About Don
Don Mealing has a strong 30+ year history as a successful Chief Executive Officer and Entrepreneur in a number of businesses and industries. Don also has extensive experience serving on a variety of private and public Boards of Directors.
Business Experience
Between August 2016 and May 2017, Don served as Interim CEO for AFS Logistics based in Shreveport Louisiana where he had previously served on their Board of Directors. AFS managed $10.6 billion in shipping and transportation spending for more than 1,100 clients in the United States. The company had 340 employees working in 7 offices in the U.S. and 1 office in Hyderabad, India. Don concluded his assignment by securing a permanent CEO through world-wide Executive Recruiters, Korn Ferry.
Don started his first company in 1987, “American Corrective Counseling Services (ACCS) at age 27. ACCS was completely self-funded, and specialized in the development of Misdemeanor Diversion Programs for District Attorneys and Municipal Courts as an alternative to traditional court sanctions. Programs were organized by misdemeanor offense categories such as petty theft, bad check writing, assault, domestic violence, and a number of other crimes for both adults and juveniles. All educational programs were operated at no tax payer expense and actually produced revenue for local jurisdictions – a factor that lead to consistent and profitable growth over the 17 years Don was major shareholder and CEO. ACCS grew to become the largest private contractor to District Attorneys in the United States, with approximately 400 employees and operations in 17 states managing an active caseload of over 120,000 defendants per year. Don sold majority interest in the company to a private equity firm in 2004 and retired as its’ Chairman.
In 1997, Don financed the start-up of “Verbal Advantage” – a direct response marketing product that became the best selling “English Vocabulary Self-Improvement Program” ever. “People Judge You By The Words You Use” was a nationally branded marketing slogan. The business went from $0 in sales in June of 1997, to $10 million/year in sales in less than 18 months.
Don established a Management Company, INC Fundamentals in 2000 as an investment company specifically geared to financing new business start-ups. INC has financed Aspen Grove LLC (2001) – a commercial real estate company in Newport Beach, California that completed two very successful commercial office buildings which sold in 2005 and 2006; Pacific Coast National Bank (2003) – a federally chartered community business bank with offices in San Diego and Orange County California; Dream Catcher Yachts (2002), an Orange County, California broker-dealer in luxury long-range power and sail boats. Through INC Fundamentals, Mr. Mealing has always held a major interest in each of these start-up businesses.
In 2009, Mr. Mealing acquired SportEAR, a small manufacturer of specialized hearing aids, and served as its CEO and Chairman through July of 2012. SportEAR does extensive trade show and online business in the Hunting Industry, is a featured product in major hunting retailers such as Bass Pro, Cabela’s and Orvis, and contracts with the military to sell hearing products that combine hearing enhancement and hearing protection into one device. Don sold his interest to the new CEO he brought in to run the company and it continues to grow and prosper.
Governance Experience
In February 2019, Don was appointed to a three-year Associate Fellowship at Oxford University’s Green Templeton College, serving as advisor to the Principal until April of 2022.
Prior to that in 1999-2013, he served as a member of Oxford University’s International Board of Regents, at Harris-Manchester College. He served most of these years as the College’s Business Development Chair, and was named an Honorary Foundation Fellow in 2005.
2014 - Present, Don was elected to the United States Speed Skating (USS) Board as an Independent Board Member, and served as Vice President of the Organization through two Olympic cycles 2014 & 2018, helping in areas of governance and sport development. He served through May of 2022 as an Independent Board Member, and has been a part of the adoption of Safe Sport in the USS organization.
2013-2019, Don served as an Independent Board Member to Listen Technologies, a 24 year old company in the Assistive Listening Industry; outfitting large venues such as NFL stadiums, concert halls, large plant operations, and universities with the technologies that make it possible to hear well in difficult, noisy environments. He helped guide that company to doubling in size during this period.
2007-2009, Don served on the Board of Park City, Utah’s “Youth Winter Sports Alliance” YWSA funded Winter School for promising young Winter Olympic Sports athletes, and sponsored national Junior Olympic Development teams in sports like Bobsled, Skeleton, Nordic Combined Skiing, Ski Jumping, and Speed Skating.
2020-2023, Don is a Board member of the Yosemite Climbing Association, where he provides business development guidance, program development, and oversight to the organization. The Board is comprised of distinguished professional climbers and business professionals who love and want to protect Yosemite Climbing’s History and Natural Beauty for future generations.
Additional Distinguished Career Experience
In 2002, Mr. Mealing was invited to join the exclusive “Young Presidents Organization” (YPO). YPO is a world-wide organization comprised of 10,000+ presidents (under age 50) of both privately held and public companies. He was active in YPO Gold’s Utah Chapter comprised of local company Presidents and CEO’s who are 50+ years old. He was appointed to the YPO Gold Board of Directors in 2017 and retired from active service in 2018.
In addition to many years of successful Chief Executive Officer experience, and entrepreneurial business development, Mr. Mealing also has extensive experience managing complex litigation and legal teams, and has considerable legislative experience with multiple State governments, and the U.S. Congress and Senate.
Over the past 7 years, Don has received numerous invitations to speak to graduate students in the Business Schools at the University of Utah, Utah Valley University, and Brigham Young University (BYU).
Education
Don started High School at age 13 and tested out within two weeks of his 16th birthday. He then completed all General Education requirements at Grossmont Junior College in San Diego, California by age 18. [1976-1978] He attended the University of Utah [1979-1981] in Salt Lake City, Utah where he majored in Business Administration.
Personal Interests
Don has been an active rock climber since 1977, active downhill skier, and was an active short track speed skater between 2005 and 2015. He has been married 44 years and resides in Heber City, Utah.