Leadership
Lesley Hensell
Co-Founder
Lesley Hensell is co-founder and co-owner of Riverbend Consulting, whose 50+ team members solve critical problems and offer effective growth strategies for sellers on Amazon and other ecommerce platforms.
Lesley oversees Riverbend’s client services team of ex-Amazon employees, third-party sellers, brand owners and experienced consultants. She has personally helped hundreds of third-party sellers get their suspended Amazon accounts and ASINs back up and running.
In addition, Lesley leverages two decades as a small business consultant to solve the underlying business issues in online retail businesses, resulting in improved operations and profitability. She and her partner Joe Zalta launched Riverbend with just four team members in 2017. Since then, the business has doubled each year, while expanding its service offerings to meet the needs of Amazon sellers and vendors in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
Lesley enjoys nothing more than answering the questions of Amazon third-party sellers and vendors, who are challenged by the “black box” of Amazon’s internal operations. This includes advising several of the top-100 sellers on Amazon, some of whom move more than $1 billion worth of goods a year on the platform.
Lesley has been an Amazon seller for a decade, thanks to her boys (19 and 13) who do most of the heavy lifting. A lifelong Longhorns fan, Lesley earned an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. In her free time, she enjoys hiking and volunteering for A Wish With Wings, a wish-granting organization for little Texans with life-threatening conditions.
Joe Zalta
Co-Founder
Joe Zalta is co-founder and co-owner of Riverbend Consulting, where he manages the sales and advertising teams. Joe also heads up the brand partnership and referral divisions. He has founded and run successful businesses in multiple industries including e-commerce and wholesale/manufacturing.
Before founding Riverbend, Joe was in the wholesale and manufacturing space for 15 years. He focused on apparel lines, which he represented to major department stores, mass retailers and off-price chains across the country.
This included designing successful private-label programs for Macy’s, Kohl’s, JCPenney and other large chain stores. He was also responsible for driving direct-to-consumer business for multiple men’s and kids’ fashion brands.
Joe then shifted his attention to Amazon and e-commerce, where he continues to specialize in apparel as well as beauty. He is skilled in design concept, trends, merchandising and licensing, and he has leveraged these abilities to create brands and successful seller accounts on Amazon.com.
