Parish Kohanim was born into the lush, natural beauty of the wine country of southern Iran, into a loving family that savored their times together absorbing nature. Would this 17-year-old want to leave it all behind for the U.S., and with only $300? Parish had a love for the United States and all things American, strong enough to convince his parents to let him go. He believes his lifelong love of visual beauty was recorded in his subconscious during his childhood with his parents and siblings in the Iranian countryside.
Deborah Maragopoulos knew early on she had a gift for healing. Her gifted grandmother saw it in her as a young child. First, she tried to suppress her gift, then to justify her healing abilities by getting a university degree. Reaching the perfect healing path has been her life-long challenge. Through clinical research and two decades of collecting empirical data, Deborah developed a unique holistic healthcare model blending naturopathic and allopathic therapies, as well as developing a promising nutraceutical product.
Bob Burg shares how his popular Go-Giver principles can be used to build principled leadership. Bob is an advocate, supporter, and vendor of the free-enterprise system, believing that the amount of money one makes is directly proportional to how many people they serve. A sought-after speaker at leadership and sales conferences, he is the author of several books on sales, marketing, and influence, with sales well over a million copies. He was named by the American Management Association as one of the Top 30 Most Influential Thought Leaders in Business for 2014.
Steve Garchow was tasked with completing a half-billion-dollar project, but members of his multi-disciplinary team might as well have been speaking different languages. Poor group dynamics made matters worse. He knew he had to find a way to make all the parts work together. Could he craft a process that would work before things fell apart? “Creating this method led to what I am doing today, teaching companies to use this lean strategic decision model.” Steve’s passion is working with companies to improve their strategic decision-making.
Caroline Greene is a recovering lawyer, chronic overachiever, and two-time Amazon best-selling author of MATTER: How to Find Meaningful Work That’s Right for You and Your Family and NEXT: How to Start a Successful Business That’s Right for You and Your Family. As a life and business coach, Caroline helps determined moms build businesses and whole lives that truly matter to them.
Mitchell Mays was several years into a successful chiropractic practice, when he noticed the patients who kept returning with recurring conditions, no matter what he tried. Then, he had an “ah-ha!” moment that took his practice in a whole new direction. Today, he is the #1 best-selling author of MIND GATE: Demolish Fear, Overcome Anxiety and Create the Life You Want. A certified master hypnotist and hypnotherapist, he employs functional medicine, biofeedback, nutrition, guided imagery and hypnosis for chronic anxiety, stress and pain.
Meredith Bell knew early in her career as a classroom teacher and administrator, that she had a knack for helping people build relationships. When politics and bureaucracy began to bog her down, she decided to start her own company. But there was one problem: she had zero experience in business. That was in 1982. She has been an entrepreneur since then. An expert in helping companies develop the people side of their business, her software company’s programs are used by consultants, coaches and human resources professionals to help managers become more effective leaders.
Michelle McQuaid is passionate about translating cutting-edge research from positive psychology and neuroscience into practical strategies for health, happiness, and business success. She offers actionable insights into how to do more of what you do best, beginning by identifying your true strengths and using them in a balanced way. She is a best-selling author, workplace well-being teacher and playful change activator and has more than a decade of senior leadership experience in large organizations around the world.
Angus Nelson had spent his 20s traveling the world, working with young people, doing good. At the nonprofit organization he formed, he began to burn out. “The harder I worked, the more difficult it got,” he recalls. In those dark days, the words of an author spoke deeply to him. Despite his self-doubts, somehow he knew: he was headed for Alabama to meet that man and see what he could learn from him. He gave himself a year.
P.J. Jonas—like many educated women—faced criticism when she left engineering to be a stay-at-home mom. Soon her problem-solving skills and creativity would be put to the test. After all, she was planning to homeschool her eight children. And raise goats. As an undergrad at the University of Virginia, making things from goat’s milk was nowhere in her plans. What started out simply as a means of getting good milk for her children produced a wide range of unanticipated discoveries—and a thriving family business called Goat Milk Stuff.
Paul Maskill set out for Chicago and the American dream in 2007, bolstered by his degree in finance from the University of Michigan. Stuck in a cube farm as the worst recession in decades rolled in—watching his co-workers being laid off—he knew he had to change his vision of the right career for him – and NOW!” He faced the question, “What’s the worst that could happen if I leave my corporate job?”
Vasavi Kumar was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 20, a student at Boston College. Instead of taking it as the death knell of her career, she wondered, might there be some similarities between bipolar peaks and valleys and the roller-coaster ride most entrepreneurs experience? From a potential stigma and curse, she found opportunities to transmute into a blessing, both in her own life and in the lives of her future clients.
Matthew Pollard knows about rapid growth in business from personal experience. With five multimillion-dollar success stories to his credit before age 30, and a Young Achiever award, he is a true differentiation, niche marketing and sales powerhouse. His holistic strategy to obtain rapid growth starts with a focus on what you care passionately about. What is your deepest purpose, what are your goals, and what do you want to achieve?”
Brad Burton was a directionless young man in Manchester, England, believing the teachers who said he’d never amount to anything might be right. Two bullet holes through his window made him rethink what was really important. Resettled in Somerset, kicking a can alone down a street, he had no idea he’d be where he is today: the highest rated and reviewed business author in the United Kingdom, firing up people from all walks of life. Brad gives people the permission to do the very thing they know they should be doing. His goal is to change the entire personal development world in the U.K.
Cynthia Zhai arrived in Singapore from her native China, without knowing a soul. In a matter of months, she created a circle of new friends, launched her own business, and found a global market on the internet, helping clients find and use their voice. Today, she is a voice coach, speaker and author of the book, Influence Through Voice, published by McGraw-Hill. She has helped senior executives and professionals with their speeches, to enable them to speak with impact and conviction.
Alex Hofeldt shared an awe-inspiring image of deep outer space from the Hubble Telescope with his class, intending to say just a few words about it. His inspired talk consumed the entire class period, greeted by enthusiastic applause from his students. In that moment, he realized he had a gift, a passion and a message to share. Today he hosts his podcast, Beautiful Dust Specks, and has set his sights on becoming a motivational speaker.
Nicole Holland was effective in getting through to children in trouble. “I understand angry kids because I was one, too.” But working within a bureaucracy left her disillusioned and frustrated, so she quit her government job. “I didn’t know where to start, but I knew I would figure it out.” She fell in love with podcasting and now coaches both podcasters and their guests in finding a perfect fit.
Rob Kosberg is a #1 best-selling author and founder Best Seller Publishing. He has guided thousands of prospective authors through the process of publishing, promoting and profiting from their own books. Along the way, he helps them gain celebrity status in their chosen fields and establish their own authority. Rather than criticize celebrities, Rob urges his clients to embrace celebrity as a part of becoming a recognized authority.
Phil Carson, Ph.D., was doing well with his innovative natural pharmacy and health businesses, offering an alternative to modern medicine’s a-pill-for-every-ailment approach. Then the global economic crash hit hard. “I told people that I locked the door on my dream in December 2009.” With a wife and five kids to support and two kids in college, he lost everything but his home. For awhile, he even thought he’d lost his dream.
Denise Brosseau was ready for a shift in her career. Considering enrolling in Stanford Business School, she was hesitating about the hefty tuition. “If you were a guy, we wouldn't be having this conversation,” a friend told her. “Guys invest in themselves." She went straight home and wrote the check to Stanford.
Chris McCluskey had built the largest Christian psychotherapy practice in the Tampa Bay, Florida area, but when he arrived at home one day and found his pregnant wife and kids—“the five people I loved the most”— snuggled together and sleeping in the living room, all he could feel was how much of their lives he was missing. He knew he had to make a change.
Marsha Lecour devoted her education and 30-year counseling and teaching career to helping students create blueprints for living. Then, when Hepatitis-C—and the brutal therapies intended to cure it—knocked her down for four years, she created a new blueprint to get her life back from the often-fatal virus. Helping Hep-C sufferers shift from surviving to thriving is her new life focus.
Bob Littell warns that millions of jobs will disappear because of technology. Old style networking is largely ineffective and unsustainable in identifying jobs that will last. He created NetWeaving, which has proven over the past 17 years that it can help people develop the “soft skills” needed to thrive in the emerging workforce. It works by building trusted, mutually supportive relationships through empathetic listening and creatively sharing resources and contacts. It is a business world application of author Catherine Ryan Hyde’s concept of Pay It Forward.
Timothy Lawson guarded U.S. embassies around the world as a Marine. Like many returning veterans, his re-entry to civilian life was rocky. He floundered awhile. With a ten-dollar microphone, a laptop and stories to tell, he decided to give podcasting a try. Today, he hosts Fuel for Warriors, Follow Your Spirit, and the 1, 2, Many: Veteran Suicide podcast. Known for his efforts inside the veteran community as a content creator and advocate for veterans’ issues, Tim was recently recruited by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, based on his extensive work.
Teresa Marinelli was on yet another business flight in a successful but demanding fashion career. She knew something was out of balance. An article in an in-flight magazine on Feng Shui caught her eye. She wondered, could something that sounded like a take-out menu item, with a little furniture rearrangement mixed in, really make a difference? Pursuing that question led her to answers she now shares with top executives, small business owners and other people looking for a more expansive paradigm for living.