Wellness Consumer Builders, LLC

The WCB Team

Linda K. Endecott, CKIS*, CEO
Besides serving as Chief Executive Officer for Wellness Consumer Builders, Linda serves as Senior Vice President for Institutional Development at the Global Strategy Initiative, and has had a sixteen year career building partnerships and networks to advance the work of educational public service organizations.

Ms. Endecott began her work in public service education in 1988 as a private consultant on program development and organizational management. In 1995, she joined the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Kansas City and Mid-Missouri (CCCS), an educational institution dedicated to helping the less privileged move toward home ownership. She became Senior Vice President for Community Development and Education in 1998. She led the team that developed the CCCS Financial Fitness for Life educational materials, built community and nationwide networks to support the program initiative, and raised over $1.5 million to finance program development, delivery, and community outreach. In addition, Ms. Endecott worked successfully with the State of Missouri to improve state school financial education curricula, established and managed a consortium of non-profit agencies in community building and housing, and conceived and executed the merger of nine consumer credit counseling service agencies into a single service unit.

In 2002, Ms. Endecott moved to People to People International, a cross-cultural education and exchange program established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, becoming Senior Vice President of Development in 2003. Responsible for building the organization’s network of relationships locally, nationally, and internationally, she expanded institutional partnerships from three to seventy-nine, established the first People to People International Peace Camp program in Egypt, a program that continues in operation today, and raised $300,000 to support the Camp and other programs.

In addition to her professional work, Ms. Endecott is active on a variety of public service boards. She chaired the March of Dimes/Kansas City Board, and served as a Director of the March of Dimes national organization. She was a director of the Friends of Art of the Nelson Art Gallery, and is Board Secretary of Swope Health Services. And, she is Founder and former Board Member of the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault.

John Pearce CKIS*, Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Pearce is the COO and the National Director of Business Development at WCB and has a background in sports and health. After graduating from the University of Kansas in 2000 with an undergraduate degree in Sports Management, he began his career in the Kansas City Chiefs Player Personnel Department. There he learned first hand the importance of hard work, mental strength, health, and wellness from a variety of high level executives, coaches, and players. In 2003 he moved on to a successful 5 year run as a Sr. Mortgage Consultant with Fortress Financial in Overland Park, KS. Wanting to get back to his roots, John is now combining his sales expertise with his knowledge of health and wellness to add another dimension to the growth and success of WCB.

In his spare time John enjoys running, weight training, golf, and tennis. He is proud to be a part of a team that is doing their part to combat the health crisis in America by empowering people to build a healthier, happier lifestyle.

David F Sanders, CKIS*, Founder, and Director of Program Development
David has over 25 years experience in the insurance industry as well as the health & wellness industry. His years as a life and health insurance producer caused him such frustration for America’s health care crisis and his clients’ inability to control spiraling premiums. He became an expert in consumer-driven health care solutions such as Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs), but realized that although these solutions are part of the answer to the health care crisis, they are not a stand alone solution. The real answer lies in a network of health and wellness experts, services and programs that together can build a new American culture of wellness and create individual empowerment to reach for optimum health.

Mr. Sanders believes that America has a great Disease Care System with the most advanced medical procedures and highest quality skilled physicians and hospitals. But what we need, to add to this primarily disease oriented system is a system that empowers and rewards healthy Americans to become even more healthy.

Joseph S Orosz, CKIS*, Vice President of Business Development
Mr. Orosz has over 20 years experience working with various companies throughout the world, serving in such roles as Product Development Manager, Director of Engineering, Vice President of Operations and President/Chief Executive Officer. He has worked from headquarters in Malaysia, France, Denmark, Australia, and the United States, and has extensive international experience.

Most recently, he was engaged as chief executive to turn around a faltering early stage advanced industrial technology enterprise representing a $30 million investment. In that role, he reduced manufacturing defects by 10 fold, completed development and release of 5 new products, returned the business to profitability in 24 months, and designed a global marketing strategy to drive future growth.

In the course of his career, Mr. Orosz has designed and launched brown field start ups – for example, taking a HVAC compressor components company from startup to $25,000,000 in revenue and a 24/7 manufacturing environment in 12 months –, established factories in the U.S. and China, created technology start ups in the United States, launched multiple product lines, and managed relations between small and mid-sized enterprises and their boards and major outside investors. His direct involvement in China began in the late 1980s, in the earliest days of China’s economic rise, and he has negotiated complex relocation transactions in the U.S. and abroad.

With a strong background in manufacturing and operations Mr. Orosz has a keen understanding of the impact employee wellness has on the performance of the operations regarding product quality, delivery and safety.

Mr. Orosz has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Connecticut (1984) and has had formal training in management, quality systems, business operations, and communications.

Marc L. Bright, CKIS*, Regional Director of Business Development
As the Regional Director of Business Development, Marc is charged with the responsibility of promoting, educating and empowering people to make important, life saving, health decisions; by providing them with the knowledge, tools, support and incentives to be healthier, happier and more productive.

Following receipt of a formal education at the University of Illinois-Springfield, Marc entered the corporate world and within 15 years moved up the administrative ladder to the level of President, and subsequently purchased the company. Those early years gave him a greater understanding of all management levels; including sales, marketing, employee and client relations, strategic planning, budgeting and financial management, inter-cultural communications, program development and implementation, and contract negotiations. His life’s work took him around the world on numerous exciting and exotic adventures promoting international understanding and goodwill with a program founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956.

In 2002 he moved from the for-profit sector to the non-profit world directing the People to People Committee on Disability, Peace Camp, Citizen Diplomat Program, Global Peace Initiative, Humanitarian Missions, Lifetime Projects, Landmine Eradication Initiative in Sri Lanka, as well as all adult travel related programs/projects. During this time, Marc gained a greater understanding of employee (preventative) health related issues that were driving up healthcare costs, employee absence, and productivity – all of which directly affects the bottom line.

Marc has been involved with numerous community, state, national and international organizations, and held leadership positions in most; such as Rotary, Lions, Masons, school boards, several associations and corporate boards, as well as the United Nations and American Society of Association Executives.

Sam Brethauer, CKIS*, ATC
Sam has been the owner and primary consultant of KinesioPro, an ergonomics, wellness, and fitness consulting firm based in the city of Mission, Kansas. His experience ranges from personal consulting for health and fitness related topics, and small group counseling targeted towards accident and injury prevention through weight reduction strategies.

Sam began his career with an undergraduate degree from the University of Kansas as an Athletic Trainer (www.nata.org), and continued at KU as a graduate student where he studied Exercise Physiology and Biomechanics. While in graduate school, Sam presented on various topics at professional conferences. It was during this time he formulated his ideology on health, wellness, and injury/disease prevention.

*What is CKIS?
In our profession, we come across a lot of great ideas. The problem with many of them is that they aren’t that easy to explain to others. Health Reimbursement Arrangements, for example, sound complicated, and get even more confusing when you try to read a publication, like IRS Pub. 969, that tries to explain HRAs and other tax favored health plans. It’s no wonder that even though employers are really beginning to see the value of these programs, they are sometimes not being accepted as easily by employees, simply because they are not explained in a clear and simple way that makes it easy for employees to understand and accept. That is why we are dedicated to taking the time to explain complicated ideas in very simple ways until everyone understands. We call it CKIS which stands for Certified at Keeping It Simple. We put CKIS directly after our name like a professional designation. We put it before any other title because we feel that it is the most important aspect of what we do.