Associates
Don Ancona, President
Don@mrisandias.com
Don has over twelve years of experience as President of two staffing firms that have received national recognition with Management Recruiters International.
Prior to becoming a Management Recruiters International franchise owner Don was an executive with a Fortune 500 company. He is an accomplished information technology and engineering professional with nearly 20 years of experience in that field.
In 1995 Don's entrepreneurial spirit got the better of him and he founded Management Recruiters of Chanhassen, MN. This highly successful company quickly established itself as a premier technical recruiting company in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. In its first year the company was awarded the prestigious 1996 National Rookie Office of the Year Award. The company also was a member of MRI's President's Club, placing it among the top 25 percent of all MRI offices nationwide. In 1998 Don and his family fulfilled their dream to again live in the Southwest, moving to Albuquerque and opening MRI of the Sandias.
Management Recruiters of the Sandias, NM is located in Albuquerque and has been a nationally recognized office. In fact, it was a member of the elite Presidents Gold Club in its very first year in business. Don's company philosophy is simple: Partner with client companies and candidates and always do the right thing for both, always putting their best interests first.
Don personally specializes in placing Impact Players in Senior-Level technology positions, and works on a retained basis with his clients. He is a regular speaker at MRI national events on many recruitment, training and business topics, and consistently has top-performing, long term, dedicated people on his team.
He was recently recognized as a Top-5 MRINetwork Southwest Region Manager of the Year.Don has been married 25 years to his wife Paula and is the proud father of 3 children. He grew up in St. Louis and is a graduate of the University of Missouri. He has been on the Board of Directors for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of New Mexico and the Childrens Cancer Fund of New Mexico. He also is an active member of the Albuquerque Economic Development Organization.
Michael Darby
Michael@MRISandias.com
Michael Darby has been a resident of Albuquerque for thirteen years. Prior to arriving in the beautiful State of New Mexico Michael resided in Southern California where he specialized in Banking and Mortgage Lending. Michael relocated to NM in early 1991 at the request of Bank of America. At B of A Michael assisted the District Manager and supervised the Real Estate and Consumer Lending Divisions. He also trained and motivated the sales staff. Michael is a graduate of California State University at Northridge with a B.A. in Psychology.
He has twenty years experience in Banking, Mortgage Lending, Management and Sales. Michael has developed great expertise in Residential, Commercial and Private Money Lending. He prides himself in his client service skills. At MRI, Michael specializes in Mortgage and Banking where his efforts are focused on the best needs of his clients as well as his candidates.
He was recently recognized as a Top-10 MRINetwork Southwest Region Account Executive.He has been been married to his wife Debra for twenty seven years and she has been his great inspiration. Michael is the proud father of five children and two grandchildren. His hobbies include golf, gardening, deep sea fishing and most of all his Labrador Retriever named Mollie.
Michael made a conscious decision to be a part of MRI of the Sandias because in his words, " I wanted to work with the Best of the Best."
Steve Freeman
Steve@MRISandias.com
Steve came to MRI of the Sandias with over 20 years in outside sales and management, recruiting and training some of the top salespeople in the adult beverage industry. Helping people succeed in life and in business has been Steve's driving goal. Steve now takes this zeal for quality of life into MRI of the Sandias in helping other people find a new and exciting challenge in advancing their careers.
He was recently recognized as the MRINetwork Southwest Region Account Executive of the year for his category.
Steve has been married to Sue his wife for over 20 years. They have 4 beautiful children, 3 girls and 1 boy. Ranging in age 21 to 13. Their son is a long term survivor of cancer and the youngest 2 girls were lovingly adopted into their family at the age of 2 and 3. Changing lives for the better has always been a major goal in their lives.
Ken Regenold
Ken@MRISandias.com
Ken is originally from San Diego, CA. and attended San Diego State University. He has over 20 years of sales and marketing experience, and has owned and operated an advertising business in Tempe, Arizona for five years. Ken finds it rewarding to assist others in making an educated decision and reaching their fullest potential, and feels that MRI of the Sandias is a perfect fit for his background and experience.
Ken's hobbies include competitive tennis and spending time with his sixteen year old son, Michael.
John Pelan
John@MRISandias.com
John came to MRI with over twenty years experience in helping construction and engineering firms build their businesses through the use of various market intelligence products. A native of Seattle, John specialized in working with firms based in California. Now as an industry specialist for MRI John continues with his passion for helping businesses grow through facilitating the placement of highly qualified candidates with the right opportunity in the greater Bay Area and throughout the State of California.
John and his lovely wife Kathy have been happily married for twenty-two years and recently moved to a beautiful home in Rio Rancho, New Mexico with their six cats and extensive library. When not at the office, John spends time researching obscure authors and preparing volumes of their work for publication
Mike Chavez
mchavez@MRISandias.com
Michael "Mike" Chavez is part of a vanishing breed in New Mexico, "Born and Bred". He has spent all of his 34 years in Albuquerque and has thoroughly enjoyed the changes he has seen in our fair city. With the influx of people from out of state and country, it's like the world has brought itself to New Mexico's doorstep. Mike most recently spent 6 years with the largest rental car company in the world, as a senior manager. Before that he spent 7 years in radio, and he did everything. Mike was an on-air jock, he reported traffic, worked in promotions and wrote and produced commercials. All at the same time! Mike gave it up when his wife Tammi and he welcomed their 1st and only child into the world, Zachary. Zachary is now seven and is working on becoming a Flag Football all-star.
Mike brings top level sales and management skills to his position at MRI. He is accustomed to working hard for the candidate and for the client company. And., he realizes that relationship is like a Chinese dinner, "It's not over till everyone gets their cookies!"
Shawn Perry-Turner
Shawn@MRISandias.com
Shawn came to MRI with more than 20 years experience in marketing and sales in multiple industries-community associations, construction, cooling towers, engineering, industrial gases, publishing, retail and water treatment. She moved to Albuquerque in late 1999 from central New Jersey, and, discovering that her extensive knowledge of cooling towers and community associations was of little interest to this market, she dabbled in other professions: on-air radio host, designer apparel sales agent and columnist and media sales rep for a New Mexico lifestyle magazine. To her delight, MRI gets her back in her element and among her peers.
Shawn considers herself a profession matchmaker -someone who introduces the right people to each other so that they and their companies can realize their business goals and dreams. Her matchmaking is practiced nationwide. Shawn and her husband Tim (a structural PE and former ironworker) love living in Albuquerque and are visited frequently by her East-Coast based sons. Shawn credits years of on-site field experience and her husband for her expertise in the use of duct tape and broad knowledge of, shall we say, colorful construction and engineering expressions.
Kirk Ryan
Kirk@MRISandias.com
Kirk Ryan is a transplant to the beautiful state of New Mexico. He is from Michigan and served 8 years in the Marine Corps prior to arriving in Albuquerque. Kirk is a graduate from The Saginaw Valley State University and is a licensed financial advisor in Michigan. Kirk also has 6 years of recruiting and sales experience..
At MRI, Kirk specializes in the the Technology Sector, with special emphasis on Medical Device and Hospitality companies. He prides himself on developing long term relationships by continuously focusing on doing what is best for his clients and candidates.
Susie Graham
Susie@MRISandias.com
Susie joins MRI with over 15 years in the customer service industry. She also has en extensive internet background, having run a Bulletin Board System in the infancy of the internet. She calls New Mexico home even though it is not her birth place. Susie has been in Albuquerque for over three years and plans to be here for many years to come. She spent a large part of her life in the deep south before moving to New Mexico with her husband of eight years, Russ. She has two cats, Churchill and Pippen, that are her "children". Susie is an active volunteer in many areas of her life, but the majority of her free time goes to protecting children from predators.
