Jack Thomasson is President/CEO of The Home Department, Inc., and has been best known as “That Dream Home Guy" for HGTV for over 20 years. This acclaimed Professional House Planner and entrepreneur has a diverse background in all things home-related, including real estate, architecture, construction, landscape and interior design.

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At HGTV, Jack produced the HGTV Dream Home (the largest sweepstakes in cable television), the HGTV Smart Home, and the HGTV Urban Oasis. Before going primetime, Jack was the founder of Coastal Living magazine, which was acquired by Time, Inc.

Ever since the kitten born in his closet when he was 4 years old, Michael Morefield has loved every animal he has met, wild and domestic. Michael graduated from the University of Arizona and moved from odd job to odd job, looking for something that gave him purpose. Michael realized volunteering with local charities gave him the most joy in life. His love of animals guided him to AAWL in 2013, and has been grateful for the opportunity to work his way up through the company to director of marketing and communications.

He loves being a cheerleader and champion for all the pets at AAWL, either in the media or wacky projects and promotions. When not fostering puppies or mentoring animal advocates, Michael loves to spend his free time gardening, traveling, working on classic cars, and spending time with the two dogs that run his life; Ryker and “Bratty” Addie. Both rescues, Addie was returned four times to AAWL for her shyness before Michael “Foster Failed” and adopted his sweet girl.

Feras Irikat is the director of design and marketing for Lunada Bay Tile, a leader in the design and production of handcrafted glass, stone, metal, wood and ceramic tiles. An expert tile designer in all mediums, Irikat holds a bachelor’s degree in interior design and a master’s degree in family and consumer sciences from San Francisco State University where he also did advanced graduate work and research in color theory and color psychology.

He has taught color theory, applications and psychology at SFSU, UC Santa Cruz extension, West Valley College, and at design seminars around the world. His expertise enables him to design and mix color palettes effectively and help to define and guide color trends in tile and home design. 

James Quinones is our favorite weather aficionado and media personality. He is a native to the Southwest and has lived all over the United States and has had the chance to forecast weather in many different climates including New Mexico, New England, the Gulf of Mexico and Southern California and now Phoenix. 

  James is a graduate of the University of New Mexico. His Father also graduated from New Mexico Tech with a degree in Mining Engineering. When asked who his role model is, James responded, “My Dad” He came to this country with nothing and put himself through College himself with hard work and determination. 

  In his spare time you can find James riding his bike around town and speaking to various groups and schools about the weather and finding happiness in life.