The Mobile Mavericks

A Conversation with Rich Bulger
This episode of Mobile Mavericks goes far beyond industry talk.  Bob Lafon, Jasmine Martirossian, and Liliya Safronyuk sit down with Rich Bulger for a deeply human, often emotional conversation that traces the arc of his life, from hardship and bullying to military service, leadership, faith, and ultimately building one of the most influential careers in mobility and circular logistics.Rich shares candidly about growing up as “the smallest kid in class,” navigating poverty, bullying, and instability. As he puts it, “I remember the power getting shut off once a month. I remember shoplifting food.” These experiences became the unlikely foundation of his future superpower: finding value in what others discard. That insight later shaped Verizon’s trade‑in program and helped catalyze a $70B secondary market.Martial arts became Rich’s first turning point, teaching him resilience, discipline, and the difference between being hurt and being stopped. The military became the second. By age 18, he was driving senior officers in the 101st Airborne and learning how to work, lead, and endure. “Martial arts got me ready for the military. The military taught me how to work.”Rich also opens up about marriage, fatherhood, and the commitment he and his wife Naomi made to give their children stability he never had. He speaks with pride about coaching middle school soccer, volunteering at school drop‑off, and building a business where he knows every employee by name. “I find a lot of value in what people no longer want, but also in people in general.”There are lighter moments too, like the time Rich nearly became a ballroom dance instructor, his devotion to the LA Rams, and the running family joke that Naomi is “the better Bulger.”The episode closes on a powerful reflection. When asked what his 12‑year‑old self would be most surprised by, Rich answers simply: “The peace.”This conversation is a reminder that careers are built on more than titles, they’re shaped by resilience, redemption, faith, and the quiet choices that define who we become.

A Conversation with Luis Carchi, Co‑Founder & CTO of Shield Financial
In this episode of Mobile Mavericks, hosts Bob Lafon, Jasmine Martirossian, and Liliya Safronyuk sit down with Luis Carchi, the co‑founder and CTO of Shield Financial, for a conversation that highlights his entrepreneurial grit, immigrant ambition, and the evolution of a fast‑growing fintech platform.Luis shares his journey from Cuenca, Ecuador, where he spent the first five years of his life, to New York City, and eventually Minnesota. His story is shaped by profound early loss when his Father passed away when he was seven years old.  It's a moment he describes as both the worst and best thing that happened to him, because it forced him to grow up quickly, and fueled his determination to build a better future for his family.From reselling exclusive Jordans in high school to dreaming of launching a company, Luis always had entrepreneurial instincts. A pivotal moment came when he read that many successful tech founders follow a three‑step path: attend a top school, work at a top tech company, then raise venture capital. He committed to that plan early, and later landed at Facebook as an intern and then full‑time engineer.Luis describes how he and his college roommate (now co‑founder) spent years experimenting, building “around 30 apps that all failed,” before raising their first $2M in pre‑seed funding. Shield began as a crypto‑based payments company using USDT, but quickly evolved as they listened to customer needs. Today, Shield Financial offers payments, online banking, and a newly launched business credit card.The conversation also explores identity, belonging, and resilience. Growing up as an Ecuadorian kid in Minnesota, Luis often felt caught between cultures and faced discrimination during soccer matches against rural schools. Yet he embraced diversity, intentionally building friendships across backgrounds, something Bob highlights as a professional superpower.One of the most touching moments comes when Liliya asks who Luis called first when he was invited to the White House as a Princeton sophomore. His answer is immediate: “I called my mom.”  It’s clear throughout the episode that his mother remains his North Star, motivating him to work hard, build generational opportunity, and celebrate milestones like taking her to the World Cup.Luis also offers a candid look at the realities of raising venture capital. He explains how elite networks, from Princeton to Facebook, to McKinsey, open doors that are otherwise difficult to access:  “Getting your foot into the door with a large VC is probably the most difficult part.”  But he emphasizes that networks only matter if you bring value and invest in relationships over time.This episode is a powerful reminder that entrepreneurship is rarely linear. It’s built on pivots, persistence, and the courage to reinvent. Luis’s story, rooted in family, ambition, and adaptability, captures exactly what Mobile Mavericks aims to spotlight: the human being behind the business.

In this episode of The Mobile Mavericks Podcast, hosts Jasmine Martirossian, Bob Lafon, and Liliya Safronyuk sit down with Joffrey Cloutour, a well‑known figure in the secondary device and e‑commerce ecosystem whose journey from suburban Paris to Miami Beach is anything but ordinary.
Joffrey shares how his lifelong dream of living in the United States began in childhood, inspired by the cultural wave of the early ’90s, which ranged from the 1992 Dream Team to Hollywood films. That dream fueled decades of determination, culminating in a 1,500‑email internship search that eventually brought him to West Palm Beach. From there, he built a career defined by entrepreneurship, grit, and an instinct for building businesses from the ground up.
Since then, Joffrey has launched multiple U.S. businesses, scaled e‑commerce divisions, and helped shape marketplace relationships and operational standards long before they became industry norms. As he puts it, “I started five businesses from scratch… I’ve always had that hustler mentality.”
He also reveals his newest venture, Wush, a luxury mobile car‑detailing platform powered by Cybertrucks and built with a tech‑forward customer experience. Born from observing Miami’s supercar culture, Wush is already securing partnerships with gyms, paddle clubs, and yacht clubs.
The conversation takes a personal turn as Joffrey reflects on cultural differences between France and the U.S., the entrepreneurial spirit he admires in Americans, and the “get‑it‑done” resourcefulness he sees as a French strength. He shares humorous stories about his name, especially the Game of Thrones era when “King Joffrey” jokes followed him everywhere, and his candid opinions on American food (“hot dogs, cheeseburgers, mac and cheese… name me a dish that is really American”).
Listeners also get a glimpse of Joffrey’s softer side, which includes his love of cooking, his years playing music in Paris clubs, and his long‑term dream of opening a small restaurant on the beach in Southern France near Perpignan. “After a stressful day, when I chop my onions, I don’t think about anything else,” he says in a candid confession that surprised and charmed the hosts.
The episode is a portrait of someone who embodies the modern mobile‑industry entrepreneur, a relentless, adaptable, globally minded, and deeply human person. It’s a reminder that behind every handshake at a conference is a story worth hearing.

In this episode of Mobile Mavericks, hosts Bob Lafon and Jasmine Martirossian (with co‑host Liliya Safronyuk away traveling) welcome Steven Bonvissuto, a seasoned operations executive with decades of leadership experience.Steven shares his journey from growing up in a blue‑collar family in Buffalo, New York, to becoming the first in his family to attend college and launching a career in information systems. Starting as a COBOL programmer, he quickly realized that communication skills bridging the gap between technology and business were more valuable than technical expertise alone.
Highlights from the conversation include:
Career Path: From banking and international consulting to CIO and CTO roles, Steven has consistently focused on scaling businesses and applying technology to drive results.
Personal Growth: Beyond corporate leadership, he is a father of four, grandfather of two, and recently earned his 200‑hour yoga teacher certification, emphasizing the importance of breathing and mindfulness in leadership.
Leadership Lessons: He underscores the difference between intent and impact, the importance of emotional intelligence (EQ), and the responsibility leaders have to remain aware of their “psychological size.”
Mentorship: Stephen reflects on the mentors who shaped his career and his commitment to developing future leaders, paying forward the guidance he once received.
Information Security: Drawing on his CIO experience, he stresses governance, people‑process‑technology alignment, and the growing challenges posed by mobile devices and AI.
This episode blends professional insight with personal reflection, offering listeners a thoughtful look at leadership, communication, and the evolving role of technology in business.

In this episode of Mobile Mavericks, hosts Jasmine Martirossian, Bob Lafon, and Liliya Safronyuk sit down with one of the most recognizable figures in the mobile and ITAD ecosystem – Darrell Kendall. Known for his industry leadership and his many roles, Darrell steps out from behind the job titles to share the story of the person behind the industry presence.
Darrell traces his journey back to his roots in Cleveland, Ohio, where he grew up before launching himself into the world at age 16 as a Rotary exchange student in Finland, an experience that profoundly shaped his worldview. Living with two Finnish families, learning the language, and navigating a completely different culture at a formative age taught him tolerance, adaptability, and the value of seeing life through multiple lenses. As he puts it, “that experience changed the trajectory of my life in every meaningful way.”
Today, Darrell lives on a 128‑acre farm with his wife Dawn and their five children, all eight and under – four adopted, one biological. He shares candidly how he went from his bachelor life to an “instant family,” the challenges and joys of adoption, and the deep partnership he and Dawn have built. Dawn’s background in education led the family to homeschool, and Darrell credits her with making his demanding travel schedule possible.
The conversation also dives into Darrell’s unexpected entrepreneurial ventures, including a beef jerky business born from trying to find a clean‑ingredient snack for his kids. What started as a product for a small local store has grown into a full e‑commerce operation.
A powerful segment of the episode highlights Darrell and Dawn’s nonprofit work supporting individuals with barriers to employment—particularly those in recovery or re‑entry programs. He shares the remarkable story of Joe, a participant who went from drug court to working on the family farm, then managing a coffee shop, and ultimately becoming a union laborer and TikTok creator advocating for recovery. “He knows how to hustle—we just needed to help him channel it for the greater good,” Darrell explains.
The episode closes with a look ahead to ITAD Summit at the Bellagio, where Darrell teases record attendance, expanded programming, and a major new presence from TikTok, eBay, and Whatnot as live‑selling takes center stage. With 45,000 square feet of exhibit space already sold out, he hints at even bigger surprises, perhaps even a stage over the Bellagio fountains if someone is bold enough to sponsor it.
Throughout the conversation, Darrell’s humility, humor, and heart shine through. Whether discussing international adventures, family life, community impact, or industry leadership, he offers a rare, personal look at the man behind some of the most influential events in the secondary mobile market.

This episode continues the podcast's mission of going beyond industry small talk to help listeners get to know the real people behind familiar faces in the mobile wholesale world. As the hosts, Jasmine Martirossian, Liliya Safronyuk, and Bob Lafon note, many industry professionals recognize each other from trade shows and conferences, but know little about each other's personal journeys.
Bob Ali's Story
Bob shared how he fell into the wholesale phone business almost entirely by accident:
Immigration and early years: Bob moved to the United States from Pakistan in 1998 with his wife and young son, joining his brother who was already established in the convenience store business.
The convenience store years: For several years, Bob and his brother built a business model of buying convenience stores, growing their sales, and then leasing out the operations while retaining the real estate, including a notable acquisition of several gas stations from a company that would later become known as "Gasboy" stations.
The chance encounter: The pivot to mobile phones happened almost by fate. While covering a shift at one of the stores, Bob struck up a conversation with a customer, a fellow Pakistani immigrant already working in the phone business. That conversation led to an informal deal-based partnership.
Early wins, then a costly lesson: Their first two deals together went smoothly, but the third, which was a wholesale purchase of Nokia and Panasonic handsets worth roughly a quarter of a million dollars, turned into a painful education. After paying upfront and receiving the shipment, Bob discovered the boxes were full of stripped-down carrier returns: phones missing batteries and battery doors, far from the working samples he'd been shown.
The scramble: With no warehouse yet, Bob and his family unloaded an entire truck of roughly 3,000 phones into his own garage and a spare bedroom, only to discover the scope of the problem once they started opening boxes.
The dispute: When Bob raised the discrepancy with his vendor, he was told the samples matched what was shown and that carrier returns simply come this way. Attempts to resolve the issue over the following months went nowhere, leaving Bob out a significant sum of money.
Listen to this episode to learn more about Bob Ali's journey and the story of Angel Cellular.

Mobile Mavericks with Elizabeth Chen, CEO of Trillion Companies
In this heartfelt, energizing, and inspiring episode of The Mobile Mavericks, hosts Bob Lafon, Jasmine Martirossian, and Liliya Safronyuk sit down with one of the most admired leaders in the secondary mobile device industry – Elizabeth Chen, CEO of Trillion Companies.  What unfolds is not just a business conversation, but a deeply personal journey of resilience, reinvention, and leadership.
Elizabeth arrived in the US in 1992 with her husband with, “$40 in my pocket,” and a determination to pursue the American dream. She recalls an eight‑hour layover in Charlotte where she drank only fountain water because she was too excited to feel hungry.  After earning her MBA and spending a decade in Corporate America at DTE Energy and Ford Motor Company, she realized she could not break the glass ceiling as a minority woman.  Instead of accepting limitations, she built something new.In 2012, she founded Trillion in Hong Kong, later expanding to Dallas and Dubai.  Today, the company has three international locations, over 120 employees, and sells millions of used devices each year.One of the most powerful moments in the episode is Elizabeth’s now‑famous $20 story.  She describes asking her husband for $20 before school one morning, only to be met with confusion because he had already made her breakfast and packed her lunch. “In that moment, something changed inside of me,” she explains. She vowed never to feel financially dependent again – not out of pride, but because “independence gives a woman confidence, choice, and dignity.”  It’s a lesson she still teaches her daughters today.Elizabeth also opens up about her leadership philosophy. She believes in modeling the behaviors she expects from her team, leading with compassion, and focusing on people’s strengths rather than their weaknesses.  As she puts it, “None of us are perfect… they all need the time and space to grow.”  Her employees see her not just as a CEO, but as a mentor.The conversation also explores family dynamics, including working with her daughter Michelle, who left PwC to join Trillion.  Elizabeth describes the delicate balance between being a mother and being a leader, and how they’ve learned to maintain healthy boundaries while supporting each other’s growth.In one of the episode’s most moving segments, Elizabeth shares a story about losing more than $100,000 due to a vendor’s system glitch.  Instead of reacting with anger, she chose gratitude.  During meditation, she reflected on her 14‑year relationship with the executive involved and realized the value of compassion over conflict.  She sent a handwritten Louis Vuitton card instead of an angry email, a gesture that brought the recipient to tears.  “Business is important, accountability is important, but compassion matters too,” she says.The hosts also explore what it means to be a woman in a male‑dominated industry.  Elizabeth reframes the challenge as an advantage, noting that men often treat her with more respect and care, and that strong relationships, both with male allies and a small circle of supportive women, have helped her rise.Throughout the episode, Elizabeth’s mindset shines – determined, optimistic, undaunted by challenges, and unafraid to assert herself.  Whether advocating for women on CEO panels or navigating industry challenges, she leads with clarity, confidence, and heart.

In this deeply moving and insightful episode of The Mobile Mavericks, the hosts, Bob Lafon, Jasmine Martirossian, and Liliya Safronyuk, sit down with Steve Manning, Chief Strategy Officer at FutureDial, to explore not only his decades‑long impact on the reverse logistics industry but also the personal journey that shaped the leader he is today.Steve traces his career back to 1989, when he co‑founded SQL and began repairing 14‑inch disk drives.  His team’s ability to reverse‑engineer and remanufacture drives, reducing costs from nearly $38,000 to $3,500, set the foundation for a long career built on innovation, operational excellence, and sustainability. That early success expanded into large‑scale repair programs for IBM, Dell, Toshiba, Fujitsu, and, eventually, the major U.S. wireless carriers.His work later led him to Recellular, where he helped build one of the largest global suppliers of used cell phones.  At its peak, the company processed hundreds of thousands of devices per month and became the top‑rated seller on eBay and Amazon, even outperforming sellers of new devices. As Steve recalls, eBay visited their facility quarterly because their reliability set the benchmark for the entire marketplace.But the heart of this episode lies in Steve’s personal story.  During his time at Recellular, his wife Marianne was diagnosed with stage‑four breast cancer.  Steve stepped away from his executive role to become her full‑time caregiver for three and a half years. Shortly after her passing, the family also suffered the devastating loss of their 23‑year‑old son, Ryan.These experiences led Steve to write Last Dance: And a Loving Mother, a book originally intended only for his children and grandchildren.  The story was inspired by a viral video of Ryan dancing with Marianne just 72 hours before she passed.  Writing the book became an 18‑month act of love, grief, and healing.  As Steve shares, “It was like she was sitting right next to me… it helped me get through the grief of her loss.”The conversation explores how these profound losses reshaped Steve’s leadership.  He speaks candidly about empathy, perspective, and the importance of recognizing the humanity behind every colleague and customer.  He often shares his book with employees or clients going through hardship, offering both “heartache and hope,” as he puts it.Today, at FutureDial, Steve focuses on enabling secure, efficient, and scalable device processing through automation, robotics, and software, helping the industry meet rising standards for trust, grading accuracy, and sustainability.  But this episode reveals the person behind the title, a pioneer, a caregiver, a father, and a storyteller whose resilience and compassion have become central to his leadership.

In this inspiring episode of Mobile Mavericks, our hosts, Bob Lafon, Jasmine Martirossian, and Liliya Safronyuk, sit down with Kimberley Allison, Vice President of Supply Chain Strategy and Execution at Assurant, to explore the unconventional path that led her into the mobile ecosystem, as well as the values that continue to shape her leadership today.Kim describes herself as an “accidental supply chain professional.” After initially planning to pursue law, she attended Bible school, met her husband, and spent more than five years as a missionary in Scotland.  When the couple returned to the U.S. with two young children, Kim found herself needing to re‑enter the workforce.  A Craigslist job posting led her into a staffing role supporting AT&T’s reverse logistics operations, a move that would define the next decade of her career.She quickly fell in love with the complexity, circularity, and constant evolution of the mobile device ecosystem.  After joining AT&T full‑time, she spent ten years across various supply chain roles, repeatedly finding herself drawn back to the secondary market and the challenges of device recovery, sustainability, and operational excellence. In late 2023, she made the leap to Assurant, where she now helps shape strategy and execution across a global supply chain organization.A major theme of the conversation is faith, not as a corporate talking point, but as the foundation of Kim’s identity and leadership. She shares how an AT&T employee resource group for people of faith helped her realize she didn’t need to separate her beliefs from her professional life. As she puts it, “There’s no peeling it apart for me.”  Her faith informs her humility, her confidence, and her approach to leading others with empathy, candor, and genuine care.Kim also speaks openly about the realities of work–life tension, especially as a mother.  She rejects the myth of perfect balance, instead focusing on stewardship, giving her best to what each day demands, learning to say no, and recognizing that she cannot be “superhuman” in every role simultaneously.  Her honesty resonates deeply, especially when she describes the visceral guilt working mothers often feel and the intentional choices required to protect family, marriage, and personal well‑being.The episode also highlights Kim’s long‑standing involvement with Women in Wireless, where she has become a beloved facilitator.  She explains that she first said “Yes” simply to stop saying “No,” but stayed because of the authentic relationships, the opportunity to encourage other women, and the chance to help the next generation navigate their careers with confidence and integrity.Finally, Kim offers thoughtful insights on leadership development, emphasizing radical candor, truth‑telling, and the importance of helping people grow into roles where they can truly succeed.  She shares how she studies leaders she admires, as well as those she doesn’t, and how she finds more fulfillment in watching her team succeed than in her own accomplishments.This episode is a powerful blend of professional wisdom, personal conviction, and heartfelt authenticity.  Kim Allison reminds us that leadership is not about titles or technical expertise it’s about character, courage, and bringing your whole self to the table.

This episode of Mobile Mavericks, hosted by Bob Lafon, Jasmine Martirossian, and Liliya Safronyuk, dives into the entrepreneurial journey of Kyle Wainwright, Founder and CEO of RefreshedTech, whose path from repairing his own broken iPhone to running one of the largest live‑selling electronics companies in the U.S. is nothing short of remarkable.
Kyle shares that his career began accidentally at age 23, when he shattered his first iPhone 3GS and couldn’t afford a replacement.  He ordered parts from China, fixed it himself, and after a failed first attempt, found himself repairing devices for friends and family.  A pivotal moment came when he partnered with an insurance company, buying cracked iPods for $20, repairing them for $12, and reselling them for $130.  Kyle happily remembers, “I was selling about 500 of these a week.”  That early hustle led to opening repair stores, eventually growing to 18 locations across Indiana and Michigan.Kyle Wainwright explains that he sold the stores when OEMs like Apple began entering the repair space and margins tightened.  But Kyle’s entrepreneurial drive didn’t slow down.  In 2022, he acquired the company he worked for and transformed it into RefreshedTech, scaling from 20 employees in a 10,000 sq. ft. building to 150 employees in a 105,000 sq. ft. facility, selling into more than 30 countries.A major turning point came when his team suggested experimenting with live selling on platforms like TikTok and Whatnot.  What started as a test quickly exploded.  On Black Friday alone, they streamed for 71 hours and generated $1 million in a single show.  Today, RefreshedTech is the largest live seller of electronics on TikTok, moving roughly 70,000 devices per month.  As Kyle explains, “We put an iPad up there, and we sell that iPad in 10 seconds.”Kyle also emphasizes leadership and culture.  Despite the company’s size, he still walks the floor daily and prioritizes benefits like 401(k) and health insurance, saying, “We felt like it was our obligation and our duty to really take care of our family.”  He credits much of RefreshedTech’s growth to empowering his team, stepping back from day‑to‑day operations, and letting employees innovate, like the sales rep who first pushed for live selling.The conversation also touches on sourcing challenges, collaboration with competitors, brand building, and the rise of live‑selling personalities who now get recognized in public thanks to RefreshedTech’s 8 million daily TikTok impressions.Kyle closes by sharing about his personal life.  He rejoices in his daughter’s gymnastics achievements, he talks about his love of fishing and pontoon cruising, and the joy he finds in building companies that create jobs and opportunities for others.