Our Leadership Team

Mike Walther
President & CEO

B.S. in Economics - Southern Methodist University

In 1994, Mike Walther formed a direct marketing company, PM Direct. DME Holdings, LLC purchased the company from Mike in 1998 and from that acquisition was named President of DME Holdings, LLC. Since his arrival at DME, Mike has played an instrumental role in the evolution of DME, elevating the company from a direct mail printing company to an integrated direct marketing powerhouse that provides services, including but not limited to, telephony, e-commerce and consultative services. In 2007, the automotive division of DME Holdings, LLC became DMEautomotive LLC. Mike was the clear choice in leading this new branch forward. He takes an active role in the formation of all DMEautomotive relationships and provides his assistance and guidance to all DMEautomotive employees.

Mike's experience is extensive. Prior to his move to DME, he served as President of Paramount-Miller Graphics, a commercial printing company who worked with companies such as Merrill Lynch, Bank of America and PGA. Mike also held the position of General Manager at Proxie, a call center in Texas.

During his free time, Mike prefers to stay active. He enjoys early morning kayak trips, fishing at every opportunity, regular bike rides and spending time with his family, especially his children.

Tom Leonard
Chief Information Officer

B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science - Florida State University

With over 22 years of experience, Tom brings great value to the DMEautomotive team. Before joining the DMEa team in 2004, Tom worked with Encore Development for 6 years. Tom brings a vast amount of skills to the DMEa team, heading up the engineering and analytics for RedRocket Technology in Jacksonville, FL.

Tom is also the lead architect for the Red Rocket Technologies Platform and has vast amounts of experience building web and analytic solutions for such companies as CitiBank, Southeast Toyota, Equifax, Publix and many more.

Tom Dickman
Vice President and General Manager, Product Division and Aftermarket

B.A. in Accountancy - Thomas More College

Tom Dickman has been in the DMEautomotive family for eleven years. Tom pioneered DME's original one-to-one marketing tool for vehicle sales in 1998 and from there went on to head up DMEautomotive's Product Development Group. Tom headed up Product Development until 2006 when he was named Vice President of DMEautomotive and General Manager of the Product Division. In 2009, he led the company through the new product development of their best in class multi-channel Customer Journey, branded Full Circle Solutions.

Before beginning with DMEautomotive, Tom accrued many years of experience at the executive level. Serving as Regional Vice President for ADVO, Inc for nine years and working up the ranks at Harte-Hanks where he eventually was named President of the Texas Region.

Tom enjoys reading in his spare time and likes to head out fishing on the weekends.

JoAnn Bedenbaugh
Vice President and General Manager, Customer Interaction Center

JoAnn has over 12 years of experience in call center operations, including the implementation of numerous successful inbound and outbound call strategies for numerous clients. Prior to joining DMEautomotive, JoAnn worked with eLEAD CRM for 7 years.

During her 3+ years with DMEautomotive, JoAnn has been responsible for planning and directing all aspects of the company’s operational and call center specific policies, objectives and initiatives. She is responsible for the short and long-term financial and operational growth of DMEautomotive’s Customer Interaction Center.

Kristine Smith
Vice President - Strategic Accounts East

MBA - University of South Carolina

Kristine Smith joined the DMEautomotive family in 2006 as Marketing Director. From there, she was quickly promoted to Director of Strategic Accounts where she developed revenue attainment plans, pipeline growth strategies and overall sales methodology. As Vice President of Strategic Accounts, Kristine oversees the major East coast accounts. She identifies new product opportunities, oversees project management processes and directs all campaign development and execution at a strategic and technical level.

Kristine has had extensive experience in the marketing and sales industry with a record of positive financial results and exceeding sales goals. She has worked with major companies such as Winn Dixie, CVS Drugs and Tire Kingdom/NTB/Merchants.

When Kristine is presented with an opportunity to relax, she enjoys being near the water. Her favorite weekend activities are being with her family at the beach or on the boat.

Diana Fritz
Vice President of Administration

MBA - Palm Beach Atlantic College

With a strong background in finance and administration, Diana Fritz has served as Assistant Controller/Sales Audit Manager, Director of Customer Service and V.P. of Operations and Administration with DMEautomotive. In her current position, Diana oversees administration of DMEautomotive, heads up the human resources and accounting department, manages employee benefits and supervises facilities.

Prior to her move to DMEautomotive, Diana worked as a Business Manager for a start-up restaurant, Personal Financial Advisor with American Express and Sports Information Director for her alma mater, Palm Beach Atlantic College.

In her free time, Diana enjoys spending time with family and friends, staying active by exercising, walking and going to the beach.

Mike Martinez
Chief Marketing Officer

MBA, Pacific Lutheran University

A true automotive digital veteran, Martinez served in leadership positions at many of the industry's most renowned automotive digital innovators at the early-adoption point of technologies that are now standard operating platforms at dealerships and auto retailers. After 12 years serving in product and marketing positions at Lucent Technologies and at Microsoft Corporation, Martinez entered the automotive industry as vice president of marketing for The Cobalt Group. He helped the company launch its website operating platform in the early days of dealership website technology, and built and led the sales and marketing team that ultimately established Cobalt as the leader in the market.

Martinez subsequently co-founded Four Creeks, a company which pioneered the new technology of IP-based broadcast voice messaging, and that was soon acquired by OneCommand. As president and COO of OneCommand, Martinez was instrumental in introducing the company’s integrated, multi-channel marketing strategies for dealers. Most recently, he served as Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at izmocars, where he drove the highly successful launch of their innovative and industry-leading AddOnAuto accessories sales product into the dealership market.

During down time, Mike enjoys outdoor sports, particularly skiing and hiking, cooking, reading, and any time with his wife and daughter that he can get.