Co-Founder & CEO
Josephine is our CEO and Co-Founder of RKB. Always an entrepreneurial spirit, Josephine designed and ran her own boutique when she was just 22 years old. Wanting to expand on her design and construction experience, she joined the facilities world in 2006 and quickly made her way from reception to repairs manager, specializing in creating infrastructure and procedures for the department. She has overseen many different initiatives – several roll outs of new systems and technologies, sales and relationship building, trade show protocol creations, and overall operational management. After 5 years, Josephine was selected to move over to the client side as a manager of store maintenance for a major luxury brand. In her tenure there she oversaw over 300 locations, created PM programs for multiple trades including HVAC, Pest Control, Lighting, FLS and janitorial. She collaborated with their construction department to create warranty expiration programs which saved the company thousands in repair tickets. This inspired her after 4 years to pursue what was truly her passion after moving into a senior management role – Josephine was ready to begin her own journey. Along with Anthony Franzese, Josephine founded RKB Facility Solutions with the foundation and principles that has brought our clients the compassion and commitment each team member shows daily. In her spare time, Josephine enjoys the warmer weather, helps with charities including bulldog rescues, and loves to spend time with her family and three French bulldogs.
Co-Founder & President
Anthony Franzese is our President and Co-founder of RKB. Anthony has a storied background in construction, starting in the field when he was only 16 years old. After receiving his 10 hour and 30 hour OSHA certifications, He spent time working with multiple companies including two Union outfits in New York City and Queens. The thrill of building something with your hands, for him, was a feeling that brought constant inspiration and drive. Wanting to learn even more, Anthony relocated to North Carolina and pivoted his focus to restaurants, building several QSR sites while also maintaining and managing them. In 2011, he relocated back to New York where he met Josephine and together they founded RKB Facility Solutions. Opening RKB proved a new challenge for them both, with Anthony helping to manage RKB and their financial department while also providing general maintenance repairs for customers throughout areas of New York. This full scope service his provided gave him the clarity needed to lead others. With his experience and the business expertise he and Josephine shared, together they grew RKB into the company it is today. His belief in the core values of treating every job as if it could make or break partnerships, valuing clients as friends with the utmost respect, and giving the best costs and transparency possible has trickled down into the pillars of what RKB represents today! When Anthony finds free time, he loves classic cars, traveling the world, and helping others. As a foodie and an animal lover, he is also keen on sharing meals with his three dogs.
Director of Finance
Tracy Castello is our Director of Finance. With over 23 years of experience, she is our resident jack-of-all-trades. She began with experience in remediation/restoration, earning her certifications in NIOSH and OSHA, gearing her up to be able to pivot quickly in an emergency. She has worked on both the provider side as well as the client side, which lent itself to compassion and an incredible reactionary mind for emergencies in all trades. She turned her focus to administrative work over 10 years ago, learning all there is to know in human resources, finance, and vendor relations. Tracy is steadfastly loyal, not only to the team at RKB, but to each client and vendor that we are proud to work with. Maintaining those relationships is what drives her to achieve success everyday – when she isn’t traveling the world.
Director of Business Development
Melissa Kaan is our Director of Business Development at RKB. Starting as a dispatching coordinator over a decade ago, Melissa has held many titles throughout her time in the industry. From customer service representative to operational supervisor to operations manager, she has always thrived on being in a team environment where she can empower people. Melissa moved into business development five years ago, with her operational experience guiding her as she advises clients. Fully immersed in being a good partner as well as a friend, Melissa has studied and lives by the many components of listening and advising rather than selling – earning the Human Relations Award at the Dale Carnegie school as well as multiple sales and leadership awards throughout her continuing education. She is currently in process to obtain her CRFP as her focus is being a real partner who can provide the best solutions possible. In her free time, Melissa participates in the NPFD Ladies Auxiliary for her community. She enjoys reading, movie trivia, stand-up comedy, and her family.
Director Of Operations
Carianne Monaco is the Director of Operations for RKB. With over a decade in the industry of facilities management, she brings the passion and methodical thinking that is needed for the best in reactive and proactive maintenance and repair. Starting out as a dispatching coordinator, Carianne put all her focus on learning how to build and extrapolate processes and operations from the ground up. Her commitment to a healthy and balanced company culture is what helps RKB focus on “grassroots” services – solving problems for our clients in real-time with incredible results. In her tenure, she has mastered services such as doors and locks and brings that extra sense of care to every partner with her experience in the luxury retail sector. Her dedication to her employees, her clients, and the vendor partners that help with service requests is what makes her a true leader. In her spare time, she devotes herself to her family and the experiences she can create with camping, the beach, and overall quality time.
Director of Construction
Kelsey Priddy is the Director of Construction at RKB. With nearly 12 years of facility management and construction experience, Kelsey brings her inquisitive nature to our daily operations. Beginning her journey as a dispatching coordinator, Kelsey took time throughout her tenure to learn all of the meticulous details needed to run construction projects. She has acted as a site supervisor for retail construction nationwide, a supporting property manager for luxury estates, and managed projects including ground-up building of luxury residential homes. Kelsey pivoted her focus earning her certifications with NFPA on the installation of fire sprinklers, certifications for blueprint reading, and is currently pursuing an education in AutoCAD for design and drafting. From her graphic design capabilities in Adobe suite to her accredited management and leadership skills – Kelsey guides the construction team at RKB to pursue greatness in every step of a project. In her free time she enjoys traveling, photography, and watching James Bond movies with her cat, Houdini! We are proud to have her on our team!