Leadership

Brady Pettit joined Packsize in 2013 as the North American Controller. He was promoted to North American Vice President of Finance in 2016 and to Global Vice President of Finance in 2023.

Before joining Packsize, Brady spent six years as a financial statement auditor at KPMG and his final year there as an audit manager. Next, he took on the role of Practice Administrator at a local medical practice for two years. Brady holds a Master of Accounting degree from Brigham Young University.

Residing in the Salt Lake City area, Brady cherishes moments spent with his wife and five children. Family time holds great importance to him, and he particularly enjoys engaging in activities such as snow skiing, boating, and attending football, lacrosse, and cheerleading events with his loved ones.

Brent Cowan joined Packsize in 2011 as the Global Controller and, in 2017, was promoted to Global VP of Finance. In 2021 he was named CFO. As the CFO, Brent oversees the company’s financial operations, reporting, and capital structure.

Before his time at Packsize, Brent held a position in public accounting with KPMG. His experience there included a multi-year position in Geneva, Switzerland, working closely with many large multinational corporations. Brent earned a Master of Accounting degree from Brigham Young University.

Brent lives in the Salt Lake City area and has an unhealthy addiction to BYU sports. When he isn’t counting numbers, he’s scouring the land for the best chocolate chip cookie or helping run his five active kids to the right places at the right times.

Brian McCarson joined Packsize in 2023 as the Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information Security Officer. Brian leads the Product Management, Project Management, IT, IS, Information Security, R&D, Software, Hardware, and Controls Engineering groups. He directs Packsize’s technical vision and oversees all aspects of the company’s technology development. 

Before his time at Packsize, Brian worked at Intel, most recently heading their NUC Group (Next Unit of Compute) as Vice President & General Manager. He has over 25 years of experience designing and deploying enterprise-grade industrial automation and robotics hardware/software systems, including artificial intelligence solutions at scale. Brian loves building empowered, inclusive, and collaborative teams that can achieve benchmark-busting performance while also having fun.

Brian lives in Arizona with his wife and their three daughters and two sons. When he’s not working, you’ll find him hanging out with his kids as much as possible. He and his wife love to travel and do their best to incorporate a little wine into their destination plans. Brian has had a lifelong passion for classic car restoration and loves the process of taking old machines and transforming them into something beautiful, unique, and typically much faster.

Bridget Martin joined Packsize in 2023 as the Vice President of Product, leading product management and product design functions. Her organization blends art and science to discover and test potential market opportunities, curating a portfolio of best-in-class solutions that bring together hardware, software, data, materials, and services for the packaging automation industry.

Before her time at Packsize, Bridget worked at Intel Corporation for 14 years, where she led engineering and product teams that brought together real-time operations with advanced analytics and AI for manufacturing, retail, logistics and industrial automation industries.

Bridget lives in Arizona with her husband. When they aren't working, you'll find them tending to their homestead, and finding every excuse to host a family event whether it be a luau, holiday party, or just a plain old Sunday dinner.

David Lockwood joined Packsize as CEO in 2024, with over three decades of experience in business, academia, and government. From 2012 through 2018, David served as CEO of Energy Solutions and from 2019 through 2021 as their Executive Chairman. Before Energy Solutions, David was Chairman and CEO of Liberate Technologies, CEO of Intertrust, and Managing Director of Goldman Sachs.

David has served on over twenty public and private company boards of directors, including Steinway Musical Instruments and Forbes. He has also served on several non-profit boards, including the Exploratorium, a San Francisco-based museum dedicated to science education, and USTAR, the Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative. David has been a lecturer at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, and from 2019 to 2021, he was a senior advisor to the US Secretary of Energy.

David is the author of four books: Fooled by the Winners, Outplayed, Confused by the Odds, and Rightsizing Nations. David has written extensively on politics and history, including the importance of developing new technologies to combat climate change. He is married with three children and resides in Utah.

Forrest Hallstrom joined Packsize in 2020 as the General Manager of Packsize Now. In 2023, he was promoted to Vice President and started reporting directly to the CEO. In this role, Forrest oversees all parts of the Packsize Now business.

Before joining Packsize, Forrest was the Aftermarket General Manager for the Sherwin-Williams industrial division, supporting global sales to John Deere, Caterpillar, General Motors, Toyota, and others. He also worked for HB Fuller for 12 years, holding different roles in operations, sales management, and business management. During this time, Forrest built his knowledge base of the corrugated industry.

Forrest and his wife have been married for 33 years and have four children. When they aren’t working, they spend much of their time with family and in different church roles. Forrest consumes a lot of audiobooks, participates in triathlons and other races, and works to fit as many plants and trees as he can into his tiny Salt Lake Avenues backyard.

Frank Langerbeins joined Packsize in 2016 as the Vice President of Engineering before transitioning into the Sales department in 2020. This move allowed him to utilize his technical expertise and industry insights to drive sales growth and build strong client relationships. In 2023, he stepped into his current role as the Managing Director & Vice President of Sales in Europe.

As an engineer with over 19 years of experience with SIG Combibloc, a market leader in the automated packing and filling food industry, Frank brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to his role. He combines his technical background with strong communication and leadership skills to effectively lead his teams and deliver exceptional results.

Frank enjoys staying active and spending time with his family in his free time. He is dedicated to staying abreast of the latest developments and trends. This commitment to lifelong learning enriches his life and enables him to bring fresh perspectives and innovative ideas to his work and interactions with others.

Fredrik Markström joined Packsize in 2000 as a mechanical developer in Sweden and was part of designing many of our early products. He has worked in various roles and managed projects and teams within R&D, Engineering, Procurement, and Production. In 2007, he assumed the role of General Manager of Packsize Technologies AB and then started our Lean journey. Fredrik is responsible for our operations in Sweden and overseeing the Louisville factory.

Before his time at Packsize, Fredrik served as an engineer at Rodenstock. He lives in Uppsala, Sweden, with his wife, their two daughters, and two Siberian cats. He loves being outdoors, hiking, jogging, fishing, and picking mushrooms (which are happy to be a part of the culinary dishes he cooks and enjoys with good wine). He pays close attention to world news, economic development, and the stock market. He is also interested in Hockey, F1 racing, and winter sports.

A fifth-generation innovator born in Germany, Hanko Kiessner founded Packsize alongside his wife, Laura, with a vision to reimagine the potential of packaging. Hanko followed in his father’s footsteps by working with the leading German Z-Fold corrugated supplier and later experimenting with Right-Sized Packaging on Demand® in Herford, Germany. 

Today, Hanko is an advocate for sustainable practices in packaging and beyond. He is passionate about reducing waste, protecting the environment, and making the planet a better place.

In addition to being a Founder at Packsize, Hanko co-founded Leaders for Clean Air—a non-profit organization dedicated to improving Utah's air quality—in 2015 and is responsible for Salt Lake City’s largest solar panel-covered rooftop and EV charger installation, which is among the largest in the state.

John Hojnacki joined Packsize in 2024 as the Vice President of Global Engineering Research & Development. John helps shape Packsize’s technology strategy, drives the development of high-quality software and hardware solutions, and identifies opportunities for innovation and automation across our engineering processes.

Before his time at Packsize, John worked at Intel, where he gained extensive leadership experience in both hardware and software engineering, as well as all facets of advanced manufacturing and industrial automation. He specialized in combining technology development with design for manufacturability and reliability.

John lives in Arizona with his wife. They have four grown sons and one daughter-in-law. When John’s not working, he and his wife love to travel—usually to see their kids in New York and California. She is an Olympic bronze-medal swimmer and volunteers her time running a community swim team where John likes to help out. They have two little dogs—Coco, a Chihuahua mix, and Lucky, an energetic Corgi.

Kellen Frey joined Packsize in 2016 as Vice President of Operations and was named Senior Vice President in 2019. He initiated the growth of the US R&D teams and has led the company through multiple infrastructure moves in Louisville, KY, and Salt Lake City, UT. From 2022 through early 2024, Kellen focused on building and developing key markets in the US and Mexico. He was promoted to Chief Operating Officer in 2024.

Before Packsize, Kellen spent more than ten years in the medical device industry working for Zimmer Orthopedics in multiple capacities, including sales, sourcing, operations, logistics, distribution, and service. In 2015, he helped support Zimmer’s acquisition of its competitor, Biomet, which resulted in one of the largest global orthopedic businesses today. Kellen earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Utah and his Master's in Business from the University of Wyoming. He is also certified in Lean and Six Sigma.

Kellen and his wife spend most of their time chasing their four active children to sporting and gymnastics events across the Salt Lake Valley. Kellen enjoys athletics and is passionate about training horses and driving race cars.

Mike Wadley joined Packsize in 2022 as the Vice President of Global Procurement & Supply Chain. He oversees the Sourcing & Procurement, Planning, Customer Operations, and Refurbishment Operations teams, supporting Packsize customers and Packsize assembly operations.

Before joining Packsize, Michael was head of supply chain operations at Jetway, manufacturing passenger boarding bridges and aircraft ground support equipment. He has spent over twenty years working in international procurement, supply chain, and manufacturing operations, including ten years at Ford Motor Company. Four of those years were spent in China, helping to develop and manage the Ford Asia Pacific and Africa purchasing organization.

Mike convinced his best friend to marry him before she knew she would have to support him in finishing an undergraduate degree and then two master’s degrees. He and his wife have five amazing children, three daughters and two sons, with whom they traveled the world and who are now out of the house (most of the time), having their own adventures. When Mike has free time, he can be found rebuilding old cars and trucks or traveling with his wife as they continue exploring the world and their backyard in Utah.

Rick Colello joined Packsize in 2012 as an Area Director and, in 2016, was promoted to Senior Area Director of Sales. In 2021, he was named Vice President of Sales in the North American East region, and in 2024, he became Vice President of all North American Sales. Rick leads a team of sales professionals responsible for bringing in new business and taking great care of current Packsize customers. His greatest passion is team building, with a strong focus on mentoring, training, and, most importantly, team culture.

Before Packsize, Rick worked as Market General Manager at Barnes Distribution and General Manager at Cintas. He also served in the United States Air Force as a Nuclear Missile Launch Officer and Combat Crew Commander.

Rick lives just outside of Philadelphia with his wife. They have two children who both attend Penn State. Other family members include Butterscotch (dog) and Peanut (cat). Rick and his wife love to travel and always strive to have at least one future trip on their calendar that they can look forward to.

Rod joined Packsize in 2017 as an Executive Vice President, and has since served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Executive Officer. After retiring as CEO in 2024, Rod now serves as a Senior Consultant for Packsize.

Before his time at Packsize, Rod was a long-standing customer and strategic Packsize partner as Senior Vice President of Logistics Strategy & Operations for Staples, a leading supplier of office and business products with more than $25 billion in annual revenue. In this role, Rod was responsible for fulfillment and distribution operations for North America and determining the location and purpose of existing and future locations for Staples’ supply chain network. This included facility sizing, business units serviced, design, material handling technology, field engineering, process improvement, and project execution.

Before joining Staples in 1994, Rod was the Vice President of Distribution Operations at FoxMeyer Drug (a multi-billion-dollar pharmaceutical wholesaler), responsible for national operations and delivery. Prior to that, he held the position of Vice President and General Manager at HUMCO Labs with total P&L responsibility for manufacturing in the liquid and tablet business.

Rod lives in Arkansas with his wife. They have two grown children and four grandkids. He is an avid rancher and spends his free time with his family.

Stefan Amann joined Packsize for the second time in 2022 as the Director of Procurement for the European Business Unit and, in 2023, was appointed Managing Director of Europe. During his initial tenure with Packsize, from 2013 to 2020, he held the roles of Sales Manager, Director of Sales, and General Manager of Sales in Europe.

Before rejoining Packsize, Stefan led the Sales and After Sales department of a small Austrian company specializing in printing solutions for the medical device industry. Stefan has 20 years of experience in leadership, sales, procurement, and business operations. He graduated from the University of Applied Sciences in Dornbirn, Austria, and also spent time at the Mälardalen Högskola in Enköping studying International Management.

Stefan lives in the western part of Austria, close to the border of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Germany, in the town where he was born. He enjoys spending time outdoors in the mountains with his son and daughter. When not working or hiking, you will find Stefan playing soccer or tennis or reading while relaxing in his small garden.

Steve Larsen joined Packsize in 2017 and has held varying roles within the company. He started in finance before transitioning to strategic customer relationships. Steve led the creation and growth of our Resident Service Engineering and Program Management teams and has had influential roles in project management and R&D. Steve now leads the team focused on building relationships and solutions with our global partners and the teams responsible for developing and executing customer solutions.

Before joining Packsize, Steve worked in financial services, handling roles in regulatory capital at Morgan Stanley and credit research at Goldman Sachs.