Meet the PerfectBee Team
Here are PerfectBee we're totally focused on creating a friendly, welcoming and helpful service to our visitors, customers and Colony Members.
Core Team
Our Core Team is focused on helping our visitors, customers and Colony members enjoy success in their beekeeping (and we also love helping curious beekeepers-to-be)! Delivering great customer service is our driving force and motivator! We're here to help and love the wonderful relationships we have built over the years with thousands of beekeepers!
Mark Williams
Founder
With some inspiration from his eldest daughter, a fascination with honeybees and a background in computers (software development and IT), Mark founded PerfectBee in 2015. The goal was always to offer a safe, welcoming online presence where anyone interested in beekeeping can learn and enjoy this wonderful hobby.
Still very involved in day-to-day operations at PerfectBee, Mark runs the business from various coffee shops in beautiful Washington state. Between time spent with his family, he enjoys working on improving and expanding PerfectBee’s usability and knowledgebase. He's the man behind the curtain helping us to reach and aid as many beekeepers as possible!
Still very involved in day-to-day operations at PerfectBee, Mark runs the business from various coffee shops in beautiful Washington state. Between time spent with his family, he enjoys working on improving and expanding PerfectBee’s usability and knowledgebase. He's the man behind the curtain helping us to reach and aid as many beekeepers as possible!
Nicole Marois
Content & Relationships Manager
Nicole’s love for honeybees began in 2019 when she took a job in the beekeeping industry. That spurned an obsession for learning all about and caring for honeybees. She’s now even roped her husband, Rob, and step-daughter, Rhiannon, into beekeeping and helping in the bee yard, too!
Nicole lives in Upstate, NY, enjoying the many aspects of her work at PerfectBee. From helping with beekeeping questions, welcoming new Colony members on Orientation calls, writing much of our beekeeping content and working with Mark to update the backend, Nicole handles many different things here.
Nicole lives in Upstate, NY, enjoying the many aspects of her work at PerfectBee. From helping with beekeeping questions, welcoming new Colony members on Orientation calls, writing much of our beekeeping content and working with Mark to update the backend, Nicole handles many different things here.
Kylie Chacon
Customer Support Rep.
With a background in customer service, Kylie joined the PerfectBee Team in 2022 to help with day-to-day customer service tasks. Her role has morphed over time at PerfectBee and she now helps with various projects, while also assisting with customer service tasks from time to time.
Kylie thanks PerfectBee for her beekeeping knowledge! She loves hearing stories from our PerfectBee community, especially when new beekeepers join Colony, as she knows first-hand there is so much to learn!
Kylie thanks PerfectBee for her beekeeping knowledge! She loves hearing stories from our PerfectBee community, especially when new beekeepers join Colony, as she knows first-hand there is so much to learn!
Brittany Root
Customer Support Rep.
Brittany joined us the Winter of 2024, with her primary role being to serve our wonderful customers. As a person of many passions (albeit beekeeping being the newest on the list), she is enjoying the opportunity to interact with customers of all skill levels, as she learns right alongside them. A gardener herself, she loves our pollinators!
Brittany lives on an island in the Pacific Northwest (close enough to Mark to grab a cup of coffee) and spends her free time digging in the garden or at the beach. She is the mother of a young child, and she tries to look at life through his lense; up close and with wonder. The world of beekeeping and the atmosphere at PerfectBee align nicely with this goal.
Brittany lives on an island in the Pacific Northwest (close enough to Mark to grab a cup of coffee) and spends her free time digging in the garden or at the beach. She is the mother of a young child, and she tries to look at life through his lense; up close and with wonder. The world of beekeeping and the atmosphere at PerfectBee align nicely with this goal.
PerfectBee Ambassadors and Contributors
Our Ambassadors and Contributors are the "beekeeping brains" behind PerfectBee. Collectively with several decades of beekeeping experience, we are honored they offer their wisdom and guidance to Colony members, via our monthly Colony Cluster webinars, engagement in our member forum and the creation of great beekeeping articles.
Ron Lane
Ambassador since 2016
From beautiful Oregon, Ron has enjoyed beekeeping for many years. He has contributed to PerfectBee since 2016 and has quite the following among PerfectBee visitors! Over the years, Ron has introduced hundreds of folks to beekeeping, through his classes in Oregon each year.
William Gullick
Ambassador since 2021
William recently moved from the North Olympic Peninsula in Washington State to East/Central Minnesota. William got involved in keeping bees as a teenager, back in the 1970s. He has kept bees in hot and humid North Mississippi. He is one class shy of obtaining his Master Beekeeper certification from the University of Montana.
Joe Bates
Ambassador since 2021
Joe picked up the beekeeping bug in 2008 (tempted by friends!), originally in Indiana, and now keeps his bees in Maine. He has been with PerfectBee for several years and brings a unique perspective, including his wonderful, self-built "bee hotel"!
Kate Louden
Ambassador since 2021
Kate has kept bees for over 20 years and is at the Master level in the Oregon Master Beekeeping program. She enjoys beekeeping with horizontal Langstroth hives, which she finds very helpful to accommodate her needs as she lives with Parkinson’s Disease.
Janice Friend
Ambassador since 2023
Janice currently enjoys her bees in NE Tennessee, having started her beekeeping passion in 2014. She maintains traditional and horizontal Langstroth hives as well as Top Bar hives.
Janice holds a Master Beekeeping Advanced Certification from Texas T&M University. She is the President of the Mountain City Beekeepers Association and is a mentor to the Johnson County High School FFA Honeybee Program. She is a member of both the Johnson County Beekeepers Club and the Eastern Apicultural Society.
Janice holds a Master Beekeeping Advanced Certification from Texas T&M University. She is the President of the Mountain City Beekeepers Association and is a mentor to the Johnson County High School FFA Honeybee Program. She is a member of both the Johnson County Beekeepers Club and the Eastern Apicultural Society.
Marta Soltyszewska
Senior Contributor
Marta is a Cornell-certified Master Beekeeper and a dedicated backyard beekeeper. She maintains seven colonies, with a combination of Langstroth and hybrid AZ Slovenian/Langstroth hives. Her primary objective is to uphold the healthiest colonies achievable, focusing on natural resistance to Varroa mites, through non-synthetic Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices.
Martha's secondary aim is to disseminate beekeeping expertise, encouraging new generations to embrace this enriching hobby. She has a Master Beekeeping certification and an academic background in biology and teaching, including a Master of Science degree from Poland. She also has experience teaching Anatomy and Anthropology at a Polish university.
Martha's secondary aim is to disseminate beekeeping expertise, encouraging new generations to embrace this enriching hobby. She has a Master Beekeeping certification and an academic background in biology and teaching, including a Master of Science degree from Poland. She also has experience teaching Anatomy and Anthropology at a Polish university.