Our People
Carr Carothers
Owner/Sales Executive
Carr is the owner of Leonard Sales and acquired the business along with Jayhawk Sales in 2011. Although Carr did not come from a food-service background, he was attracted to the business due to the stability of the company and the opportunity for growth.
Carr was previously with Majestic Realty Company in the industrial real estate development business. He managed a portfolio of over 12 million sf of industrial warehouse space and completed build-to-suits and lease transactions with companies such as Kraft Foods, GE, Newell-Rubbermaid, Home Depot and other Fortune 500 companies. Prior to Majestic, he was employed with ProLogis and Ingersoll-Rand in various other sales roles. Carr also co-founded a multi-state ATM business that is still thriving under the remaining direction of the other founders of the business.
Carr is a graduate of Texas A&M University holds a B.S. in Industrial Distribution and a graduate of the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas with an M.B.A. in Entrepreneurship and Real Estate Finance. Carr resides in Dallas, and covers North Texas and Oklahoma for the company. Carr enjoys spending time with his wife, Ashley and two children, John Carr and Katherine.
Jerry Leonard
sales executive
Jerry is an industry veteran with 56 years experience in the foodservice industry. Beginning his career with a broadliner, offering both groceries and smallwares, he later served as a salesperson, a middle manager, and as a top sales executive, responsible for profits, with Edward Don & Co., one of the largest equipment dealers in the U.S. Jerry was also responsible for Edward Don’s branch advertising and sales promotion. This qualifies him as one able to relate to dealers, their staff, and their salespeople as he understands each of their unique needs. Jerry’s 28 years as President of Leonard & Associates, a premier manufacturer’s representative organization, allow him to view needs from another prospective; that of the manufacturer. We feel it is rare to find someone with this diversity and are honored to have this experience as a part of our organization. Jerry resides in Ruidoso, New Mexico with his wife Betty and covers New Mexico, and West Texas for the company.
Jerry Williams
Sales Executive
Jerry has been a member of the Leonard Sales team for over 15 years; now responsible for accounts in the Houston Metro and East Texas areas. After graduating from the University of Texas, he started in the foodservice business with a broadliner, selling both groceries and smallwares to restaurants and institutional accounts, moving on to oversee a multi-state territory for a direct manufacturer of restaurant supplies. Today with over 25 years experience in the foodservice industry, his knowledge is put to work advising customers on the best cost-effective products available to meet their needs. Jerry W. is married with two kids and resides in Houston.
Sue Burnett
sales executive
Sue has 31 years in the food service business in product manufacturing, sales, and marketing. She has worked with some of the largest food service product distributors and restaurant chains as well as the largest US retailer. Sue is also very accomplished in the international sales area and handles customer accounts in 8 different countries. She brings a vast wealth of knowledge to the table on the customer service side and promotional marketing. Sue resides in Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas with her husband Roger and covers the state of Arkansas as well as Tulsa, Oklahoma for Leonard Sales as one of their sales associates.
Jay Canales
sales executive
Jay Canales is a new member of the Leonard Sales team, covering Central, South and West Texas from El Paso to McAllen. Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, Jay is bilingual, growing up speaking both Spanish and English and has worked in the food industry for over 15 years. Starting in restaurants and then grocery, Jay eventually moved on to an 8 year journey with Mission Restaurant Supply, a family owned, Texas based company that has been supplying restaurants all over the country for over 30 years. There, he started out in the showroom, specializing in small wares, took on the chemical program for the dish machine leases and made his way into being an outside sales representative, specializing in equipment. Jay has a vast knowledge of all restaurant supplies and brings with him years of customer service experience. He has a passion for connecting with customers through his knowledge and experience of restaurants to develop a more personal relationship with them. Being fluent in Spanish gives him the ability to share his knowledge with a broader community. He’s very loving and enjoys spending time with his family. He has 3 amazing children and loves them very much he also enjoys finding new things to do including restaurants to eat at and sightseeing. He’s a can-do handy man and is big on Movies and shows on his down time.
Tom Dirkx
sales executive
Tom Dirkx is the newest member of the Leonard Sales team, covering Northern Mississippi and Western Tennessee. He was born in The Netherlands and after moving to the USA spent 25+ years in the Food Service Equipment industry with both manufacturing companies and as a sales representative. His passion is to find creative and innovative equipment and smallwares solutions for our business partners. Tom is married and lives in Jackson, MS.
Keith Larmeu
sales executive
Keith has over 30 years of foodservice experience, including the US Marine Corps, Restaurant Depot and 2 other local dealers in Louisiana. Keith resides in the Lafayette, LA metro area and will be covering Louisiana and the Central/Southern portion of Mississippi.