Management Team

Brent Oxley is an entrepreneur who founded HostGator in his college dorm room at Florida Atlantic University. As CEO from when he founded the company in 2002 until becoming Chairman in May 2010, Brent oversaw and played an integral part in HostGator's growth from a one-man hosting company into an industry leader with more than 350 employees. As Chairman of the company's Board of Directors, Brent currently oversees HostGator from a strategic level and is involved with major decisions affecting the company.

Before founding HostGator, Brent developed popular web sites as an Internet entrepreneur and webmaster. Frustrated with the declining ad rates and seeking a way to further monetize his existing dedicated servers, Brent entered the hosting industry and started what became known as HostGator in 2002. In his free time, Brent likes to play paintball and is actively working on obtaining his pilot's license.

Lance Custen grew up in New York and Vermont and then moved to South Florida, where he met founder and chairman Brent Oxley. As CEO, leads the company's executive team, with a focus on strategy, marketing, product development, and HR.

Before becoming CEO, Lance was HostGator's Chief Operating Officer. As COO, he was responsible for day-to-day operations and oversaw HostGator's customer service efforts and affiliate program. Before HostGator, Lance managed four retail stores that specialized in selling T-Mobile and AT&T cellular telephones. He later owned two additional stores and served as the Director of Admissions for Academy High Schools in Boca Raton, FL. Lance views HostGator as a growing family and enjoys computers, technology, and gadgets.

As Chief Technical Officer at HostGator, David Collins is responsible for managing the technical side of HostGator, including server security and optimization, application programming, technical problem resolution, and management of the company's technical staff.

Before joining HostGator, David was a student, built custom servers, and was a Server Administrator at Exovian Internet Services. Even though David attended college, he is mostly self-taught. When not working, David enjoys computers, technology, ethical hacking, learning new technology, off-roading, and building miniature skyscrapers with dairy creamers at late-night diners. He is well known at HostGator for not sleeping until he completes the tasks necessary to keep the company's technology running smoothly.

As the Chief Marketing Officer at HostGator, Chad manages the company's affiliate program and advertising campaigns. He also manages the HostGator's SEO hosting company -- SEOhosting.com. Chad is responsible for all new shared web hosting and reseller hosting server setups, among other tasks.

Before joining HostGator in 2005, Chad worked as an email marketing specialist and a web hosting industry consultant who specialized in support and sales operations.

Originally from Indiana, Brandi Banks heads human resources at HostGator. As Director of Human Resources, she is responsible for recruitment, hiring, benefits administration, payroll, and fostering employee growth and development.

Before HostGator, Brandi was an administrative assistant at John Knox Village, an active adult community in Pompano Beach, FL, where she was responsible for organizing and administrating resident activities. In her spare time, Brandi enjoys scrapbooking, camping, and fishing.

Originally from Indiana, Josh Banks is in charge of support and system administration at HostGator. He works closely with the CTO and Director of Human Resources to ensure that HostGator has the technology and team necessary to continue to grow and excel in the web hosting industry.

Before coming to work at HostGator, Josh was a Level III Administrator with Touch Support and a Network Administrator for Procomm Solutions, an Illinois-based cable company. In his free time, Josh likes to play video games, listen to music, and work on electronics.

Patrick Pelanne started as a chat technician at HostGator in March 2007 and less than two years later, started serving as the company's Deputy CTO. As Deputy CTO, Patrick is responsible for handling server upgrades and migrations, software development, and other day-to-day technical responsibilities including assisting with the recruitment, hiring, and management of HostGator's growing system administration team.

Before starting at HostGator, Patrick was IT Director at The Achilles Group, a national human resources firm headquartered in Houston. He also worked as an independent IT consultant, where he helped small and mid-sized businesses grow and scale their IT infrastructure. When he isn't working, Patrick enjoys going to Home Depot as well as Bed Bath and Beyond (as long as there's enough time).

As Customer Service Manager at HostGator, Josh Loe is responsible for customer feedback management and customer service. Josh's duties also include maintaining HostGator's online communication channels such as Twitter & Facebook.

Before joining HostGator Josh worked as a System Administrator for DotCom Internet in Nacogdoches, Tx. Josh joined HostGator in 2007 as a System Administrator, he worked his way up to a supervisor position and in April of 2010 was promoted to Customer Service Manager. Josh's primary goal is ensuring that HostGator's reputation as a leader in customer service is well maintained.