Dave Bolotsky
Dave Bolotsky spent his early years on the Lower East Side of New York City, where his grandfather once ran a candy store just a few blocks away. His father worked for the United Nations, so his family traveled extensively, and for as long as he can remember, he has been influenced by art, individual creativity and international cultures. He also found himself surrounded by animals at a young age, during his early jobs at nature centers and animal shelters.

After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from the State University of New York at Binghamton, where he managed the school's record store, he spent twelve years as a retail research analyst for Goldman, Sachs & Co. Not the typical Wall Street analyst; he also obtained a license to drive a pedicab and moonlighted as a bicycle taxi driver!

Finding the retail landscape of the late 1990s homogenized by mass-produced merchandise, Dave recognized an opportunity. Out of his interest in artistic creativity, individuality and social responsibility, he founded UncommonGoods in 1999. Dave is personally committed to improving education for less-advantaged young people. He is a member of the Board of Advisors of Comprehensive Development, Inc. (CDI), a non-profit organization that works with an innovative NYC public high school to provide tutoring, legal and medical advice, job placement, and homelessness prevention to its student body, which consists of 17-22 year-old students who are either previous drop-outs or recent immigrants to the U.S.

Thomas Epting
Born in a sleepy town in rural Texas, Thomas Epting has learned to love the city that never sleeps, and it wasn't a difficult courtship. For a bicycle-commuting photographer-turned-businessman, with an unfortunate tendency to work all night, New York City has been the perfect place.

When he first moved to New York, Thomas interned with legendary photographer Irving Penn, while completing his BFA photography/design course work, and later worked on ad campaigns for clients like Clinique, Cole Haan and Ralph Lauren. He was originally hired to work on UncommonGoods' photography and visual direction, and now serves as the Chief Operating Officer in charge of content, design, catalog, engineering and operations. It's a position that provides him with as many challenges as his job teaching rock climbing in the mountains of Southern Utah, only this one doesn't require a harness.

If Thomas isn't in his office, or pedaling in between taxicabs, he's probably strapped to a pair of skis, carving tracks or hucking off cliffs on mountains like Blackcomb Glacier in British Colombia, the site of past extreme skiing championships.

But every ski trip and bike ride returns to one place: Manhattan, where you might find Thomas walking his 11-year-old black Labrador, Belle.

Jen Grim
The retail and operations wisdom of customer service manager Jen Grim keeps the team running in top form. In addition, she is the go-to person for human resources and supplies.

A native Buffalonian, Jen first broke into the job market working at concession stands at county fairs, hawking county fair fare like fudge, fried dough, lemonade and curly fries for her family. From there, she snagged jobs at Sam Goody, the Gap, J. Crew, and Bed Bath & Beyond, before she fortunately and fortuitously found herself at UncommonGoods. She also managed to get a degree in graphic design at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan along the way.

Jen lives in Queens with her three turtles and two cats. Her interests include reading books, particularly history and fiction, and hiking (she has hiked throughout Arizona and New Mexico, including the Grand Canyon). She also has underrated quilting skills.

Seneca Iscove
Born and raised in the "Boogie Down" Bronx, Seneca Iscove supervises the customer service team with consummate skill and expertise.

After graduating from Clark Atlanta University with a degree in Mass Media Arts and a concentration in Radio/TV/Film, Seneca worked freelance as a writer and promoter for several production companies, and also strode into the market research field as a data specialist, finding boring stability in numbers. Going back and forth between Atlanta, where her son Red Staccato was born, and New York City, she was never able to decide if she was a "Georgia Peach" or a "Rotten Apple." After planning to write the Snapple Lady about turning that combination into a refreshing drink, she finally opted to go North headed to the Bronx to stay.

Although partial to rhythm and blues, Seneca also listens to hip-hop and anything from the 1980?s, the decade that also contributed her obsession, the cartoon "Jem." She is currently finishing her first book, and she has plans to someday write the definitive "Black" science fiction novel and turn it into a film. She reads insatiably, particularly history, religion and science fiction. She also likes classical music, although that's a secret. So don't tell anyone.

McKendree Kraft
After several past jobs working on the floor at retail boutiques, McKendree Kraft decided to go behind the scenes and take her talents to the UncommonGoods merchandising department, where she keeps the team in top form by handling a veritable slew of eclectic tasks, responsibilities and contributions.  She still gets to serve customers, though, by ensuring that they get all their goods on time.

The Canton native headed clear to the opposite corner of Ohio to attend the University of Miami in Oxford.  She earned a bachelor’s degree in General Business with a focus on entrepreneurship, and headed to New York City soon after graduation to pursue her retail dreams.

McKendree can be found in her apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, painting, drawing and building anything you can think of.  She is potent with any sort of power tool, and when not repairing or constructing, is frequently en route to the Home Depot for more supplies. 

Her favorite football player is Bernie Kosar.

Damon Lam
As the systems and network engineer, Damon Lam keeps the office running, rapidly solving whichever problems pop up related to computers, phones or software.

A Lower Manhattan native, Damon returned to New York City after living in San Francisco, San Mateo, San Diego and, of course, Garland, Texas. Armed with a degree in information systems from Long Island University, Damon has polished his expertise in places like the former PacBell, Thompson Financial and Random House.

Damon neither owned a TV nor bought a shirt from 1993 to 2005. He still has no TV, nor does he have Internet access, which is somewhat ironic considering all the work he does on computers. Not the inspiration for the TV series "Weekends at the DL," he speaks Cantonese fluently, not that he?s a stranger to Mandarin or Toi-San, either, and he is also, surprisingly, trained in restoring antiques. His other interests include photography, multi-user dungeon-ing, learning Japanese, 3D modeling and spreading the popularity of Linux. A die-hard Trekkie, minus the fake pointy ears, he also takes to Japanese anime, British sci-fi, George Michael, Guns N? Roses, Phil Collins, Janet Jackson, Amy Grant and the Commodores.

And when Damon follows the action on the ice, his favorite squad is the New York Rangers.

Casey McCarthy
Born in Toronto, Chief Technology Officer Casey McCarthy balances his strong technical skills with creative ingenuity to keep UncommonGoods on the cutting edge.

A graduate of Columbia University's Industrial Engineering program, Casey has taken graduate courses at New York University, Parson's School of Design and the School of Visual Arts to master his trade. He is responsible for all engineering issues and technology vital to the company. He honed these skills on clients such as Mercedes-Benz, Citibank, Bloomingdales, Tommy Hilfiger, S&P, Fathom.com and the Museum of the Moving Image.

Working as a lifeguard at a pool for kids who couldn't swim and as a horse and pony trainer has given Casey remarkable patience that comes in handy when solving any technical issue. But he balances the left side of his brain with a passion to learn the acoustic guitar, drawing and painting projects and building sculptures from wood and clay.

A snowboarder, mountain biker and basketball and softball player, Casey has lived in the East Village for seven years, and despite his desire for outdoor adventures and international travel, loves the people watching of the city.

Carolyn Topp
As merchandising director, Carolyn Topp oversees the merchants? selection of products for the site and the catalog as well as tossing her expertise over to various fields like press relations, general business strategy and planning.

After beginning her career at Goldman Sachs on the MBS - or, for those who have managed to recuse themselves from Wall Street parlance, mortgage-backed securities - trading desk, she went on to do M&A - that?s what they call mergers and acquisitions when they are in a hurry - and business restructuring work. She soon left Wall Street parlance, though, to pursue an interest in creative businesses and merchandising, starting as an accessories buyer for Bergdorf Goodman, then going on to work in product development for a designer. Next she had the chance to join Tommy Hilfiger during the corporation's growth explosion, then had the chance join Coach, and subsequently went to work for E&Y, where she was responsible for global research and publications on retail and e-commerce. Finally out on her own for a few years as an independent management consultant, she was a volunteer with the Arts & Business Council, started a business - Scentimental Fools - and created a line of bath & body products.

Classically trained at the cello and piano, Carolyn played semi-professionally in chamber groups for a number of years. She lives in a nineteenth century-style house in Jersey City, where she lives with a sea captain - she has sailed all over, on a side note, including the Mediterranean and the Bahamas - and two pets - an Airedale Terrier named Blake and a 21-pound orange cat named MarmaDuke.

UncommonGoods
140 58th Street
Building B Suite 5A
Brooklyn, NY 11220
phone: 888-365-0056
fax: 718.491.6391

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Press Contact Name:
Joanna Penn
718.210.1187
press@uncommongoods.com