Our Team
Chad brings 20+ years of experience in executive search and leadership consulting. He has recruited more than 400 senior executives across sports and entertainment globally. Chad launched the North American business with Paul Nolan in 2016 and was promoted to company President in 2019. Excel acquired the firm in 2022.
Chad was a recipient to the SBJ Forty Under 40 and is the only person in executive search to ever win this award.
M.Sc. Business and Social Entrepreneurship – the London School of Economics
Paul founded Excel Search & Advisory (formerly Nolan Partners) 20 years ago following 20+ years in HR, including six years as Group HR Director for The English Football Association and Wembley Stadium and prior experience in FTSE 250. He brings significant board of director experience in education, non-profit, and sports.
Paul has conducted significant work in the broader entertainment, digital, sports technology, and sports betting industries.
Stewart has managed executive search assignments for 15+ years. As the lead Partner for Europe, Stewart advises ownership groups and boards on key leadership appointments and manages the firm’s world-leading Performance Practice.
Stewart has delivered on assignments across Europe, North America, Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.
Executive M.B.A. – London’s Imperial College Business School
Matt joined Excel Search & Advisory in 2018 after beginning his career at Korn Ferry, where he worked within the Global Consumer Practice across the consumer goods, retail, sports, media, and entertainment sectors.
At Excel, Matt supports clients across Sports Corporate, Golf, Women’s Sports, & Emerging Leagues. He also leads U.S. Search Operations, overseeing recruiting, project management, and the execution of all U.S.-based events.
B.S. Dual Degree Marketing and Sports Management – University of Oklahoma
Mark has been an executive search consultant since 2014 following a career in HR and finance. He brings a specialization in Sports Retail, Sporting Goods, and Sports Tech.
His experience includes leading executive searches for iconic brands such as Adidas, Champion, Columbia Sportswear, DICK’S, Fanatics, Live Nation, Peloton, TaylorMade, Titleist, and ’47.
M.A. International Business and B.S. Finance – University of Florida
Eymeric has over 15 years of experience as an Executive Search Consultant and serves as Partner for the Middle East & Continental Europe.
In this role, he supports sports organizations in their growth and transformation by identifying and securing top executive talent across the industry.
B.A. Hotel Management – International College of Hotel management
Brad Deutser President & CEO
Bio
Lauren Gow specializes in experiential design initiatives that cultivate customer and brand engagement for clients across a wide range of industries. With her expertise in brand experience, she creates unforgettable and bespoke initiatives that vary from grass roots marketing efforts to environmental design strategies to large scale events. Lauren’s keen eye for design and thoughtful intentionality ensure that the target audience’s experience is relevant and impactful from the initial touchpoint and throughout the brand journey. Lauren’s award winning work has been featured in Houston Chronicle, CultureMap, Papercity Magazine, Houstonia Magazine and Houston CityBook.
An adopted Houstonian, Lauren is proud to serve on the PX Project Board of Directors, Houston Zoo’s Community-based Conservation Committee, Houston Zoo’s Facilities Committee, and to have co-chaired the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s 2025 Winter Ball.
Diane Pittman Chief Creative Officer
Bio
Lauren Gow specializes in experiential design initiatives that cultivate customer and brand engagement for clients across a wide range of industries. With her expertise in brand experience, she creates unforgettable and bespoke initiatives that vary from grass roots marketing efforts to environmental design strategies to large scale events. Lauren’s keen eye for design and thoughtful intentionality ensure that the target audience’s experience is relevant and impactful from the initial touchpoint and throughout the brand journey. Lauren’s award winning work has been featured in Houston Chronicle, CultureMap, Papercity Magazine, Houstonia Magazine and Houston CityBook.
An adopted Houstonian, Lauren is proud to serve on the PX Project Board of Directors, Houston Zoo’s Community-based Conservation Committee, Houston Zoo’s Facilities Committee, and to have co-chaired the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s 2025 Winter Ball.
Alan Smith Chief Strategy Officer
Bio
Lauren Gow specializes in experiential design initiatives that cultivate customer and brand engagement for clients across a wide range of industries. With her expertise in brand experience, she creates unforgettable and bespoke initiatives that vary from grass roots marketing efforts to environmental design strategies to large scale events. Lauren’s keen eye for design and thoughtful intentionality ensure that the target audience’s experience is relevant and impactful from the initial touchpoint and throughout the brand journey. Lauren’s award winning work has been featured in Houston Chronicle, CultureMap, Papercity Magazine, Houstonia Magazine and Houston CityBook.
An adopted Houstonian, Lauren is proud to serve on the PX Project Board of Directors, Houston Zoo’s Community-based Conservation Committee, Houston Zoo’s Facilities Committee, and to have co-chaired the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s 2025 Winter Ball.
Peter Berger Chief Financial Officer
Bio
Lauren Gow specializes in experiential design initiatives that cultivate customer and brand engagement for clients across a wide range of industries. With her expertise in brand experience, she creates unforgettable and bespoke initiatives that vary from grass roots marketing efforts to environmental design strategies to large scale events. Lauren’s keen eye for design and thoughtful intentionality ensure that the target audience’s experience is relevant and impactful from the initial touchpoint and throughout the brand journey. Lauren’s award winning work has been featured in Houston Chronicle, CultureMap, Papercity Magazine, Houstonia Magazine and Houston CityBook.
An adopted Houstonian, Lauren is proud to serve on the PX Project Board of Directors, Houston Zoo’s Community-based Conservation Committee, Houston Zoo’s Facilities Committee, and to have co-chaired the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s 2025 Winter Ball.
Lauren Gow Director, Experiences and Spaces
Bio
Lauren Gow specializes in experiential design initiatives that cultivate customer and brand engagement for clients across a wide range of industries. With her expertise in brand experience, she creates unforgettable and bespoke initiatives that vary from grass roots marketing efforts to environmental design strategies to large scale events. Lauren’s keen eye for design and thoughtful intentionality ensure that the target audience’s experience is relevant and impactful from the initial touchpoint and throughout the brand journey. Lauren’s award winning work has been featured in Houston Chronicle, CultureMap, Papercity Magazine, Houstonia Magazine and Houston CityBook.
An adopted Houstonian, Lauren is proud to serve on the PX Project Board of Directors, Houston Zoo’s Community-based Conservation Committee, Houston Zoo’s Facilities Committee, and to have co-chaired the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s 2025 Winter Ball.
Position
President & CEO
Bio
Brad works where most people feel uncomfortable and try to avoid. He is known for actively seeking out challenging and charged environments, as well as societal and politically sensitive ones. Creating spaces for belonging and initiating constructs to expand leadership in a more human, connective way has been the focus of his work for decades.
Brad’s clients and coaching take him to amazing places — in athletics, aviation, education, entertainment, energy, finance, healthcare, non-profit — with incredibly thoughtful leaders around the world. He takes on the most high-level challenges forging through them with creativity and grace to design and bring to life the most original solutions. Brad has been called on to define and transition the culture at the NFL’s Houston Texans as well as supporting the transformation of the University of Arizona football program, while serving as a leadership and performance coach to the players as well as executives across the world. He serves as the architect of the Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship at University of Houston, the three-time recognized #1 entrepreneurial program in the US. The University of Texas selected his approach to navigate complex social and cultural issues. And countless leaders have brought the Deutser team in to navigate generational transitions and conflicts within families and complex companies, to facilitate cultural integration post-merger/acquisition, and to support the health, wellbeing and safety of tens of thousands of employees across too many businesses to name.
Brad’s first book, Leading Clarity, a national bestseller, is used by organizations to redefine their future and amplify their results. There is an indelible entrepreneurial spirit and passion for people that is evident in Brad and everything he does. One of his greatest passions is to design and create spaces for human connection, which is a hallmark of his work.
Brad’s bestselling second book Belonging Rules was released in the fall of 2023.
Chief Creative Officer
Bio
Diane is a rare creative talent who is able to leverage strategic insight and cultural understanding to “humanize” her highly engaging creative work. She has been responsible for helping to create and reinvigorate some of the most high-profile brands and impact highly important cultural initiatives. Her client experience includes Coca-Cola, Sony, AT&T, M&M Mars, Pfizer, and MetLife. Her work with Ogilvy & Mather, D’Arcy and Young & Rubicam has led to effective, award-winning campaigns. A graduate of The University of Texas, she has been recognized as a national Addy finalist, Clio winner and Cannes Finalist.
Chief Strategy Officer
Bio
Alan specializes in strategic planning, organizational alignment and performance improvement. His unique insight, methodical approach and engaging style have been instrumental in successful planning efforts for a diverse array of clients in industries ranging from oil and gas and aviation to healthcare and education. Publicly traded organizations, Fortune 500 companies and leading national businesses have all utilized Alan’s strategic expertise to create meaningful strategies that improve overall performance. A graduate of Baylor University, Alan is a certified Balanced Scorecard Professional (BSP) from George Washington University and is certified in Lean Office and Service by the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.
Chief Financial Officer
Bio
Peter enhances value through enterprise risk management, operations management, and financial analysis. By maturing risk culture and through developing risk architecture and risk appetite, Peter has steered the inclusion of risk management into decision-making. He has a strong understanding of the energy and natural-resource industries, having guided Fortune 500 and multinational companies through acquisitions, divestments, continuous improvement and business transformation initiatives. In multiple international assignments, he has led business-development activities and established new operations. Peter is a Chartered Financial Analyst and Certified Public Accountant. He graduated from Fordham University with a bachelor’s in Business Administration.
Director, Experiences and Spaces
Bio
Lauren Gow specializes in experiential design initiatives that cultivate customer and brand engagement for clients across a wide range of industries. With her expertise in brand experience, she creates unforgettable and bespoke initiatives that vary from grass roots marketing efforts to environmental design strategies to large scale events. Lauren’s keen eye for design and thoughtful intentionality ensure that the target audience’s experience is relevant and impactful from the initial touchpoint and throughout the brand journey. Lauren’s award winning work has been featured in Houston Chronicle, CultureMap, Papercity Magazine, Houstonia Magazine and Houston CityBook.
An adopted Houstonian, Lauren is proud to serve on the PX Project Board of Directors, Houston Zoo’s Community-based Conservation Committee, Houston Zoo’s Facilities Committee, and to have co-chaired the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s 2025 Winter Ball.