Executive Bios
Over the course of his successful career, Max F. James has established himself as a distinguished military pilot, an innovative entrepreneur, and a generous philanthropist. In 1960, James joined the United States Air Force Academy where he earned a spot on the Superintendent’s List almost every semester. After completing his training, he began an assignment with the Astronaut Recovery Program at Patrick Air Force Base in Cape Canaveral. James then volunteered in the Vietnam War as a Jolly Green rescue pilot. While touring Southeast Asia, he participated in 200 combat flight missions, was shot down twice, and received 3 Distinguished Flying Crosses and 8 Air Medals. Noted for his bravery, Max F. James helped rescue 10 fallen aircrew members, including a peer from his days at the Air Force Academy. From there, James earned his MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and began a career in real estate. Honing his skills as a business executive, he later operated as Chairman of the Board for the Salt Lake International Center; President of Miller Properties; and Executive Vice President of Days Inns of America, Inc. The proprietor of 18 hotels, James received the honor of joining the California Tourism Board of Directors from the Governor of California.
Presently, Max F. James owns American Kiosk Management, LLC and North American Kiosk, LLC, which, when combined, operate in 776 locations in the United States and Canada, with revenues exceeding $150 million annually.
Additionally, he founded and serves as the Chairman of the Camp Soaring Eagle Foundation, a medically based camping program for children with life threatening illnesses. Max James was the first inductee into the $25 billion Specialty Retail Hall of Fame and the recipient of the Al Kushner Breakthrough Innovation Award. He was selected for the Air Force Academy’s most prestigious honor, the Distinguished Graduate Award. James serves on the CEO Advisory Board of the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, the Founders’ Board of Directors of the United States Air Force Academy Endowment Foundation, and supports the Muhammad Ali Parkinson’s Research Center, the Boys and Girls Clubs, and other worthy charitable organizations.
Linda Johansen-James is currently the CEO/COO of American Kiosk Management. She oversees in excess of 1200 employees and over 770 carts in the US and Canada representing Proactiv Skin Care and Sheer Cover Mineral Make-Up. She is responsible for setting the companies strategic direction and delivering on the company’s mission to caring for customer’s concerns.
Linda joined AKM in 2002 and has held many postions within the company including: National Recruiter and Trainer, Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and currently Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer.
Under Linda’s leadership, the company has continued to have unpresidented growth and the company has become the largest Specialtiy Retailer in the world. Her strong leadership skills have lead AKM through their most successful years of business, and she continues to lead the company’s growth and profitiability. Her top priorities include stregthening and growing brands, maximizing sales while increasing profits and attracting and retaining top talent.
Linda is a frequent speaker at the International Council of Shopping Centers and Speciality Retailer Conference. She is on the board for the International Council of Shopping Centers Annual Conference and is currrently on the Education Committee for writing the critera for the Global Certification for Leasing Managers. She also currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Camp Soaring Eagle Foundation,a medically based camping program for children with life threatening illness. Linda is also active with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in many aspects and sits on the Leadership Council Board. Linda also supports many other charitable organizations.
Kenneth Jones is a Senior Finance Executive with extensive experience in the design, development, implementation and management of comprehensive corporate accounting, budgeting, financial reporting, and tax and MIS systems. His forte has been in successfully linking accounting and finance with general operations to provide hands-on financial leadership for strategic planning, sales and marketing, purchasing, inventory and production. He has been equally effective in capturing cost reductions through process redesign and performance management and providing excellent leadership, team building and business development skills.
Specialties
Strategic Business & Financial Planning • Financial Analysis & Evaluation • Consolidated Reporting Internal & External Audit • Technology Implementation • GAAP & FASB Compliance • Project Costing & Allocation • Accounting Restructuring • Policy & Procedure Development International Accounting • Cost Accounting & Cost Planning • Forecasting • Capital Budgeting • Staff Supervision & Training • Best Practices & Continuous Improvement
Background
Mr. Jones is a graduate of Texas A&M University. His professional background includes 3 years of Public Accounting experience with the Dallas office of Deloitte & Touche and subsequent internal audit experience as a Corporate Audit Senior with The Associates Corporation of North America. Ken served 12 years as Accounting and Investment Manager for Browning Children’s Trust and Browning Oil Company in Dallas and 7 years as the Chief Financial Officer of Avista Resources, Inc. in Houston and has been with American Kiosk Management since 2007. Mr. Jones is a Certified Public Accountant, a Chartered Financial Analyst and is known for his high commitment to personal integrity and ethics.
Richard Long is currently the CTO of American Kiosk Management. He oversees 7 employees as well as an outsourced call center. He is responsible for setting the company’s technological strategic direction and delivering on the company’s mission to caring for customer’s concerns.
Richard joined AKM in 2005 and has held many postions within the company including: IT Manager, IT Director and now CTO.
Under Richard’s leadership, the company has seen a rapid advancement in technology and its use and benefit to the entire organization. He has successfully created a successful call center, developed an employee based Intranet, installed VOIP at all locations, streamlined and automated the discipline, onboarding and evaluation processes within HR, automated several Field Operations processes, help to create AKMU, our online university, and worked with his team to create online training. His strong leadership skills have lead AKM through their most successful years of business, and he continues to lead the company’s growth and proper use of technology.
Richard has over 20 years of experience at finding and correcting operational inefficiences in all departments and finding cost effective technology driven solutions to them. He has a strong operational experience and understanding and has successfully created and maintained several highly effective IT departments throughout his career.
Joe has 25 years manufacturing experience in the packaging industry servicing the food, drug and personal care markets. Joe has a strong track record in cost control, process improvements, inventory control, logistics and warehousing.
He has over seven years’ experience in the Specialty Retail industry with American Kiosk Management. The logistics department of American Kiosk Management services 300 manned locations and 450 electronic kiosks in all 50 states and Canada. American Kiosk Management is the leader in the Specialty Retail market in controlling inventory handling costs, managing inventory shrink and managing inventory levels to maximize sales.
Education:
Duquesne University Pittsburgh PA Bachelor of Science in Business Administration 1978
California State University Long Beach CA Master of Business Administration 1985
Patricia Adame is currently the Vice President of Human Resources for American Kiosk Management, LLC. She oversees the Human Resources Department and is responsible for the HR staff and function as well as setting the workforce planning strategy in alignment with the operations strategic mission.
The Human Resource department is responsible for HR administration of over 1200 employees all across the U.S. and Canada. Patricia has 20+ years of HR experience and has been with AKM since January of 2007. She has knowledge in all aspects of Human Resource management in the retail industry.
Patricia has formed and developed an effective and highly dedicated Human Resources team that has supported the needs of the AKM corporate and field employees. Under her direction, the HR team has successfully assisted AKM with strong leadership in the areas of recruiting, personnel file records retention, compensation, benefits and workers’ compensation, training, legal compliance, employee relations and conflict management.
Patricia is a member of the AKM Executive team and is also an active member of the Society of Human Resources Management.
Nicole Lloyd is currently the Vice President of Operations West Coast for American Kiosk Management, LLC. She oversees all operations in the West Coast which includes; training, motivating, sales and profit, monitoring payroll, cart openings, recruiting, and interviewing, investigating, mentoring and guiding individuals to be successful.
The West Coast is responsible for over 600 employees all across the U.S. and Canada as well as overseeing 4 Divisional Directors. Her territory has over 130+ locations in the U.S. and Canada and represents about $60 million dollars a year in sales. Nicole has 11+ years with American Kiosk Management and has held a variety of position including: Team Member, Cart Leader, Sr. Manager, Divisional Manager and is currently the Vice President of Field Operations, West Coast
Nicole Lloyd has improved the sales, profitability and minimized payroll. She has been directly responsible for opening 10 new locations. Her strengths include mentoring and guiding people on the right path to success. She has the #1 most profitable territories and she accredits the success of her territory to the people that work with her.
Curtis (TJ) Roberts is currently the Vice President of Field Operations in the Eastern US and Canada for American Kiosk Management, LLC. He directly oversees the Divisional Directors in the East who are responsible for the 175 locations. He is responsible for guiding the field to align with operation’s strategic mission for driving sales, maximizing profitability and developing leadership talent.
The East Coast Field Operations Management team is responsible for managing over 600 employees across Eastern U.S. and Canada. TJ has been with AKM since June of 2006 and has held every position in the field up to the Vice President position. He has experience in managing operations in different demographics across the country and with varying skill and experience levels. He is familiar with the labor laws in the US and Canadian territories and has a proven track record of making sound decisions that best represent the organization.
TJ has formed and developed an effective Divisional Director team comprised of the top talent in multi-unit management who are committed to driving the business forward and setting high standards to best represent the brand. Under his direction, the East Coast has successfully reduced controllable costs to improve profitability, improved performance against sales metric standards and has strategically built a team composed of diverse, knowledge enriched individuals who represent the company’s core values and mission statement.