Our People
Ryan Mullins - Executive Director
Professor Mullins oversees the overall strategy and growth of SIP. In this role, he helps curate and supports all sales program offerings to provide value to students, faculty, industry and all Clemson stakeholders.
Mullins is also an award-winning author, professor and consultant focused on helping organizational leaders improve sales performance. Mullins seeks out industry collaboration and has conducted research and consulting projects with Fortune 500 companies, providing analysis, recommendations, coaching and training interventions. This real-world engagement has helped Mullins be recognized as a noted researcher and insightful speaker to sales organizations and enabled the delivery of innovative teaching in SIP courses.
Carter McElveen - Director of Operations
After eight years in sales with Eli Lilly, Carter returned to Clemson to teach in 2011. As Operations Director for SIP, McElveen coordinates our corporate partner program. She plans and executes engagements alongside our SIP Program Manager for Engagement. McElveen also teaches our Introduction to Professional Selling and Capstone Selling Courses. Her students are very involved with hands-on learning, including selling for the Elevate Sales Conference and Tiger Paw Classic Golf Tournament.
McElveen was named an Alumni Master Teacher in 2016 and a part of the 2020 President's Leadership Institute Cohort. She currently advises Blue Key Honor Society, is a Delta Sigma Pi Faculty Initiate and is the president of the Fort Hill Clemson Club, the local Clemson Alumni group. Carter and her husband, Andy(’03), live in Clemson with their two children, Nora Lynn(9) and Willis(4).
Lisa Beeler - Director of Development
Beeler is the SIP Director of Development, which focuses on developing students outside of the classroom via sales coaching, student workshops and sales competitions. She is an accomplished sales consultant and researcher who has published in the top academic sales journals in the field and continues to conduct research with companies nationally. Before becoming an academic, she held the title of Director of Marketing and Sales for a B2B International parking company in Atlanta, GA. All of this experience informs the application-based learning approach she uses in her classroom to prepare SIP students to be great salespeople, valuable co-workers and good citizens. When she isn't involved in all things sales, you can find her throwing themed parties, camping or on the soccer field.
Kristen Dean - Adjunct Professor
When Professor Dean saw the opportunity to merge her real-world experiences with the classroom for students at Clemson, Dean knew that teaching in the SIP would be a rewarding experience. Through her teaching in Professional Selling and Healthcare Selling courses, Dean merges her real-world leadership, marketing and pharmaceutical sales experience to deliver an insightful curriculum.
After earning her Bachelor of Science and master's degree from the University of South Carolina, Dean spent time in real estate before beginning her pharmaceutical sales career with Merck in 2006. In 2009, She continued her Medical Sales Leadership and Marketing career with Eli Lilly, where she is currently a District Sales Manager in Immunology. Dean enjoys traveling and attending her oldest daughter's softball games and golf matches at Daniel High School and attending her youngest daughter's gymnastics meets and watching her cheer on football and basketball teams at R.C. Edwards.
Charleen Fitzgerald - SIP Student Services Coordinator
Charleen Fitzgerald earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from Clemson University in 1997. Charleen supports the Sales Innovation Program helping with student engagement, event logistics, partner relations, curriculum support and a variety of other roles. Fitzgerald was awarded Team Player of the Year for the Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business in 2017 and received the Staff Award for Student Service for the College in 2020-2021. She currently resides in Seneca, South Carolina. She has two children, Haley (age 15) and Kesler (age 11).
Maddie Grace Bell - Engagements Liaison
Maddie Grace Bell is a senior at Clemson University from Advance, North Carolina, and serves as this year's Engagements Liaison for the Sales Innovation Program. In this position, Bell plans and executes all SIP events, including networking nights, pitch showdowns, sales competitions, etiquette events, corporate partner workshops and many other engagement opportunities for students. Bell will graduate in May of 2023 with a B.S. in Marketing and a minor in Sports Communication, along with the Sales Certificate earned through coursework offered by the Sales Innovation Program. Along with the Sales Innovation Program, Bell is a member of the Clemson University Guide Association, Delta Delta Delta sorority, and interns with the IPTAY Sales & Service team under the Clemson Athletic Department.
Robert Engar - Ascent Liaison
Robert Engar is from Orange County, California, and will serve as the Ascent Program Manager for the Sales Innovation Program this year. He will plan and execute all Ascent Program events, including networking nights, LinkedIn branding workshops, etiquette events, corporate partner workshops and many other engagement opportunities for Ascent program students. His goals for this year include increasing new member engagement and installing social events for new Ascent members to get involved and excited about working their way to becoming a SIP members. Engar will be graduating in December of 2023 with a B.S. in Marketing, a minor in Entrepreneurship, along with the Sales Certificate earned through coursework offered by the Sales Innovation Program. In addition to his role in the SIP, he also works for IPTAY in the Sales and Service Department.
Leah Forst - Marketing Liaison
Leah Forst is a senior Clemson student from St. Louis, Missouri. She will graduate in May with a B.S. in Marketing and a minor in Brand Communications. As the Marketing Liaison, Forst's role is to promote the Sales Innovation Program, foster relationships between students and partners and increase student membership through social media content and engagement. Outside of this program, Forst is involved in Delta Sigma Pi's professional business fraternity, the Marketing Student Advisory board, Cadency (the Erwin Center's student-led Brand Communications agency) and is a Thomas F. Chapman Leadership Scholar.
Jack Harris - Student Development Liaison
Jack is a second-year marketing major from Nashville, Tennessee, set to graduate in May 2024. As a part of the leadership team, Harris hopes to provide opportunities for personal and professional growth of all members of SIP and serve as a resource for his peers. In February, he placed 5th of 36 competitors in the first-year student and sophomore division at the University of Toledo Invitational Sales Competition which helped Clemson's Sales Competition Team place 3rd overall. In addition to SIP, Harris has served as Director of Faculty Relations for the professional business fraternity Delta Sigma Pi and is interning for the Office of Corporate Sponsorships and Strategic Initiatives this fall.
Sara LaGuardia - Community Outreach Liaison
Everyone wants to leave their "Clemson legacy," and the SIP has allowed LaGuardia to do so. She has formed genuine connections, gained meaningful sales and leadership opportunities and matured her professionalism since joining in April of last year. As a member of our Sales Competition Team, she has had the opportunity to coach two Ascent students and travel to Toledo, Ohio. In December 2021, she secured a summer internship with one of our partner companies, OTIS Elevator, and was awarded an opportunity to work alongside the program managers to lead the Ascent Program. Her favorite memories from being the Ascent Program manager were speaking one-on-one with members, implementing a mentor-mentee program, and watching the members gain admission into the SIP this past spring. LaGuardia was named the SIP's Servant Leader of the Year for 2021-2022. She is returning to the leadership team this year as the Community Outreach Program Manager and is excited to work on both alumni relations and building a relationship with our local community service partner, Ripple of One.
Hope Wilde - Recruitment Liaison
Hope Wilde is a second-generation Clemson student from Greenville, South Carolina. She will graduate in May of 2023 with a B.S. in Marketing with a minor in Brand Communications, as well as a sales certificate. As the Recruitment Liaison Program Manager, she is responsible for planning and executing the overall recruitment strategy, engaging with prospective SIP students on campus and managing the Clemson Sales Club. This past summer, Wilde was an intern with one of our partners, Gartner, as well as an intern during the school year with Clemson's Office of Development. In addition to the Sales Innovation Program, Wilde is a member of Delta Sigma Pi's professional business fraternity, a member of Chi Omega sorority and also participating in Cadency (the Erwin Center's student-led Brand Communications Agency).
