The Oasis Team

Tammy Faxel

Publisher

Publishing industry veteran Tammy Faxel joined Oasis in early 2008 as its Director of New Development and was named Publisher in June 2010. For more than 25 years, she has been an integral part of the publishing industry, serving in multiple executive-level positions.

At Oasis, her responsibilities include developing new business and sales relationships outside of traditional channels as well as developing and managing the library market sales channel. She was also responsible for managing Oasis' operational procedures, key accounts, and distributors.

Tammy started her career at Tyndale House Publishers, one of the largest Christian publishers in the world. Due to her diligence and strong work ethic, she advanced quickly from working in administrative support and telemarketing to assuming director-level roles in national sales and acquisitions. During her tenure, she served on the acquisition team of the New York Times bestseller, Let's Roll, managed relationships with major retail chains, and was responsible for the development and testing of a business model for book drop and display marketing segments.

Following her twenty-years at Tyndale, Tammy joined Books to Inspire, based in Fairfield, IA, as its vice president of business development. While there, she created multiple strategic national markets as well as coordinated over 600 marketing events, and oversaw the development and implementation of an inventory tracking system from multiple distribution points.

Before joining Oasis, she served as director of new business development for IBS-STL Global, a major international publisher based in Colorado Springs. In her role there, she spearheaded the development of a retail-oriented product line, the first for the publisher in its 200-year corporate history, as well as created targeted sales plans.

Tammy lives with her family in Chicago's western suburbs.

Steve Smith

Director of Sales and Marketing

A 25-year veteran of the publishing and entertainment industries, Steve Smith joined Oasis Audio as its Director of Sales and Marketing in August 2010. At Oasis, his responsibilities include managing all sales efforts while working with key accounts and distributors to boost product awareness. He will also manage the marketing efforts of Oasis.

Steve began his career at David C. Cook Publishing Co. spending just under 10 years with the company in product development, advancing to youth marketing director. His relationship continued with the company for many years as a curriculum writer for Cook's online group. Following his time at Cook, Steve led Gogo Entertainment Group as publisher and editor-in-chief of a successful pop culture magazine before joining Rolling Thunder Entertainment as Director of Sales and Business Development, where he assisted leading entertainment producers including Lucasfilm, Ltd, 20th Century-Fox and Sony Pictures in licensing and merchandising efforts. Most recently, Steve assisted Scientific Publishing Co, LLC in developing new markets. Steve had authored eight best-selling novels for Standard Publishing, a leading Christian publisher, and is the creator of THE ALEX CRYSS CHRONICLES, an upper-elementary web series in development at WTTW-n, the national production arm of Chicago's PBS network.

Steve and his family live in a western suburb of Chicago. He is a graduate of Northern Illinois University and continued his education at Northern Baptist Seminary.

Leslie Krueger

Production Manager

After graduating in the winter of 2007 from Wheaton College with a degree in Psychology, Leslie Krueger joined the Oasis Audio team in January 2008 as a part of the production team.

Now, Leslie oversees the entire production process for an audio title, both with the audio itself and the artwork for every product. Leslie starts by contacting various authors and narrators for upcoming narrations and getting them on the schedule, acquires manuscripts from the print publishers, schedules dates for in-house narrations, and approves all artwork related to the product. She also is the creator of all product promotion, including pitch sheets that include upcoming product information and mock covers used for various marketing opportunities. Leslie also oversees all of the reader audition demos and copyright submissions.

Leslie says, "I love being able to not only meet new voice talent across the country, but it is truly a pleasure to interact with our authors. Bringing their stories into audio is not only gratifying for me, but I think the authors feel immense satisfaction when they can power through a few hours in a studio and then, bring a inspirational audio to their listeners."

Leslie grew up on large vegetable farm in Kouts, IN, just southeast of Chicago, and now lives in Lombard, IL with her best friend and husband, Adam, and her adorable Shichon dog, Riley. Leslie loves the summer, watching and playing baseball (Go Cubbies!), camping as much as possible, and "time spent with my family."

Jordan Smith

Web & Digital Manager

Jordan Smith spends the majority of his time working with digital partners to ensure that the necessary audio content, product data and artwork are efficiently transmitted, and then optimizing those digital relationships. He also manages social media channels, runs the Review Program for bloggers, and updates the Web site to reflect what is happening at Oasis.

Prior to joining Oasis, he worked in the banking industry as a teller and customer service representative. Jordan is a graduate of Wheaton College, where he received a bachelor of arts in communications, media studies.

In his free time, Jordan enjoys juggling and tennis and is an avid fan of celebrating half-birthdays. He lives in Glen Ellyn with his wife, Julie.

Lisa Smith

Contracts and Rights Coordinator

Lisa joined the Oasis Audio team in June 2010. She is responsible for making inquiries, offers and writing contracts as part of the acquisitions process.

Lisa's eye for detail has been honed by her time spent as part of an undercover narcotics unit for over a decade, as well as positions at a legal office and an appraisal office.

Lisa lives with her husband, two daughters and two dogs in the suburbs of Chicago.

Toni Summers

Customer Service

Toni Summers, whose background includes 13 years at a major retailer in merchandising, joined the Oasis team in 2008, serving in customer service.

Toni and her husband live in the western suburbs of Chicago where she enjoys a variety of activities from interior decorating and scrap booking to swimming and spending time with family. She has also served on multiple boards at her children's school and is actively involved in fundraising efforts for her church.