align5

John Ratliff is a co-founder and partner of align5 and is responsible for leading all of the firm’s strategic initiatives. Prior to founding align5, John was the President and CEO of Appletree Answers, a telephone answering service company he started in 1995 from his two-bedroom apartment in Wilmington, Delaware. John grew the company organically and through a series of acquisitions, growing the company to 24 US- based locations and 650 employees before it was sold to a strategic buyer in June 2012.

Kevin leads the align5 Coaching Practice as the Vice President of Strategic Coaching and Consulting. He was a leadership team member and Chief Operating Officer with Appletree Answers from 2006-2012 where he helped lead the company through unprecedented revenue growth of over 200% and implemented a world class culture, reducing voluntary turnover in a call center organization from over 100% to under 20%. During his tenure, the organization won the Why We Love Our Workplace Award from the Great Places to Work Institute and was named as a Best Place to Work in Delaware twice. Kevin began his career at MBNA America and and served as Vice President of Human Resources (North America) for Stericycle. He has extensive experience in leading successful teams to implement high-engaging cultures and his led over 30 successful acquisition implementations in both public and private organizations.