Trailblazing for Over 10 Years

Phyllis Fernandez is the Sr. Director of Customer Success at Cloud 9 Software. As the leader of our Customer Success Team, she develops long term relationships to ensure our customers maximize utilization of Cloud 9 software features.

With over 35 years in the orthodontic industry, Phyllis has experience as a clinic RDA, Treatment Coordinator, Financial Coordinator, and Office Manager. Phyllis excelled as an orthodontic software trainer for 27 years and led the Cloud 9 Onboarding Team as Sr. Director of Client Onboarding prior to starting her role in Customer Success. Phyllis was also an Orthodontic Practice Management Consultant for over 10 years, specializing in new patient processes to increase case acceptance, successful RCM management with a less than 5% delinquency goal, and marketing strategies to increase practice production.

Phyllis enjoys spending time with her four daughters and two granddaughters. She has a passion for hiking, traveling, and the outdoors. In July 2018 she summited Mt. Kilimanjaro (the highest single free-standing mountain in the world: 19,341 ft above sea level).

Kevin joined Cloud 9 Software in 2011 as the first customer support representative. He then managed the team until 2017, and subsequently became Product Manager. He then transitioned to Director of Product Management where he served proudly for 5 years. Kevin now wears the hat of Senior Director of Business Development where his focus will be on providing the industry’s best browser-based solution for other orthodontic and multi-specialty dental practices. Says Kevin, “Cloud 9’s key to success is definitely our happy staff and customers; I greatly enjoy working directly with our customers as often as possible.”

Prior to Cloud 9, Kevin worked in multiple customer-facing positions for Synovus Bank, and after college he had the pleasure of running a sports bar with his family. He is now a husband and father of three near-teenagers. When his busy schedule allows, he enjoys playing tennis, spending time with friends, and playing his guitars.

Hans joined Cloud 9 Software in 2015 as a Senior Software Engineer. He then grew into being a Technical Lead in 2018, and became Director of DevOps in 2022. His teams are responsible for software development of the Cloud 9 Software platform, along with maintaining the infrastructure of Cloud 9.

Prior to Cloud 9, Hans honed his development skills at various companies based around the Atlanta area in various industries such as health care and Fintech. Hans started his programming career at Northern Michigan University, where he earned a BS in Computer Science and went into independent video game development for a few years. Hans then moved into maintaining cloud based chat support and kept moving to various companies that presented an interesting challenge.

Originally from Marquette, MI, Hans moved to the Greater Atlanta area in 2006, where he and his wife are raising two sons. In his free time, Hans enjoys dabbling in video game development, gaming with his children, and reading the occasional book when the inspiration strikes.

Stephen Kilpatrick joined Cloud 9 in October 2021 as a Tier 1 Customer Care specialist. He was promoted to Team Lead in March 2022 and then Manager in August 2022. His unique background reaches across 10 years in retail, technology, logistics, manufacturing, workforce management, healthcare and contact center operations. He has worked with many Fortune 500 companies such as Amazon, Apple, Target, and Walmart. Stephen oversaw the company’s domestic workforce management structure while working at Results CX, a Fortune 1000 company. At zenith, he was managing 19 accounts totaling $300 M+ in annual revenue, and 35 analysts. Prior to these achievements, he started at ResultsCX as a sales agent for SiriusXM satellite radio. Later he piloted a program that merged the global and local aspects of WFM into one role.

Ever the learner, Stephen is now a junior at the University of Florida in Plant City. He is pursuing a Bachelor’s of Science in Agricultural Education and Communication, specializing in Communication and Leadership Development.

Always on the move, Stephen enjoys cooking, drawing, gardening, and spending time with his family. He loves to read non-fiction and watch documentaries.

Blu manages Cloud 9’s marketing communications under the direction of the VP of Sales and Marketing. Her day-to-day work includes brand stewardship, content creation, website management, and event planning. But the biggest impacts she has had on the company come in the form of the brand refresh in early 2021, leading the website redesign project in tandem with the refresh, and creating the styling for Cloud 9’s exclusive user community, Club Nine.

Blu graduated with a B.A. in Media Arts and Design from James Madison University in 2004, and spent the fifteen years leading up to her Cloud 9 position becoming familiar with all of the various competencies necessary to work in the rapidly changing and growing media and communications industry. She began her career by working in the film industry, on productions such as Disney’s “The Game Plan” and Showtime’s “The Brotherhood,” and then moved into owning her own event video business. The glamour of shooting and editing weddings, bar mitzvahs, and corporate meetings wore off after a couple of years, and in 2009 she closed down shop to retrace her steps back to her home country of Finland. During her years in Helsinki she had the opportunity to work in athletics coaching while simultaneously adding to her assorted linguistic skills. In early 2012 she returned to the United States and picked up the mouse once more, this time with a focus in graphic design and desktop publishing. Blu discovered that she is passionate about bold colors and clean designs, influenced by her Nordic heritage and time spent in Scandinavia, no doubt.

Now a settled resident of Marietta, GA, Blu enjoys spending her time hiking the trails around Kennesaw Mountain, listening to podcasts, and baking gingerbread cookies with her kids.

Rebecca joined us in 2021, having previously worked as a Team Lead for local government. Back in 2017, Rebecca was part of our QA team and then left in 2020. During that time, she established an impressive QA department with important procedures for another Atlanta startup and became their first Product Owner.

Rebecca came back to Cloud 9 as Product Manager for our DSO/OSO customers, and is now the Product Manager for our Pediatric product. She loves talking with customers and helping them build the best product experience!

She lives in the Atlanta area with her cat Ahsoka, dog Mabel, husband Ryan, and lots of houseplants. In her spare time, she enjoys gardening, reading, and video gaming.

Kim Silverthorn has been with Cloud 9 sine 2012, and has more than 20 years of industry experience. She prides herself on having built strong relationships with our customers and within the industry. Kim wears many hats. Her expertise with project workflows and timelines makes her the go-to for DSO/OSO organizations. Kim’s established relationships and experience makes her invaluable to our customers as she is an excellent go-between for third party software integrations like OpenEdge and Change Healthcare.

Kim is married to her dream guy, and together they have four adult children and seven grandchildren. In their after-work life, Kim sings in a blues and rock band in which her husband also plays the drums. They live in the mountains and enjoy their quiet life there.

Tiana Storey has been with the Cloud 9 Software onboarding team since the spring of 2021. She is a certified project manager (PMP) and a member of Project Management Institute (PMI). At Cloud 9 Tiana leads the customer onboarding efforts and the implementation team, with the explicit goal of improving the customer journey. In addition, she introduces formal project management processes to improve efficiency and team cohesiveness.

Tiana works tirelessly to improve the Cloud 9 customer experience from the initiation to the transition to support. Her personal goal is to create a positive environment for customers for the duration of their onboarding process and beyond. Says Tiana, “There is nothing better than to hear the joy in a client’s voice!”

Lisa Whitley has been in the orthodontic software development industry for more than 20 years, and with Cloud 9 Software since January 2017. She currently leads the Conversion Development Team as the Conversion Manager. Lisa is passionate about the customer having the best possible conversion experience when joining the Cloud 9 Community, and works hard to achieve this goal.

Lisa is a wife and mother of two, and enjoys spending her weekends with her family either on the lake or hiking in the mountains.

Kevin joined Cloud 9 Software in late 2013 as a Support Representative under the direction of Kevin Simmons. From there he grew into the Support Team Lead role, and in 2022 he was able to transition to a Product Owner–once again under Kevin Simmons. You can’t keep the Kevins apart apparently. Prior to Cloud 9, Kevin worked at another dental software company, totaling nearly 15 years in the dental software industry.

He lives in the Atlanta area with his wife, cat, and dog. In his free time he enjoys rock climbing, photography, and loves to learn and explore new hobbies that sound intriguing.