Staff Bios

Bob retired in June 2007 after 42 years of excellent service at Mast Shoes. Thanks so much, Bob! Bob began at Mast Shoes in 1965 at the original Main Street store. An avid woodworker, Bob has made several solid walnut pieces to accent his home. He loves traveling with his wife to warm climates during Michigan winters. Since his retirement, Bob has been enjoying traveling with his wife, spending time with his grandchildren, and working on his house and immaculate gardens.

Michael Grant has been in the shoe fitting industry since 1984, where he started in the Men's Shoe Department of Jacobson's in Ann Arbor. He has been working for the Mast family part time for many years and full time since June of 1999. Michael holds a Masters degree in tuba performance from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. His passion is music and his favorite activity is spending time with his wife and daughter.

Kathryn Gonsoir, the newest member of the Mast Shoes team recently graduated from Central Michigan University with a bachelors of Applied Arts in Photography. She is from Westland, Michigan but currently lives in Ann Arbor with her wonderful boyfriend, Brian. They have been dating for two and a half years. Her favorite things about her job are helping people find comfortable shoes and joking around with her co-workers.

Christa Krol began working at Mast Shoes in October of 2005 and has worked 16 years in retail customer service. Christa and her husband Jeff have an eight year old daughter, Jessica. Christa enjoys time with her family, working on their house, reading and crafting with her daughter and keeping up with Bocephus, their Yellow Lab Retriever.

Micheal Harrer has been involved in the footwear industry since 1977. In 1983 he opened Mike’s Stadium Boot Shop, a children’s shoe store in Ann Arbor. Mike Joined the Mast Shoes staff in 1994. A native Ann Arborite, Mike enjoys people and the customer relationships he has developed over the years. His hobbies include listening to ‘50s and ‘60s music, dining out and exercise walking. Mike is also an ealry TV trivia junkie. He resides in Ann Arbor with his wife, Ann.

Sean Ike, came into the retail shoe world after a fatal corporate takeover. After being reassigned to Earth from the woodlands of Ohio, Sean took up the guitar, began to sing, and was discovered by the Mast Shoe talent team when they heard about him having “as much enthusiasm as a busload of 10-year-olds en route to Cedar Point” (Detroit Free Press). Sean, when not at work, is writing and recording his next album of original songs for an October 2006 release.

Greg Mast began working at Mast Shoes doing stock-work in his early teens. By high school he was waiting on customers at the Main Street store on the weekends and in the summers. Greg graduated from University of Michigan with a Bachelor’s of Business Administration and moved to Grand Rapids with his new wife, Cindy to work at Old Kent Bank. After a year, Ann Arbor beckoned them back and Greg began working full time at Mast Shoes in 1976. He has enjoyed working alongside his late father, Walter, having his brother as his business partner, working with his kids and getting to know the long time Mast Shoes employees. On his days off, Greg likes to golf with his friends, take walks with his wife and their dog and catch up with his three grown children.

Tom Mast was born in 1941 and lived with his mother, Helen above the original Mast Shoe Store on Main Street in Ann Arbor while his father, Walter was away at war. While Helen ran the shoe store with the help of other local women, little Tom spent a lot of time bouncing in a swing that hung in the doorway between the front and back room. Around the age of 12 Tom began doing stock work and cleaning and eventually started waiting on customers in high school and college. After receiving his Master’s degree in business administration, he spent ten years teaching college courses, working for Comac Consulting Co. and the Charge Card Association. In 1976 Tom decided it was time to return to the shoe industry and bought a shoe store in Cadillac, Michigan where he and his wife Linda and their three sons lived for six years. In 1986, the Cadillac Shoe Shop was consolidated into Mast Shoes Inc. and Tom’s family moved back to Ann Arbor. He continued to work in the Ann Arbor stores alongside his father, Walter and brother, Greg. Currently, Tom shares owner responsibilies with Greg and continues to wait on customers. In his free time, when he isn’t chasing after his five grandchildren, Tom enjoys spending time with his wife, walking his dog, reading and going to Nascar races.

Molly Mast has worked for Mast Shoes since May of 2001 after living in California where she received her BA in studio art from UC Santa Cruz. In 2006 she received her certification in Pedorthics and finds it very applicable to the work she does with customers at the shoe store. Molly is one of the founders of the Shadow Art Fair (www.shadowartfair.com), a bi-annual event that involves 40 artists, 9000 gallons of beer and 346,907 interesting people. In the few spare moments she isn't sitting on a fitting stool or planning arts events, Molly enjoys spending time with friends and family, eating chocolate, taking polaroids, drinking wine, exploring garage sales, reading and having adventures."

William Pemberton, manager at Mast Shoes, has been with the company since 1986. When he’s not at work, William tries his best to keep up with his two kids and performs ragtime music with his wife Laura in the River Raisin Ragtime Revue (www.ragtimeband.org). William and his family live in the historic Musgove Evans House (built in 1826) in Tecumseh, Michigan and dream someday of completing its restoration.

Jo Watson retired in October 2007. Jo was with Mast Shoes since the opening of the Westgate Shopping Center location 13 years ago. Jo has numerous talents outside of the shoe store, most notably quilting and gardening. She teaches quilting techniques locally her home gardens have won awards for their beauty. Since retiring, Jo moved to a lovely new home surrounded by trees in a town closer to one of her sons. She is keeping very busy chasing after her cat, Frankie, quilting projects and traveling."

Lisa Wheeler started working at Mast Shoes four years ago when she moved to Ann Arbor to attend Eastern Michigan University. She is now working on graduate studies in Library and Information services at the University of Michigan and continues to work part-time at Mast Shoes. Lisa lives in Ann Arbor but hails from St. Ignace, Michigan, a small town in the Upper Peninula, right across the Mackinac Bridge.