Our Leadership
Our Leadership
Jim Corey
Managing Partner
Jim is a co-founder of Blue Ridge Partners and now serves as the firm’s Managing Partner. For 30 years he has assisted companies in North America, Europe and Asia accelerate profitable revenue growth. Jim has advised over 250 companies on revenue-related issues including growth strategy, pricing, sales and marketing management, customer segmentation and messaging.
Prior to founding Blue Ridge Partners, Jim was a partner at both McKinsey & Company and Accenture. He was the President of the Worldwide Professional Services Group at Unisys Corporation and the Managing Partner of AT&T Solutions, the professional services arm of AT&T. Jim served as Managing Partner of Potomac Partners and CEO of Luminant Worldwide.
Jim now lives in the Washington, DC, area.
W. Bradford Wilsted
Managing Director
bwilsted@blueridgepartners.com
Brad is a co-founder of Blue Ridge Partners and now leads the firm’s Healthcare Practice. Brad has nearly 20 years of experience helping healthcare clients accelerate profitable revenue growth. His expertise includes growth strategy development, sales and marketing effectiveness, referral source optimization, customer segmentation and pricing within healthcare, insurance, financial services and other industries.
Previously, Brad was a Principal at Luminant Worldwide and ran the strategic consulting practice as Senior Vice President of Client Services at XOR, Inc. He has also served as a Senior Manager at Braxton Associates strategic consulting group. Brad was a member of the Marketing Planning Group at Eli Lilly responsible for targeting the managed care sector. Brad earned his MBA at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
Brad now resides in Denver with his family.
Jeff Gurganus
Principal
jgurganus@blueridgepartners.com
Jeff, a Principal at Blue Ridge Partners, has over 15 years of experience working in a wide variety of corporate and consulting settings. With Blue Ridge Partners, Jeff’s work has focused on creating and implementing growth strategies, enhancing sales force effectiveness, optimizing go-to-market strategies and tactics, and improving cross selling and customer retention. In addition, he has expertise in supporting the due diligence efforts of private equity firms.
Prior to Blue Ridge Partners Jeff served as Vice President, Corporate Finance, with Simplexity, a leading online retailer of wireless products and services, and as an Advisor to the CFO of XM Satellite Radio, at the time the nation’s leading satellite radio service. In addition, he was an Engagement Manager with The Dealy Strategy Group, a boutique management consulting firm focused on clients ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.
Jeff earned his MBA from Georgetown University, an MA from The George Washington University and his undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland College Park. He has also studied at Moscow State University and Oxford University.
Jeff currently resides in Bethesda, Maryland, with his wife and two children.
Jerry Hughes
Principal
Jerry is a Principal at Blue Ridge Partners, where he focuses on helping consumer-oriented businesses find new ways to accelerate profitable revenue growth. His clients have included companies in the consumer goods, financial services, retail, healthcare, and marketing services sectors.
With over 20 years of experience as a consultant and corporate executive, Jerry has led efforts to boost growth, sales and marketing effectiveness, and corporate value for clients ranging from private, middle market companies to Fortune 100 firms. He managed client relationships and engagements with consultancies Inforte Corp., Luminant Worldwide, and Braxton Associates. Jerry also led the Business Development and Product Management functions as an Executive Vice President at Rewards Network, a publicly traded loyalty and direct-marketing company.
Prior to his consulting career, Jerry held corporate lending and finance positions at UBS and Bank of Montreal. He holds an A.B. in government from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. in Finance and International Business from the University of Chicago.
Jerry lives in the Chicago area with his wife and four children.
Karen Malak Rocush
Principal
Karen is a principal at Blue Ridge Partners, where she primarily focuses on clients in our healthcare and technology verticals. Karen’s expertise includes strategy implementation, customer segmentation, targeting and messaging, strategic partnership development, and sales force effectiveness.
Karen has over 20 years of experience, and has worked in a variety of settings: consulting and industry, large company and start-up, public and private, domestic and international both as a consultant and corporate executive. Prior to joining Blue Ridge Partners, Karen worked as a general manager / product manager for Medline Industries, a privately-held $4B medical supplies manufacturer and distributor. Karen’s start-up experience includes working as the VP, Strategic Partnerships and CIO of Incisent Technology, a decision support tool for the automotive industry, and as the VP, Partnerships and Automotive Sales for TradeOut.com, an online exchange for excess inventory. Karen started her career with Accenture where she worked with Fortune 500 clients in the U.S. and Asia-Pacific for eleven years.
Karen earned her M.B.A. at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a B.S. in electrical engineering from Bucknell University.
Karen lives in the Chicago area with her husband and daughter.