| About Us | Mission Statement | Executive Team
Lamar Jones Jr. | Jermaine J. Oliver | William Robinson | Seth Shihab | Kafui Mensah
Cozette Csõke
Lamar Jones Jr. , Chairman & CEO
Lamar Jones Jr. discovered at an early age the true meaning of persistence and tenacity. Raised in a single-parent household in Flushing, NY; Lamar resided with his Mother and five siblings, all of whom would grow up to claim their own levels of success. Jones attended the reputable New York Theological Seminary and Alliance Theological Seminary where he received a Master of Theology. He also holds a B.S. in Business Management.
Lamar is an Operation Enduring/Iraqi Freedom Veteran and has held memberships with the NAACP, the National Association of Realtors, National Society of Black Engineers, and African American Real Estate Professionals of New York to name a few.
Early life:
At the tender age of six, Lamar began cleaning family and friend’s homes for extra cash. By ten, after a succinct introduction by his mother, he was negotiating deals for wholesale clothing, clocks and miscellaneous women’s items in Manhattan’s Delancey Street section.
Growing up in a drug-infested, stagnant community; Jones decided, unlike some of his peers, that he would use his God-given talents and make honest money. Using the invaluable skills he learned as a young boy, he managed to cultivate relationships with local business owners. Before long, Lamar was pocketing $2 a day per store, by sweeping and removing debris from various store fronts. Store owners and bank owners alike formed a fondness and soft spot for young Lamar. In due time, Lamar was making $20 a day after landing a gig making advertisement deliveries to local businesses for the Western Beef franchise.
Adult life:
At 17, Lamar proudly joined the United States Marine Corps. Between training sessions and deployment, he devoted nights and weekends to education. As a full-time, active-duty Marine and part-time insurance agent, he succeeded in building a sales team of 20+ people. His vigor for business was more robust than ever before.
In 2003 after service in Iraq, Lamar was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps and began his corporate career at Consolidated Edison Company of New York. Jones accepted a temporary position at Con Edison for little pay in the Human Resources Department. One week on the job, Jones was introduced to the internal management training program used by the company to groom senior-level management. It didn’t take long for Lamar to make a name for himself after spearheading key projects and building controls that profoundly reduced the company’s financial obligations.
In January 2006, Lamar ventured back to the world of entrepreneurship and found a mentor in Dr. Jerome Blue. This was the inauguration of Lamar’s real estate focus, all encompassing via sales, development and investment. He found an unparalleled niche to represent buyers with the promise that he would double his fee in equity on the home they purchased or he would work for free. His impressive acumen and honest work ethic quickly resonated with clients. This innovative style of business proved to be effective and provided the necessary funding to fulfill the dream of operating his own business.
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Jermaine J. Oliver, President
Jermaine Oliver was born into a family of hard working small business owners and humble entrepreneurs. This enabled him to learn valuable business principles at the tender age of seven. From spending countless weekends assisting farmers in selling fruits and vegetables at the local swap meet, Jermaine began to understand the fundamentals of supply and demand and acquired a passion for quality customer service.
Fueled by his desire to help his mother provide food and shelter for himself and his sister, Jermaine found a way to work year round. During the ice-cold winters of Rochester, New York, Jermaine went door to door shoveling snow from driveways, walk ways, and porches throughout the neighborhood for tips. His winter success opened up doors for him to maintain clients’ yards during the fall seasons by raking and removing leafs from gardens. These services transformed into a small business with the partnership of his cousin Terrance.
As Jermaine grew older with dreams of following his pursuit of entrepreneurship, he was well aware of the importance of education but was unable to afford college at the time. As a result, Jermaine put his faith in Uncle Sam. Immediately upon graduating high school, he decided to join the United States Marine Corps and attend basic training. Training hard during weekdays allowed Jermaine to attend college in the evening, during the weekends, and between military deployments. During his first two years in the Marine Corps, Jermaine was promoted in rank four times and by his 2 ½ year mark had also earned a college degree. His success made him a top choice among his peers and earned Jermaine the honor and responsibility to lead fellow Marines in a hostile Iraq for over six months in 2003.
Upon the completion of his four-year enlistment, Jermaine was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps and decided to continue his education. Jermaine returned to what he knew best and jumped right back into small business entrepreneurship. For the next two years Jermaine worked as an understudy for the founder of Jelly Kids, Inc. , a company in which Jermaine helped design and sell children’s multi-vitamins produced in the form of jelly beans. At Jelly Kids, Jermaine gained invaluable experience from his inside perspective of watching both the success and deterioration of the company.
In 2006 Jermaine obtained his California real estate license and began selling mortgages throughout the state and surrounding region, including Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. In a short time, he established a thriving real estate business based on return investors and referral customers due to his conscientious service style and commitment to staying abreast of the ever-changing mortgage industry.
In his time as a realtor, Jermaine has sold properties ranging from modest condominiums to lavish estates. Jermaine’s success is due to an excellent rapport of mutual trust and respect with his diverse clientèle, whether they are savvy investors or first time home-buyers.
With the money made from real estate ventures, Jermaine started Primus Worldwide, LLC with long-time friend and business partner Lamar Jones Jr.
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William Robinson, Chief Marketing Officer
Bill in an inveterate Entrepreneur and passionate Marketer who lives in the New York area after living in the UK for 8 years. He has written columns, articles and cover stories for The Wall Street Journal Europe, Marketing Magazine (UK), FORTUNE Small Business, Cisco System’s iQ Magazine, The Financial Times, Business 2.0, Forbes.com, United Airline’s Hemispheres Magazine and Upside Magazine, amongst many others; while his "TechScape" column on The Register won broad accolades. (Bill’s "On Location" columns for Upside won three prestigious ASBPE awards. ) He also appears frequently on CNN, PBS, Bloomberg TV, BBC News 24 and had a regular segment on SKY News while speaking, moderating and chairing technology, marketing and business conferences worldwide. But Bill's ultimate goal far exceeds anything he could accomplish in Journalism. He possesses a burning desire to be pivotal in the building of a billion-dollar company.
As a corporate executive for RCA Corporation and then General Electric after an acquisition, Bill was one of the youngest managers in the entire corporation. For more than six years after leaving GE, Bill worked for best-selling author of "The E-Myth: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It," Michael E. Gerber. When Bill started working for Gerber, the HarperCollins’ title had sold 150,000 copies. By the time Bill left, the book had attained sales of over 1 million copies in 18 languages. Bill was then bitten by the entrepreneurial bug and started Relentless Marketing in 1995.
As the founder and Chief Marketing Strategist of Relentless Marketing, Bill has provided services including intense Strategic Marketing, Sales, Product Development & PR services including top-notch journalistic credentials.
Bill's CEO clients have regularly appeared on CNN, CNBC, PBS, BBC, Bloomberg, Oprah, Letterman, SKY News; and in cover or feature stories in The New York Times, Inc. Magazine, Fortune, Forbes and the WSJ amongst many others; as well as keynote speeches at their industry's most important conferences and trade shows . . . his employers and clients get known and their brands recognized.
Robinson's main roles are to act as an entrepreneurial advisor to the founders; locate and obtain start-up financing; get the CEO and President in the top-tier Business & Technology news media talking about Primus Online's unique cradle-to-grave service for small businesspeople; to help strategize, write and sharpen the sales process; and to build a world-class Marketing & Sales operation thereby ensuring Primus Online's success.
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Seth Shihab, Chief Technology Officer
Seth Shihab, (CTO) Chief Technology Officer of Primus was born in the West Village of New York, NY in the 1960’s, a love child of a singer and a jazz musician. As a young man, Seth was a music major and graduated from the LaGuardia HS of Music and Art, where he enjoyed being part of many performances. Seth’s love for computer science began within the Department of Corrections and continued with the Division of Human Rights and three other companies including a software company. Shihab then spent the 1990’s working on production scheduling functions, help desks, communication networks (voice and data), computer program development, and computer systems operations for the NYS Department of Correctional Services. With over a decade of IT experience under his belt, Seth felt stagnated by the fact he had not completed a college degree. He made a decision in the Fall of 2002 to attend City College of New York where he obtained a degree in Sociology.
In 2006, Seth started Tech Headz. Tech Headz is a technology consulting company that specializes in computer repair, web design, office network set-up and video surveillance installations. Shihab simultaneously held a position as the Operations Manager for Iconcept Media Group, where he was in charge of HR and managing events for the company until 2007, when Mr. Shihab met Lamar Jones Jr. and was presented with a concept that intrigued him greatly.
After a year of dialogue between the two, Seth was asked to be part of Primus and has been with the company since. He oversees computerized and manual systems; information processing equipment and software for acquisition, storage and retrieval; and providing definition of the strategic direction of all information processing and communication systems and operations.
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Kafui Mensah, CPA, Chief Financial Officer
Kafui Mensah joined Primus Online in June 2009 as interim Chief Financial Officer, bringing 8 years of broad financial and operational experience. Kafui currently serves as an Investments Accounting & Treasury manager at a major workers compensation insurance company in Woodland Hills, CA, overseeing financial, accounting, and treasury functions for over $2 billion investment portfolio. Prior to that, Mensah worked for The Siegfried Group, LLP in providing interim financial assistance primarily to Fortune 500 companies during critical times of need. Prior to TSG, he was a Sr. Accountant in the Deloitte office of San Jose, CA (Silicon Valley) and performed audit services for over 20 public and private companies in the telecommunications, high-tech, software, manufacturing, and venture capital industries. As a lead member of the engagement team, Kafui counseled public and private clients in software revenue recognition principles; planned and executed audit engagements by understanding the internal control environment and risks; and performed additional audit procedures specific to SEC companies including regulatory filings and quarterly reviews. He also prepared financial statements and related disclosures in compliance with GAAP and SEC requirements and recommended policy changes through financial analysis and discussion with client management. Additionally, Mensah helped developed accounting control recommendations for start-up to multi-national public entity companies in order to increase their administrative and operational efficiency and prepared detailed budget and time management strategies.
Kafui received a Master’s of Science degree in Applied Economics & Finance and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management Economics from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) from the State of California and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).
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Cozette Csõke - Vice President Of Operations
Cozette joined Primus Worldwide in April 2010. Her professional experience includes contract negotiation, business development, communications and management. Focusing on new business acquisition along with her academic accomplishments, her expertise portrays a solid background in language and discourse in order to skillfully communicate via written, spoken, and visual means.
Cozette attended the University of California at Berkeley, receiving two Bachelor of Arts degrees in Rhetoric as well as in Gender Relations; and Columbia University, for a Master of Science degree in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution.
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