Meet Your Consultant

Tangerine’s corporate consultants have an average of thirteen years experience in the travel industry and have the knowledge and expertise to handle every type of corporate travel need. Many of our corporate accounts have been using Tangerine for a number of years and they realize tremendous cost savings and the value of using Tangerine as their travel management company.

Monica Lieske
Elite Desk

Monica has been with ETI since 1998 and works in the Corporate Department on ETI's Elite Desk. Before joining the corporate department 5 years ago, she was arranging groups and meetings travel with ETI's Group Department.
Monica has enjoyed traveling to many destinations throughout the U.S. and internationally. Some of her favorite trips have taken her to many of the Hawaiian Islands, London, Paris, Mexico City, Bora Bora, Tahiti and a number of the Islands in the Caribbean.

Monica has two little boys, both under the age of 2, who keep her very busy. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her family and going for walks on the beach with the boys. She also enjoys skiing, reading books and celebrity gossip magazines, and of course traveling.

Darlene Rudee
Corporate Travel Consultant

Darlene is a Washington native and has been in the travel industry for more than 16 years. Although she has worked as both a corporate and vacation agent, corporate travel is her passion. Darlene enjoys working with and getting to know her travelers and their travel planners. Prior to working at ETI, she served as Travel Supervisor for a large Northwest corporation. In her spare time she likes to garden, go to the beach and of course travel! Darlene's favorite trips are sunny destinations including Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbean. She even named her golden retriever Maui, which is her favorite Hawaiian island. Darlene is married and has a grown son named Austin. Darlene and her husband travel annually to Las Vegas in the spring.

Regina Dunmore
Corporate Travel Consultant

Regina is originally from San Jose, CA and has lived in the great Northwest since 1994. She has been in the travel industry for more than 15 years and started with United Airlines in Reservations. As a travel consultant, her emphasis is on international travel plans for the corporate client. Regina has traveled throughout Europe and the South Pacific. Fiji is her favorite and she just returned from a vacation there! She has a wonderful son and resides in Seattle.

Sue Buchman-Wiita
Corporate Travel Consultant

Sue is a native Washingtonian and has been in the travel industry for 27 years. She has been in both vacation and corporate travel, but loves the challenge and fast pace of the corporate side of travel. Sue has traveled to Australia (for wine tasting), Japan, Korea, France, Germany, Switzerland, Mexico, Alaska and Hawaii and all over the other 48 U.S. states. Her favorite destination is Australia. Sue has two adult children, Krystal & Keith, who have left the nest- YEAH! She is a cat lover and has two 17 year old cats who are sisters, Tipp & Bailey. Sue also enjoys her African Gray Parrot, Zachary. Her hobbies are riding with her husband on their Harley (Fat Boy 2002), winery touring & tasting, beading, reading and of course travel. She is also a FABULOUS cook!

Laurie Mettler, CTC
Elite Desk

Laurie recently joined Tangerine Travel and works on the Elite Desk in the Corporate Department.  Laurie comes to us with 27 years as a travel agent on the Eastside of Seattle, with the last 20 years focusing on corporate and international corporate travel.  Laurie likes the fast-paced, demanding aspect of corporate travel, but knows all aspects of travel planning.  Building relationships with her corporate travelers and travel planners is one of the most rewarding aspects for her.

Laurie has traveled to many destinations, but among her favorites are, Australia, China, Israel, Mexico, Hawaii, the Caribbean, and an annual cattle drive on her closest friends’ Texas ranch.

Laurie is a Washington native, moving to the Eastside of Seattle in 1980 from her hometown of Chehalis. Laurie enjoys spending time with her 21-year-old daughter, Alyssa, who is a U.W. student and works at Nordstrom. She loves spending time with her beloved two Golden Retrievers, Jake and Annie as well - they bring her pure joy!

As a charter member and board member of the Rotary Club of Kirkland Downtown, Laurie spends a lot of time planning and participating in many Rotary events and community service projects. Laurie’s passions are flying, camping, travel, golf, friends, and animals - especially dogs and horses. 

Ted Merrill
Corporate Travel Consultant

Ted is ETI's newest corporate agent, but he has quickly become one of the family. We are very happy to have Ted join ETI. He is always a team player and is the first to offer anyone help. Ted has been in the travel industry for 18 years. He started his travel carrier working with the airlines, but has spent the majority of his carrier as a Corporate Travel Consultant. Planning complicated trips for executives is his passion. Ted's favorite place to travel to is Hawaii, and he tries to go at least once every 2 years. "When I travel I usually like a warmer climate, preferably with a beach or pool". Ted loves all kinds of water sports including swimming, snorkeling and boogie boarding. As long as it involves the water, Ted's up for trying it. When home, Ted spends time with his dog Buffy.

Julie Jacobson
Corporate Travel Consultant

Julie is a native of the Seattle area and a graduate of the University of Washington (go Huskies!). She started her travel career in 1968 with United Airlines working in the reservations center, where she performed a variety of duties over the years until her retirement in March 2005. After leaving the industry for 2 years, Julie came back to travel and joined us at Tangerine Travel because she still had the travel industry in her blood. Her forte is international travel which she finds fun and exciting to book. She is married with two grown children, who also live in the area, and has two grandchildren. She and her husband love to travel together to many golf destinations, their favorite being Hawaii. She enjoys cooking (Italian being her specialty), reading, traveling, gardening and watching her 2-year-old grandson who calls her Nana Julie.

Krista Clanton
Corporate Travel Consultant

Krista is a Northwest gal and has lived in Washington State most of her life. She has an Associates Degree in Travel and Airlines, and has been involved in almost every aspect of booking travel; however, she prefers the fast-paced challenges of corporate travel. Krista has been in the travel industry for more than 14 years, 9 of which have been at ETI Travel (now Tangerine Travel). Krista has traveled to Hawaii, Mexico and Europe, and has cruised Alaska and Mexico. Her favorite vacation is traveling to either the island of Kauai or the Kona Coast on the Big Island of Hawaii. Krista is married and has a daughter, Sydney, who is in the 4th grade this year and is an excellent ball player! They live in Kenmore (the center of the Universe) and have two cats, a turtle, four fish and Tepa the Black Lab! Her hobbies include camping, boating and working in the yard.

Nic DaPron
Corporate Travel Consultant

Nic has been in the travel industry for 14 years. She started out working for Delta Air Lines at the Sea-Tac airport while obtaining her degree in Philosophy. She soon transitioned into the corporate travel industry working for one of the big agencies. She comes from a "travel family" where her grandfather, father, mother, sister, and brother-in-law have all worked in the industry. Nic was born and raised in Alaska, then moved to Washington and currently lives in Snoqualmie with her husband and 2 cats. Her favorite travel destination is Japan, where she likes to practice her Japanese language skills. In her spare time she enjoys yoga, hiking, reading, and washing and waxing her MINI Cooper.

Rene Christian
Corporate Travel Consultant

Rene has been in the travel industry for the past 20 years. Rene has worked for several travel agencies prior to ETI and started out as a vacation agent, but for the past 17 years has done corporate travel. She lives in Maple Valley with her husband and daughter plus their 2 West Highland Terriers. Rene has traveled extensively all over the world including Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Europe, Mexico, the Caribbean as well as Hawaii and numerous cruises. Rene's last vacation was a Caribbean cruise with her family which she describes as a "dream vacation"! Her current hobbies include gardening and attending ballet and theater performances.

Heidi Kinsella
24 Hour Travel Consultant

Heidi Kinsella has been with Tangerine Travel for 13 years and has been in the industry for over 20 years. Although Heidi has held different positions during her time at Tangerine, she is currently our 24 Hour Customer Service Consultant. She is available most nights and weekends to take care of your travel needs while you are on the road, or if you have any last-minute emergency travel needs.

Heidi has a daughter who is a junior at Western Washington University. Since her daughter has grown, Heidi has decided to go back to college herself to finish the degree that she started when she was younger. She is excited to bring the skills that she is learning in school to her job at Tangerine Travel.

Although she spends most of her free time studying, she enjoys camping, politics, traveling, and all things Irish! Her travels have taken her on several cruises, to Ireland, Australia, Japan, England, Mexico, the Caribbean and all over the United States. Her favorite destination is Ireland where she has many friends and family.

Andrea Brienes
Corporate Travel Consultant

Andrea has been in the travel industry for more than fifteen years and began her career in California doing leisure travel for three years before moving to Kirkland. After starting at ETI, Andrea moved to the corporate department and after almost three years in Kirkland, she moved to New York. Andrea got married in 2000 in Lake Tahoe and has lived in New York for the past nine years. Her favorite places to travel are any place the sun shines, especially locations such as Hawaii and the Caribbean. In her spare time she enjoys relaxing at the beach and going for walks.

Suzanne Keefe
Corporate Travel Consultant

Suzanne has been in the travel industry for 17 years and has been a lead agent at several agencies. Suzanne has primarily been a corporate agent, but has also been the Quality Control agent and trainer at ETI Travel. Suzanne lived in Seattle for 6 years before moving to NH to be closer to family, and now works from home there. She holds a BA degree in Liberal Arts (Spanish, English, and Psych). She is fluent in Spanish and has spent time studying in Spain. Suzanne has traveled to Alaska, Mexico, the Caribbean, Costa Rica, Hawaii, England, Ireland, Spain, France, Thailand, and most of the United States. Her hobbies include hiking, mountain climbing and doing anything outdoors. Nowadays, she spends her free time with her daughters Caitrin, 5 and Rain, 2.

Traci Biss
Corporate Travel Consultant

Traci has brought to Tangerine Travel 23 years of industry experience. She had done both vacation and corporate travel but now really enjoys the fast pace of concentrating on international business travel. She has traveled to Japan, Brazil, all over Europe, Mexico and most of the United States. Destinations with history are exciting and her favorite is Italy. She also really enjoys beach destinations and is about to enjoy an upcoming vacation to Maui. Traci has a cat named Lexi and a grown son. Her favorite pastime is shopping, shopping and more shopping!

Angelica Dukes
Corporate International Travel Consultant

Originally from Goa, a former Portuguese colony, Angelica was born and raised in Bombay, India. She received her Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Bombay. Angelica lived and worked in Germany and Switzerland and has been in the U.S. since 1990. In the past, she has worked for Air India, Air Canada, Royal Air Maroc and United Airlines. Since 1994, Angelica has worked for two different travel agencies doing corporate travel. She speaks German, French, Hindi, Marathi and some Swedish and Arabic. Angelica lives in Arlington with her husband.

Jana Simpson
Corporate Travel Consultant

Jana is one of our newest agents and we are excited to welcome her to our Tangerine Travel family. Jana was born and raised in the Seattle area. She spent one year in Denver.

Jana has been in the travel industry for 12 years. She started out with MarkAir in reservations Seattle and Denver. Jana then worked for America West on the ramp and as a customer service agent at Sea-Tac. She then moved to corporate travel in 1997 working for several agencies prior to Tangerine travel. Interesting fact.....Jana's father is an identical twin, she is an identical twin and she has fraternal twins, a boy and a girl. Jana's twin sister Jill is also in the travel industry.

Jana lives in Renton with her partner and their 3 children. Her son Reichen is 3 and boy/girl twins, Riess and Sadie are 8 months. Jana has traveled to all but 6 states, Mexico, Jamaica, Thailand, Japan, Greece, London, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. She is a huge Disney fan and has been to Disneyland, Disneyworld and Disneyland Tokyo. While in high school she was an exchange student in Reutlingen Germany.

Desirae Meyer
Corporate Travel Consultant

Desirae is a Washington native, growing up in Redmond; however she also spent 5 years in the Southern California area. Desirae has been a corporate agent for more than twelve years, the last three with ETI in the Corporate Department. Desirae and her husband are the proud parents of 2 adorable but fierce 3lb Yorkie Terriers. Combining her love of travel with a new hobby of wine tasting, Desirae has visited a number of wineries in Oregon, Washington, and Sonoma California. Her dream is to someday visit wineries in the Tuscany area of Italy. Desirae's other hobbies include golf and she is a huge baseball fan. She enjoys going to as many Mariner and Aqua Sox (minor league) games as she can during the season. "One of my favorite places I have traveled to was the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Of course her favorite place remains Maui!"

Carol Carlson
International Corporate Travel Consultant

Carol has been an international agent in the Seattle area since 1978. She enjoys working with unique, fast paced international corporate travel. She and her husband live in Lake Forest Park and have 2 children in collage. She grew up in Colorado and has a Bachelors degree in History. Carol has traveled extensively in the US, Europe, Asia and the South Pacific. Her favorite cities are Istanbul and Kyoto and favorite trips are Tanzania, East Africa (watching cheetah having "lunch" on the Serengeti) and the Galapagos Islands. Her most recent trips have been to explore the fabulous ruins of Angkor Watt in Cambodia, Vietnam and watching her son develop the fine art of snake charming in Marrakech Morocco. Her dream trip is to Antarctica but she will jump at the chance to visit Rome or Bangkok or......! Carol really enjoys working with her clients and her passport is always valid.

Nicole Jarvis
Corporate Travel Consultant

Nicole was born and raised in Connecticut, but lived in Ft. Lauderdale prior to moving to Seattle. Nicole graduated from Johnson & Wales University with a degree in Travel & Tourism Management and has been in the travel industry for thirteen years. She started with ETI Travel in the group department, after working on groups in Florida with the Miami Dolphins. She recently went back to her roots as a corporate agent and is enjoying it. Nicole has traveled to Mexico, Paris, Italy and all over the Caribbean and U.S. Her favorite hobbies are reading and spending time with her husband, their new baby Zoe and their two dogs, Oreo and Roxi.

Randy Speer

Randy comes to Tangerine Travel with 15 plus years of travel experience. Over the years Randy has seen a number of changes in the industry and is excited to be working for an innovative and growing company like Tangerine Travel. Randy was born and raised in Northern California but moved to Washington 18 years ago. He lives in Shoreline with his partner of 10 years, their miniature dachshund Sherman (aka the Terminator) and his cat named Pearl. Randy's favorite places to travel are Maui, Puerto Vallarta and most of Western Europe.

Carly Ross

Carly has been working in the travel industry for the past 11 years. She has worked in both corporate and vacation where she booked Hawaii and Mexico packages exclusively. Carly prefers to work corporate travel because she can really get to know her clients. When you already know what they prefer it can make the process seamless. In her free time you can find her at the local ice rink catching a Seattle Thunderbirds game or on the lake watching the boats race. Carly has two precious dogs, Lita and Lola.