Chairman
Sujata literally grew up at GBS Linens. When she was 16 years old, her dad, Pravin Mody, the founder of GBS Linens, gave her the keys to a used Nissan Sentra and said ‘I’ll see you at work on Monday’.
Throughout her teens and years in college, Sujata was given the full GBS Linens tour and got the opportunity to experience every job at GBS Linens. She learned quickly what it took to run a business!
After completing her Bachelor’s degree in Economics at the University of California, Irvine, she decided to join the family business full time. A few years later she decided to go back to school part time to enhance her business knowledge and received her Master’s in Business Administration from the University of California, Irvine in 2000.
Sujata is one of those people who can say she has been with her current employer her whole working life!
The words that she lives by are ones her dad and her mentor, said to her many years ago- ‘Be STRONG. Be strong mentally, physically, spiritually, and financially’. These are the words that guide her day to day and inspire much of what she does. Her love of learning new things, reading personal growth books, working out at her favorite CrossFit gym, and volunteering in the community are all inspired by this goal of developing herself into a strong person.
First and foremost in Sujata’s life is her family. She and her husband, Ashesh, have two amazing kids- Rohan and Janvi, and the sweetest labradoodle, Sidd.
Chief Executive Officer
Ashesh joined GBS Linens in 2006 bringing with him a passion for numbers and documentaries.
Prior to GBS Linens, Ashesh worked in the technology sector for over a decade. He held various product management, marketing, consulting, and engineering positions with well-known firms such as Symantec, Nortel Networks, Deloitte Consulting, and Hewlett-Packard.
One of his early engineering tasks was to identify the root-cause of “drool” in ink-jet printer cartridges from Hewlett-Packard.
He holds a BS in Electrical Engineering and an MBA from the University of Michigan which makes him a “nerd” according to his family.
Ashesh loves to tell stories about his home state of Michigan. In fact, he often quotes Henry Ford, a fellow engineer from Michigan: “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t…you’re right”. This quote helps him keep a positive spirit during any challenge that comes along in life.
Ashesh spends much of his free time with his family. He and his wife, Sujata, have two hard-working kids, Rohan and Janvi, and an always hungry puppy named Sidd.
President
Jeff Black joined GBS Linens in 2021 after 7 years of CEO leadership in the general event rental and premium linen rental sector nationally.
Before joining the exciting event world, Jeff had a very successful career in leadership roles with Aramark Uniform Services in the US and Japan. His skillset includes deep experience in sales, marketing, operations, customer experience, supply chain and logistics. He is passionate about employee engagement and simplifying the overall customer journey as the foundational strategy for growing businesses.
Jeff earned a BS degree in Marketing with California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, CA and studied at the Thunderbird School of Global Management earning an Executive Certificate in Global Business Essentials.
He is an avid snowboarder and skier in addition to his passion for road, gravel, and mountain cycling. As a fan, his favorite sport is competitive bike racing, and he has traveled several times to the Tour de France.
Jeff is a proud father of two incredible sons, Ryan and Josh, with his wife Joni. He also loves spending time with his two grandkids, Mabel and Wes.
Director of Sales
Janet Johnson joined GBS Linens in 1999 bringing with her a passion for sales and people. Janet began her GBS career as Account Executive of the San Diego/Riverside area. Her responsibilities grew in 2010 when she was promoted to Senior West Coast Account Executive. In 2012, she became the West Coast Regional Sales Manager where she undertook the management of Northern California, Las Vegas, and Arizona while continuing to handle her own territory. She was recently promoted to Director of Sales.
Prior to working with GBS Linens, Janet spent over 10 years in the fashion industry and 8 years in the cosmetic industry. She worked with high profile companies such as Nike, Union Bay, Mattel, Jantzen, White Stag, Vera Wang, Vogue, Teen Vogue, Madam Mademoiselle, Dillard's, Barney's of NY, Nordstrom, Macy's, Bloomingdales, Yamaha, and Revlon. She was fortunate to travel worldwide and lived in Tokyo, Japan for 2 1/2 years. Growing up in Southern California and the Northwest, spending her summers sailing through the San Juan Islands, Anchorage Alaska and Oahu Hawaii.
Janet spends her free time with her husband, her son, three step children and four grandchildren. You'll find her day dreaming of travel, gardening or visiting with dear friends.
VP of Operations & Director of Technology and Reporting
Born from Asian ancestry and raised in Latin America, Mike was completely out of place upon arrival to the United States. Differences in culture, technological advances, and financial status paved a rough road for his family. Circumstances led Mike to believe he was unlucky, so it is no surprise that his favorite quotes deal with luck, such as “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity” and “Luck comes from hard work.”
Mike believes in hard work above anything else. Few are blessed with extraordinary talents; the rest of us can hone our crafts through hard work. Technology can and should be used to augment our abilities. We need not fear technology or robotics in taking over our jobs if we continue to hone our crafts and expand our skills. Mike has brought this philosophy to GBS Linens since his first day back in 2004.
Mike’s subtle influence can be found throughout the fabric of the company, but it is GBS Linens at the core of his being. GBS Linens allowed Mike to anchor himself so he could grow as a professional, as a member of the community, and as a family man. Many challenges have come Mike’s way over the years, but with his belief in hard work and preparedness, he now claims to be one of the luckiest people alive.
Senior Operations Manager
More than 40 years’ experience in the textile and garment productions in LA , more than 20 years in the laundry business. Graduated from Bosco Teck, continued with courses at Union Special Company in Germany, Orozio, and Omatex textile machine companies in Italy, Cal State LA and TRSA Laundry Production Management Institute.
In my spare time I am involved with two Armenian charity organizations, KNB and KV. The goals are to rebuild old schools in Armenian villages. The quote that inspires me is: “Each new day is a blessing, let go of all worries and be grateful for all the positive in your life”.
Human Resources Manager
Patty has lead the HR department at GBS Linens since 2013, where she has improved Employee Relations by focusing on coaching and developing employees across the organization; she’s passionate about ensuring employees are successful while at GBS. Nothing makes her feel more rewarded than seeing an employee grow and succeed within the company.
Her career has given her a depth of HR knowledge as she has worked for companies spanning a wide range of industries: facility management (Aramark), real estate (SunCal Companies, MBK Real Estate), and manufacturing (ITT Industries Flojet). Along the way, she’s had the chance to turn coworkers into life-long friends and make some lasting mentor relationships. And although her career has some memorable moments, her proudest achievement was obtaining her Bachelor of Science in Business Management (University of Phoenix) and Certificate of Human Resources (University of California, Irvine) all while working full-time and raising a son. The late nights and countless Red Bulls were all worth it, just to hear her family cheer as she walked in her cap and gown, during the commencement ceremony, to receive her diploma...but she’s glad to have her social life back!
Patty is a self-proclaimed OC Girl but was actually born in Nicaragua. She’s lived in Southern California most of her life and can’t imagine ever living far from the beach. During her free time, you can catch Patty high-fiving her teammates in her weekly bootcamp classes or dancing with friends at local a jazz festival. Lastly, she loves spending time with her family, friends, and visiting her son, daughter-in-law, and their puppy in NYC, and in true Southern California fashion, she is a die-hard USC Trojans Football and Lakers fan. Miss you Kobe!
Las Vegas Operations Manager
In the early 90’s, Abel began his loyal journey with GBS linens. At the time, GBS was barely staring as a company. Abel joined an amazing team; it was these individuals (including Abel) that sky rocketed GBS Linens to where it is today. Abel operated many different areas of the company, including laundry, warehouse, shipping, receiving, and even a delivery! Abel Mastered the daily operations of the business, through hard work, dedication, and perseverance.
In the year of 1999 Abel was given the opportunity alongside his wife to open a third GBS Linens location in Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada. With time Abel became the Lead Manager of the Las Vegas location. GBS - Las Vegas is set apart from all other GBS locations for its tremendous hospitality industry. This has brought huge success to GBS! Abel continues his loyalty with GBS for more than 25 years!
Abel is the type of person to continue his hard work, even outside of work. He loves to work with his hands, whether it be working on cars, home appliances, or any other kind of maintenance issue. Abel has the creativity and eagerness to get any job done right.
Orlando Plant Manager
Hi, I’m Ed Jones Plant Manager of Orlando. I have been in the business for as long as I can remember. I remember going after school working in my Dad’s plant. One day he pushed a large basket of items to be folded, Dad knowing how competitive I was said bet you can’t fold this basket in 30 minutes. Of course, I took this challenge and did indeed fold the basket in 30 minutes. He did pay off the bet, but he also pushed 2 more larger baskets and told me we still have an hour before we leave so here you go. It took me a couple of years to figure out what he did. But from then on, I always challenged myself and my team. I’m proud to say I started the Orlando plant in 2013 from the ground up. The first year just making inventory with my team. I challenged the team like my Dad did that day. Today I still have many of the same team members and we have filled our building up with inventory and have grown Orlando quicker than expected. I am blessed to have a great team to work with. The key to a successful business is to surround yourself with great people. When I’m not challenging my team, I am challenging myself on the golf course (and what a challenge this is), tennis courts and horseshoes. I am an avid Penn State fan “WE ARE”. My most favorite thing to do is spend time with my family at the beach and photography of wildlife and scenic views.
Hayward Senior Operations Manager
For over 20 years Joe Nicolosi has managed warehouse logistics. In September of 2007, Joe joined the GBS team and overseeing our Hayward office. Never afraid of a hard work or a challenge Joe is always willing to help whether it is customer service, painting an office, or hopping in a truck for deliveries. Over the years he has help our Northern California operations grow and flourish to what it is today.
When Joe isn’t in the office or driving a GBS truck, he is spending time working on his truck or fishing in the great outdoors. And if he has some extra time watching or reading a good documentary. His passion that drives him is his two wonderful daughters that make it easy for him to wake up in the morning and put 100% effort into each day. Joe lives by his favorite quote, “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them”.
Arizona General Manager
For over the past 25+ years, Nikki has been a focused manager who delivers targeted and efficient solutions to satisfy customers, drive sales, and support scalable growth. She thrives off of collaboration across all business areas as well as with vendor/partner relations to secure positive and profitable decisions, agreements, and negotiations. Her positive, hardworking, and detailed personality has helped our Arizona operations flourish since she joined the GBS team in 2018.
In Nikki’s downtime she is always crafting and making gifts to brighten someone's day. Which aligns so perfectly with her favorite quote, “Find the beauty in everyday”. Nikki also enjoys spending time with her husband, three sons, and two pups - Cody and Paisley.
Houston Operations Manager
I joined GBS Linens in 2007 with an open mind and excitement for challenge. Because I come from a completely different background from the textile industry it was a pretty big change for me.
Prior to GBS Linens, I worked in the medical fields and logistics as a materials Manager for over 17 years.
One of my proud moments was getting the stockroom set up for Baylor College of Medicine in the well know Texas Medical Center. I helped organize the inventory and the use of reorder points so supplies and parts so we would never run out for all trades in the school making repairs, there were always emergencies and to not have the supplies needed would be drastic. The new ways of doing things help reduce cost for running my department.
I’m a self-doer and learned a lot by my experiences. There is a Quote that I still use today is “Don’t judge a book by its cover” This quote helps to take on all the challenges in my life.
I love to spend my free time outdoors. Hunting, Fishing, Sporting events and an occasional good movie with my wife and three four-legged family members.
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