Our Team
Our strategy is based upon on bringing more than just capital to companies. We bring know-how, problem solving, deep resources and experience to grow companies and move them past “inflection points.” As a permanent capital holding company, we have long time horizons, unmatched flexibility and a deeply experienced team.
Executive Leadership
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Tom is a Partner and Co-Founder at Ames Watson. Prior to Ames Watson, Tom was the founder of Severn Partners, a private equity firm that acquired more than a dozen companies in the defense, retail, light manufacturing and service sectors. Over the past 18 years, Tom has developed extensive operating experience across more than two dozen different companies. Today, Tom serves as the Chairman & CEO of Lids Sports Group. Tom started his career as an infantry and special operations officer in the United States Marine Corps. Tom graduated from the Virginia Military Institute with a BA and an MBA from the University of Chicago. Tom lives in Annapolis, Maryland with his wife and three children.
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Lawrence is the Co-Founder and a Partner at Ames Watson. Prior to founding Ames Watson, Lawrence was Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of Blackstreet Capital. At Blackstreet, Lawrence participated in over 25 acquisitions and was actively involved in the sourcing of deals, planning of transitions and oversight of investments. Previously, Lawrence worked for the The Washington Post Company and the Boston Consulting Group. Lawrence has served on numerous Boards of both private and public companies. Lawrence is currently the Chairman of FanzzLids Holdings, the holding company that owns Lids and Fanatics Lids College. Lawrence has a B.S.E. and MBA from The Wharton School. Lawrence lives in Bethesda, Maryland with his wife and three sons. He can usually be found at the ice rink watching his sons play hockey.
Investment Team
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Ryan is a Principal at Ames Watson. Prior to joining Ames Watson, Ryan was a Vice President with Blackstreet Capital where he managed acquisitions and debt capital structure and served on the operations leadership team of its largest portfolio company, Black Bear Sports Group. During his 12 years at Blackstreet, Ryan participated in both the acquisition process and post-closing management on 45+ transactions in sectors including real estate, sports and entertainment, consumer brands and business services. Ryan graduated from Williams College with a Bachelor of Liberal Arts Degree in Political Science and Leadership Studies and captained the Varsity hockey team as a defenseman. Ryan lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and two children.
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Prior to joining Ames Watson, Alex spent two years at the United States Department of Justice in the Antitrust Division in Washington DC; reviewing corporate merger filings for technology and finance companies. Alex received his BA from the University of Notre Dame and Master of Finance degree from The Smith School at the University of Maryland. He lives in Washington DC and enjoys playing lacrosse with his three younger brothers.
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Prior to joining Ames Watson, Carl was a Vice President with Forvis Mazars Capital Advisors, where he advised clients through mergers & acquisitions across consumer, business services, and healthcare sectors. He has eight years of experience advising middle market companies in investment banking and business valuation positions. Carl received his Bachelor of Science in Finance at the University of Richmond. Carl resides in Herndon, Virginia with his wife and two daughters.
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Christian is an Associate at Ames Watson. Prior to joining Ames Watson, he was an Investment Banking Analyst at Houlihan Lokey where he advised clients through Mergers & Acquisitions in the Aerospace, Defense, and Government Services sectors. Christian began his career as a Markets analyst at Citigroup where he rotated through equity trading and private debt capital markets roles. Christian received his B.S.B.A. from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. He lives in Washington, D.C. and enjoys running amongst other outdoor activities.
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Prior to joining Ames Watson, Brent was an Associate at Crescentia Capital, where he focused on investments in industrial field services and specialty manufacturing businesses. Brent received his BA from Johns Hopkins University. He lives in Baltimore and enjoys playing golf and attending O’s and Ravens games in his free time.
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Ryan is an Associate at Ames Watson. Prior to joining Ames Watson, Ryan spent six years working in investment banking at Fairmount Partners and Outcome Capital, where he advised clients through sell-side mergers & acquisitions across healthcare, professional services and technology industries. Ryan received his MS in Finance at Villanova and his BBA in Finance at the University of Massachusetts. Ryan enjoys playing golf and spending time with his wife and friends.
Strategic Resources Group
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Prior to joining Ames Watson, Coleman served as an Operating Partner at Severn Partners, a private equity firm that acquired companies in the defense, retail, light manufacturing and service sectors. He guided the turnaround of two manufacturing portfolio companies while at Severn Partners. Coleman graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with a BS in Mathematics, and holds an MBA from Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, and started his career as a special operations officer in the United States Navy. Coleman lives in Annapolis, MD with his wife and two sons (the eldest is now off to college).
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Prior to joining Ames Watson, Pat was a Director with Alvarez and Marsal, a management consulting firm, where he focused on delivering solutions across supply chain and manufacturing operations. Previously, Pat worked for General Electric and Molson Coors as a continuous improvement leader within their manufacturing facilities. Pat started his career as an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps. He received his MBA from The University of Texas - Austin and BS from James Madison University. Pat lives outside of Pittsburgh, PA with his wife and two children.
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Prior to joining Ames Watson, Sean was a transaction advisory consultant at RSM US LLP, a national assurance, tax and consulting firm, where he provided financial advisory services to a variety of financial sponsors and middle market companies. Previously, Sean worked at Sterling Partners. Sean has a BS and MS from James Madison University, and is an active CPA and CFA Charterholder. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland with his wife and daughter.
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Prior to joining Ames Watson, Jesse was a transaction advisory consultant at EY where he performed financial due diligence services for buy and sell-side transactions. He also spent time in EY's assurance practice, working with publicly traded Fortune 500 companies and privately held REITs.
Jesse has a BS and MS from James Madison University, and is a CPA with an inactive license. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
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Prior to joining Ames Watson, Carey was a Regional Manager for lululemon, where she was instrumental in developing the strategic growth of the Mid-Atlantic Area by focusing on enhancing systems and processes, portfolio optimization, omni-channel evolution, labor planning, brand awareness, and evolving the in-store retail experience. She received her BA from the University of Pittsburgh and spent her early post-graduate years rowing for the US Rowing National Team. Carey lives in Severna Park, MD with her wife and two children.
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Prior to joining Ames Watson, Craig was a Sr. Manager of FP&A with Under Armour, where he supported various members of the executive team on the planning and analysis of global product profitability and execution of gross margin strategic initiatives. Previously, Craig also spent time at Stitch Fix as a Corporate Strategy Manager on their Operations team. Craig has a BS and MS from Penn State University and is an inactive CPA charterholder. He lives in Sykesville, Maryland with his wife and two daughters.
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Prior to joining Ames Watson, Nick was a Senior Director of FP&A and Strategy at Aqua-Leisure Recreation driving financial performance and growth. Previously, Nick worked at CVS Health and EY-Parthenon as a strategy consultant. Nick holds an MBA from Dartmouth College and lives in Boston with his wife and kids.
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Prior to joining Ames Watson, Jake was a Director with FTI Consulting’s Business Transformation, Office of the CFO Solutions practice, where he supported C-suite executives in various planning and performance management and financial process improvement initiatives - primarily focusing on operational strategy, financial planning and analysis (FP&A), treasury solutions, and finance technology. Jake received his BS in Finance from Ohio State University and currently lives in New York City.
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Alex developed her dynamic, customer-experience centric view of marketing during early career experiences with Build-A-Bear Workshop and as the Marketing Manager for the pet care start-up Dogtopia. In 2011 she established her own consulting venture, Mason Cre8tive, which partnered with over 20 companies to create meaningful digital engagement and drive ROAS improvement via data-driven decision making. Alex holds a BS from Georgetown University, and resides in Manassas, VA with her husband and two children.
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Morgan is a Portfolio Development Associate. Prior to joining Ames Watson, Morgan spent a year as an analyst at a middle market Investment Bank; preforming market research, due diligence, and financial analysis for clients. In 2022, Morgan simultaneously received her BA and Master of Public Administration from the University of Alabama while swimming for their varsity team. Morgan resides in Baltimore, Maryland and enjoys attending all Baltimore sporting events with her family and friends.
Finance & Support Teams
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Prior to joining Ames Watson, Melissa was a Senior Manager in EY’s Financial Accounting Advisory Services group. Melissa has over 12 years of progressive accounting and finance experience, including internal and external audit, accounting advisory, and corporate accounting. Melissa started her career in public accounting at Grant Thornton, and subsequently worked at Campbell Soup Company in corporate accounting and internal audit roles. She also advised clients on new accounting pronouncements and process optimization at Deloitte. Melissa has a B.S. in Accounting from Penn State University and is an active CPA in Maryland and Pennsylvania. Melissa and her husband reside in Ellicott City, MD.
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Alex is the Finance Manager at Ames Watson. Prior to joining Ames Watson, Alex was an assurance manager in PwC's Consumer and Industrial Products and Services group, where he primarily supported the Under Armour account. Alex has over five years of experience in public accounting and is an active CPA in Maryland and Pennsylvania. Alex graduated from the University of Richmond with a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration - Accounting, followed by a Master's degree in Business Intelligence and Data Analytics from Saint Joseph's University. Alex and his wife live in Baltimore, Maryland.
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Sarah is the Chief of Staff at Ames Watson and Executive Director of the Lids Foundation. Prior to Ames Watson, Sarah was the Business Development – Partnerships Manager at Lids, where she managed celebrity, pro-athlete and high profile relationships. Sarah was also passionately active in all Lids Foundation events and operations prior to being named Executive Director. Sarah received her Bachelor’s degree from Purdue University, loves painting and enjoys spending weekends watching college football. (Go Boilermakers!)
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Prior to joining Ames Watson, Cat worked as a technical recruiter in the government consulting space, building out teams for the Department of Defense, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of State. Outside of work, she is actively pursuing her JD from the University of Baltimore and serves on the steering committee for Leadership Howard County, Leadership U’s High School leadership program. When she’s not at work, Cat enjoys hiking, testing out the best restaurants, and traveling.
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Ariel is In-House Counsel at Ames Watson. Prior to joining Ames Watson, Ariel was Associate Legal Counsel at a venture capital fund, where she was responsible for all legal aspects of fundraising, deal execution, fund compliance and corporate governance. Ariel started her career as an Associate at a leading international law firm in New York City where she represented major investment banks as well as public and private companies in a variety of equity and debt transactions, including private placements, initial public offerings and high-yield, investment-grade and convertible debt financings. Ariel has a J.D. from Columbia Law School and a B.A. from Colgate University. Ariel is admitted to the bar in the State of New York and Washington, D.C. She currently lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband, daughter and dog.
