Hello! I’m Leslie Frisbee

An award-winning journalist, style ambassador, luxury lifestyle expert and entrepreneur with an insatiable desire to do good in the world.

Richard Haddrill

Advisory Chairman, Investor

Richard Haddrill is the executive vice chairman of Scientific Games Inc., a global leader in gaming technology. He previously was chief executive officer of three successful publicly traded technology companies — Bally Technologies, Manhattan Associates and Powerhouse Technologies — and has served on the board of directors of nine companies. Haddrill is active in various charitable endeavors, including The Smith Center for the Performing Arts and Boys Scouts of America. He recently founded a family office that has invested in and advised a variety of private companies, such as socially responsible for-profit companies in the areas of drug and alcohol rehabilitation, restorative justice, and environmental affordable housing.

What the world needs now — more than ever — is CLASS.

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LESLIE FRISBEE

CLASS is a multimedia cause marketing platform that highlights people, places and organizations using their platform for positive social impact, while giving back to the charities they support.

Altruism is at the center of all we do.

The CLASS business model is based on five pillars -— Compassion, Living Consciously, Altruism, Service and Solutions.

Founded by Leslie Frisbee, CLASS comprises a team of industry leaders who possess a wealth of experience and backgrounds in all sectors of the luxury market, including fashion, jewelry, fine dining, wine and spirits, upscale travel, high-end real estate, and other such goods and services.

What makes us unique is that we also care deeply about social and environmental issues. “Luxury with a Purpose” is the CLASS tagline. Our celebrity interviews and feature articles about individuals, corporations and nonprofit organizations — which use their high-profile position and platform to do good in the world — are meant to be entertaining and informative, as well as inspiring, and even a call to action.

We believe purpose is the new luxury.

Through our philanthropic arm, The CLASS Experience, we create campaigns that raise awareness and give back.

Our question is, what is true class? The answer is yours to discover and share.

our team

Leslie Frisbee

Founder, Editor in Chief

With more than 20 years of experience in print, digital, TV and social media, Leslie Frisbee is a respected, award-winning journalist, editor and tastemaker specializing in the affluent lifestyle market. Originally from South Dakota, she began her career as an on-air health and fitness expert for local and national morning shows, local news programs and lifestyle websites in top network markets throughout the country, including Washington, D.C., Minneapolis, Seattle and Chicago. Frisbee’s astute eye for detail and design, along with her ability to generate unique and compelling editorial, makes her one of the industry’s most sought-after luxury ambassadors. I believe … “You can have whatever you want if you dress for it.” —Edith Head

Lesliefrisbee.com

Shan Bates-Bundick

Senior Marketer, Communications Leader

Shan Bates-Bundick is a senior marketing and communications leader with proven global experience creating and executing strategic initiatives to increase client and employee loyalty, drive business growth and expand market awareness. Her diverse background spans sales, business development, pure marketing and organizational communication both in corporations and the nonprofit sector. Prior to moving to Las Vegas, Bates-Bundick spent over 13 years in the energy-efficiency sector. A LEED AP, she aligned her experience in energy and solutions marketing with a passion for sustainability to lead, develop and execute on the internal communication strategy. She has a BBA in marketing and minor in photojournalism from Baylor University, where she was a member of Chi Omega and Delta Sigma Pi. A Toastmaster, Bates-Bundick has spoken at events internationally. A recent graduate of the Leadership Las Vegas program, she serves on the board of directors for The Animal Foundation and the Rape Crisis Center. She loves travel, sustainability, vino and Texas. She is married and has two chihuahuas, Hunt and Halston.

Chris Carney

Writer, Author

A graduate of the University of New Hampshire, Chris Carney has worked for two decades as a freelance writer, as well as a producer and development executive for Secret Legion Productions. He also has served as the Las Vegas Guide for About.com, has written extensively for Las Vegas Magazine, Luxury Las Vegas magazine and been a featured contributor to Nevada Magazine, Hard Rock Hotel magazine and AOL Travel. He currently is hard at work on his first novel, a sci-fi adventure he will publish under the name C.M. Carney.

Buford Davis

Multimedia Journalist

Buford Davis is multi-media journalist and fiction writer whose work has been recognized through numerous awards by the Nevada Press Association. He has collaborated on more than 200 documentary and short film projects, including regular contributions for CLASS magazine since its launch in 2017. He is a graduate of the University Miami with a Bachelor’s degree in film and creative writing and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Marisa Finetti

Food and Wine Editor

Award-winning writer Marisa Finetti was born in Tokyo and raised in the San Francisco surrounded by her family’s retail and restaurant businesses. She has contributed to Las Vegas travel guidebooks, edited an Olympian’s autobiography, and written about everything from googie architecture and nudist colonies, to celebrity homes. But her favorite storytelling subjects revolve around food and wine. Prior to moving to Las Vegas, Finetti resided in Dry Creek Valley and was a grower of zinfandel grapes. After 10 years of earning calloused blisters from winter prunings, she discovered that putting the shears down and swirling a glass of wine keeps the heart fuller — and the hands more youthful! When she is not working, she is busy raising two boys, experimentally cooking for friends, making interesting bourbon infusions and hosting bocce ball tournaments. Finetti is a 2016 fellow of the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers, a member of GuildSomm and Level 2-certified with Wine & Spirit Education Trust.

Scott and Elaine Harris

Writer, Columnist

Based out of Las Vegas, the culinary destination epicenter of the world, husband-and-wife duo Scott and Elaine Harris educate, write and share interesting, informative articles and videos featuring luxury lifestyle worldwide for more than a decade.
They have been recognized nationally for their work, having published relevant digital content about luxury lifestyle happenings through their YouTube channel, Vino Las Vegas and their website, cuisineist.com.
The couple has attended esteemed events worldwide and interviewed highly acclaimed chefs, respected food and beverage professionals, and five-star resort hoteliers. They also completed their sommelier certification through the Court of Master Sommeliers.
Scott and Elaine continue to keep audiences informed and entertained, promoting the fact that the luxury lifestyle includes fabulous cuisine, fine wines, spirits, resorts and, of course, the many friendships that are created along the way.

Bobbie Katz

Writer, Columnist

Bobbie Katz is a longtime entertainment editor, feature writer and columnist. She has interviewed more than 1,000 major stars, headliners and celebrities from all walks of life. Originally from the East Coast, she spent 7 1/2 years covering entertainment for national publications in Atlantic City and New York. She also had her own entertainment radio show, and conceived and created a national casino entertainment TV pilot working with producers from the FOX TV network. Since 1992, she has resided in Las Vegas, covering the city’s entertainment and hospitality scene for many local publications. She also was a former Vegas correspondent for the Los Angeles Times for 12 1/2 years and Women’s Wear Daily in New York. Katz has written three books: Be a Loser (Random House), a Literary Guild pick released worldwide in seven languages that she co-authored with exercise guru Greer Childers; Las Vegas guides for AAA out of Basingstoke, England; and Michelin Publications’ first general Vegas guide.

Marsala Rypka

Celebrity Journalist

Originally from New York, Marsala Rypka always wanted to see the world, which she did starting at 21 by becoming a TWA flight attendant back when it was a glamorous thing to do. Four years later, she moved to Las Vegas and became a photographer at Caesars Palace — where she took lots of backstage shots of celebrities — and eventually vice president of a large talent agency. But writing is Rypka’s passion. For the past 13 years, she has interviewed and written in-depth pieces on some of the biggest names in entertainment, sports, fashion and business. She is also passionate about humanity and the planet. She and husband, Steven, live in a solar-powered home and drive hybrid electric cars. Rypka currently is writing her first novel, which spans the globe and is filled with adventure, intrigue, danger, and love. It also shines a light on social, environmental and political issues. CLASS’ core pillars are principles Marsala herself cares deeply about.