Laguna Niguel, California, United States
Resume and Biography.
Ivan was born in Haifa, Israel. He was born Itzchak Katz. Upon arriving to Altadena, California in 1957, his name was changed by his elementary school principal to Ivan Katz. Ivan grew up in Pasadena, California. Attended Pasadena High School and assimilated by playing football in high school and first year in college. When he was still in High School at 17, he was approached for a four year scholarship to Washington State University. His father had to approve, he did not, and Ivan went to play at Pasadena City College. Before the season started, Ivan decided he was not interested in playing football any longer and continued his studies at San Jose State University. He continued at the University of Hawaii, and because Hawaii did not accept Hebrew as an accredited foreign language, Ivan graduated from California State University at Los Angeles. Ivan graduated in 1972 with a degree in History and minor in Political Science while taking elective acting classes along the way. After traveling to Europe and Israel again, Ivan decided to work for the father of his longtime high school friend, Jerry Piller in his popular Pasadena clothing store. Jerry Piller was considered one of the original “forty thieves” as he owned one of the most successful women's and men's discount clothing stores in Pasadena and later, when he moved to Beverly Hills, in Hollywood. Ivan experienced and loved the clothing business and Jerry’s son Larry Piller and Ivan decided to buy the shoe business from Jerry. After Jerry Piller changed his mind on selling the shoe part of the business to his son and Ivan, Ivan decided to open his own discount clothing stores in Huntington Beach, California. Krazie Katz was opened in 1973. It was a very successful operation which included 7 discount stores across Southern California. Many articles were written about Ivan as he transpired from a college “radical” to a businessperson. (See included articles). Owning the stores for over 10 years and with the elections of Jimmy Carter as President and interest rates hitting over 20%, Ivan decided to sell the stores and publish a business magazine. In 1983, Ivan published the first edition of Business To Business Magazine. First on newsprint and later a monthly glossy, the magazine featured generic “how-to” business information designed to help small and mid-size businesses improve “bottom-line” profits. Soon after, Ivan initiated the Business-To –Business Magazine Show, an interview series of Orange County Business People, explaining the reasons for their businesses and their success. The Business To Business Magazine Show was featured on every cable station in Orange County with weekly interview series for over 4 years. (See included advertisements). After 8 years of publishing monthly magazines in Orange County, and becoming the largest and most subscribed to Orange County business magazine, Ivan raised money in order to franchise the concept to the 56 NFL cities, providing the local publishers with editorial content and national advertisements as well and the local Business To Business Magazine Syndication in their locations. Zebra Publishing purchased the rights to Business To Business Magazine for the purpose of franchising, but decided to keep the magazine local. Ivan resigned as publisher and joined his brother in a Northern California software distribution company.

Over a period of five years, SoftKat Inc. established itself as one of the largest closeout software distribution companies in the USA, selling its closeout software products to every major software retailer in the country. With revenues of over $20 Million/year, SoftKat was primed to be purchased. Esynch, a public company, purchased SoftKat Inc. in 1998 and Ivan moved back to Orange County. Ivan planned on retirement, but his sons wanted to start an electronic components distribution company. Investing $100,000 with a partner who knew the business, Ivan planned on being a “silent” partner. After one year of operations and projections not being met, Ivan bought the partner’s shares and took over daily operations of the business along with his sons. After operating Assembly Alliance Electronics for 11 years, Ivan recently sold the business to his sons and is now “at liberty” to do whatever he wants. First week after retiring, Ivan and his wife Diane rode their 2000 Harley Road King Classic to Laughlin in order for Ivan to compete in the AAU National Championships in the Bench Press. Ivan has been actively working out with weights and cardio since he was 50 and believed he could gain the national title in his age group and weight. He bench pressed 337 lbs to break the current AAU National title and won the title as the AAU National Title holder in the Bench Press. In October, Ivan will be competing in Las Vegas for the AAU World Bench Press Championship to win the world title. Now at 65, Ivan wants to pursue an acting career. With his on-camera experience as the host of The Business To Business Magazine Show interviewing many distinguished political and business leaders for over 4 years, as well as his unique look, language skills, and motorcycle adventures, Ivan believes he can be well qualified for many parts on television series, motion pictures as well as commercials. Thank you for taking time to review the enclosed resume and bio. Sincerely,

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