Lisa Spadafora Thompson
Founder and CEO

Lisa’s goal is to deliver highly-customized, actionable strategies that clients use to close profitable, win-win deals with their customers.

She has experience in a variety of B2B industries including industrial manufacturing, specialty & commodity chemicals, life sciences & healthcare, B2B services, software/SaaS including medtech and fintech, real estate and construction management. She has worked for Fortune 100 companies, mid-sized firms, start-ups, and non-profits. 

Prior to founding Sturbridge Growth Partners, Lisa was a partner with Deloitte Consulting in their Strategy & Operations practice. She has nearly three decades of management consulting experience. She and her colleagues have helped clients drive billions of dollars in profitable revenue through better commercial practices (marketing, pricing, sales and business unit/corporate strategy). Lisa was a senior partner at Monitor Group (acquired by Deloitte in 2013.) Her fellow partners elected her to represent her on the firm’s board of directors. Lisa started her career at Strategic Pricing Group (acquired by Monitor in 2005) where she served as a Vice President.

Lisa has an MBA from Babson College (consistently ranked #1 in Entrepreneurship) and a BA from Regis College. Lisa is dedicated to supporting men and women in Boston’s inner city to find high-paying jobs and sustainable housing. She lives in the Boston area with her husband and their adult children. 

Thomas T. Nagle, PhD

Tom is a world-renowned pricing expert who developed breakthrough theories in the field of pricing leading to billions of dollars of profitable growth for clients and the general business community.  

Tom founded Strategic Pricing Group (SPG) in 1987 where he served as Chairman and CEO until he sold the firm to Monitor Group in 2005. Monitor Group was acquired by Deloitte in 2013. Tom serves as a part-time senior advisor for Deloitte clients as well as an alliance partner for Sturbridge. 

Tom is a highly sought-after speaker and author, both in the US and around the world. He is the author of the award-winning book, The Strategy & Tactics of Pricing, now in its 6th edition.  Prior to founding SPG, Tom was a professor of marketing and strategy at the University of Chicago and Boston University. He is a graduate of Penn State University and receive his Ph.D. in economics from UCLA.

John Thompson

John is a results driven marketing and business development executive with over 20 years of experience in the healthcare and health insurance industries.    He is a hands-on problem solver with functional experience in growing small businesses into large profitable enterprises. 

John spent the last 14 years as VP of Marketing and Business Development for ClearHealth Strategies until their acquisition by United Health Group in early 2023.  While at ClearHealth John focused on the initial branding and overall marketing of the firm and then exclusively on driving business development opportunities in the healthcare payer space as the company rapidly expanded via direct sales and partnership development.

At Sturbridge, John is focused on internal operations and serving clients in the healthcare space with projects focusing on competitive positioning, channel development and best-in-class pricing strategies.

 John graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with a BS is Marketing and also from Babson College with a MBA.   In his spare time, he plays as much soccer and pickleball as possible.

Vanessa Vucinic
Chief Strategy Officer

Vanessa is a strategist hands-on problem solver with a proven track record in developing and implementing solutions for clients that work. Her functional expertise includes strategy-driven problem solving and implementation, cross-functional collaboration, customer segmentation and customer experience (CX), and operating model optimization.

Vanessa has spent the last several years partnering with clients to achieve profitable growth through both commercial and operational excellence engagements. Prior to working with Sturbridge, Vanessa consulted with Deloitte Consulting, Lotis Blue Consulting, and as an independent small business consultant. She frequently works with B2B organizations in software (SaaS and On-Prem), manufacturing, wholesale and distribution, and B2B services. She is a Pareto Principle evangelist with a knack for getting to the root cause and designing bespoke, efficient and effective solutions for clients. 

Vanessa graduated from the University of Southern California with a Master of Science (MS) and Bachelor of Science (BS) in Urban Planning. In her spare time, she plays in a rock band and reads voraciously.

Kevin McCabe

Kevin McCabe is a pricing pioneer and innovator.  He’s been a consultant, leader, and change agent, leading pricing transformations at Fortune 500 companies and his expertise is sought after by the Private Equity community to work with their portfolio companies to create sustainable profitability.

Introduced to pricing by Tom Nagle and Lisa Thompson, Kevin grew under Strategic Pricing Group and The Monitor Group.  He was previously the global product director for Visa International, launching the Visa Infinite card platform now issued by 35+ banks worldwide. He has a deep background in B2B/B2C/B2B2C Marketing Research and as well as Finance, having started his career in corporate banking at Barclays Bank of Canada.

With a background spanning fintech, manufacturing, software, and services, Kevin studied economics at Western University in Canada, became a Sloan Fellow at the London Business School, and earned an MSc from The University of London. Now residing in Boston with his family, Kevin’s journey from Canada symbolizes his adventurous spirit and dedication.

Alexis Aubert

Alexis focuses on driving profitable revenue growth for clients with a data-driven and hands-on approach to deliver quick, tangible results. With 12+ years of experience across B2B and consumer-facing industries, Alexis focuses on commercial excellence, sales and marketing, and pricing for clients, designing and implementing creative solutions with tangible results.  thanks to a customer-centric and data-driven approach grounded in market research and data science.

Alexis has led multiple strategic growth initiatives and consulting engagements for corporate, private equity, startup, family-owned and tribal clients across various verticals, including SaaS, tech & telecom, industrial goods, construction materials, automotive, retail, food & beverage, and legal services. Known for his versatile expertise at the intersection of strategy, data and technology enables him to provide invaluable insights to CXOs and executive teams, guiding them through commercial and operational transformations. Alexis's international tenure with leading firms in Europe and Asia, including Simon-Kucher, PwC, and Oliver Wyman, has equipped him with a unique global perspective.

Alexis graduated from HEC Paris in France with a Master of Science in Management and with a Master of Arts in Strategic and International Management from the University of Saint Gallen in Switzerland.

Joanne Smith

Senior Marketing and Business Executive with broad and diverse experience leading B2B marketing, pricing, business development and customer loyalty initiatives – generating millions of dollars to bottom lines. Experience in chemicals, industrial, polymers,food/nutrition, agricultural, automotive, safety and electronics. Successful at building, directing and empowering multi-disciplined teams to turn around and transform underperforming entities into profitable, market-driven organizations. Excel at defining and aligning B2B marketing strategies and customer segmentation approaches to identify and secure business development /product growth opportunities. Highly skilled at strategic pricing, value pricing, transactional pricing and pricing systems. Effective at creating/leveraging business/project methodologies, processes improvements, and cross-business marketing strategies to maximize profits/cash, marketing competency, and customer loyalty.

• Pricing & Profit Management / Transformation
• New Business Development/ Product Management & Development
• Cross-Functional Collaboration & Leadership
• Business Transformation & Change Management
• Customer Loyalty Initiatives
• B2B Marketing Strategies & Plans
• Marketing and Customer Segmentation & Differential Treatment
• Team & Department Leadership

Matt East

Matt is an imaginative individual whose practical experience spans from the quantitatively hard to the qualitatively human. He possesses technical expertise in finance & accounting, finesse over conventional boundaries and distinctions, and a distinctive capability to structure, analyze, and generate actionable insights from data. In addition to his role at Sturbridge Growth Partners, Matt actively holds the position of Advisor-in-Residence at Circle+, a digital platform seeking to redefine the startup ecosystem throughout Africa. Previously, Matt has held roles at FTI Consulting and Lotis Blue Consulting, working across various sectors and functional areas.

Matt has developed innovative pricing strategies, created and operationalized new commercial models, led value-based pricing transformations, and created global growth strategies for various private and publicly-held companies. He’s also led digital design and transformation engagements as well as conducting M&A and financial due diligence in dozens of buy/sell-side middle-market M&A transactions, maximizing value and mitigating financial risks for private equity and corporate clients alike.

Matt has worked in a variety of industries including software/SaaS, hardware, P&C insurance, professional services, in addition to others. He received his MBA (2018) and BS (2016) from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University – Bloomington.

Larry Gulko

Larry is a brand strategist, executive coach, and growth advisor with a track record for positioning an eclectic range of brands to compete more effectively in today’s rapidly evolving and ever-changing business landscape. He created BRAND: NEW DAY, the only private one-day brand building, idea exchange, and thought leadership retreat designed for a company’s leadership team determined to take their brand to the next level. Larry founded and moderates the annual CEO Brand Leadership Roundtable with the Harvard Business School Association of Boston, now celebrating its 12th year. The Fireside Chat series has featured Hall of Fame PGA Golfer and Entrepreneur Greg Norman, and Ed Bastian, CEO, Delta Air Lines. He and Roger Berkowitz, CEO of Legal Sea Foods, host Name Brands, CBS Boston. This brand strategy podcast show features conversations with CEOs of iconic brands sharing their insight to drive brand performance and revenue growth. For 20 years, Larry’s advertising and brand consultancy agency, Gulko & Company, launched brands for the Fortune 500, middle-market companies, entrepreneurial ventures, and non-profit organizations. A sought-after thought leader, Larry delivers keynotes and serves on numerous boards and councils.

Mike Connors

Mike has a long history in growth strategy both organically and inorganically as a consultant and a corporate executive. He has broad experience with clients ranging from well-established Fortune 100 multi-nationals to technology start-ups. His work has focused on two areas: all aspects of the M&A process (from strategic assessment to valuation and negotiation to integration) and organic growth that marries market-back assessments of customers’ needs with honest evaluations of a business’s capabilities to determine what markets offer the highest chance of success.  

Mike has been a consultant for almost 20 years both independently and at Booz Allen Hamilton (now Strategy&). He was also a Director of Business Development at Eaton Corporation where he led all aspects of numerous acquisitions, divestitures, and joint ventures both domestically and internationally. In addition, he is also a real estate investor.

He has a B.S. in Physics from Haverford College and J.D. and M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. He lives in Cleveland with his wife and family in the house he grew up in.

Suzanne Blake

Suzanne Blake, PCC, is an International Coach Federation (ICF) Professional Certified Coach with 23 years of experience in Executive, Career, Management, and Productivity Coaching, with a focus on Corporate Soft Skills, Management Training, as well as Human Resources development. She has been recognized as a leader in the coaching community by being awarded the PRISM award for Excellence in Corporate Coaching by ICF of New England and nominated for ICF’s "Best Career Coach.” Suzanne’s warmth and humor, in conjunction with her strategic insights and engaging style, give her the laser-like ability to pinpoint the root causes of problems to collaborate on sustainable solutions and create positive behavioral change.

Her coaching work has been profiled in a variety of respected media venues, such as The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Today Show, NPR, as well as CBS affiliate, WBZ News Television and ABC affiliate, WCVB Chronicle Magazine. Suzanne’s consulting and training client list includes: Amica Insurance, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Deloitte, EMC/Dell, Verizon, and Children’s Hospital Boston.

Marty Meltzer

Marty is a proficient data scientist with a proven ability to extract actionable insights from data. He has been a collaborative and active team member on numerous data-driven projects, with a track record of developing and communicating high-impact recommendations to leaders that deliver meaningful business value.

Marty has worked with clients across various industries to build data-driven solutions. After spending four years working with healthcare clients at Pareto Intelligence, he went on to serve clients in brick-and-mortar retail, manufacturing, and nonprofits. This experience has equipped him with the skills necessary to tackle a variety of data-related challenges that organizations face. He excels at developing innovative predictive models, such as a demand forecasting model using time series regression for a retail fish market in Rhode Island.

Marty graduated from the Illinois Institute of Technology with a Master of Data Science and holds a BS in Mathematics from the University of Michigan.