Leadership Team
The Essential Meetings leadership team
Essential Meetings is headed by a well-rounded, veteran team with decades of experience developing incentive travel, recognition and loyalty programs. Their expertise in program design, travel management and communications is second to none.
Kristjan Thorsteinson
As President and CEO of Essential Meetings + Incentives, Kristjan leads a team of seasoned associates who, like himself, have years of experience in the incentive and recognition industry. He is responsible for the overall strategic direction of the company and is actively involved in the management and oversight of customer relationships.
Kristjan is a founding partner of Essential Meetings. Prior to this, he held a variety of corporate and divisional leadership positions within the incentive travel industry, including director of sales and marketing. A member of Meeting Professionals International and SITE (Society for Incentive Travel Excellence), Kristjan successfully combines incentive travel expertise with real-world travel experience, bringing a wealth of knowledge to our clients.
Kristjan was quite literally born into the industry, going on his first incentive program at six months old. A volunteer baseball, soccer and hockey coach, Kristjan resides in Calgary, Alberta, with his wife and 3 children.
LEAH FAYERMAN
Chief Operations Officer
In her role as COO of Essential Meetings + Incentives, Leah manages the day-to-day operations of the company and oversees the internal structure of the organization.
As a dedicated travel professional, with 35-plus years in the industry, Leah has worked in Travel Management for corporate travel agencies, oil & gas, engineering and the technology field. With her diverse skill set, Leah is a great fit for the EM organization combining her years in travel with senior management, accounting, and overall office management experience.
In her personal time, she loves to travel and spend time with her family in Hawaii and in the U.S., as well as taking care of a menagerie of pets at home.
Jennifer Bouma
Director of Travel Services
In her day-to-day work, Jen strives to manage programs to create the perfect travel experience for our clients. She does this while also organizing details for upcoming trips; from leisure to group to corporate travel, she handles it all. Jen is an early bird; she gets in an early morning workout, where she draws her energy for her busy day.
Over the past 20 years, Jen has gained solid experience in the travel industry in a variety of roles. With Essential Meetings since early 2017, she brings her high level of professionalism and enthusiasm to the office every day.
She is known for her generosity, big heart and volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity. Helping to build houses in developing countries around the world, or volunteering at a school in Guatemala, where she also sponsors a child, gives her great satisfaction, hope and fulfillment. Her humanitarian principles have led her to Vietnam, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, to name a few places.