root’s Chief Innovation Officer, Dan Harrell brings twenty-nine years of experience in the global retail and payment industry. He is responsible for a wide range of initiatives, both strategic and directly linked to product delivery of the global Gilbarco Veeder-Root product portfolio.
Craig Jensen
Director of IT
Sapp Bros.
Craig Jensen is the Director of IT for Sapp Bros., Inc. and has more than 12 years of experience in the travel center and wholesale fuel industry. During his tenure at Sapp Bros., he has helped streamline many technological processes, including:
- POS and dispenser standardization & modernization
- Payment processing optimization
- PCI compliance and regulation
- Loyalty program rejuvenation
- App creation
Wade Lowe
Executive Co-Founder & President
TRUEFILL
Wade is an entrepreneur, executive, and top-line growth expert specializing in the development and execution of go-to-market strategies for startups and software companies. Wade has spent his 25-year career growing, building, and founding businesses — specifically the last 12 years in software, with one successful exit and two-time top 75 Inc.’s fastest growing companies.
Currently, Wade is the President and Co-Founder of TRUEFILL, a fuel supply management, forecasting, logistics, and reconciliation platform for the downstream fuel space.
Jim Mullen
Executive Director
Clean Freight Coalition
Jim Mullen has nearly 20 years of broad executive experience in the trucking industry and is the founding principal of Mullen Consulting, LLC. Jim represents motor carriers, trade associations, and autonomous vehicle stakeholders on various transportation-related matters. Jim is also the Executive Director of the Clean Freight Coalition, a coalition of stakeholders in the trucking industry with the mission to advocate for sound public policies regarding the transition to zero-emission trucks.
Jim held the position of Chief Administrative and Legal Officer for a publicly traded company that develops the technology for autonomous trucks from 2020-2022.
From 2018-2020, Jim served as Acting Administrator and Chief Counsel of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Prior to the FMCSA appointment, Jim was a lobbyist in DC for various stakeholders in the transportation and trade industries. And for over a decade from 2005-2016, Jim was the General Counsel at Werner Enterprises. Jim started his professional career as a trial lawyer in Omaha, NE in 1993.
Lisa Mullings
President & CEO
NATSO
Lisa Mullings is the President and Chief Executive Officer for NATSO. Prior to this appointment to NATSO’s Executive Committee, she served as NATSO’s Vice President of Public Affairs and Counsel. In that capacity, she lobbied on transportation and tax issues and managed NATSO’s strategic communication plan, serving as NATSO’s primary media contact as well as editor of both the association’s bi-monthly trade publication, Stop Watch, and its weekly e-newsletter.
Prior to joining NATSO in January 1995 as the Associate Director of Government Affairs, Lisa was the communications and government affairs manager for the National Association of Chemical Recyclers. Prior to that, she served for five years as a staff member on the House transportation committee. She received her undergraduate degree in business with a minor in journalism from the University of Maryland in 1994 and her law degree from George Mason University School of Law in 2000. She is married and has two sons.
Dan Murray
Senior Vice President
American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI)
Daniel Murray has more than 26 years of experience in a broad range of transportation fields, including trucking research and economics, transportation safety technologies, and autonomous vehicles.
As Senior Vice President for the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), Dan is responsible for managing ATRI’s transportation research, testing, and evaluation activities and leads multiple national activities, including the U.S. DOT-sponsored Freight Mobility Initiative and FMCSA’s Tech-Celerate Safety Technology program.
He is actively involved in the National Academies’ Transportation Research Board as Vice Chair of the Trucking Research Committee and presently sits on the Boards of the Freight Mobility Research Institute, Mid-America Transportation Center, Northwestern U Telemobility Institute and the Minnesota Freight Advisory Committee. Mr. Murray formerly sat on the Twin Cities MPO board representing freight interests.
Prior to his employment with ATRI, Dan spent several years working in economic development for a Chicago business consortium, as well as developing transit programs, policy, and funding with the Regional Transit Board in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota.
Dan received his BA from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, and his MS from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
Christina Niu
Director of Research
FranData
A research and analytics wiz with a passion for franchising, Christina leads a team of analysts who work with some of the top franchises in the country, providing valuable industry insight and thought leadership.
Christina has honed her career in consulting and advisory roles, conducting research on benchmarking, M&A, financial modeling and forecasting, targeted marketing, policy implications, and market sizing and trends for clients across various industries, including retail, food and beverage, home services, and health and fitness to name a few.
Most notable is her work with the International Franchise Association and their longitudinal studies tracking inflation, labor, and the economic impact of franchising. Christina holds a master’s degree in applied economics from Georgetown University and a bachelor’s degree in economics with a Minor in Mathematics from the University of Colorado Denver.
Robert Peppelman
CEO
RJP Consulting Group, LLC
Bob is the founder, visionary, and majority shareholder of RJP Consulting Group. With a background in developmental management and construction management going back 30 years, his thorough understanding of the industry is invaluable. From his days at Wawa Food Markets as a Construction Coordinator to his position of Director of Construction for Urban Outfitters, Bob has always embraced his passion for construction management.
This passion, along with his industry knowledge and customer service skills, only served to prove all the more useful in the founding of RJP Consulting Group. Bob now orchestrates the planning and strategic goals of our 4 regionally based offices.
Tony Portera
Managing Director and Partner
The Boston Consulting Group
Since joining BCG in 2007, Tony has worked across a variety of industries and functions worldwide—focusing on retail across many sectors, including fuel, convenience, grocery, home improvement, discount, specialty, and fashion. He helps clients establish sustainable growth strategies and significant competitive advantage.
Over his 20+ years in consulting with industry leaders, Tony has developed successful strategies and implemented efforts across a variety of disciplines, including growth strategy, consumer insight, operations, procurement, merchandising, pricing, supply chain, marketing, and franchising.
Tony co-leads the Fuel and Convenience Retail topic for BCG, bringing the best of the BCG’s Energy and Retail practices to BCG’s clients. He is the author of multiple articles and research studies on how to win customer loyalty in the fuel and convenience industry, as well as multiple studies on the future of convenience retail. He also leads BCG’s research on tracking consumer and brand insights in the sector.
David Prevost
Director Operations South Florida
Wawa Inc.
David is a Villanova University Graduate with 22 Years with Wawa. He started his Wawa career in their Corporate Finance Team and held several positions throughout the Finance Organization before moving to the Marketing Department as the Director of Space Planning and Merchandising. He was the Director of Operations in New Jersey prior to relocating to Florida to open their new Tampa/West Coast market and their Florida East Coast Market.
In addition to his experience at Wawa, he has worked as a CPA with Coopers & Lybrand, owned a restaurant, and founded and ran an on-line capital equipment leasing company.
Peter Rasmussen
CEO & Founder
Convenience & Energy Advisors
Peter Rasmussen has spent 23 years in the convenience and energy industry, where he held strategic leadership positions with some of the industry’s most admired companies and co-founded two startup brands.
Peter began his career with Sheetz, followed by a 17-year tenure with Wawa. During his time with Wawa, he held leadership roles in Store Operations and Marketing and was a part of the team that led the company’s expansion into Florida, initially with 6 stores in 2012, followed by 20-40 locations per year. By 2020, when he left Wawa, the chain had expanded in Florida to 8,000 employees and 220 stores.
In 2020, Peter co-founded Neon Marketplace, a food and energy-forward convenience concept in New England. During this time, he led the organization overseeing all aspects of the business.
Following this, Peter founded Convenience and Energy Advisors. CEA is an advisory and managed services firm that specializes in delivering thematic and sustainable solutions with a fresh take, exclusively for the convenience store industry.
Peter is an advocate for the convenience and energy industry, serves on the NACS education committee, and is a member of the Associate Board of Directors for NECSEMA (New England Convenience Store and Energy Marketers Association).
Carolyn Schnare
CEO
acuity, LLC
Carolyn Schnare has been involved with the convenience retailing industry for two decades, with extensive knowledge of customer engagement and marketing, sustainability, and community outreach.
Prior to founding the consultancy acuity, llc, Schnare worked at NACS (National Association of Convenience Stores) in a variety of roles, from event production to membership and most recently as Director of Strategic Initiatives and host and producer of the popular industry podcast, Convenience Matters.
Currently, Schnare anchors the popular Shop Talk LIVE video series and also writes for Global Convenience Store Focus, a UK-based media company. Schnare also produces Fueling the Future of Transport, a podcast about advances in the transportation energy industry. Schnare enjoys staying involved with the convenience and retail industries, consulting on consumer trends and the future of the channels.
Christine Schoessler
COO
NATSO
Christine Schoessler is the COO of NATSO, the trade association of US travel centers and truck stops. Ms. Schoessler leads the NATSO teams that develop and deliver information and business services that drive the profitability of travel centers, truck stops and their suppliers.
Ms. Schoessler is a strategic executive who joined NATSO in 2005. She came to NATSO from AES, a Fortune 500 global energy company, where she served in the Government Relations, Strategy, and Investor Relations teams.
Prior to AES, Ms. Schoessler served as Legislative Analyst/Public Outreach Strategist for IFAD, a UN international financial institution. Earlier, she served on the staff of US Senator Richard Shelby and with the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund of Japan.
Ms. Schoessler graduated with honors from the American University in Washington, DC.
Darren Schulte
Vice President, Membership
NATSO
Darren Schulte, NATSO’s Vice President of Membership, visits 70-100 truck stops and travel centers annually and has amassed unique insight into the dynamics and realities of travel center trends and operations.
Mr. Schulte directs recruitment of and customer service to NATSO’s +2600 travel center member locations. He is responsible for developing and enhancing NATSO products, services, and programs, particularly those relating to consulting and training truck stop and travel center operators.
Mr. Schulte joined NATSO with nearly three decades of experience in truckstop and travel center operations and merchandising, serving with such companies as:
•Love’s Travel Stops and Country Stores,
•HESS Corporation,
•Petro Stopping Centers, and
•TSC Global/Barjan LLC.
Mr. Schulte is a sought-after speaker and consultant on travel center merchandising, store layout and design, and on strategies that tie emerging trends to profitability.
Amy Toner
Executive Director
NATSO Foundation
Toner is charged with spearheading the education, fundraising, and administration of the NATSO Foundation, including education for the annual industry conference NATSO Connect as well as the Bill and Carolyn Moon Scholarship Program, which is one of the Foundation’s [core] programs. Toner serves as the editor of NATSO’s Stop Watch magazine, manages the NATSO website, and hosts NATSO’s Podcast, The Truck Stops Here. Toner joined NATSO in 2006.
Tiffany Wlazlowski Neuman
Vice President, Public Affairs
NATSO
Wlazlowski Neuman leads NATSO and the NATSO Foundation’s public affairs initiatives and communications strategies to promote the truck stop and travel center industry to the public, opinion leaders, elected officials, and the media. Her outreach includes a spectrum of policy issues facing the industry, with a particular focus on transportation and fuel issues, truck parking, and human trafficking.
She serves as NATSO’s representative on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Truck Parking Coalition, the Clean Freight Coalition, and various state truck parking technical advisory committees. She is the architect of the truck stop and travel center industry’s anti-human trafficking campaign and currently serves as a Committee member for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Human Trafficking Advisory Council. Wlazlowski Neuman serves on the American Highway Users Policy and Government Affairs Committee.
Joe Zietlow
Industry and Trade Assc. Manager
Kwik Trip
Joe is the Industry and Trade Assc. Manager representing Kwik Trip in Washington D.C., the state governments they operate in, and all trade Associations they are involved in. He has spent twenty-one years of his career in the Petroleum / Convenience Store Industry with Kwik Trip. Three years as a District Leader of Retail Stores, eighteen years in petroleum procurement and director of the petroleum division, and just recently moved to his new role of Industry and Trade Assc. Manager.