Hi there! We’re Mango.

Steve Perakis

Chief Financial Officer

English, Greek

Steve makes good use of symbols learned in the second grade while listening to old Ludwig Van. He reminds people that $5 > $1 but $5 < $20. He also makes sure that our savings account has a balance> 0, and that all bills are paid (along with the Ryans and the Mikes, and the Kims). Lastly, Steve ensures that anything left is spent on innovating better products for our super customers.

Gulshen Karahann

Accountant

English, Uuiger, Mandarin, Turkish, Arabic

Gulshen Karahann has been working at Mango since November, 2010. Gulshen, a linguist turned accountant, enjoys interpreting financial numbers into meaningful words at Mango. She is currently learning her 4th language.

Lillian Reardon

Accounting Coordinator

English, Portuguese

The only thing sweeter than mango juice is this Mango's smile. Lilian is our superstar Accounting Coordinator, making sure the numbers add up and the bills get paid. Lilian's Brazilian culture shines through in her love of dancing, music, and food. Her lovely demeanor makes the Grove an even sunnier home for us all!

Gabe Cassel

Legal Specialist

English, Spanish

Gabe is the legal specialist at Mango (a.k.a. the Keeper of Contracts). He reads lots of contracts, including the fine print and the footnotes*. He also keeps Mango from “stepping in it” from a legal perspective. *This means he spends most of his time staring at his computer and doing a lot of heavy sighing.

Andres Bedon

IT Infrastructure Manager

English, Spanish, French

It looks like this Mango is a little shy. Check back soon to learn more about them.

James Batu

IT Help Desk Manager

English, Romanian

James joined the Mango family in 2014 from another big happy family — he is the second oldest of nine brothers and sisters! When he isn't configuring the IT at The Grove or hanging out with his friends and family, there's a good chance you can find him playing music. We think it's about time James starts a one-man band — he plays the piano, accordion, saxophone and trumpet!

Lisa Declercq

HR Specialist

English, Spanish, ASL

East Coast born and West Coast bred, Lisa is a Midwestern transplant. You’ll usually find Lisa enjoying the great outdoors: gardening, playing in the sunshine, or traveling the world over. But her passions don’t stop there — she’s also a dancer, a runner, and a chef passionate about whole foods & natural health. Fun fact: Lisa’s been tap dancing for over 25 years!

Adele Ernsberger

Systems Analyst

English, Spanish

Adele is always cold, you can usually find her huddled in a corner under a blanket fort furiously typing away on her computer for heat. Adele has a unique love for systems and data, knowing them like no one else can. If you see her, be sure to ask for a recitation of her romantic database poetry.

Milica Petranovic

Product Marketing Manager

English, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish

Legend has it Milica came out of the womb already talking. She's a third culture kid who loves geeking out on all things language and tech. When she's not “researching“ online you can find her people watching at her favorite language and culture hub: airports. Oh and she likes tennis, biking, and her newborn niece too.

Mallory Lapanowski

Creative Manager

English, French, Parsel tongue

As Mango's media metronome, Mallory keeps the marketing team organized by carrying no less than six notebooks on her at all times. When she's not curled up with a hot bowl of soup with a good book and her clingy calico in her lap, Mallory is probably busy wresting vectors and humming along to Icelandic pop stars. And if you ever can't find her, just follow the path of clementine peels.

Alex Moreira

Digital Marketing Manager

Portuguese (Portugal), Italian, Spanish, English, French

With a personal motto of “to stop is to die,” just try and keep up with Alex. On any given day, you’ll find him skydiving, snorkeling the deep seas, or installing internet of things into his increasingly Smart home. Originally from Lisbon, Portugal, Alex will sweep you off your feet with his near-perfect Brazilian Portuguese accent, his knack for all things tech, and his contagious energy. A natural-born marketer, Alex has been campaigning his way into the good graces of others since day one. Whether he’s igniting our wanderlust with tales of his trips to over 21 different countries, tipping us off to the latest restaurant opening, or inviting us over for an indie flick, there’s never a dull moment with Alex.

Nicole Choinski

Nicole Choinski

English, Spanish, French, Quechua

Can’t find Nicole? Check Lake Michigan. Give Nicole a day of watersports, hiking, and crossword puzzles in northern Michigan and she’s a happy girl. Toss in some good books, time for knitting, and lots of chocolate, and she’ll be on cloud nine. We love Nicole for her awesome people skills, outgoing personality (she’s an ENFJ!), and affinity for words. Fun fact: she just found out that she’s double jointed. Can you put that on a resume? We think so.

Melanie Moore

Marketing Intern

German, Lithuanian, Japanese, Russian, Italian, Korean

It looks like this Mango is a little shy. Check back soon to learn more about them.

Scott Swanson

Multimedia Producer

English, Swedish, Spanish

Looking to learn more about that mysterious designer extraordinaire who passes his mornings sipping chocolate coffee on the Mango patio? You’ve come to the right place. That’s Scott Swanson, born and raised Detroiter with a passion for great video and clean, effective design. We love Scott for his great road trip stories and awesome videos of his adventures, captured by his very own drone. He’s always game for an impromptu game of soccer and since he claims to not have a spirit animal, we’ll just call him our favorite human being.

Vesselin Vassilev

Technology Manager

English, Bulgarian, Italian

In addition to authoring code poetry, Vess makes sure team morale is high with quasi-appropriate humor and helpful appearance observations (“your face“ jokes). He claims to have invented the strong opinion and considers camping the Trabant of leisure activities.

Steve Purol

Software Craftsman

English, French

When he's not saving the world or amusing coworkers with his silly t-shirts, Steve can be found basking in the glow of his monitors, maintaining the software systems that make Mango tick!

Stephen Augenstein

Software Craftsman

English, German

Born to program and always be right, Stephen was Mango’s first employee and looks like the youngest. When he’s not literally (yes, literally) shooting lightning bolts from his fingertips in the form of code, he bakes us scones and solves the problems mere mortals thought unsolvable.

Josh Headapohl

Software Craftsman

Japanese, English

What do you need to know about our pal Josh? He speaks enough Japanese to skate by — and speaking of skating by, he loves doing just that at the roller rink. Josh is as passionate about programming languages as he is human languages, and the next on his list to learn is Greek. He also has a growing collection of ergonomic keyboards, two of which required assembly and a soldering iron.

Ventsi Maksimov

DevOps Engineer

Bulgarian, English, French, Russian

Taking DevOps to the Maks!

Josh Hoover

Product/Project Manager

English, Italian

Josh has a knack for just about everything, including his endless analogies. There are many layers to this Josh guy — and the more we learn, the more we like him. He’s an innovator by nature and when he’s not looking at new ways to interpret data, he’s probably planning his next fishing trip. Josh enjoys ball games and spending lots of time outdoors with his wife and three kids.

Cheyn Woolum

Software Craftsman

English

When he’s not making the world a better place through multi-threaded code, Cheyn enjoys the finer things in life. What tops his list? Chicken pot pie, his dear sphynx cats, astrophotography, car maintenance and repair, spending time on Michigan’s inland lakes, and, of course, video games.

Allison Hoekwater

Project Manager

English, Librarian

Allison is here for all your Mango questions. If she doesn't know the answer she will put on her detective hat and find it. As an original member of the Lost Fruit Finders, she can be found at her desk with her phone and keyboard solving users problems before they even know they have them.

Kelly Jansen

Customer Support Specialist

English, Japanese, Spanish

As a customer service specialist, Kelly loves helping Mango users launch their language-learning journeys. Kelly practices what she preaches and truly embodies language learning (and loving!) — she came straight to The Grove from a two-year stint teaching English in rural Japan, speaks fluent Spanish and Japanese, and runs the Japanese club here at Mango. She even played bass in a Japanese rock band!

Sarah Nagelbush

Integration Specialist

English, Korean

What do you get when you mix Black Widow, the French horn, and a love of reading? Sarah Nagelbush! Fluent in English and currently studying Korean, Sarah also speaks Librarian and Fangirl. A writer, a lover of Kpop, and a fan of the Cleveland Cavaliers, there’s never a dull moment with Sarah. Ask her about her hobby of collecting cool stuff — from Alpacasso to cephalopods, she’s got it all.

Sir Reginald von Barttlesby

Customer Support Support

Photosynthesis-ese

An essential part of Mango’s customer support team, Sir Reginald von Barttlesby has a long and storied history. Unfortunately, as he is an office plant, he cannot relate it to us. Though he resides in the Mango Grove, he does not speak any languages. This is in no way due to a lack of effort on our part. He is a particularly stubborn plant. When Sir Reginald isn’t sitting on the desk, he’s busy — well — we suppose that’s all he does really.

Julian Fiander

Project Manager

English, French, Latin

Julian has been a linguist at Mango since the summer of 2013. He juggles a lot of different tasks and always ends up having too many tabs open.

Lilia Mouma

Linguist

English, Greek

Lilia has seen Mango grow from seed to bloom to fruit. Knowing that languages are more than meets the ear, she tries to infuse that in Mango courses.

Anja Green

Linguist Linguist

English , German

Anja is one of Mango's linguists. She was born and raised in Germany, but now works her magic from Houston, TX. When she's not busy developing fun courses for Mango, she likes to spend time with friends from around the world and volunteer as an ESL teacher.

Kimberly Cortes

Linguist

English, Spanish

Kimberly Cortes is a leading expert in linguistics and an innovator in the field of second-language acquisition. She holds a B.A. in Spanish and Linguistics from Wayne State University and is currently pursuing a Masters in Linguistics with a focus on second-language acquisition. As Head Linguist, Kimberly is responsible for the conception, development, and management of Mango Languages’ revolutionary language-learning products. Kimberly works closely with businesses and organizations to better prepare employees for global mobility, improve cross-cultural communications, and transition expats around the world.Kimberly’s linguistic expertise is matched only by her genuine passion for language and culture. Kimberly’s native language is English. She is also fluent in Spanish and is currently studying Brazilian Portuguese and Italian. Personally, Kimberly loves to dance Bachata, loves all food except papaya, and is a travel enthusiast. Meet Kimberly Cortes, la Development Diva de Mango.

Tom Taila

Software Craftsman

English, Arabic

Tom's a lad.

Kristi Smythe

QA Automation Programmer

German, French, English

Kristi is Mango’s resident Codifier of Quality. Originally from Evergreen, Colorado, she is passionate about tech, adventure travel, working with horses, and cultural anthropology. If you want to pique her curiosity, mention mathematical patterns or the cosmos. A natural­born Mango, she finds daily inspiration in her work and leverages Mango’s culture to meet (and exceed!) her language and culture learning goals.

Ben Fryc

Product Design Manager

English, HTML

Meet Ben, part-time Science Fiction writer, full-time Product Design Manager. Born and raised in the metro Detroit area, talk to Ben about his past life as the frontman of a Ska band or the book he’s been penning in his spare time. With his faith at the forefront, Ben is a laid-back guy who passes his days spending time with his congregation, keeping up with tech trends, and jamming out on his acoustic guitar. He claims his spirit animal is a dogsloth — we’ll let him explain that.

Robert Thayer

Sales Director

English, Spanish

Bob is a fearsome beast of mountains and plains. Legend has it that he can lift stacks of books 400 men tall to impress librarians, and that he does. Bob is Mango’s walking encyclopedia when it comes to library knowledge and insight, and we love him dearly for it. We also love him for his positive attitude and because he thinks his spirit animal is a wolf. Come on, Bob. We all know it’s a grizzly bear. When he’s not running, biking, or weight training, he’s gnawing on steak.

Meagan Snavely

Customer Advocate

English, French, Portuguese

Meagan has been working (read:living the dream) at Mango since 2011. She talks to her customers (read: friends) all day: laughing, joking, and brainstorming fun ways to promote resources in and outside the library. She's always ready to lay down a fresh beat or make you laugh with the best 5th grade level jokes you'll ever hear.

John Kourletakis

Customer Advocate

English, Greek

John is all about getting the masses to rediscover all the cool resources libraries have to offer these days. If it's cooked over charcoal he will most likely eat it and hopes to one day take home a trophy at a BBQ cook off.

Amy Janczarek

Customer Advocate

English, Spanish

Mother of two, lifelong soccer player, master of crochet - Amy can do it all. On any given day, you can find Amy with a book in one hand and a piece of chocolate in the other. An artist at heart, she works the right side of her brain by keeping her knit, crochet, and literary game strong. With two art school degrees, a stint as a semi-professional soccer player, and now the mother of two awesome kids, Amy always has a good story and a cool creation to share with us. But in her daily life, she keeps it simple: give her a day filled with good food, good drinks, and good people, and she’s happy - but the occasional trip to northern Michigan or Italian holiday wouldn’t hurt.

Penelope Filyo

Customer Advocate

English, Greek, Spanish

Penelope’s heels may be high, but she keeps libraries’ love for Mango even higher. When she’s not keeping in touch with our beloved librarians, her pride for the University of Michigan is so bold and bright that she can use it as a reading light when she’s thumbing through “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” or planning her next read off the New York Times bestseller list. As our resident Greek goddess, Penelope surprises many with her perfect fake British accent. She is a Scorpio.

Sabrina Richardson

Customer Advocate

English, Spanish, Portuguese

Where in the world is Sabrina Richardson? She’s in Ann Arbor, where she’s lived her entire life. Where in the world would she rather be? On a beach, soaking up the sun with a margarita in hand. Beyond the beach, Sabrina is a lover of traveling, languages, and animals — her spirit animal is shared between a koala and a sloth (her favorite animal!). Sabrina speaks English and Spanish, she’s currently learning Portuguese, and her favorite color is purple.

Jenny Vainberg

Sales Coordinator

English, Russian, Thai

Meet Jenny, born in Kazan, Russia, raised in metro Detroit, and who left a piece of her heart in Northeastern Thailand. Jenny has an affinity for travel and a sense of adventure that won’t quit — she’s always up for a rock-climbing excursion or a spin around the city to find the best local street food. Passionate about culture and committed to lifelong learning, she loves Mango for our inclusive methodology. We love Jenny for her contagious creative energy and her stories about her chatty Maine Coon, Peachy.

Marco Cracchiolo

Academic Libraries Sales Lead

English, Italian, Spanish

Believe it or not, Marco has been around since (nearly) the dawn of (Mango) time. Over the past seven years, Marco has played as big of a role in Mango's life as Mango has in his - he was even introduced to his beautiful wife Milena through a Mango! When he's not working hard to help academic libraries and K12 schools, Marco loves playing soccer, traveling, being by the ocean (and the swimming, sun, sand and seafood that comes with it!) and spending time with his family.

Tony Casali

Sales Representative

English, Italian

With his mother hailing from Switzerland and his father from San Marino, Tony has been surrounded by languages and cultures all his life. He loves all sports, especially soccer.

Rachel Dwyer

Corporate Account Manager

English, Arabic

Rachel is one talented Mango - she paints, draws, manages accounts, and cracks jokes all day long. She comes to The Grove from Grand Rapids, MI, where she spent the last several years developing her affinity for craft beer. When she's not taking care of her beloved Mango clients, Rachel can be found photographing engagement shoots and hanging out her golden retriever Sam and her crotchety old cat Stewart. Rachel apparently wishes she was cooler, but we think she's one of the coolest cats around (and we think cats are pretty cool).

Brian Rovito

Corporate Account Executive

English, Spanish, Japanese

Brian has been with Mango since 2013 bringing language training to the masses. When Brian is not at work, he enjoys eating sandwiches, traveling to new and exciting places (and eating sandwiches there), and attending sporting events (while eating sandwiches).

Lauren Ruffolo

Corporate Account Executive

English, Spanish

It looks like this Mango is a little shy. Check back soon to learn more about them.