Prior to joining Thrift Books, Hector Rivas worked in the sales industry.  He managed marketing and sales efforts for several Fortune 500 companies including Centex, Terminix, and Orkin.  Every year under Hector’s leadership, his sales offices consistently finished #1 in the United States.  He has experience with several start-up companies, including Bulwark Exterminating and Official Pest Prevention.  Hector’s work with Thrift Books has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Puget Sound Business Journal, and most recently in the book, “We are Smarter Than Me: How to Unleash the Power of Crowds in Your Business.”  He was selected as "Entrepreneur of the Day" by the National Business Journal.   Hector graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Marketing.

     Hector’s literary interests vary widely but he particularly enjoys reading history, biographies, and any story about human triumph.  Some of Hector’s favorite books include 1776, To Kill a Mockingbird, Barbarians at the Gate, Angela’s Ashes, The Education of Little Tree, and A Painted House.

    Prior to joining Thrift Books, Seth Beal was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. His practice consists of complex commercial litigation frequently dealing with commercial contract disputes, employment matters, unfair competition claims including antitrust, unfair business practices, business torts, and intellectual property litigation.  Prior to joining Kirkland & Ellis, Seth graduated summa cum laude from J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University.

    A voracious reader, Seth will read just about anything he can put his hands on. In particular, he enjoys biographies by Edmund Morris and David McCullough; non-fiction by Jared Diamond, Peter Hopkirk, and Robert Massie; contemporary fiction by Margaret Atwood, John Irving and Richard Russo; as well as science fiction by Frank Herbert, Neil Stephenson, and Vernor Vinge.

    Prior to joining Thrift Books, Mike Ward led the Development team at Wasatch Advisors, a financial advisor with assets under management of $10 billion.  He has also worked as Webmaster for several Silicon Valley and Fortune 500 companies.  Mike has also been instrumental in getting several high tech start-up companies off the ground and has brought both IT leadership and vision to help these small companies achieve quick and sustained growth.

    Mike is also a non-stop reader.  The books on his nightstand this week include: Liar’s Poker, The Hobbit, Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star, The Life of Pi, Kiln People, and Artemis Fowl.  He is also reading out loud to his daughters from The Little House in the Big Woods.

    Jason Meyer began his career at Goldman Sachs in New York.  After assisting in the opening of the Seattle office for Goldman Sachs he became the Regional Director for Lydian Trust.  Jason founded Thrift Books with Daryl Butcher in July of 2003.   Jason then founded Origin Development Group based in Salt Lake City where he spends most of his time currently. He holds a Bachelor of Science and Juris Doctorate from Brigham Young University.

     Prior to launching Thrift Books, Daryl Butcher amassed over ten years of experience developing software for large enterprises such as Microsoft, Boeing, Paccar, and Savers. For the last eight years, he has created a variety of professional software used to search large databases and to automate tasks.  Daryl and his work have been featured in the Seattle Times, Software Developer Times, Wall Street Journal, and Puget Sound Business Journal.  He was selected as "Entrepreneur of the Day" by the National Business Journal.  Daryl enjoys science fiction and considers Orson Scott Card and Michael Crichton to be his favorite authors.  His favorite book is Card’s Enders Game.