Kristen Beilein

Brand Development

Kristen focuses on our consulting business, working closely with our brand clients on everything from marketing strategy to business development and overall strategic advisement.

Prior to joining The Montag Group, Kristen worked in marketing for brands that include Ralph Lauren, Nike, and Under Armour. Kristen graduated from the University of North Carolina, where she was a four-year member of the Women’s Lacrosse Team.

Sandy Montag

Chief Executive Officer

Sandy Montag, a 30-year industry veteran, is Chief Executive Officer of The Montag Group. The Montag Group is a talent management, consulting, content development and media strategy company focused in the world of sports, entertainment and lifestyle.

Montag represents a wide variety of clients in various fields including broadcasting, coaching, culinary, and team sports. Included among them are John Madden, Bob Costas, Mary Carillo, James Brown, Jim Nantz, Erin Andrews, Mike Tirico, Ming Tsai, Jay Bilas, Scott Van Pelt, Jeremy Schaap and Tom Coughlin.

The Montag Group’s consulting division works with teams, leagues, networks and startup technology companies. Montag has been an Executive Producer on two documentaries including Amazon Prime’s All or Nothing: The Michigan Wolverines, and Showtime’s Perfect in ’76.

Montag spent 30 years at IMG, joining the company in 1985. He started as an assistant to John Madden, traveling the country with Madden by train and on the first “Madden Cruiser.” He went on to run IMG’s Clients operations for ten years.

Montag developed and launched Ari Fleischer Sports Communications with Ari Fleischer, former press secretary to President George W. Bush after Fleischer left the White House in 2003.

Montag is active in several charities, serving on the advisory boards for Madden Charities, Tom Coughlin’s “Jay Fund Foundation”, Team LeGrand, the Alan T. Brown Foundation and March of Dimes. He also sits on the Sports Management Advisory Boards at Syracuse University, the University of Michigan and NYU, as well as the Advisory Board for the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn.

The Montag Group is based in White Plains, New York and New York City.

Nick LoPinto

Administrative Assistant

Nick is an Administrative Assistant at The Montag Group assisting the talent division with day-to-day operations.

Prior to joining TMG, Nick served as Executive Assistant to College Basketball TV Analyst Steve Lavin, and was a Marketing Associate at a wealth management firm, Silver Spring Capital.

A native New Yorker, Nick graduated from St. John’s University where he was Head Manager for the men’s basketball team.

Reid Pakula

Coordinator, Client Services

As Coordinator of Client Services, Reid brings a high level of energy to the company with new ideas for The Montag Group clients and team members. He works with clients on their highlight reels and marketing deals, as well as assists internally with new idea generation and recruitment of new clients.

Prior to joining The Montag Group, Reid worked for IF Management and Octagon Sports & Entertainment.

Reid attended the University of Maryland receiving a degree in Finance with a Fellowship in Sports Management. He served as a student manager for the Men's Basketball Team and interned with the Brooklyn Nets.

Lexi Strumor Saldin

Director, Hosting & Unscripted

Lexi oversees hosting, theatrical opportunities and numerous unscripted/non-fiction client projects for The Montag Group.

Prior to TMG, Lexi was Director of Hosting & Unscripted at IF Management, and before that, Director of Hosting & Unscripted at Ken Lindner & Associates, Inc. She has worked in the literary and feature film sectors, in client management and development, respectively.

She is a proud New Mexico State University alum and is based in Los Angeles.

Michael Sones

Director, Broadcasting & Marketing

As Director of Broadcasting & Marketing, Michael utilizes key relationships across the industry to deliver broadcast and marketing opportunities for The Montag Group’s clients. He negotiates with media outlets ranging from national cable networks to local stations and secures ancillary deals including brand endorsements, appearances, social media campaigns and speaking engagements.

Michael previously held positions at IF Management and FOX Sports.

He is a graduate of Cornell University, where he received a degree in sociology and served as manager of the football team.

Michael Schenker

Vice President, Business Development

As Vice President of Consulting, Michael leads the consulting practice focusing on brand strategy, platform development and overall strategic advisement. He also assists The Montag Group in overall business development and talent marketing.

Prior to joining The Montag Group, he held positions at Ascendent Sports Group and the NY/NJ Super Bowl Host Committee.

Michael is a proud Syracuse Orange Alum and former Syracuse Men’s Basketball Manager.

Carol Perry

President, IF News

As President of IF News, Carol oversees and manages on-air talent, as well as negotiates television and radio contracts at the network level, top markets and syndication.

A Los Angeles native, she graduated college at UC Santa Barbara. Carol then moved to New York where she attended Cardozo Law and worked as a law clerk writing judicial opinions for the Department of Justice while in law school. After Cardozo, she worked as a litigator for three years and drafted artist contracts for Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts on the side. Carol transitioned her career to talent management at The Conrad Shadlen Corporation in New York City, where she quickly developed solid relationships in the broadcast industry, as well as a reputation for tenacity, and successfully managed a diverse and thriving client base. Then, she decided to make the move to IF Management where she worked for 15 years prior to joining The Montag Group.

Carol loves sports and fitness. She's run two NYC marathons and played years of basketball and tennis. Carol currently resides on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with her son Zachary and husband Fred.

Kevin O'Connor

Director, Finance & Administration

Kevin is the Director of Finance & Administration overseeing all accounting and finance duties, as well as employee-related matters.

He previously served as a client accountant at WME-IMG for nearly four years, where he assisted in industries ranging from PGA professionals to eSports.

Kevin received his Master of Business Administration from Cleveland State University and resides in Cleveland, Ohio.

Matt Kauffman

Vice President, Consulting

As Vice President of Consulting, Matt brings over 25 years of sports and entertainment business development, marketing strategy, brand partnerships and marketing communications experience to The Montag Group, helping companies leverage sports and entertainment platforms to achieve business objectives.

In his previous role with Intel Corporation, Matt drove the transformation of the consumer experience through the use of cutting edge technology with the NFL, NBA, MLB, ESPN X Games, Red Bull and the Grammy Awards. Intel’s technology integrations and award winning marketing vaulted the company to Ad Age’s “Marketer A-List”. Prior to Intel, Matt was responsible for Visa’s brand sponsorship portfolio. Visa’s innovative sponsorship marketing is renowned for building the Visa brand and business, and Visa was recognized by the Sports Business Journal as the 2010 “Sports Sponsor of the Year”. Matt also worked for 10 years at General Motors EventWorks, where he served as Vice President of Sports and Entertainment Marketing.

Matt was recognized as one of the “Forty Under 40” most influential sports executives by the Sports Business Journal. He has a B.A. in Communications from the University of Michigan, and currently serves as Co-Chair for the University of Michigan Sports Management Advisory Board.