Mark Lawson

Director, Business Development

Mark Lawson is a Director, Business Development, responsible for building and maintaining broker and client relationships in the western region.

Mark is a subject matter expert in the areas of HR and employee benefits, with more than 30 years of experience in the space. Prior to joining Empyrean, Mark was the Director, HR Consulting for ISG. For 15 years, he served as lead consultant on over 120 HR projects for over 65 unique clients, including some of the largest, most complex companies in the world. He focused on strategy development and execution across a broad set of HR functions, business case development, functional assessments, service provider evaluations and selections, and contract negotiations.  

He also spent 10 years in various benefits administration and outsourcing roles, including implementation manager, service center manager, manager of retirement services, manager of audits and controls, and plan administration.  

At Empyrean, Mark serves as a mentor to those under his leadership and works closely with Empyrean’s executive team to identify new products, services and strategic partnerships. 

Mark earned a B.S. in Business Administration from Old Dominion University. 

Scott Mesteller

Strategic Account Advisor

Scott Mesteller is a Strategic Account Advisor (SAA), serving as a true partner and advocate for his clients. The guidance and support he provides includes keeping clients informed of updates surrounding product strategies and initiatives, representing the client’s voice as it relates to new carrier relationships and Empyrean service and solution enhancements, and ensuring that broader client teams understand the individualized pain points and needs of each and every Empyrean client.

With over 20 years of human resources and employee benefits experience, Scott also regularly provides his clients with consulting support and works closely with our compliance team as new legislative updates occur in the employee benefits space.

Prior to joining the Empyrean team in 2013, Scott spent 14 years at Aon Hewitt managing a shared service group of 50 team members who administered eligibility and premium files for approximately 175 clients. At Empyrean, Scott supports many large, complex clients across several industries, including energy, transportation, retail, and manufacturing.

Scott earned a B.S. from Eastern Michigan University. 

Carla Kimble

Senior Implementation Manager

Carla Kimble serves as an Empyrean Sr. Implementation Manager, overseeing the successful build-out and launch of new client solutions. She is both a technology leader and service delivery expert and plays a critical role in ensuring a seamless transition from the implementation stage through ongoing client service and support.

An industry veteran with more than 20 years of employee benefits experience, Carla began her career at Mercer Outsourcing, ultimately serving as a Client Services Team Lead. She then moved on to join Willis Towers Watson as a Senior Benefits Analyst and then Aon Hewitt as a Project Manager before ultimately moving to Empyrean in 2015.

Carla’s areas of expertise include service implementation, ongoing administration, and application configuration management.

Carla earned a Bachelor of Business Administration and Management from Texas A&M University.

Bill Umbehauer

Director, Business Development

Bill Umbehauer serves as Director, Business Development at Empyrean in the Northeast region. With 20+ years of sales and leadership experience, he is extremely knowledgeable in Employee Benefits Administration and is committed to providing the best possible outcomes and service for his clients.

Bill is a career veteran in the employee benefits and human resources technology space, spending 12 years at HCM giant Paychex before joining Benefitfocus in 2014. At Benefitfocus, Bill spent seven years ascending into key leadership roles while achieving multiple President Club honors.

Bill is a graduate of Kutztown University of Pennsylvania and is a lifelong native of Philadelphia, where he currently resides with his wife and two children.

Richard Wolfe

CEO + Co-Founder

Richard Wolfe co-founded Empyrean in 2006, building on his over 20 years of senior-level management expertise in HR outsourcing. Previously serving as Empyrean’s Chief Operating Officer, Richard took over as CEO in 2011, and brings a wealth of expertise in business-process outsourcing, benefits administration, and systems implementation from his experience working with some of the largest firms in the industry. 

Prior to founding Empyrean, Richard was Senior Director at outsourcing firm Synhrgy HR Technologies, where he provided significant business operation and product-development leadership. Synhrgy was later acquired by Mercer, where Richard served as Senior Operations Director and Principal, responsible for solution architecture and service delivery to large outsourcing clients. Richard also served as Senior Implementation Manager at Hewitt, implementing outsourcing services for large clients. 

Richard has been named an EY Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist three years in a row, was recognized as one of Employee Benefit News’ Technology Innovators (2017), and was listed as one of Employee Benefit Adviser’s Top Benefit IT Power Players (2016).  

Richard earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting, Finance and Economics from The University of Pittsburgh. 

Jim Priebe

Chief Strategy Officer

Jim Priebe is Empyrean’s Chief Strategy Officer, leading the group’s Sales, Marketing, and Product teams and focusing on the delivery of solutions that connect benefits and enrich lives every day. 

Over his 30-year career, Jim has been an agent for change in the employee benefits space, delivering several successful market solutions resulting in new businesses and product lines which align with his passion for ensuring all aspects of the insurance and benefits ecosystem work together to provide simplification and education for all users. 

Jim is active in the industry, serving in key roles to help shape, define, and position legislative change at both the federal and state levels. Prior to joining Empyrean, he held executive level leadership positions at Bloom Health, United Health Group (Optum), Mayo Clinic, and Acclaris. 

Jim earned a B.A. in Marketing and Communications from Concordia University. He served in the United States Army Reserves and earned an Army Achievement Medal for outstanding performance in Desert Storm. 

Kelly Knick

Director, Channel Enablement

Kelly Knick is a Director, Channel Enablement at Empyrean, focused on building and nurturing broker and carrier relationships across the U.S.  

An industry veteran with deep experience in the space, Kelly began her career in benefits administration at Benefitfocus. There, she spent over three years in roles of escalating responsibility, ultimately serving as an Account Executive. During her tenure, she won several internal awards tied to her sales performance.  

From there, Kelly moved on to join Nayya as an Account Executive before coming on board as a member of the Empyrean team.  

Kelly earned a B.A. from the University of Maryland. She resides in southern Florida.  

Belinda McCall

Director, User Experience

Belinda McCall is Director, User Experience at Empyrean. She has over 15 years of deep experience in the design and development space, and leads the organization’s UX Team in creating intuitive, connected benefit experiences within the Empyrean platform.

Belinda has spent the majority of her career in the creative space and has experience in everything from marketing to visual design, to project management. She began her User Experience career at Keymind, a division of Axiom Resource Management, where she spent 10 years establishing herself as a leader in the space and providing innovative design solutions and compelling online experiences.

Belinda earned a BFA in graphic design from the University of Tampa. She is also a Certified Holistic Nutritionist and has passions for food, yoga, and books. Belinda resides in VA with her husband, son, and dog.

Kunal Patel

Director, Client Technology Services

Kunal Patel is Empyrean’s Director, Client Technology Services, and has over 15 years of deep industry experience in the benefits administration space.

At Empyrean, Kunal provides strong leadership to solve complex configuration and system challenges while providing critical business intelligence to stakeholders.

Kunal began his career as a web developer, growing his expertise in coding, database integrations, and MS SQL. From there, he moved on to join Mercer HR Services, ultimately serving as an IT Project Manager, leading and mentoring the senior analyst team.

Since 2007, Kunal has been a critical member of Empyrean’s IT organization, and has held his current role of Director, Client Technology Services since 2014. 

Kunal earned a B.A. and MBA from the University of Houston.

Ramiro Candela

Director, Workforce Operations

Ramiro Candela serves as Empyrean’s Director, Workforce Operations, and has 25 years of diverse experience leading high performing teams in technical and fast paced environments. At Empyrean, Ramiro oversees the strategic direction of call center operations in terms of staffing, forecasting, scheduling, software investments, and financial direction.

Ramiro began his career in workforce management at First Data Corporation, where he gained critical insight into the day-to-day responsibilities of customer service representatives. There, he spent seven years, ultimately serving as Workforce Manager.

From there, Ramiro went on to spend time at APAC and ACS (a Xerox corporation) before joining AON Hewitt. Ramiro spent seven years in leadership roles within AON’s customer service division before joining Empyrean in 2014.

Ramiro attended the University of Phoenix.

Erica Warren

Director, Customer Service

Erica Warren serves as Director, Customer Service, providing leadership to Empyrean’s Employee Service Center and playing a critical role in driving the group’s 95% customer satisfaction rate.

Before joining the Empyrean team, Erica was an Executive Team Leader for the retail giant, Target. In 2010, Erica moved on to join Empyrean, serving in several roles of escalating responsibility aligned with the service team, providing her with unique insights and perspectives that are reflected in her effectiveness in leading this critical group.

Erica earned a B.S. from Texas State University.  

Angel Suefert

Executive VP, Human Resources

Angel Seufert, the EVP of Human Resources, leads the HR team in developing the HR strategies, programs and systems that supports Empyrean’s employees. Angel has over 20 years of HR experience focusing on Total Rewards, employee development, HR technology, etc.

Prior to joining Empyrean in 2018, Angel worked in manufacturing, oil & gas, healthcare and technology leading the Total Rewards functions. At SCL Health System, Angel lead the initiative to merge benefit plans during an acquisition of another health system (Exempla Health based in Denver, CO) and roll out the benefits to all 24,000+ employees.  Angel worked at Lockton Companies in Kansas City as a Sr. Account Manager where she managed health and welfare clients for her clients, and she also assisted several clients with their various HRIS systems.

Angel earned an M.S. from Baker University.

Maureen Gardner

Director, Business Development

Maureen Gardner is a Director, Business Development, responsible for managing new Empyrean prospect relationships while also cultivating connections with sourcing advisors, consultants, and brokers. She also partners closely with the operations team to ensure that expectations set during the sales process are delivered through implementation and ongoing service.

Prior to joining the Empyrean team in March 2022, Maureen spent a combined 18 years at Ceridian working with both mid-sized and enterprise organizations to select and implement full suite HCM solutions. In between the Ceridian years, she spent 13 years at ADP serving as a Senior Health & Welfare Solution Architect for the large market. There she worked with new clients to determine appropriate administration solutions and managed the transition of work to the implementation team. The last 10 years at ADP she served as a Strategic Client Partner to ADP’s largest clients and focused on partnership, solution delivery, and client retention.

During her career, Maureen has worked with many large and complex clients and brings a wealth of diverse experience to help companies craft effective and impactful employee benefits technology and service solutions.

Maureen earned a B.A. from Bowling Green State University.

Stephanie Haney

Vice President, Sales

Stephanie Haney is an industry veteran with over 20 years of experience working with employee health and wellness benefits. As Vice President, Sales at Empyrean Benefit Solutions, she is a leader in the benefits space, guiding her team and clients to the best possible solutions.

Since starting her career in the group benefits industry in 2002, Stephanie has emerged as a subject matter expert while working for companies such as Assurant, The Hartford and then Benetrac. She has focused on helping numerous clients, brokers, and carriers harness benefits administration technology to align with their goals for employee engagement and enrollment outcomes.

Stephanie earned her B.S. in Public Relations from the University of Florida. She resides in Grand Rapids, MI, with her husband and eight-year-old son. She enjoys skiing, travelling, cheering for the Florida Gators, and spending time with friends and family.

Rob Veatch

Director, Business Development

Rob Veatch serves as a Director, Business Development at Empyrean, dedicated to building and developing strong partnerships with brokers and employers in the central region.

And industry veteran with over 30 years of experience in the benefits space, Rob is viewed as a subject matter expert and trusted advisor, guiding employers towards right-sized benefits technology and service solutions to fit the unique needs of their business.  

Rob began his career in health and benefits at HealthPartners, a nonprofit health care provider and health insurance company. From there, Rob joined PreferredOne, a health benefits management company, where he served in roles of escalating responsibility and complexity for 15 years.

Rob then moved to the specialty health carrier side of the industry, serving as Regional Sales Executive for Versant Health, a subsidiary of MetLife, before joining the Empyrean Team.

Rob earned a B.A. from Luther College. He resides in Minneapolis, MN where he regularly volunteers for charitable organizations in his community, including Memorial Blood Centers and the Special Olympics.