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Meet the Reading Horizons

Leadership Team

Reading Horizons is full of passionate people that are dedicated to making a difference in the lives of striving readers and assisting educators in their efforts.

Team Officers

Tyson J. Smith

Tyson J. Smith

Chief Executive Officer
Tyson J. Smith

Tyson J. Smith

Chief Executive Officer

CEO of Reading Horizons, Tyson, has guided the Kaysville-based company into becoming a national and international education publishing enterprise. Since its inception nearly 40 years ago, Reading Horizons has had a firm focus on its goal to publish and market industry-leading education products centered on Reading Horizons' reading strategies. Tyson received his Undergraduate Degree in Business Management from the University of Utah and his MBA from Brigham Young University. He first joined Reading Horizons in 1998 as Executive Vice President with an emphasis in Marketing and Sales. He assumed the role of CEO in October 2001 and, since that time, has overseen steady sales growth and myriad improvements to the Reading Horizons line of products. Tyson has worked with thousands of educators worldwide to help make dramatic improvements in literacy rates for their students. He has also presented at education and technology conferences throughout North America and internationally.

Why are you passionate about working for Reading Horizons?

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My motives for working here are entirely selfish. I love the feeling that I get when I talk to a teacher who says, 'I can't believe I didn't know this; I'm so excited to put it to use!' I enjoy hearing about students who have a newfound love of literature and whose grades have gone from C's and D's to A's and B's. I love the feeling I get working here with committed individuals who make me want to stretch myself to meet their standards. I love coming to work and feeling like we are doing something great and that we're doing it the right way. So as you can see, it's all about me. (Wow! That even rhymes.).

— Tyson J. Smith

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Trisha Thomas

Trisha Thomas

President
Trisha Thomas

Trisha Thomas

President

Trisha Thomas joined the Reading Horizons C-Team to foster her passion for education and to help improve the teaching and learning experience for educators and students in classrooms. In her new role at Reading Horizons, Trisha brings over 20 years of experience in developing and executing revenue models that lead to an impact in K–12 education. Combined with her proven success in marketing strategies and customer experience at Discovery Education, Evan-Moor Educational Publishers, and Illustrative Mathematics, Trisha is looking forward to making quality reading instruction accessible to everyone. Trisha received her Business Management degree from University of Maryland and her MBA from Johns Hopkins University.

Why are you passionate about working for Reading Horizons?

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I am passionate about my work at Reading Horizons because of the culture, people, and the focus on impact. I am inspired by the positive culture, the willingness and abilities of the people that we work with, and the impact we are making to teaching and learning. Reading Horizons offers a unique and effective instructional model that builds teachers confidence and helps all learners become capable lifelong readers.

— Trisha Thomas

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Tyson J. Smith

Brent Egan

Chief Operating Officer
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Brent Egan

Chief Operating Officer

Brent Egan joined Reading Horizons as a Project Manager over Internal Assets and is now the Chief Operating Officer. He brings over 15 years of professional executive leadership in operations with experience throughout various industries. Brent received his Finance and Business Administration degree from Weber State University and his MBA from Utah State University. Brent loves to spend time with his wife and four children, traveling, watching and playing sports, and being active and outdoors with friends and family.

Why are you passionate about working for Reading Horizons?

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No matter where I've worked, I believe that enriching people's lives means something. No where else, has this rang more true for me. Our company core values of Purpose, Faith, Relationships, Integrity, Improvement, Recognition, and Fun resonate so strongly with me on a personal level and help provide the motivation I need each day to support all our amazing team players! Each day our culture is growing as each one of us endeavors to empower individuals with the gift of literacy to better prepare themselves to discover their personal worth and value as they take on the world and accomplish the challenges and tasks that we all face each and every day. Our mission is real, and the impact and confidence that we continue to share will change the world!

— Brent Egan

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Brandon Kasteler

Brandon Kasteler

CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER
Brandon Kasteler

Brandon Kasteler

Chief Technology Officer

Brandon Kasteler is a culture-driven technology leader with more than a decade of experience building teams to become operational and process leaders. He holds an Information Systems and Technologies degree from Weber State University and has focused his career on building Agile technology teams that deliver impact.

Brandon is also passionate about spending time with his wife and two children outdoors, exploring the world in search of good food, and continuing to build his library of books.

Why are you passionate about working for Reading Horizons?

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‘Building awesome things with awesome people’ has always been my career motto, and I get to do that here. Beyond that, we get to build awesome things that make an awesome impact on the lives of children, adults, and families everywhere. For me, that’s huge and is something I’m thankful for every single day.

—Brandon Kasteler

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Tyson J. Smith

Kedrick Ridges

Chief Product Officer
Kedrick Ridges

Kedrick Ridges

Chief Product Officer

Kedrick Ridges is a craftsman, passionate team builder, motivator, creative thinker, designer, illustrator, and avid do-it-yourselfer. With a Bachelor of Arts degree in Visual Communication from Weber State University, he leverages nearly 20 years of design and product experience ranging from branding and identity design to interaction and user interface design. He thrives on creative problem solving and loves creating simple, intuitive products and experiences that help people accomplish their goals—big and small.

Kedrick loves building things—bridges mostly 😉 —but also just about anything out of wood. He lives in Kaysville, Utah, where he raises backyard chickens and goats—in addition to eight remarkable children.

Why are you passionate about working for Reading Horizons?

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Throughout my career, I have had the unique privilege of working almost exclusively with cause-oriented companies and clients, from higher education to faith and family. Reading Horizons is no exception. Our mission of cracking open the powerful potential inside each one of us through literacy is as noble a cause as any on Earth. We have the opportunity to truly change lives. That is exciting. That is motivating. And that is worth fighting for.

— Kedrick Ridges

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VICE PRESIDENTS

Shantell Berrett Blake photo

Shantell Berrett-Blake

Vice President,
Content Development

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Ryan Burwell

Vice President,
User Experience

Dustin Bush

Dustin Bush

Vice President,
Sales

Jon Diaz

Jonathan Diaz

Vice President,
Product Management

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Stephanie Myers

Vice President,
Research and Impact

Kiana Porter Isom

Kiana Porter-Isom

Vice President,
Revenue Enablement