George Jage – Founder & President
Prior to joining the tea industry, George Jage honed his convention and business acumen when he headed the operations for the launch of a successful apparel trade show in 1993.. In 2003, George launched the Take Me 2 Tea, the nation’s first tradeshow devoted solely to the tea industry. The result has been a fast-growing industry mirrored and fueled by this fast-growing trade show, twice recognized by the industry as one of the Fastest 50 growing events in North America. In 2005, the Expo was re-branded as the World Tea Expo to more accurately reflect its position in the international tea industry.

George is an active member of numerous business groups, including the Society of Independent Show Organizers, the International Association of Exhibit Managers, and the Young Entrepreneurs Organization. He also served on the Advisory Board of the Specialty Tea Institute along with being its 2006 Symposium Chair. In 2004, he was named as one of Tradeshow Week’s “Next Generation of Leaders.”

Kim Jage – Executive Vice President
Prior to World Tea, Kim held senior sales positions at companies in N.Y.C., New York. The focus of her 15 years experience developed from launching start-up companies and restructuring established sales and marketing systems. She provides a solid track record of performance in both areas. She is also the sole founder of two other companies.

With a B.A. in International Politics from Hofstra University, Kim was afforded the opportunity to backpack through 13 different countries in Western Europe while studying the European Union. Since then she traveled through Eastern Europe as well as Kenya, Tanzania, Egypt, Jordan, Thailand and China - where, of-course, she fell in love with tea.

Settled now, Kim and George have two children, Kadin and Morgan - the future of World Tea.

Stacie Woods – Director of Conferences
Before joining the World Tea Expo team, Stacie was Director of Educational Programs for the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) in Long Beach, California for nine years. Her primary focus in this role was the management of educational seminars & hands-on workshops for SCAA’s annual conference and at non-conference venues. Further responsibilities included management of association meetings & events including site visits to coffee producing and consuming countries. Stacie helped establish the Roasters Guild, a trade guild of the SCAA dedicated to the craft of coffee roasting. Originally from California, she earned her B.S. in Marketing from Woodbury University in Burbank, CA. She moved to Las Vegas in 2003 with her husband Brian.  Stacie and Brian have two children, Tanner 3 1/2 and Abby 15 months.

Keith Timmons – Account Executive

Prior to joining the World TEAm Keith spent the last 7 years in advertising and marketing in Las Vegas and Charlotte, NC. Before moving to Las Vegas Keith honed his business skills working in and running family businesses in New York, and that led to him starting his own wholesale business there. Keith has extensive background in marketing and sales as well as management and operations. Keith came to us as a coffee drinker but now has a growing love of tea.

Edie Gillette – Office Administrator & Executive Assistant
Before joining the World Tea team, Edie held office management positions in various business industries.  Her professional experiences include affiliations in the real estate industry, public relations firms and a civic organization, where her focus was on office administration and management.  Her responsibilities included the development and implementation of operating policies and procedures, human resources administration, and accounting operations.  Further responsibilities included the coordination of public relations programs and events.  Edie also has extensive experience in providing upper level management executive support.

Originally from northern California, she earned her B.A. in Human Services from Holy Names University in Oakland, California, and began graduate study in the Department of Public Administration at California State University, East Bay.  Edie and her family moved to Las Vegas in 2004.