Meet the Team
Larry Schwartz
Chief Executive Officer, Founder
Larry Schwartz is an industry-leading expert in medically sound indoor air quality and preventative risk services. Larry specializes in indoor air quality, industrial hygiene, building science, safe construction protocols, consulting and other air quality solutions. Throughout his career, Larry has worked on over 8000 indoor air quality investigations around the country, residential and commercial.
Larry is a Council Certified Indoor Environmental Consultant by the American Council of Certified Accreditation and has been qualified by the state of Illinois to teach his proprietary mold course to accredited real estate practitioners.
He is a member of the Surviving Mold Round Table as an Indoor Environmental Professional, IEP, along with many Certified Physicians and health care providers in the United States and around the globe, headed up by Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker.
Larry is also a founding member of the International Society of Environmentally Acquired Illness, a member of the Indoor Air Quality Association and a listed consultant of the American Industrial Hygienist Association.
Larry was lead author of a peer reviewed paper along with Dr Ritchie Shoemaker, Dr Keith Berndston, and 3 other certified IEPs, titled, “How to Perform Medically Sound Investigation and Remediation of Water Damaged Buildings”. This may be found on the Survivingmold.com website.
Previously, he has made guest appearances on Fox News, CBS and other Chicago based news channels. As an author on mold prevention, Larry consults for numerous homebuilders, architectural and engineering firms. He has strong recommendations from various health departments, physicians, lawyers and contractors. Larry received his BSME degree from Purdue University and his MBA from Northwestern University.
Michele Fisher
Chief Operating Officer & Environmental Consultant
Michele brings understanding, compassion, validation and resources to CIRS clients. One of her main goals is to assist clients with responding to their situation with hope and quieting the trauma response, which is often common in CIRS.
She is a trained Integrative Health Coach from Duke Integrative Medicine in North Carolina and offers consulting services to clients.
Michele was an educator for 27 years before being diagnosed with CIRS (Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome) in 2016. Once diagnosed, she left the education field and began her personal journey of healing. Michele has committed herself to the healing of her family and helping others who have been diagnosed with an environmentally acquired illness. She brings her compassion and understanding, having gone through this herself to Safestart Environmental Clients. Michele and Larry will be holding support groups in the near future.
Carley Swartz
Business Manager
Carley brings 8 years of corporate project management experience to Safestart Environmental. She graduated with a Business Administration degree with a concentration in Advertising & Marketing and a minor in Spanish. She understands the needs of the organization and the impact the work has on our client community. Her attention to detail and organization with business processes allows Safestart to streamline their client communications to include contracts, finances, and client records.
Carley brings 8 years of corporate project management experience to Safestart Environmental. She graduated with a Business Administration degree with a Concentration in Advertising & Marketing, Spanish Minor. She understands the needs of the organization and the impact the work has on our client community. Her attention to detail and organization with business processes allows Safestart to streamline their client communications; to include contracts, finances, and client records.
Suzanne Fushi
Client Intake Specialist
Listening with focus and compassion is a skill that Suzanne has developed throughout her career. After decades in the music industry working with talented young artists, she brings her energy and enthusiasm to assisting our clients.
Suzanne’s passion and commitment to helping others is flourishing in our work. Suzanne makes sure that our clients are always welcomed by an attentive and empathetic listener.
Darren Eckes
HVAC Subject Matter Expert
Darren Eckes has been in the construction and building industry for over 30 years and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to his work at Safestart Environmental. Darren has inspected hundreds of homes over the course of his career and has worked in every aspect of the residential construction trades. He understands that homes are made up of many complex systems, and in order to diagnose problems in a home and offer appropriate solutions, an expert must understand how all of those systems work together. Never satisfied with standard building practices, Darren solves problems by working with clients to find reasonable solutions when other companies have failed to deliver.
Darren’s career began at the age of 15 when he started working at his father’s residential remodeling and maintenance business. In his early 20’s he became a licensed electrician and HVAC installer specializing in high efficiency HVAC equipment at a time when most general contractors were not interested. Inspired by his father’s obsession with quality, attention to detail, and customer satisfaction, Darren became a partner in his father’s company and owns and operates the business to this day. Together they’ve designed and built numerous spec houses as well as having remodeled homes throughout Chicagoland and the surrounding areas. Darren’s passions are in real estate investing, tiny homes and RV’s, building science and the mechanical trades.
Through Darren’s work at Safestart as both a lead investigator and HVAC specialist, he travels the country working with our clients to diagnose environmental issues to improve their indoor air quality. Always patient, kind and passionate, Darren loves helping to create better, safer homes which leads to better health outcomes for our clients.
Mark Ripley
Onsite Investigator
The combination of 25 years of residential and commercial construction experience and 10 years in the remediation field gives Mark a unique skill set to identify potential problem areas during inspections. He is certified through the IICRC for water and fire restoration, odor removal, and cleaning and mold remediation. Mark has traveled around the country facilitating inspections and leading specialized cleaning teams for clients who suffer with CIRS and other related illnesses. He understands the critical differences between traditional mold remediation versus the delicate nature of what it truly takes to make a home a healthy environment for his sensitive clients
On top of Mark’s work experience he utilizes his personal experience to approach home inspections and business from a different perspective. Several years ago, one of his children developed PANS. The path for healing was one of great frustration as Mark and his family sought clear answers and direction from traditional doctors and hospitals. He can relate and empathize with many of his clients who have had similar frustrations along their journey to gain their health and quality of life back. Mark believes his inspections and detailed reports are an integral piece of the puzzle needed to begin creating a healthy work or living environment. Mark prides himself on his honesty, attention to detail, ability to relate well to others, and takes the responsibility of this line of work seriously.
