Jay Staggs

A natural communicator with a gift for inspiring and motivating, Jay Staggs spent his corporate career in convenience retail leadership, doing his part to grow a major company from fewer than 200 to more than 1,300 stores. There, he worked in a wide range of capacities, becoming known as a goal-oriented innovator who never missed an opportunity to inspire passion in others. Jay’s global view of the company allowed him to hone his skills in identifying and fostering talent, crafting unique group experiences and incentive programs and delivering on-point messages to diverse groups.

At ROI, Jay brings experience from both sides of the table: both as a meeting and event creator and as a client, which makes him uniquely qualified as a steward of your resources. A dynamic and enthusiastic speaker, leader and thought-driver, he thrives on creating big ideas and bringing them to life.

Michael Johnson

Never one to shy away from taking chances, Michael Johnson thrives on the excitement of discovering the next big thing and translating it into a successful and profitable new venture. A longtime corporate executive in the realms of operations, marketing and business development, he finds immense reward in identifying and resolving problems.

With both a Juris Doctorate and an MBA to his name, Michael worked his way through school in the service industry, where he discovered his gift for interacting and connecting with others. He possesses the rare combination of a creative nature and a detail-oriented mind, which lends itself perfectly to ROI’s mission of creating one-of-a-kind, custom experiences. After five years in the heavy gauge plastics industry and more than a decade in the petroleum business, Michael made the leap to start M.J. Consulting, which gives him the opportunity to provide consulting and support services covering the entire CEO agenda to startup companies. To ROI, he brings his attention to detail, his passion for building a brand and a business, and his ability to enjoy the unexpected.

Kate Cardoso

Transforming client goals into reality is Kate Cardoso’s specialty and one she’s honed over the course of many years in the group travel industry. By identifying a client’s desired results, developing the right program strategy to achieve them, and tracking progress and return on investment at every step along the way, she ensures that ROI consistently surpasses expectations. To Kate, who received her Global MBA from Suffolk University in 2010, entrepreneurial thinking is a way of life. It means constantly evolving and innovating, and making “change” a “tradition”. This way of thinking had helped shape her career and eventually led her to follow that true entrepreneurial spirit when she joined Jay and Michael at ROI. Jay and Kate have been working together for ten years, during which time they have successfully partnered on multi-million dollar programs.

Before joining ROI, Kate was a thought leader at group travel powerhouses like Maritz Travel and HMI Performance Incentives. As a third party planner, she has overseen all aspects of design, planning, and execution for her clients’ events, including on-site support that puts clients at ease from start to finish.

Kate is a master at balancing the realities of a given budget with the lofty goals of creating a unique and personal experience for each attendee. Kate is always three steps ahead, able to anticipate needs and potential complications, which allows our clients to focus on enjoying an event and its subsequent ROI while leaving all the details to her. Her extensive experience means that she can plan and execute a successful event while making it look effortless, displaying her quick wit and sense of humor along the way.