COMPANY LEADERSHIP

As a recently divorced mother of three in the 1970s, Marlene Marker was once no one’s idea of a likely entrepreneur. She dreamed, however, of taking control of her own destiny and starting her own company someday. Thanks to her natural tenacity and determination to provide a better life for her children, her dream became reality when Marlene started her own record retrieval company in 1977. Marlene’s goal was to provide her clients with exemplary service delivered with reliable integrity and a personal touch. As the business grew, so did Marlene’s reputation for honesty, persistence, and entrepreneurship.

After an ownership change in 1985, the Marker Group was born. Thanks to Marlene’s natural leadership abilities and determination to provide the best quality service ever in the litigation support industry, the Marker Group grew quickly, and by 1996, the company expanded its services nationwide. As an industry leader, Marlene became a role model and an icon within the litigation support industry. Her proudest achievements include establishing decade-long business relationships with some of the largest U.S. firms; developing procedures, processes, and technology that became industry standards for handling large, multi-state, and federal record collection and medical review work; and creating a company culture grounded in excellence and integrity. Today, Marlene still provides invaluable guidance to the company she founded as she helps to lead our business into the 21st Century.

Marlene’s children have all been involved in the business over the years and are now continuing the Marker legacy with her guidance. She loves traveling and is an avid supporter of the arts. She also enjoys supporting organizations that protect abused women and children and feed and shelter the homeless.

Gary Hunt, the husband to Marlene’s oldest daughter, has been an invaluable part of the Marker Group since its inception in 1985. Gary developed the company’s original software, network infrastructure, and servers and provided IT support for the business while working a full-time job at Coca-Cola. At Coke, Gary started from the ground up in his 25-year career and was instrumental in creating the first-ever IT division in the South Texas Region. In his position as Division IT Manager, Gary worked frequently with the top executives and gained experience in all departments, including HR, marketing, production, advertising, sales, and finance. 

Gary joined the Marker Group full-time in 2004, bringing with him invaluable business and IT knowledge. He has been the driving force behind growing our internal IT development and infrastructure teams that have been focused on creating our proprietary software and website. Gary was also instrumental in directing the company during the extensive ISO certification process, and as such we are now an ISO 27001:2013 Certified Business. In addition to his technical expertise, the Marker Group has come to rely upon Gary’s business acumen and financial skills as he oversees all areas of our company.

Gary has been married to Michelle Marker Hunt since 1978, and the couple has one daughter. In his spare time, Gary enjoys the theater, photography, and sports cars.

The youngest daughter of Marlene Marker, Melissa grew up working in the family business helping in many different areas, from file clerking in high school to serving as a field representative collecting medical records while in college. After graduating from Texas State with an accounting degree in 1989, her career evolved over the years from being an accountant to becoming involved in the software development and consulting arena. Melissa discovered her passion as a consultant developing software and solutions for many large Fortune 500 companies. Her knack for understanding business processes and turning them into solutions helped her grow into a project management and leadership role over the various development projects. 

In 2003, she re-joined the Marker Group in the IT department and ultimately developed a strong understanding of all areas of the business through her rotations in the different departments within the company. As Vice President, Melissa works closely with Gary and the leadership teams, applying her strong analytical skills to ensure timely and accurate delivery of service to our clients; ultimately carrying out Marlene’s vision. Melissa believes that every employee should know and understand the reasons behind the needs of our clients and the processes to accomplish those business obligations. This only makes the quality of our work stronger, thus satisfying our clients’ needs better. She is also involved in all other areas of the business, including strategic planning, high-level project oversight, finance and accounting, client relations, and business development. She is passionate about ensuring that the family legacy continues with the vision and success it has achieved over more than three decades. 

Melissa has been married to her husband Roderick since 1992, and has a son and daughter. They live in the country and love all of their animals including Australian Shepherds, cats and horses. Melissa enjoys traveling, RV camping, and learning to ride horses.

As the grandson of Marlene Marker and son of Melissa Marker Ruzicka, Spencer has deep roots in the family business. From his high school days through college, he dedicated himself to the Marker Group, gaining invaluable experience in part-time roles.

With a degree in Economics and a minor in Business from the University of Texas, Spencer smoothly transitioned into a full-time position, ready to leverage his skills and insights for the company’s benefit. Throughout his tenure at the Marker Group, Spencer has consistently shown a knack for streamlining processes and enhancing operational efficiency. Progressing from Project Support Supervisor to Contract Administration Manager, his influence on company operations has been significant.

Now, as Assistant Vice President, Spencer takes on substantial responsibilities, working closely with the Executive Team to tackle complex business challenges and oversee detailed financial analyses. He plays a crucial role in building client relationships and leading project start-up initiatives. Spencer’s focus on improving synergy across company divisions has led to noticeable enhancements. Respected by colleagues and management alike, Spencer’s achievements reflect his comprehensive understanding of the business, analytical skills, and clear, confident communication. In his role as Assistant Vice President, he continues to steer Marker Group towards excellence, exemplifying dedication, innovation, and integrity.

Hillary’s road to the Director of Operations role at the Marker Group began in 2001, when she received her degree in paralegal studies. Her prior experience as a medical claims investigator within the transportation industry ignited a passion for the investigative nature of personal injury and products liability work. Hillary joined the Marker Group in 2002 as a case investigator, quickly establishing herself as a determined and versatile leader working in numerous litigation projects. She gained vast experience working directly with various clients and mastering diverse litigation support needs. Her dedication to customer service and enthusiasm for continuous development made Hillary the natural choice for Director of Operations, which has been her role since 2010. 

Inspired by Marlene’s entrepreneurial vision, Hillary successfully advocated for adding medical review and PFS deficiency service lines to the Marker repertoire. She is the driving force behind service and product expansion and is heavily relied upon by clients to realize practical and comprehensive discovery solutions for every type of litigation under every type of budget. Hillary partners heavily with our in-house development team to improve all aspects of our proprietary software and websites, primarily driven by industry evolution. Beyond that, she cultivates an internal atmosphere of knowledge sharing and teamwork for all of our employees. Hillary’s focus is to encourage the anticipation of our clients’ needs so that our service sells itself. 

Outside of work, Hillary enjoys spending time with her family, close friends, and her two dogs. She can often be found on weekend hiking, biking, shopping, and dining adventures across Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma.

Angela began her path with the Marker Group in 2012 after leaving her role as a communications specialist in the telecommunications industry. She brought with her 11 years of experience in professional communications, process and protocol development, training program implementation, and customer service. Joining us as a case investigator assistant, Angela quickly learned the key elements of our record collection business and was ultimately advanced to Record Collection Division Manager.

Utilizing the skills that flourished in her prior employment, Angela has been able to refine our internal training programs and process documentation. Her natural ability to quickly assess an existing process and immediately resolve inefficiencies led to both software and customer service enhancements. Early in her management role with the Marker Group, Angela took on our largest products-liability record collection effort of over 35,000 plaintiffs and seamlessly continued record collection service throughout the evolution of the project. As our RCDM, Angela’s approach, tenacity, and proficiency keep our teams motivated to uphold our commitments to our clients. Her commitment to continuous and consistent communication between departments, divisions, and clients add to the cohesiveness of our culture.

Angela enjoys spending time with her husband, children, and grandchildren. She spends most weekends crafting and cooking, attending the theater as often as she can.

Aida was born and raised in the Philippines. Her dad was a CPA but wanted her to become a nurse like her sisters. However, she chose to follow in her dad’s footsteps into accounting. After earning her Bachelor of Science degree in accounting, she went to work as a credit analyst before moving to the United States. Aida joined the Marker Group as an accounting clerk in 1993 and has held all the positions within the department. She quickly learned all accounting functionalities, including billing, HR, payroll, and 401k.

After taking some time off to raise her children, she returned to the Marker Group in 2006 and became the accounting manager in 2007. She served in this position until being named controller in 2020. She is responsible for all accounting-related activities, including high-level accounting, managerial accounting, and finance activities. She provides management with information vital to the decision-making process. She offers recommendations for improvement and implementing new processes. She also manages the accumulation and consolidation of all financial data necessary for an accurate accounting of consolidated business results.

Aida is married and has three children. She enjoys gardening, traveling, shopping, hanging out with her family and friends, and dining out.