Carissa Hill had built a chain of beauty salons on her own. Their growth was fast and steady. Then in her mid-twenties, she had a breakdown moment. She questioned what she was doing and why. One day a customer asked her a couple of questions that would change her life. An entrepreneur, author, speaker and business coach today, Carissa specializes in helping women business owners scale their businesses to six figures and beyond, releasing their limiting beliefs.
Amir Baluch was a shoo-in for medical school, or so he had always thought. He would follow his father and become a doctor. But when he was rejected, he asked himself, “Can I do anything else? Maybe this is a sign.” Later, Dr. Baluch founded FundingNest to provide investment opportunities to investors and physician colleagues around the globe. In addition to being a successful real estate investor, he is also a realtor, business owner, holds a securities license and is a board-certified Anesthesiologist.
Larry Minnix, a leader in the non-profit aging services field since 1973, served as CEO at Wesley Woods Center of Emory University and at Leading Age, which represents 6,000-plus non-profits. A minister, author, and speaker, he consults widely on long-term care issues. He has received numerous national awards for leadership from the National Council on Aging and others. Leading Age named their leadership academy after Larry to honor his retirement.
Kim Ades was 15 years into building a family and a business with her husband. When her marriage dissolved, so did her shares in the company. A tool she used to deal with her loss—she says, “it was like my oxygen”—is now the core of her thriving business. As president and founder of Frame of Mind Coaching and JournalEngineTM Software, she’s an author, speaker, entrepreneur, coach, and mother of five. Kim helps clients shift their thinking to yield extraordinary results and personal transformation.
Pat McDaniel’s 10-year success in building a faith-based community for single people led him to take his family and his commitment to help others to the West Coast. Nothing he tried there worked. For a time, he felt angry at God. He faced some hard choices. Later he founded WiseInsights.net, a site dedicated to helping motivated but weary achievers keep making progress toward their goals and dreams. He uses a blend of research-backed insights and time-tested wisdom to offer smart, sure paths toward greater success.
Ilan Ferdman is co-founder of Satori Prime. A life coach, entrepreneur and motivational speaker, he is fiercely dedicated to your success, helping thousands of people around the world to connect with their inner passion and transform their lives. His training shows how you can have it all—the ideal job, relationship, and abundant bank account. Your greatest life is just on the other side of your greatest fear. He shows how to reprogram your brain's fear response to see the challenges as growth experiences.
Shirley Piccarreto was working at Eastman Kodak—in its heyday, the place to be in Rochester, New York. “But I was horribly bored! I needed a do-over! I sold my fancy Camaro, got an old Toyota pickup truck, and my girlfriend and I took off for Texas.” Dr. Shirley has been in the health, wellness and alternative medicine field for over 30 years. She was a area corporate fitness director for Bally’s Fitness and is now a Doctor of Naturopathy and a certified herbalist and instructor.
Steve was a solid athlete in school, but no scholar, especially at math. Then, in the tenth grade an inspiring teacher changed all that. More importantly, he came to understand that reshaping an attitude can change a person’s life dramatically. Today, as CEO of Julian Krinsky Camps & Programs (JKCP), he specializes in youth-to-adult programming to foster a culture that creates memories that last a lifetime. He’s an expert on youth development and education, and understanding and adapting to youth.
Pete Mockaitis is an award-winning trainer who helps brilliant professionals perform optimally at work. He’s delivered 1-on-1 coaching to more than 700 clients hailing from organizations such as Google, McKinsey & Company, the United Nations, Goldman Sachs, and Apple, in 50 countries, and at every Ivy League school. He began his career at Bain & Company and currently hosts the podcast, How to be Awesome at your Job.
Chelsea Fournier was only 28, waking up with anxiety attacks so severe she could not breathe. It was not that her law career was so awful, but somehow she had lost touch with her creative side. Finally, she decided this was just not acceptable.” She now helps entrepreneurs thrive in the digital economy, and helps people launch home-based businesses. She lives a life of geographic freedom and loves traveling the world meeting and helping new people.
Michael Sacca created a successful product to help clients manage their brand assets. “Customer feedback was great, but we quickly realized we had no idea what we were doing!” So, he started a podcast to open doors to the experts whose brains he needed to pick. It led to a whole new gig. He joined Crew two years ago as head of partnerships and has now taken over as president. Companies have trusted Crew to source freelancers for more than $30 million in design and development products.
Helene Segura has been the featured organizational expert in more than 150 media interviews. Listen to her tips for managing time to your benefit as she zeroes in on time leaks and plots that prevent us from successfully managing time to our benefit. Helene is the author of two Amazon Best Sellers. Her newest book is "The Inefficiency Assassin: Time Management Tactics for Working Smarter, Not Longer."
Laura De La Cruz was learning about dog obedience and agility. A colleague advised, “Get a Border Collie.” But the breeder Laura contacted said, “No way am I going to sell you one. You have no idea how to handle this dog!” A teacher, dog trainer and herding judge, Laura started Leash Up Dog Training as an alternative to the "pack" mentality, focusing on people who consider their dogs to be part of the family. Best-selling author of more than 80 books and journals, she has trained herding dogs and their people for over ten years.
Robert Williscroft built a telescope and looked to the stars as a teenager, dreaming of becoming an astronaut. When that couldn’t happen, he swapped his telescope for a submariner’s periscope, and began the life of an adventurer. He spent 22 months underwater, a year in the equatorial Pacific, 3 years in the Arctic, and a year at the Geographic South Pole. He is a retired submariner, diver, scientist, businessman, author and adventurer. He is also a prolific hard science fiction writer.
Sheila Cash is an international teacher, author, and speaker in the fields of human potential and conscious evolution. Using an integrated blend of modalities from science, psychology and philosophy, she helps people answer the big questions: why are we here? what is our purpose? what is life really all about? She's also the bestselling author of “Evolve Your Life.”
Janét Aizenstros watched her father abuse her mother until she was 15. Then she had enough and called the police, who made him leave. By observing her mother turn her life around, she learned she could choose what she wanted out of life and could get it. Today she is the founder and chief executive officer of Ahava Media Group. Selected as one of the Top 100 Inspiring Women in Canada, she was ranked as one of the Top 50 women in social media in 2012. In 2016, Janét was awarded by the City of Guelph as one of Canada's Top 40 under 40.
Mark Goblowsky’s immigrant family had a hard, sometimes violent edge. Like countless of other pre-teens, he was mesmerized every week by the TV show, Kung Fu. Years later, he would begin to understand and live out the values stirred by that 1970s hit. Today, he is a martial arts professional, entrepreneur, podcaster with Strength Through Your Struggle. Mark believes the capacity of the human spirit is powerful enough to overcome any challenge in life. He’s here to help others discover not just how, but that they too have what it takes to overcome adversity.
Thor Conklin is an entrepreneur, profitability consultant and host of Peak Performers Podcast. 2017 is his 18th year as an entrepreneur. His consulting firm, Peak Performance Group, trains business leaders around the world to be peak performers. In his “8 Steps to Achieving Anything You Want,” Thor shares a map to guide listeners to achievement. “We've got to know what we’re after, have a plan, and go after it.”
Stephanie Weeks was so dead-set on a career in law, she had no Plan B. Everything she’d done in college and work had pointed her toward that goal. Then, after graduation, she received the news that totally changed her path. It turned out, there was a better option. For more than 13 years, she has been a mortgage lender Little did she know that this would become her passion. She has closed thousands of loans, but the real joy in her career comes from the smiles she sees during a smooth and on time closing. Her mission is to change the world one loan at a time.
Michael Cooper joined his father’s business after finishing his tour of duty in the U.S. Navy. He loved providing service to people because he genuinely loved people. His challenge was how to learn from the many positive traits he admired in his dad, while distancing himself from the negative qualities he did not want to emulate. Michael is now a life performance coach and consultant who specializes in mental training for leaders and athletes. His company, Human Performance Mentors, helps individuals evolve from what they think they are to what they are truly capable of becoming.
Steve Robertson is an expert on youth development and education, as well as understanding and adapting to youth. He is the CEO of Julian Krinsky Camps & Programs, an organization specializing in youth-to-adult programming that turns curiosity into passion and skill. In this role, his primary responsibility is to cultivate a culture that results in memories lasting a lifetime. He has also become an expert on Gen Z, the generation of the majority of those who attend the camps.
Aaron Hunnel worked hard on the speech he had been asked to give before running the Boston Marathon. But the man who spoke first started his speech with the same story Aaron was going to use. More nervous than ever, he had 2 choices: let the fear overcome him or find his courage. Aaron is a US Army veteran, award-winning wellness consultant, author, and now, a national speaker. After returning home from two deployments, he hit rock bottom, failing in his personal and professional life. But he began moving upwards again once he realized and harnessed his personal power through endurance racing.
Trudi Pavlovsky’s teacher told her, “You're just like the rest of your family–useless. You're never going to be anything.” Today, she says, “Sometimes I think I'm living a fairy tale; not a traditional fairy tale, but I wouldn't change it! I feel lucky, but I know it wasn't luck. I was willing to do the work and I'm now in a place where my soul feels satisfied.” A quirky, creative woman, she’s on a mission to help everyday people share their message. She is able to connect with people across the business ownership spectrum, specializing in mentoring coaches and creating courses and events.
Shellee Howard is the owner and president of College Ready and a Certified Educational Planner. She has a son who recently graduated from Harvard in the spring of 2016 debt free! She has traveled around the world helping other students plan for their "perfect match" college. She knows what it takes to compete in the Ivy schools, as well as how to find the best fit for a B student. In College Ready, she believes no two students are the same. Each has a talent and a passion that will set him or her apart from their competition.
Aaron Hendon never got his photography studio off the ground. He was waiting tables in New Mexico because, “That’s what you do with a fine arts degree.” Then his entrepreneurial gene kicked in, and he was up to his elbows in bagel dough. A real estate investor, author, educator and speaker, he is managing partner of Christine & Company, a Seattle Magazine awarded, 5-Star Real Estate Agent, winning team for the past 5 years and individual Rising Star in Seattle Real Estate winner this year.