Leadership Profiles

Peggy Coakley

President & CEO

Peggy Coakley owns Coakley Brothers and represents the fourth generation Coakley to lead the company. Peggy attended of the University of Wisconsin—Madison studying communications. After college, she moved to Atlanta and began her career in sales. She returned to Milwaukee a few years later and started at Coakley Brothers selling residential and commercial moving. Peggy began taking on special projects and expanded roles, and in 1999, she was named President of the company.

Under Peggy’s leadership, Coakley Brothers has grown and now employs 185 people in the Milwaukee, Madison and Green Bay markets. In 2008, Business Journal, recognized Coakley Brothers as one of the 25 largest women-owned businesses in Wisconsin. Peggy is active in the community and is a model leader. She is a past president of the Sojourner Family Peace Center and currently serves on its board. She also serves on the board of the Seed School of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, a public, college preparatory, urban boarding school.

In 2008 Peggy co-founded the nationally-recognized industry consortium, (OMAW) Office Movers Alliance World Wide. OMAW, is an invitation-only organization of forward-thinking moving company leaders. The organization helps companies use strategic partnerships to better serve clients worldwide. Peggy is committed to growing her business and market share while capitalizing on new avenues to better serve clients. To that end, Peggy drives the “Diamond Class” program, which is Coakley Brothers’ internal customer service course that improves customer service through employee modeling, training and dialogue.

Joe Lindahl

Chief Financial Officer

Joe officially joined Coakley Brothers as CFO in July 2008 after a long-standing business relationship with Peggy and Neil Coakley as a tax advisor. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee with a Bachelor’s degree in accounting and currently holds a CPA license. Prior to Coakley, Joe spent 18 years as a CFO in various industries including: manufacturing, wholesale, service, and construction Joe also has eight years of experience in public accounting. At Coakley Brothers, he oversees Human Resource functions in addition to managing the accounting department.

Michelle Wachtel

Human Resource Manager

Michelle joined Coakley Brothers in 2008 and brought with her over ten years of Human Resource leadership experience in combination with expertise from multiple industries to the company. Michelle manages all aspects of Human Resources including: recruiting and retention, safety, benefits administration, compensation, performance management and employee relations. In January 2009, with the help of a peer committee, Michelle launched an employee benefit initiative focusing on employee wellness and development which strives to enrich employees and make Coakley Brothers a rewarding and enjoyable work environment.

John Regent-Smith

Executive Vice President

John has over 30 years experience with Coakley Brothers and offers in-depth knowledge of the industry and its practices. He joined Coakley Brothers in 1979 as a part-time mover, and after receiving a Bachelor degree in Economics from the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee, John came on full-time. He was quickly promoted to lead the commercial moving division and tasked with many of the large corporate relocations in the Milwaukee area. Promoted to project manager in 1997, he acted as a liaison between customers, operations and sales. In 1998, John became the installation division manager, overseeing its growth and operations for two years. In 2000, John was appointed vice-president of operations to oversee the overall management of the companies internal and external field operations. In 2007 John was named executive vice-president, expanding his role with the company again. Today John plays a vital role at Coakley Brothers from client development, teaching and training to overall quality of the company’s standards, processes and procedures. For John “Diamond Class” is a mantra to continually improve performance.

Mary Edwards

Vice President Commercial Sales

Mary joined Coakley Brothers in 2000 bringing with her 20 years of sales experience. She graduated from Southern Illinois University with a Bachelor’s degree in communications. Mary’s successful sales career includes equipment rental sales in Washington D.C., high tech software solution sales in San Jose, CA, and marketing MCI telecommunication solutions in Atlanta. In 2006, Mary was appointed Vice President of Sales due to her strength in managing, communicating, and training others. She is responsible for overall sales and marketing for the company and also works very closely with our corporate clients to ensure we understand their needs and goals. Her team is constantly challenged to raise the bar for customer awareness, responsiveness and transparency.

Kevin Kaufmann

Director of Residential Relocation

Kevin has been in the household relocation industry since 1985. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and then accepted a position with a small warehousing and distribution company in Southeastern Wisconsin. The business had decided to expand it services to include residential moving and Kevin was challenged to grow this new division. Under Kevin’s leadership they became affiliated with a major van line and earned that carrier’s highest “Quality Service” award year after year. Kevin brought his success and experience to Coakley Brothers in December of 2005 and now leads the residential relocation division. His goal is to continue growing Coakley Brothers and their reputation as one of Wisconsin’s most trusted and respected household movers.

Tom Sullivan

Division Manager / Installation Services

Tom has been with the commercial furniture installation division of Coakley Brothers since its inception in 1998. He earned his Bachelor’ degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin—Stevens Point . Prior to working in the installation division, he worked in Coakley Brothers’ warehouse, receiving and inspecting new product, as well as accurately distributing goods. Because of his experience in the field during installations, Tom was promoted to dispatcher/scheduler of a 20-plus-member team of installers. Currently, Tom runs the day-to-day operations of the Installation Division including project pricing, account management and customer relations. Tom’s role is critical to continually raising the bar of excellence which assures Coakley Brothers systems furniture division is rated first in class in the state of Wisconsin.

Fred Smith

Design Manager

Fred has over 20 years experience in the contract furniture industry and has been with Coakley Brothers since 2006. He has technical design and space planning skills and is knowledgeable about every major Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) in the industry including Herman Miller, Steelcase, Haworth, Kimball, Hon and Allsteel furniture systems. Fred solves design and field issues with innovative product modifications and adaptations. His strong, diverse career experience with OEM’s and premier contract furniture enables him to offer creative, economical and practical solutions to our clients. Because of his breadth of experience, Fred often serves as project manager, as well as design manager. Fred’s computer skills include: AutoCAD, CAP Studio, Adobe Acrobat, and Microsoft Office. Additionally, Fred can produce black-and-white or color drawings up to Arch-D size in the Coakley Brothers Design Department. Fred plays another critical role to assure our client’s experience a “Diamond Class” experience.

Greg Jeske

Chief Operating Officer

Greg joined Coakley Brothers in 2001 bringing with him extensive experience in operations, logistics and supply chain management. He had previously spent 17 years with Trek and Specialized bicycle companies in the areas of supply chain, logistics and manufacturing management.

Throughout his career Greg has been involved with systems and technology in support of innovative inventory management and supply chain processes. His passion is for delivering great customer service to all levels of an organization including both clients’ and internal customers alike.

In 2002 Greg started expansion of our small records operation into Coakley’s new Datastore division. As Datastore’s first President, he was responsible for growing that division into one of Wisconsin’s largest multi-faceted document management companies.

Greg was named Chief Operating Officer of Coakley Brothers in 2010 with overall responsibility for its moving, warehousing and installations divisions.

Rose Ulbrich

PHR, Human Resource Manager

Rose joined Coakley Brothers Company in 2010 and brought with her over 20 years of Human Resource experience. Her prior work expertise was with multiple industries including transportation, services industries, wholesale, and retail. She has managed multiple aspects of Human Resources for these organizations. Her responsibilities at Coakley Brothers include recruiting and retention, safety, benefits administration, compensation, performance management, and employee relations. She earned her PHR (Professional Human Resources) accreditation in 2009. Rose's main focus at Coakley Brothers Company is employee welfare, safety, and employee relations. In her free time, Rose volunteers and works with the American Alzheimer's Foundation.