ERI 

John Shegerian creates profitable impact companies that make the world a better place.

Goldman Sachs recently named Shegerian one of the “100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs of 2021” at its annual Builders + Innovators Summit. He was also recently named one of the planet’s “Top 100 Recycling Stars” by Recycling International Magazine.

A serial entrepreneur responsible for co-founding Homeboy Industries, FinancialAid.com, Engage and many other impactful organizations – Shegerian currently serves as co-founder, Chairman and CEO of ERI, the largest cybersecurity-focused hardware destruction and electronic waste recycling company in the United States.

Shegerian is also a sought-after speaker, panelist and electronic recycling, cybersecurity and ITAD industry authority. Annually he speaks across the world in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. He has also authored or been featured in articles on the industry for Recycling Today, Resource Recycling, Waste360 and various business journals and regularly provides his expert knowledge to news media, including CNBC, BBC News, TIME, Fortune, Forbes, Washington Post, Newsweek, Security Ledger, GreenBiz, LifeWire, City & State New York, Los Angeles Business Journal, and VerdeXChange News among many others.

He is co-author of The Insecurity of Everything (a #1 best-seller on Amazon) and 101 Tips from the Marketing Masters: Ways to Supercharge Your Marketing & Exponentially Grow Your Business, both best-sellers on Amazon in their respective categories.

Shegerian earned a certification in Cybersecurity: Managing Risk in the Information Age from Harvard University and has completed the MIT Sloan Cybersecurity program.

Shegerian also hosts Impact with John Shegerian, a weekly podcast featuring conversations with some of the greatest business minds and thought leaders on the planet. The podcast is available for listening on ImpactPodcast.com, Apple’s iTunes, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Spotify, libsyn, and as part of iHeartRadio’s digital broadcast, reaching over 120 million users. Recent guests have included leaders from Verizon, Best Buy, General Motors, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, JetBlue, Comerica Bank, Goodyear Tire, Virgin, Dell, AT&T, GE, IBM, Qualcomm, Ben & Jerry’s, Timberland, The Hershey Company, Nestle Waters, FedEx, Intel, New York City, Beyond Meat, Veggie Grill, Lipton Tea, Patron Tequila, Dell, Panasonic, Molson Coors, Seventh Generation, the NBA, the US Tennis Association, Waste Management, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and a number of fascinating thought leaders and game-changers, including Martin Luther King III; best-selling author Ryan Holiday; Homeboy Industries founder Father Gregory Boyle; real estate powerhouse and television personality Ryan Serhant; comedian/author Jeannie Gaffigan; softball legend and ESPN baseball anchor Jessica Mendoza; ultra-endurance athlete Rich Roll; the late, legendary actor Ed Asner; and hundreds more.

No stranger to “recycling lives” and serving up second chances, in 1993 Shegerian co-founded Homeboy Tortillas and Homeboy Industries, which continues to serve as a paradigm for urban renewal in America. Shegerian is also the creator of the popular Bulldog Root Beer brand, which he launched in 1997. Shegerian then co-founded FinancialAid.com, filling the financial aid gap for higher education and generating one of the most successful student loan companies in the country. Shegerian founded Addicted.com in 2005, one of the largest web resources for individuals seeking help for addictions online. The website boasts a database of over 20,000 addiction centers across the United States.

He is also co-founder of RecycleNation, a dynamic recycling and green living resource that simplifies the recycling process on a national level with a comprehensive, interactive recycling location database.

Shegerian is also the co-founder and CMO of The Marketing Masters, a digital marketing and web development company that builds effective, ROI-driven marketing campaigns for businesses large and small. Shegerian co-founded Som Sleep, a drink formulated to help individuals achieve better, more restorative sleep. He is also Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Engage, a web-based platform designed to digitize the process of booking talent online for unique personalized appearances.

Shegerian was named the Clean Tech Entrepreneur of the Year for Northern California by Ernst & Young and was officially named to City & State New York’s prestigious “Responsible 100” list last year.

Tammy Shegerian oversees and manages the day-to-day operations of each aspect of the organization and is an active member of ERI's Board of Directors.

It’s a role she fits perfectly due to her 25 years of business management experience, most recently having served as chief operating officer and vice president of a privately held food manufacturer. For more than a decade, she was instrumental in achieving dramatic revenue growth while increasing net income through development and management of the company's continuous improvement program. During this period, the company grew from number five to number one market share in its space.

Prior to her work in food manufacturing, Shegerian served as a commercial real estate broker for Julian J. Studley (Sommer Commercial Real Estate). Focusing on office and retail leasing in the Santa Monica/West Los Angeles marketplace from 1989 to 1997, she led that firm’s sales in the Santa Monica market from 1992 to 1997.

Earlier in her career, Shegerian developed her sales and sales management skills at National Service Contracts, a brokerage firm specializing in air conditioning and refrigeration service contracts nationally. Her team’s sales were highest in the company and instrumental in NSC’s completion of a public offering in 1989.

She started her career with the Carnation Company, working with the organization’s product management program until Carnation became part of Nestlé in 1985.

Shegerian earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from USC, where she graduated magna cum laude.

As ERI’s Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Sales Officer, Kevin Dillon oversees all of ERI’s corporate sales and marketing efforts, acquisitions and business development. He also sits on ERI’s board of directors. With a pivotal role in building ERI from the ground up, Dillon has helped lead ERI to its current standing as the largest fully integrated IT and electronics asset disposition provider and cybersecurity-focused hardware destruction company in the United States.

Prior to ERI, Dillon worked alongside fellow ERI co-founder John Shegerian at financialaid.com to help pioneer one of the largest student loan companies in the U.S. Dillon hired and creatively managed the organization’s sales force and loan counselors while growing financialaid.com’s sales to more than $2 billion annually — leading to the organization’s subsequent purchase by and transition to the oldest financial institution in the U.S.

Dillon earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration – Finance from California State University at Fresno, earned a certification in Cybersecurity: Managing Risk in the Information Age from Harvard University and has completed the Executive Program in Cybersecurity at MIT.

With a pivotal role in building ERI from the ground up as a co-founder, Aaron Blum has helped lead ERI to its current standing as the largest fully integrated IT and electronics asset disposition provider and cybersecurity-focused hardware destruction company in the United States. Under his stewardship, ERI now has the capacity to process more than a billion pounds of electronic waste annually at its eight certified locations, serving every zip code in the United States.

At ERI, Blum serves as the company’s Chief Operating and Compliance Officer where he oversees all operations, and is directly involved with high-level sales and compliance. Blum works closely with government and regulatory agencies. He helped lead ERI’s efforts to achieve the highest level of certifications available for both data destruction and responsible recycling, with all facilities certified to the following standards ISO 45001, ISO 9001, NAID, e-Stewards, and R2.

Blum has also been instrumental in the development of the corporate relations and research and development infrastructures for ERI.

Before co-founding ERI, Blum led the sales department for Pullz Computers, a Southern California-based computer resale company. Within a year of starting with Pullz, Blum helped double the company’s sales revenue.

Blum graduated from the University of San Diego with a Bachelor’s degree in business administration.