Michael Cotellese
Co-Owner/Founder
Michael is one of Asheville Vapor’s Owners/Founders. Michael works primarily at our South Asheville location. He was a smoker for many years before quitting cold turkey and now vapes zero nicotine flavors purely for pleasure. Before Asheville Vapor, Mike spent years in the world of micro-finance working with people one on one. He resides in Hendersonville with his two kids, Eli and Mikayla, who keep him very busy with sports and planning for college. When Mike isn’t working he enjoys hiking, photography and art.
Jeremy Ridgeway
Co-Owner/Founder
Jeremy is one of Asheville Vapor’s Owners/Founders. Jeremy works primarily in our South Asheville location. Jeremy smoked a pack a day for 20 years before being introduced to vaping by a close friend and quickly quit smoking and became enamored by the vaping culture and business. Before Asheville Vapor, Jeremy had many careers – Mixed Martial Arts Fight Promoter, Advertising Executive, and Luxury Car Salesman – all related to sales or customer relations. Jeremy resides in Asheville and when he isn’t working he enjoys the outdoors, martial arts and is an unabashed Asheville beer lover.
Ryan “PEP” Candelaria
Vaping Consultant
Pep was born and raised in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area of TX. He started smoking at 16 while at boarding school. Upon realizing the negative repercussions of a smoking habit he tried to quit unsuccessfully. He arrived in the Asheville area to pursue a career in the field of wilderness therapy. Working in the woods made it difficult to put cigarettes down for good. The downtime kept him smoking and he wanted to change that. His friend and co-worker, Dane Sammis introduced him to vaping and he never looked back . He’s been vaping and smoke-free for 3 years now. Pep loves telling people about how vaping helped him and helping others quit cigarettes as he did. He pursues his passion every day at Asheville Vapor. When not at work, Pep enjoys gaming with friends. He also enjoys hiking, camping, visiting local breweries and traveling.