Team

Trent is the founder and CEO of Happy Guest Promotions. He has over twenty years of gaming experience beginning as an entry-level I.T. technician and progressing to managerial and executive roles in I.T., Slots, and Marketing at the property, corporate, and vendor levels. 

Trent's career has taken him across the United States including the Las Vegas Strip, St. Louis, Mississippi Gulf Coast, Shreveport, and New Orleans. Trent's diverse experience has allowed him to become familiar with virtually all of the gaming markets in the United States.

In addition to his professional pursuits, Trent is also an active hospitality academic and has been an adjunct professor at Tulane University and the University of Southern Mississippi and currently teaches at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. 

Trent studied music at the University of Oklahoma and received his bachelor's degree in Social Science & Music from Loyola University New Orleans. He received his master's degree in Hospitality Management from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and is completing his Ph.D. in Urban Studies at the University of New Orleans.

Trent loves all things New Orleans including its food, drink, and beloved New Orleans Saints, where he played on the drumline.

Fun Fact: Trent has been part of both the world's largest line dance and the world's largest YMCA dance.

Born and raised in Newport Beach, California Lauren attended college at the University of Colorado at Boulder graduating with a bachelor's degree in Psychology.

Prior to joining Happy Guest Promotions, Lauren worked at a protein cookie/bar company as a sales and logistics manager. 

Lauren loves spending time with her family and friends, game nights, movies, wine & cheese nights, getting scratch offs and Slurpee’s with her 87 year old grandma, weekend trips, concerts, and football Sundays.

Fun Fact: Lauren is the only girl in her family besides her mother, having 1 brother and 7 cousins who are all boys.

Regional Account Director

Josh started his professional career with Xerox - Milwaukee, WI in sales after graduating from UW-Green Bay in 1997.  After 13 years, and numerous President’s Club years, he was ready for a change.  He went to work for a direct marketing company that focused on loyalty direct marketing, specializing in the casino and alumni industry.  Combining best practices and customer data analytics was the key to helping his customers keep their players and members loyal while driving YOY profit increases. Josh had met a lot of the Mark-it Smart team, at different casino trade shows over the years, and loved the company philosophy and the people.  When the offer came to become part of the sales team, he was excited for the opportunity. Josh, and his family, live 45 minutes west of Milwaukee, WI. He has two kids in high school (Grace is a freshman and Aiden is a junior) and loves to attend their sporting events.  He also loves to fish, hunt, and ride Harley Davidson motorcycles with his wife (Heidi) and their motorcycle group of friends.

Fun Fact: “Being from the Midwest, I’ve water skied on lakes all my life, but have never surfed and have always wanted to learn. I have a feeling that I’ll have plenty of colleagues who will be more than happy to teach me when I visit them in California.”