T. Allen Hanes excelled in the U.S. Navy most of his adult life, becoming an accomplished photographer, sailing the globe, training new recruits. Not until 1998, facing civilian life, did he truly experience “dropping into a big blue ocean.” A video producer and bestselling author, he teaches entrepreneurs how to awaken and claim their authority through publishing and media. Featured on CNN, CBS, NBC, Fox and ABC, he has a passion for helping business owners, authors, speakers and coaches be the go-to person in their niche. He and his teams have created over 600 bestselling authors to date.
Jewels Muller wanted to be like the cruise director on TV Show The Love Boat, but her parents and counselors steered her on a different course. There were complications and pitfalls in not following her passion, and she had to get honest about who she was hurting. Now a wife and a mother of twin boys, she and her family have been traveling the U.S. in a motor home for the last four years, sharing the Women's Mastermind Movement. Jewels has a passion for life and helping others reach their dreams. She is the founder and CEO of Chicks Connect.
Ben Green, author of The Global Superstar, advises, “Square one is to just understand there are great threats and great opportunities posed by global competition. The threat: competing against seven billion people. Boil it down: for good-paying jobs, you're competing against three billion people. You have to be very competitive to get the pick of the litter for job opportunities, especially since the recession of 2008. It’s important to have a clear end in mind, and work backwards to get the education you’ll need.”
Steve Akinboro was cleaning bathrooms and mopping floors in a London McDonald's, a long way from selling things on the streets of Lagos, Nigeria. Struggling to understand the Cockney spoken by his neighbors, a successful career seemed far in the distance. Today, he is a widely accomplished global senior operations executive in the highly competitive retail food service industry. He was instrumental in turning around Domino's Pizza and putting multiple McDonald's regions on the path to unprecedented growth and profitability.
Kay Lathrop ignored the subtle messages that it was time for a change in her life. The little feather tickle became a brick. When she returned home to find her penthouse condo flooded, it felt like she’d been hit by a Mack truck. It got her attention and brought major life changes.
Steve Rohr was standing on the carpet on the morning of the Oscars, having handled worldwide publicity for the massive global event with 900 million viewers—a life and career defining moment. Most of the work was done when he received an email unrelated to the show. It was from a former student, and it turned out to be the highlight of his day. A public relations expert, educator, and author, Steve has taught public relations and communication at several colleges. His first book is out this month. It’s called Scared Speechless: Nine Ways to Overcome Your Fears and Captivate Your Audience.
Jen MacQuarrie was armed with a degree in psychology and a desire to help others discover their passions. She faced the reality of college loans and a job at Pizza Hut. Today she is a habit success coach and founder of a coaching practice, Bright Habits. She helps people achieve their biggest life goals step by step, one habit at a time. Jen understands the power of habits because she turned her own life around by creating a 5 A.M. wake-up habit for daily exercise and personal development. She also created time for her music passion as a guitarist and lead vocalist in a local band, Magnetic.
Sharon Frame believes women and men have much to learn from each other in building a better workplace and improving the bottom line. The former CNN anchor says it comes from being heart-centered, authentic leaders, willing to share their unique gifts. The founder of LeadHERship™, her passion is to help women find their authentic voice, step into their space, and lead their lives and their business with power, purpose and productivity. “We can move toward inclusiveness and parity, and it doesn’t have to take 79 years to do it!”
Seb Webber grew up with dyslexia on an asparagus farm outside London. He loved music but didn’t think he was all that talented. Trusting his gut—and his love of Indie music and the artists who make it—took him through dingy clubs and places he never imagined. The British, Los Angeles-based, music industry executive was named one of Billboard's "30 Under 30" in 2010. He was creative director of TIDAL, an online music platform bringing indie artists and their fans closer together, giving musicians a larger share of revenue, and co-created an app that gives Ticketmaster a run for its money.
Kathryn Morgan began studying ballet at age three. By age eight she knew she wanted to be a professional dancer. At age eleven she beat out much older dancers in a heated competition at the New York City Ballet. She won the coveted role of Aurora in Sleeping Beauty at 21. Then, overnight, this gifted performer could no longer physically endure even one hour a day of practice. Promoted to soloist in 2009, Kathryn was stricken with an autoimmune illness in 2012 and left the company. Her health restored, she performs again and also reaches out to others through YouTube and social media.
Cole Smith reveals the priorities behind his school safety software in terms of juggling. “Your business and your hobbies are like rubber balls, but your key relationships and family are a glass ball. Drop the first two and they bounce right back up. Let that glass ball drop and it shatters to pieces.” Founder of Tresit Group, a company that specializes in proactive solutions to help schools manage emergencies in real-time. Protecting others as a member of the U.S. military and Department of State, now he is giving teachers and law enforcement the right tools to keep safe those that matter most.
As a 20-something Southern model in Manhattan, Janet Arneau practiced her “person-in-the-street” reports in Times Square. Microphone in hand, camera man in tow, she approached total strangers and asked them questions for unseen producers. Quickly, she learned the popular New York greeting: “WHAT’S YOUR PROBLEM?!” Her career in the entertainment business began at age 5 on the local Romper Room in Charleston, South Carolina. Her acting credits include appearing in 16 films, 40 theatrical productions, television commercials and roles on hit TV programs such as the FX channel’s “RESCUE ME”.
Rosanne Lindsay warns that too many Americans are putting their health at risk by following myths and misconceptions. She learned this truth when she faced profound hypothyroidism head on, turning her back on the wisdom of so-called experts. Rosanne came to healing through her own journey of reversing her illness naturally, from which she discovered her gifts as a healer. Her mission as a naturopath, writer, health freedom activist, and author is to guide others on their journey to heal themselves.
Matt Miller found something that gives him the same rush he felt when flying supersonic T-38 fighter jets. And, he does it with both feet on the ground. After 9 years as an Air Force pilot and flight instructor, his career soared as a top performer in the corporate world. Soon, he developed a passion for teaching other people how to succeed and build a passive income, from the ground up.
Sheevaun Moran’s husband died suddenly. A misdiagnosis brought her own near-death experience. Learning to focus energy, she developed techniques to bring rapid holistic growth and recovery to herself, other individuals and companies. Today, as a business advisor, master coach, quantum energy thought leader and the founder of Energetic Solutions, she has worked with over 15,000 entrepreneurs. She combines her corporate experience, rapid growth expertise and unique approach using energetic techniques and principles to help small businesses grow into big conglomerates.
Brian Kurtz resisted parental pressure to go into a profession. He became an English major instead. Later, faced with a choice between a writing position at Boardroom, Inc. or a branch of marketing few even knew existed, he had to look deep inside himself. A serial direct marketer for almost 35 years, he says he never met a medium he didn't like. Recently, he left his beloved Boardroom Inc., where he was responsible for the mailing of close to 2 billion pieces of direct mail. As founder of Titans Marketing LLC, his mission is to be the bridge between the eternal truths of direct response marketing and state-of-the-art direct response marketing today.
Jenn Scalia was facing a mountain of debt, divorce, and single parenthood—with some depression thrown in for good measure—when she launched her business. Failure was a distinct possibility. Working for one of the largest casinos in Atlantic City, she also knew something about risk. What she learned from fear and adversity determined how she targeted her audience and shaped her style. Today she is a visibility strategist for entrepreneurs who want to make an impact. Known for her tough love, no-B.S. style, she went from rock bottom to creating a six-figure business.
Cultivating and connecting a team of people is a lot like growing a garden, says landscape specialist Jeff McManus. Once the vegetable falls off the plant, it starts to rot. If it's not attached and growing, it's rotting.” At Ole Miss, the people who care for the plants are showing the importance of cultivating each other. The creator of Weeders to Leaders, Jeff is director of landscape services at the University of Mississippi, affectionately known as “Ole Miss.” The program sprang from his love of growing plants, but quickly came to be about growing the people that grow the plants.
Robert Hartline learned to turn his shyness and isolation into door-openers. He was an only child in a town with only one TV station, and no Internet. Fear factors into his success in a major way. So do “Don’t interrupt” and “Don’t talk to strangers”, but not as you might think. The founder of the app, Call Proof, and a serial entrepreneur, he built his businesses to where today they generate $24 Million in total revenue. His expertise (around sales and automating follow up sequences) has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs and sales people, contributing to millions of dollars in additional sales.
Kat Loterzo was a voracious reader from the time she was a child, and an academic all-star whose parents told her she could do anything she set her mind to. Becoming a lawyer was her goal. But something unexpected happened her first semester at university. Now, as a business coach, bestselling author and speaker, she mentors revolutionary leaders who want it all, on their terms. Having built a successful online fitness business, she draws on that experience when she mentors her coaching students how to create their own successful businesses online.
Sidelined by a serious injury in his 20s, Duane Cummings’ promising professional soccer career suddenly looked bleak. But sage advice by a mentor and coach dramatically transformed the setback into an unexpected career decision. Today, he lives with a single purpose, “To aid others, act on ideas, and achieve sensational results.” A trusted advisor to organizations and individuals around the world in professional and personal development, he is an author, entrepreneur, coach, and consultant. He speaks regularly on entrepreneurship, leadership, communication, sales, and finding your purpose.
At age 14, Carine Montbertrand recalls, “I remember watching a dance performance and it was so exciting. I said to myself, ‘This is what I want to do.’ I did the conventional going to college and stuff like that, which I'm glad I did. But, ever since then, even if people in my family didn't want me to do it, I still knew, deep inside, that’s what I was going to do, whether I said it out loud or not.” As a professional actress, she has performed off Broadway and throughout the U.S. She is an award winning narrator of audiobooks and is an acting teacher specializing in Commedia dell'Arte. Carine has also donated her time at New York City’s Rikers Island as part of an outreach program of the Stella Adler Studio School of Acting.
Only 1% of entrepreneurs’ pitches to angel investors or venture capitalists ever get funded. When John Livesay and his partner Judy Robinett figured out all of that unsuccessful 99% were making the same mistake in their money seeking efforts, they knew they had a viable service to offer. Funding strategist John Livesay helps CEOs craft a compelling pitch that engages investors in a way that inspires them to join a startup’s team. He hosts The Successful Pitch podcast with investors from around the world and partners with Judy Robinett at Crack The Funding Code to help founders get funded.
Matthew Pollard’s childhood dyslexia diagnosis was wrong, but by the time that got straightened out, he was already in high school. He had to learn to read all over again. “I had a face full of acne, braces, and I was ridiculously introverted and shy. I was reading at a sixth-grade level. My only job option was as a commission-only door-to-door salesperson.“ Now he specializes in helping organizations create meteoric growth. He calls himself the Rapid Growth Guy.
As a little girl and a budding musician, Bree Noble used to sing along to the radio. Now she has her own online radio show and podcasts, helping women in Indie music find an audience and practice their art as a viable business. Striking that balance between music and marketing, and teaching it to entrepreneurial women of substance is her fulltime passion. As an entrepreneur, musician and speaker, she founded Women of Substance Radio & Podcast to promote quality female artists in all genres. Her podcast, Female Entrepreneur Musician features successful female Indie artists and industry pros.