Our Team

Bill Paulos, Co-founder

Bill Paulos is a visionary in the gaming and hospitality industry. He has spent his 30+ year career building and managing hotel and casino properties across Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Pennsylvania and Melbourne, Australia, including being the architect of Las Vegas’ new four corners with the building and opening of Excalibur and Luxor, and the establishment of Cannery Casino Resorts LLC and its Pennsylvania and Las Vegas properties.

Paulos brings his decades of experience in the gaming and hospitality industries to Engaged Nation, with a unique understanding of the challenges casinos face in acquiring and engaging customers. His progressive and analytic thinking has been the inspiration behind the company’s groundbreaking gameology marketing platform.

Paulos earned his Bachelor of Science degree in hotel administration from University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1969 and is a member of UNLV’s William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration first graduating class.

Jerry Epstein, Co-founder/CEO

Jerry Epstein is a recognized leader in marketing communications, spending three decades leading companies with innovative strategies for brand development, new product launches and marketing communications. His out-of-the-box approach and marketing “firsts” have been instrumental in the development and implementation programs that successfully launched new concepts, corporations and industries worldwide. His client portfolio includes Anheuser- Busch, Sony Play Station, AOL, You Tube, Honda, FIFA World Cup, President Reagan, Oracle and many other multi-national corporations.

A pioneer in developing innovative marketing solutions for the gaming and tourism industries, Epstein developed the positioning for the new four corners in Las Vegas. He has consulted with more than 10 major Las Vegas casino properties, including Excalibur Casino & Hotel and Luxor Casino & Hotel, Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, MGM Grand Las Vegas Hotel & Casino and New York-New York Hotel.

Michael Paulos, COO

As Chief Operating Officer of Engaged Nation, Michael Paulos is responsible for the development and execution of the overall business development strategy. His responsibilities include guiding strategic partnerships and leading the global business development team as well as directing the day-to-day operations. Michael’s combined strengths and experience in marketing, business development, gaming and management serve to ensure success in his role as COO.

Before joining Engaged Nation, Michael served as Director of Business Development for Viz Explorer, traveling extensively throughout the United States and globally to facilitate the growth of the company. His proven track record and accomplishments have secured his place as an innovative marketing leader and business developer in the gaming industry.

Michael holds a dual BS degree from UNLV in Casino Management and Physical Education.

Tony Pulicella, CMO

Serving as Chief Marketing Officer for Engaged Nation, Tony is responsible for managing all marketing initiatives for the company. Tony brings a wealth of marketing and advertising expertise from his diversified background. He served as the Director of Marketing for Globalstar, Inc. a major global satellite communications company, where he spearheaded simultaneous go-to-market international strategies.

Tony also spent ten years as the Managing Director of a full-service marketing and advertising agency located in Portland, OR where he earned 36 international awards for advertising and marketing excellence, including five “Tellys” and three “Summit Creatives” accolades. Pulicella has also worked with some of the world’s best-known brands, including Toyota, Jaguar, Starbucks, Red Bull, Nike, Paul Mitchell Hair Care, Sony, and the Miller Brewing Company.

Brady Beutler, CIO

Brady has more than 20 years of technical expertise ranging from coding to systems development and implementation. During his time as President & C.E.O. of SubStorm, Inc., Brady architected and maintained a local Network Operation Center housing 300+ clients. He worked on custom enterprise projects including video streaming services and point-to-point wireless infrastructures. His background in cyber-security was instrumental for all aspects of his job. He continues to uphold this tradition of excellence in the technological solutions he provides to the clients of Engaged Nation.

Raquel Rodriguez, SVP of Client Services

Raquel has over 20 years of experience in the gaming industry as a casino marketing executive. As a hands-on tactical marketer, Raquel understands the challenges of day-to-day operations in a property, as well as the psychology of the players and the ingredients to motivate them. She has worked in local, regional and destination properties, such as United Coin Machine Company, a statewide slot route operator in Nevada, Colorado Belle and Edgewater Casinos in Laughlin, Nevada, and the M Resort in Henderson, Nevada, where she demonstrated success in program development, database management and revenue growth.

Justin Walker, Software Architect

Justin brings over 15 years of experience creating robust web and software solutions. As software architect, he is responsible for the design and implementation of all Engaged Nation software and infrastructure projects. He has a background in data science and machine learning, and a passion to deliver high-quality, scalable solutions to meet the needs of our clients. In fact, during his time as Data Manager at Reflex Media, he designed and built the AI Profile Moderation system called Phelix. This solution utilized AWS cloud infrastructure to speed up customer dating profile approval time and increase accuracy of profile moderation using computer vision and natural language processing techniques.

Justin obtained his MBA in 2015 and holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. This mix of business acumen and technical experience has led him to work for companies such as Switch, Inc. and Reflex Media, and 7ROI. A die-hard Vegas Golden Knights fan, in his spare time Justin tries to attend as many home hockey games as possible. An avid traveler, he has been to over 25 countries including, Spain, Italy, France, and Brazil.

Heather Lee, Director of Sales

If you’re in gaming and on LinkedIn, you’ve probably heard of Heather Lee. Heather is the Director of Sales for Engaged Nation where she helps casinos achieve increased revenue and take their marketing initiatives to the next level with the award-winning REACH platform. Previously she was the Manager of Sales, Loyalty Marketing, for Everi Holdings, Inc. It was Heather’s third at bat when she found her passion in the gaming sector. She graduated with her bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Nevada, Reno and then established herself in banking. Her financial background opened the door for her in fintech and loyalty where she knew she was destined to be all along. Heather took a full immersion approach to the gaming industry and possesses an unwavering commitment to ensure her partners realize the full potential of their marketing strategies. She is a member of Global Gaming Women Organization and previously participated in Everi Women in Leadership Initiative.

Stella Epstein, Director of Operations

Stella has more than 20 years of operational experience. For most of her career, she has been instrumental in the successful formation and operations of business she has co-owned and run. With an emphasis on team and client success, she serves a vital role at Engaged Nation. As a member of the company’s senior management team, she has been responsible for the development of operational standards, policies and practices that provide the foundation to our success.