Our Team

John Thedford

CEO/Chairman

John Thedford is an entrepreneur who has founded successful corporations including Value Pawn and Jewelry, La Familia Pawn & Jewelry, Premier Pawn & Jewelry, SMART Financial and most recently Simple Management Group.

A graduate of Wichita State University, Thedford is a Certified Public Accountant formerly with PriceWaterhouseCoopers where he was introduced to the pawnshop industry. As an author of the best-selling book, Smart Moves Management which focuses on cultivating world-class people and profits, he subscribes to the tenet that “the most powerful force on earth is a human being engaged in meaningful work” and employers must select work teams with science and hold together with leadership and culture.

In 2019, Thedford was honored with the Ernst & Young Florida Entrepreneur of the Year Award and serves on the Orange/Osceola Salvation Army Board of Directors.

Gethin Huckle

CFO

Gethin joined CashWiz in 2012 as the first stores were being opened. He assisted in raising $5m in private funding to finance the business growth to 21 stores over the next 6 years. During that time, he built the finance function from the ground up, including a robust ERP based reporting platform, to enable strong financial controls, treasury functions and daily reporting of financial performance.

Gethin partnered with John Thedford in 2020 to found SMG. Helping to raise $24m of equity in 2021 to acquire the 21 store CashWiz group and $84m (debt & equity) in 2022 to acquire the 52 store La Familia group.

A graduate of Manchester University UK, Gethin is also Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (FCA) and holds a certificate of Executive and Financial leadership from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. He has previously worked for Grant Thornton and Ernst & Young in the UK, Australia and the Cayman Islands.

Joe Genovese

COO

Joe earned a Bachelor of Business Administration, Marketing/Marketing Management from Wichita State University. Joe is a veteran in the industry with over 25 years of experience holding roles as Chief Operating Officer at A-OK Enterprises and Vice President of Operations at Smart Financial, Primer Pawn and La Familia. In this role, he led stores and grew the market to annual revenues of $10 million. His accomplishments included stores reaching company milestones and establishing records. The knowledge and experience Joe has gained in his years in the industry has allowed him to become a great leader for our company.

Rosa Wedge

VP of Operations/Human Resources

Rosa is serving a dual role as Director of Operations and Interim Director of Human Resources. Over 30 years' experience working with and supporting multi-unit retail and service venues in management positions, her time included a senior level field operations leader and a senior human capital management role. The extensive operations background in the pawnshop industry at Value Pawn and Jewelry, La Familia and Smart Financial has allowed her to excel in a HR role, Operations and as a notable member of the executive team.

Jennifer Kanistras

VP of Corporate Administration

After graduating from Western Kentucky University Jennifer began her professional career with Cash America in the Internal Audit Department. With over 25 years of experience in the industry, she has demonstrated leadership as a consultant in both retail and pawn skilled in Budgeting, Management, Sales, Retail, and Strategic Planning. Jennifer has served in leadership roles as a Director for Value Pawn and Jewelry, as well as Smart Financial serving as the Director of Internal Audit and Loss Prevention. As a member of the executive team, Jennifer oversees SMGs Legal, Licensing and Internal Audit department.

Jack Hegner

Director of Information Technology

Edwin López Figueroa

Director of Operations

Edwin has more than 25 years of multi-unit management experience and has been a valued team member of La Familia in Puerto Rico for 9 years. Prior to joining La Familia, Edwin worked in the multiunit role for Rent-A- Center, overseeing stores in both the United States and Puerto Rico, as well as leading training strategy for the company in Mexico. The work experience and leadership Edwin brings to Simple Management Group has promoted growth and continuity within the Puerto Rico market.

Trish

VP of Finance

As Vice President of Finance, Trish has 35 years' experience in the field of Accounting and specifically in the pawn industry since 2002 when she joined Value Pawn and Jewelry. As an Executive at Value Pawn and Jewelry and La Familia, Trish has led both companies Accounting Department through acquisitions and departmental growth. Simple Management Group values the knowledge and experience Trish brings to our company. Trish receives very high accolades from external audit partners on the accuracy of the financials and her timely and effective communication during annual audits.

TJ Wells

VP of Operations

TJ is a dynamic pawn industry leader with over 30 years of experience known for driving profit growth and operational success in multi-million-dollar corporations. With a wealth of experience, TJ's leadership style is a unique blend of motivation, empowerment, and accessibility.

TJ fosters a culture of excellence and high performance by empowering team members to take ownership of their responsibilities and contribute to the organization's success.

TJ has a proven track record of transforming unprofitable markets into thriving ones by leveraging strategic insights and innovative solutions to identify growth opportunities and implement profitable strategies.

At SMG TJ oversees the La Familia Pawn & Jewelry stores in Florida and the Cashwiz stores in Jamaica.