Professional Consultants and Industry Veterans
Lee Cohn
Managing Partner and Co-Founder
Mr. Cohn is Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Reconstruction Partners. He is recognized as one of the leading experts in restaurant concept development, management, and operations in the United States. He currently serves as a leading restaurant consultant and advisor, with recent projects including the sale of Mastro’s Steak House Group.
Mr. Cohn’s credits include co-development of Ed Debevics with Rich Melman of Lettuce Entertain You and consultation assignments in the US and Asia. He was awarded the first Entrepreneur of the Year Award from Arizona State University in 1984. He began his career by co-founding Big 4 Restaurants, Inc. where he created Lunt Avenue Marble Club, Steamers, Oscar Taylor Butcher, Baker & Bar, and Harvey’s Neighborhood Bar & Grill, and 10 other concepts.
He has also served on the Board of Directors of Morton’s Restaurant Group, Marie Callender’s, McCormick & Schmick’s, and currently with Quaker Steak and Lube, Mastro’s Steak House Group and Real Food Daily. Mr. Cohn has served on several community boards, including Valley Big Brothers and Sisters, The Phoenix Thunderbirds, Boys Hope-Girls Hope, The Phoenix Ballet, The Fiesta Bowl, and Young President’s Organization. His undergraduate degree is from Arizona State University.
Wallace Hite
Managing Partner and Co-Founder
Mr. Hite is CEO, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Reconstruction Partners. Before founding the company, Mr. Hite was part of the team taking the Backyard Burgers private and then as its COO and CRO of Back Yard Burgers from 2007 to 2009 and. From 2001 to 2007 he was CEO and Managing Partner of both Strategic Advisory Partners and Weichmann Hite Partners, boutique M&A advisory firms. From 1999 to 2001 he was President & COO of Dog n Suds and member of the board of directors. Mr. Hite spent 2 years working for a Kuwait based company initially as Managing Director for 3 countries and then as it ‘s Group Director of Development for the Middle East & North Africa. From 1992 to 1999 Hite was Chairman & CEO of WLM Development. Mr. Hite was Executive Vice President FED and ran Franchise Operations for Sonic Corp and a partner in the going private transaction in 1986. Mr. Hite has served on several private company boards. Mr. Hite’s undergraduate degree is in Hotel & Restaurant Administration from Oklahoma State University.
Kathy Diamond Ulepic
Senior Associate
Kathy Diamond Ulepic founded Kathy Design Associates in 1999 and serves as its president. She has served as the Director of Restaurant and Retail Design at firms such as AM Partners in Santa Monica and the prestigious Babcock & Schmid. Her career began at ka Architecture in Cleveland, OH.
She has worked with over 30 restaurant chains and many retail chains performing the services of: Assessment and Planning, Strategic Development, Brand Identity and Trade-dress, Exterior Design, Interior Design, Space Planning, Logo Development, Packaging, Uniforms, Specifications, Prototype Implementation, and Roll Out. Kathy holds a BA in Interior Design from Kent State and holds professional affiliations Past Board Member-Northern Arizona University – School of Hotel and Restaurant Management and Past Board Member-ASID.
Sean Willard
Menu Engineer
Sean empowers restaurateurs to achieve greater success and profitability through Menu Engineering. He brings 17 years of experience in menu development and hospitality, serving independent operators to global chains of hotels, restaurants, cruise lines, and more.
A graduate of Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, he was named one of Business Insiders “19 Incredibly Impressive Students at Cornell”. When not immersed in the Menu World, Sean can be found on the golf course or cooking for family and friends.
Chris Cohn
Senior Associate
Chris was born and raised in Arizona and went to Brophy College Preparatory. He then graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology. He then attained a Master’s Degree in Addiction Counseling, Summa Cum Laude, from Grand Canyon University. In 2008, Chris Founded Scottsdale Recovery Center and its subsidiary, Arizona Addiction Recovery Center. Over the next 14 years, he built the rehabs to over 60 total beds, medical detox, inpatient, PHP, and outpatient levels of care.
His experience and knowledge lie mostly in the addiction, behavioral health, psychedelic and mental health space. Being a founder and president of these two large behavioral health organizations, Chris utilizes this experience and knowledge to help navigate any deals in the healthcare sector for Reconstruction Partners’ clients. Scottsdale Recovery Center is one the most well-respected rehab organizations not only in Scottsdale, but in the USA. Chris is very proud of that achievement.
Furthermore, he founded Cohn Media which is a digital marketing agency focusing on SEO and online marketing for all industries, particularly drug and alcohol rehab centers and the restaurant industry. Cohn Media does online marketing for all businesses, locally and nationally. Website design and development, strategic SEO, influencer marketing, reputation management (reviews) and branding are the main focus of his SEO agency.
Chris handles Reconstruction Partners’ clients’ websites, online marketing needs, social media influencer management, and much more. He also handles all our healthcare clients who need strategic consulting, capital advisory, and investment banking needs due to his experience in that field.
Jerry Mansoor
Senior Associate
Jerry Mansoor has been in the hospitality industry for 31 years. His family immigrated from the United Arab Emirates in 1979. Years later, they opened a neighborhood market in east central Phoenix for 13 years. At 16, He was hired at Majerle’s Sports Grill, starting out as a bus boy. His energy, loyalty, and initiative were soon noticed, and he rose quickly in the popular, busy downtown restaurant.
During his ten years there, he moved up to become assistant general manager at the original Majerle’s and a partner in the company. He participated in a downtown Phoenix tourist association and Downtown Phoenix Partnership. Through those business contacts, Mr. Mansoor was recruited by PF Chang’s in 2002 as Operating Partner of Pei Wei Asian Diner, a quick service, casual concept establishment. During his time in Pei Wei, he helped operate nine stores in Arizona and was responsible for the largest market in the country.
By the time he left, the company had opened 127 stores across the country. But as he expanded his experience and vision, his ambitions turned to full ownership opportunities. In 2011, he joined in a partnership at Luci’s Healthy Marketplace as COO of Luci’s Urban Concepts, overseeing business operations, culinary, brand development, design, execution, store growth, purchasing, and regulatory compliance.
Donald Chick
Senior Associate
Donald Chick has over 14 years of experience in the real estate development and hospitality fields. He has served as Vice President for Urban Partners and Creative Director for Ross Perot Jr.’s Hillwood Capital. He has also worked on a number of transformative mixed-use developments including but not limited to: Victory Park and West Village in Dallas, TX, 2nd Street District in Austin, TX, and West Ave in Houston, TX.
In the hospitality field, Chick has created and designed several establishments including Park Restaurant and Bar Celine, which received accolades from the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Dallas Morning News. Prior to Park restaurant, he co-founded La Condesa restaurant, which now resides in Austin, TX. He served as a consultant for Mastro’s Restaurants and a minority partner with Tristan Simon’s Consilient Hospitality. Chick led the design and development of the Dudley Market in Venice Beach, CA. He received a B.A. from Southern Methodist University and lives in Los Angeles, CA.