Our Leadership
Bob Baldridge -
CEO/President
Bob is the majority owner and founder of Platinum Direct. In 1994, he started Baldridge Mailing Services, Inc. and grew the company until 1999, when the name was changed to Platinum Direct. The name reflected the desire of the marketplace – a mailing service company focused on the values of “platinum” quality and integrity.
The company continued to flourish under Bob’s leadership growing at approximately 25% per year. In recognition of a changing market and his passion to create an organization that truly honors God by operating on biblical principles, the company’s strategy, vision, mission, and values were rewritten in 2006 (see Code). Bob’s desire is to see the new strategy and values fully implemented and recognized in the marketplace in a way that truly separates Platinum Direct from the competition.
Prior to starting Platinum Direct, Bob earned a Mechanical Engineering degree from Texas A& M (1981) and a MBA from the University of Dallas (1993). He was honored as the outstanding MBA student in the Dallas area by the Financial Executive’s Institute. Bob’s early career (1st 13 years out of college) was spent working for Atlantic Richfield Corporation.
On the personal side, Bob’s passion is his family and his faith. He has been married for 25 years to Elizabeth, and they have been blessed to raise three children together – Ashley, Robert, and Blake. Bob is active in his church and particularly enjoys teaching the Bible to both adults and senior high youth.
Vice President, Marketing and Business Development
Joe Giovino joined the Platinum Direct organization in July 2006. Since then, he has served as our Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, with a focus on designing and implementing solutions that meet our clients needs. With Joe’s knowledge and expertise, Platinum Direct has made some significant accomplishments, including the implementation of our HP Indigo Press technology, Pageflex digital storefront development and more. He's also responsible for creating our branding and web site strategy – and we're thrilled with results of both.
Before Joe became part of our team, he spent over 10 years at LEE Marketing and then World Marketing Inc. developing major national marketing programs for Verizon Wireless, American Airlines, Dell Computer Inc., Kraft Foods, Six Flags Theme Parks and AT&T among many others. Described by his peers and clients as an “idea guy,” Joe has developed and installed some of the most innovative marketing solutions used today. With a strong bend toward technology and digital integration, Joe has proven to be a trendsetter in variable color print on demand strategy. Joe is a member of several associations including Direct Marketing Association (DMA), Print on Demand Initiative (PODi) and Digital Solutions Cooperative (Dscoop).
Joe attended Vanguard University (89') in Southern California with a degree focus in both Psychology and Business Administration. In formative years for his marketing bend – he continued to hold sales/management roles at companies like Orange County Register, Ecolab Inc. and ServiceMaster/Terminix.
Of course there is more to Joe than his professional accomplishments. Competitive tennis player, bowler, and an avid gear head, yet he might be most known among his friends for being an early adopter of technological gadgets. Joe’s true passion comes from over 25 years of faith in Christ, his bride of 21 years, Alisa, and the wonderful blessing of five children they raise together, Marciella, Karissa, Joshua, Keilah and Lillya. Joe is active in his church and enjoys playing guitar for children’s worship.
Christian Cummings
Director, Finance and Administration
Prior to joining the Platinum Direct team, Christian worked for Citi as an accounting analyst and quickly worked his way up to Senior Supervisor. Before working at Citi, Christian lived and worked in Japan for four years, where he met his wife. While in Japan, Christian received his MBA in Accounting. His decision to move to Japan was inspirational, to follow the desire to experience other cultures, expand horizons and adhere to a different way of thinking. During Christian's stay in Japan, he studied Japanese, which in turn, allowed him to develop more patience, humility, a better understanding of people, more confidence and respect and appreciation of different opinions.
Christian's career started with a local CPA firm and he worked his way up to Controller for a couple of small businesses.
Christian graduated from Michigan State University and the University of Phoenix with a Bachelor and Masters of Arts degrees in Accounting.
Much of Christian's personal time is taken while he studies for the CPA Exam. He has been married for 4 years, but does not have any children yet.
Mike Graham
Director, VDP and On-Line Integration
Mike Graham joined Platinum Direct in September 2008. Mike’s primary focus is to work with internal departments in the development of client portals for print and mail execution. In addition, he is responsible for the integration of portals into Platinum Direct’s business workflow – ranging from production through invoicing.
Mike stems from a long career in Variable Digital Print and On-Line Integration. He has over 20 years experience within the digital print industry. He has been working with variable printing for over 10 years and his portal building experience includes him assisting a local printing company transition from conventional printing to 80% on-line execution.
On a more personal note; Mike enjoys spending his free time with his wife of 17 years, Jennifer and their two children, daughter Logan, age 12 and son Devin, age 8. In addition to spending time with his families, Mike’s hobbies include model building, RC racing, NASCAR, watching his son play baseball and coaching his daughter’s softball team.
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