John Lockhart
CEO
John is a serial entrepreneur who parlayed his knack for machine shop and computer science into several successful businesses. Early jobs as a pipe welder and gas turbine compressor technician led to a career as a pilot – first as a flight instructor, then a charter pilot, and finally an airline pilot for TWA. During this time, he came up with a number of cost-saving ideas. When a basketball injury put his flying days temporarily on hold, he presented those ideas to TWA management, who hired him to implement them.
Recognizing that he wasn’t going to be able to make one of his ideas happen from within, John took a chance and launched out on his own. First, he founded TLX (a provider of travel technologies and related services for the airline industry), followed by Amazing Mail (a state-of-the-art digital printing and mailing company born from his desire to easily share pictures of his daughters), Evolve Technologies (a producer of innovative showerhead technologies that save water and reduce utility bills), and FlexWage (a provider of financial wellness for employees). These companies are all still thriving today, with John serving as board member or advisor to many of them.
He founded Billfire more than 20 years ago with the goal of transforming accounts receivables. Under his guidance, Billfire’s offering has grown from an enterprise payment portal to a full-featured solution that helps A/R teams overcome a broad range of invoicing and payment challenges.
John and his wife of 26 years split their time between Arizona and Colorado, where he bikes, skis, and kiteboards and enjoys time with his three daughters and one grandbaby.
Wally Thornton
President
Wally has a diverse background that spans everything from finance, marketing and engineering to product development and supply chain management. He’s also a self-taught programmer and puts that knowledge to good use as he provides hands-on leadership of all functions related to the design, development and delivery of Billfire’s solutions including product management, design, program management, application development, compliance and DevSecOps.
Past roles include VP of Marketing and Digital Strategy at Visio Financial Services, Co-Founder and Head of Product Development at Flockstream, and VP of Product Management and Supply Chain at iGo. He holds a BSBA in Finance from Georgetown University and an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.
Wally is also an avid nature lover and outdoorsman whose hobbies include adventure motorcycling, camping and off-roading.
Joan Brubacher
CFO
Joan spearheads Billfire’s finance and HR operations, bringing to the role more than three decades of experience in finance and operations as well as deep expertise in strategic planning and organizational management; budgeting and cost management; contract negotiations and strategic alliances; cash flow management; capital acquisition and fundraising; mergers, acquisitions and divestitures; corporate and investment finance; investor relations; operations/supply chain management; and customer and supplier relationship management.
Joan began her career on the audit staff of Ernst & Whinney (now Ernst & Young). Other previous roles include CFO at Beams, CFO at Resolute Financial Services, Executive VP and CFO at iGo, where she was a part of the team that took the company public in 2000, and several private small and start up companies where she served as Controller, CFO, and COO. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration with Concentration in Accounting from Kansas State University.
Joan is a proud grandma of 6 and is also an experienced gardener who grows some of the best veggies in Arizona.