Employees

Operations Manager: Angie Gustavson
Angie wakes up every day excited and grateful to be a part of Pictona. Pictona is her happy place! As the General Manager, Angie's dedicated and excited to contribute her experience and skills to support and grow the pickleball community at Pictona. Her previous work experience includes Store Manager at Starbucks where she developed a love of coffee and connecting with people. She's also worked as a Customer Service Manager a Lucky’s and Winn Dixie. Angie has over 20+ years of management experience in Retail, Food and Customer Service. Her dad is a member at Pictona, also! - and he introduced her to pickleball, just before we opened. She fell in love with pickleball and soon joined Pictona as a member. Since joining, she's met some great people and made great friends. Angie's office is right by the Welcome Desk, stop by and say “hi” sometime. She looks forward to meeting you.

Education Associate: Paul Lambers
Paul works every day to provide our members and guests with the best experience possible. Paul is no stranger to pickleball in our area. He has been coming here for many years. Before moving here, he lived in Andover, Massachusetts where he directed the local pickleball program. When you see Paul at Pictona greet him with his moniker “pickleball Paul.”

Marketing Director: Mark Shaw
Mark's excited to be part of Pictona as we continue our march forward to being one of the Premier pickleball facilities in the U.S.! He's thankful to be part of the journey, and grateful for the opportunity to help put Pictona on the map. Prior to relocating to Florida he worked at Macy's Department Stores in their Parade & Entertainment Division, and before that he was with Target Stores. In previous positions, you could find Mark backstage at Madison Square Garden or perched atop an extended scissors lift securing a star atop an 80 Ft. Christmas Tree in San Francisco. Mark hails from the Midwest and is happy to have relocated away from the harsh winters to sunny Florida. Being a "Cheesehead", can you guess who his favorite NFL Team is? He's been married for 7 years and he and his husband are relishing spending their time in 6 months of summer, rather than 6 months of winter!

Director of Partnerships: Deb Christensen
Deb loves her position as the Director of Partnerships at Pictona. In her short time at Pictona, she's been able to connect and get to know many members, staff and sponsors. Pictona means so much to Deb because of her experience seeing people living their best, healthiest lives each day. Her prior work experience has been primarily in advertising and marketing; however, her former position was executive director for a health clinic in GA. From her beginnings in LA, to serving businesses in smaller communities. she was vice-president/publisher of a magazine in Indianapolis and owned two advertising publications, one of which, she franchised. Deb is married and has four grown children and two stepdaughters. She enjoy being with family and friends, pickleball, fishing, golfing, cooking, and bicycling.

Senior Activity Center Director: Steve Croak
Steve is thrilled to be the Senior Activity Center Director at Pictona. Steve has been a Volusia County resident since 1971 and graduated from the first class of Spruce Creek High School. After a 15-year career as a teacher and administrator in the Volusia County Schools, Steve had a 23-year career as a financial advisor. Steve is looking forward to leading our Junior Pickleball Program starting with a high school league. Steve and his wife Debbie live in Port Orange and have a son, Ryan, that lives in Edgewater.

Member Services Manager: Hali Panzak
With 25+ years in sales, marketing, and customer service across hospitality, natural foods, fitness, and home improvement, Hali boasts a diverse background. As a third-generation vegetarian, she raised two fourth-generation daughters with the same dietary philosophy. Hali holds Bachelor's degree in Business from the University of Central Florida, where she also minored in computer science. She previously owned "Come On Get Happy," a dance fitness studio, where she instructed ZUMBA for five years.

An emergency hip replacement after a 2018 bicycle accident led Hali and husband Bob (Pictona's Tournament Operations Manager) to discover pickleball. Amid the pandemic, they organized free tournaments and leagues for local friends. Once Pictona opened, it didn't take long for the pair to realize this was the perfect location to continue their passion to play and promote pickleball. Through the sport, they've forged connections with hundreds of individuals and agree that it has profoundly and positively transformed their lives.

Hali manages our POP! (Pictona Organized Pickleball) program, orchestrating volunteers, tournaments, and other various tasks. Her vibrant energy and friendly smile create an inclusive atmosphere, as she impressively recalls names and players' interests. Hali's favorite part of her job is helping pickleball players "find their people," just as she has here at Pictona.

Tournament Operations Manager: Bob Panzak