Kutlay Kaya

Chief Executive Officer

Kutlay has 26 years of combined professional experience in government and business, and he has served as an international business consultant and broker on five continents. He is a tireless networker, team builder, and entrepreneur who employs his talents to meet the needs of commercial and government customers in his chosen business sectors. Kutlay’s current geographic areas of focus are the United States, Turkey, Europe, and the Middle East.

In 1996 Kutlay earned an engineering bachelor’s degree from 19 Mayis University in Samsun, Turkey, and in 1998 he moved to the U.S., where he continued his studies and was employed as a consultant and director for two nonprofit, humanitarian organizations. In 2003 Kutlay earned a master’s degree from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.

In 2005 Kutlay founded Zenith Quest Corporation (ZQC), headquartered in Virginia, to help Turkish producers of consumer goods, and to foster improved trade relations between Turkey and the United States. Today ZQC is a multinational corporation that has imported and distributed more than $200 million in ammunition and firearms to U.S. customers through its subsidiaries ZQI Ammunition and Zenith Firearms. In 2015 Kutlay founded ZNT Global (ZNT), headquartered in Ankara, Turkey, to provide select defense, cybersecurity, and IT products and services to customers in Turkey and the Middle East region.

Mr. Kaya travels internationally regularly to develop and oversee his businesses, and to meet and network with leaders in commerce and government.

She received her master’s degree in school counseling and worked as a mental health and school counselor for several years. An avid shooter with a passion for the firearms and ammunition industry, she jumped on the opportunity to join the Zenith family. Lauren is thrilled to be joining the team at such an exciting time and plans to be one of the first owners of Zenith’s introductory model, the ZF-5. As a sales representative, Lauren is able to fulfill her desire to work with people and help them legally arm themselves.

In addition to working at Zenith, Lauren is a personal and group trainer at her gym. Her hobbies include lifting, being outdoors and hiking, and spending downtime with her family and two cats.

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