Mark Banks
Mark Banks is one of the founders and Education Director of Amy’s EDU, a branch of Amy’s Ice Creams dedicated to igniting bright minds, promoting clear and confident communication between the front line and executives, and developing a leadership mentality.
Mark Banks is Operations Manager of Amy’s Ice Creams and has been a member of the Executive Leadership team for nine years. Mark designed and created MBAmy's, an internal education program that teaches the value of entrepreneurship and financial literacy, making the once elite terms and practices of “Business” accessible to everyone. This curriculum offers classes in open book management, customer service, product knowledge, and leadership development. He serves as a coach and mentor for 15 units overseeing 200 employees. With annual sales approaching $10 million it takes a lot of ice cream to keep the lights on. As such, Mark teaches employees that finance is sweet and essential. His favorite ice cream flavor is Butter Brick.
Mark is also a professional speech and debate coach with extensive teaching experience at George Mason University and The University of Texas at Austin to name a few, and has been awarded many accolades for his public speaking experience of over 20 years.
Aaron M. Clay
Aaron M. Clay, Marketing and Communications Director at Amy’s Ice Creams, has been a member of the Executive Leadership team for six years. He has taken a pivotal role in the advancement of open book management at Amy’s Ice Creams. In addition to leading the company game as a coach, he has developed core curriculum for MBAmy's, an internal and education programs and created an internship program that encourages continuous engagement and a fresh perspective from college students.
Aaron is also a co-founder and coach for Amy's EDU, dedicated to educating businesses on culture, open book management, and customer service among other courses. Aaron specializes in adapting the methods taught into best practices in a client's organization or company.
As a gadget nerd Aaron utilizes his passion for communications to connect the story behind the numbers to meaning and the meaning to action. His favorite ice cream flavor is Cocoa Pudding!
Amy Simmons
Amy Simmons founded the super-premium retail ice cream company Amy’s Ice Creams in 1984 with a winning concept focused on employee education, exemplary service, and award-winning product quality. Amy’s currently has 15 stores in Austin, Houston, and San Antonio with annual sales of 10 million dollars. The Amy’s team has been profiled for their unique creativity, product, culture, and zest by such prestigious sources as: Newsweek, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Inc. Magazine, People Magazine, Forbes Magazine, Food & Wine Magazine, Fast Company Magazine, “The View,” “The Today Show,” “The Al Roker Show,” “ Giada” and many others.
Amy Simmons also founded Phil’s Ice House, a family burger concept, in 2007 with her husband Steve Simmons, and Honey’s Pizza in 2016 located in Smithville Texas. Battling the rapid growth of Austin and the entree of national developers and chains, Amy and Steve created a real-estate concept called “Austinville.” Austinvilles are ‘human scale’ developments which either renovate existing small community-focused centers or build them according to the same principles of small-scale gathering places with trees and outdoor areas. Austinvilles lease solely to local tenants, creating a synergy which enhances the opportunity for the success of local small businesses.
Kara Marshall
Kara Marshall has been with Amy's Ice Creams since 2010. She came into the organization as an ice cream scooper and was promoted through management. She joined the Amy's Ice Creams leadership team in 2016 and now runs the internal education program, MBAmy's, and serves as the Client Services Manager for Amy's EDU.
Kara began teaching with MBAmy's in 2012. From there she went on to coach Amy's employees on Customer Service, Open Book Management, and public speaking. Through the years Kara has developed curriculum for both internal and external audiences. Kara's passion for people landed her at Amy's EDU as the Client Services Manager and Junior Coach.
To learn more about our upcoming seminars, workshops, and coaching services, please email Kara at kara@amysedu.com.
