Our Team

Katie, the founder and CEO of Spark TS, has an extensive history in the railroad industry; having worked at a Class 1 railroad, she has played a key role in developing industry training standards. Her experience led her to establish Spark Training Solutions, now known as Spark TS, with a vision – ensuring safety and protecting lives in the railroad industry. As a sole employee, she supported six Class 1 Railroads with their 243 submissions, designed numerous safety and rules training courses, and simplified the complex 243 compliance regulation for small railroads and contractors. Katie's expertise fueled the creation of Rail Tasker™, a software solution utilized by over 125 shortline railroads and 65,000 users.

As the services and offerings of Spark TS have grown and expanded into supporting several other industries, Katie's commitment to safety remains. She has a proven record of working with organizations to help them transform their training, safety, and compliance programs from a burden to an organizational asset.

Holly Rainwater has 20 years of industry experience in managing drug and alcohol testing programs. She previously worked in Human Resources (HR) and has extensive knowledge of employee lifecycle management. Recognizing that each phase of employee development has unique needs, Holly has focused on developing software and systems to streamline the time between a candidate's acceptance of an offer and their first day working at your company. Holly was also a Designated Employer Representative (DER) at two Class 1 railroads and managed onsite collectors for a third-party administrator. Holly is a Certified Designated Employer Representative (C-DER), Certified Employee Assistance Professional (CEAP), Qualified Substance Abuse Professional (DOT/SAP), Lifeloc Master Trainer, and Qualified Professional Collector Trainer.

Under Holly's leadership, Spark TS offers comprehensive drug and alcohol testing and third party administrator services to support organizations in finding the most effective strategies to manage their company and safety programs.

Paul brings over two decades of operational and training expertise to our team, particularly in the realm of railroad operations and maintenance.

His extensive background includes pivotal roles in railroad operations and maintenance training, where he significantly enhanced program efficiencies and compliance with federal regulations. 

Before joining the corporate world, Paul served for six years in the United States Navy as a Nuclear Field Machinist Mate and Quality Assurance Inspector within the Submarine force. His rigorous military background has endowed him with unparalleled precision and leadership skills, which are essential for the innovative and strategic development of our training programs.