School for Startups Radio

Jay Kopelman – CEO of Mission to Live Foundation and Author of From Baghdad, With Love: A Marine, The War, And A Dog Named Lava These medicines don’t show you what you want to see or what you want to know. They show you what you need to know and what you need to see. Jay Kopelman is the CEO of the Mission to Live Foundation, dedicated to expanding access to psychedelic therapy for veterans navigating the invisible wounds of war—PTSD, mild traumatic brain injury, depression, and addiction. A New York Times bestselling author, former Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, and two-time cancer survivor, transformed by ibogaine and  5-MeO-DMT therapy himself, Jay brings exceptional passion, lived experience, and urgency to this work. Jay works tirelessly to raise funds to provide psychedelic therapy scholarships for veterans and first responders in need. He has dedicated his life to service – either as an officer of the Marines for 20 years, a healthcare leader for 10 years, seeking improved patient outcomes (Johnson & Johnson, Airstrip); or as a business advisor to veteran entrepreneurs. A year after his transformation, Jay has evolved from participant to President and CEO of Mission to Live Foundation, having raised over $2 million to fund scholarships. He has firsthand knowledge of what’s at stake. In 2024, after a lifetime of service and battles both internal and external, he underwent a profound healing journey through ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT. His authenticity, transparency, and courage in sharing his own story have been the catalysts. His vision is for the foundation to be the “American Cancer Society of Ibogaine Access”: raising awareness, mobilizing resources, and ensuring no one is left behind, knowing every veteran’s path is different, and healing doesn’t end when the retreat is over. Under his leadership, the Foundation is setting a new standard for veteran care: not just funding treatments, but full-spectrum healing journeys that include integration coaching, meditation, functional medicine, hormone balancing, long-term support, and data collection to provide outcomes evidence. Jay’s fight for mental health access is personal and lifelong. From a young age, he felt called to defend those who couldn’t defend themselves. As a Marine, he served with honor—including in combat in Iraq. As an author (From Baghdad with Love), he helped reshape public perceptions of war and recovery. As a nonprofit leader, he’s supported countless causes—animal rescue, wounded warriors, humanitarian relief. Also a cancer survivor, he understands what it means to face death and choose to fight—not just for himself, but for others. Living with intention, today, Jay trains daily in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, speaks publicly on the power of psychedelic therapy, and mentors fellow veterans navigating their own transitions. He describes his work as a second chance—not just to heal, but to do good. Jay’s ethos is simple: “Go into the world to do well, but more importantly, do good.” For him, that means showing up—day after day, donation after donation, veteran after veteran—to make sure the doors to healing are open for everyone who needs it. As Jay says, he’s “just a regular guy trying to inspire others and show a little grace every day.” Kevin Johnson – CEO of Johnson Media Inc. and Bestselling  Author of  The Entrepreneur Mind: 100 Essential Beliefs, Characteristics, and Habits of Elite Entrepreneurs The energy that it takes to go after a big idea is the same energy that it takes to go after a small idea. Kevin D. Johnson, founder and president of Johnson Media Inc., has several years of experience leading his award-winning company as a successful marketing and communications firm. It serves many of the most notable Fortune 100 businesses today. As an innovative leader, he has appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America, CBS, CNN, Oprah Radio, and in The New York Times, The Financial Times, Fast Company, and The Wall Street Journal. Recently, Johnson Media Inc. was awarded two 2015 Telly Awards. With nearly 13,000 entries from across the US and around the world, the Telly Awards honors the best work of the most respected advertising agencies, production companies, television stations, cable operators, and corporate video departments in the world. In October of 2014, the company was also awarded a 2014 International Davey Award by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts today. With nearly 4,000 entries from across the US and around the world, the Davey Awards honors the finest creative work from the best small firms, agencies and companies worldwide. He also supports non-profits and enjoys doing community service as a volunteer for the East Lake Foundation, Junior Achievement, Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America, Economic Empowerment Initiative, Latin American Association, and Boys & Girls Club of America.

Lee Benson – CEO of ETW and CEO of Dinner Table and Author of Value Creation Family: The Proven Playbook for Setting Up Your Family to Enjoy True Success All of the opportunity in the world, in my view, is in the struggle. CEO Lee Benson has spent more than three decades helping organizations and families focus on what creates the most value. A lifelong entrepreneur, Lee founded and led eight companies, including aerospace company Able Aerospace, which grew from just two employees into a global operation with more than 500 team members serving over 2,000 customers in 60 countries before achieving a nine figure exit in 2016. Today, through ETW and his family leadership platform Dinner Table, Lee helps business leaders and families align around purpose, values, execution, and long term success. Lee is also the author of the bestselling book Value Creation Kid and the new book Value Creation Family: The Proven Playbook for Setting Up Your Family to Enjoy True Success, where he shares practical frameworks for building stronger families, creating lasting impact, and defining success beyond money. Known for his straightforward and actionable approach, Lee has become a respected voice on leadership, value creation, execution, and strategy. His insights have been featured in major media outlets including Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and Inc. Magazine, and he has appeared on networks such as CNBC and Bloomberg. Jay Samit – “Coolest Job,” Video on Demand Creator and Author of Disrupt You!: Master Personal Transformation, Seize Opportunity, and Thrive in the Era of Endless Innovation Every obstacle out there is actually a new form of opportunity for an entrepreneur to create a solution to make life better and profit Jay Samit has been described by Wired magazine as “having the coolest job in the industry.” He is a leading technology innovator who has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for startups, sold companies to Fortune 500 firms, taken companies public, and partnered with some of the world’s biggest brands, including Coca Cola, McDonald’s, General Motors, United Airlines, Microsoft, Apple, Verizon, and Facebook. Samit is CEO of SeaChange International, a leading global multi-screen video software company. A technology innovator and entrepreneur, he was a senior advisor to LinkedIn and was appointed to the White House initiative for education and technology by President Bill Clinton. Samit is the host of the Wall Street Journal Startup of the Year series. Samit helped grow pre-IPO companies such as Linkedin, held senior management roles at Sony and Universal Studios, pioneered breakthrough advancements in mobile video, internet advertising, ecommerce, social networks, ebooks, and digital music that are used by billions of consumers every day. An adjunct professor at USC, Samit teaches innovation at America’s largest engineering school and is author of Disrupt Yourself: Master Personal Transformation, Seize Opportunity, and Thrive in the Era of Endless Innovation. He frequently appears on ABC, Bloomberg, CBS, CNN, Fox, MSNBC, NBC and tweets daily motivation to the over 100,000 business professionals who follow him on Twitter. An expert on transformational corporate change, Samit has been quoted in The New York Times, The Economist, Businessweek, Forbes, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Fast Company and TechCrunch. He was awarded with the Leonardo Da Vinci Lifetime Achievement Award.

Bob Nienaber – CEO of BenefitRFP Life has so much excitement that I really truly do live each day at its fullest Bob Nienaber, CEO of BenefitRFP,  a fintech executive benefits firm that helps HR leaders and CEOs turn executive compensation from a cost into a strategic advantage while increasing shareholder equity. Bob specializes in uncovering hidden revenue opportunities, typically $3–5M per company, by optimizing IRS and regulatory components of executive plans. Using proprietary tools like the benefitMATRIX™, companies can reveal $1M+ in untapped value in as little as 20 minutes. He has helped numerous Fortune 500 companies and large enterprises identify opportunities they didn’t even know existed, showing HR leaders how executive plans can drive real business impact. Beyond uncovering hidden value, Bob provides practical, actionable strategies HR leaders can implement immediately. From rapid plan audits to real-world success stories, he shows how optimizing executive benefits not only boosts shareholder equity but also improves employee retention, engagement, and satisfaction. His approach turns complex compensation plans into clear, measurable tools that drive both financial and organizational results. Larry Wyman – Co-founder of Okeanos We are poisoning ourselves daily with the amount of plastic that’s being made. Larry Wyman was a founding partner in the international commercial real estate development firm HRO International, Ltd. beginning in 1981, when he left the practice of law at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver and Jacobson in New York. He was responsible for all aspects of the commercial development process on 12 major projects in New York City during the 1980’s and 1990’s. He also directed HRO’s activities in London and Frankfurt from 1996 to 2004, as well as HRO Asset Management in New York beginning in 2004. Since stepping down from day-to-day involvement at HRO, he remains a member of HRO’s advisory board, with projects now focused in Paris. He became a Board Member of Okeanos in September, 2019, and has since stepped into the role of Chief Strategy Officer. Larry and his wife of 35 years, Sheryl, have two adult children, Nicole and Max, both of whom live in New York City.

Athena Brownson – Realtor at Your Castle Real Estate The greatest marketing you can do is word of mouth Athena Brownson is a seasoned REALTOR® at Your Castle Real Estate and a proud Colorado native whose lifelong connection to the state gives her clients valuable firsthand insight into the local real estate market. With nearly a decade of experience, Athena has built a reputation for skilled negotiation, unwavering integrity, exceptional responsiveness, and steadfast loyalty. She understands that buying or selling a home is far more than a transaction. For her, it is about creating a seamless, stress free experience while helping clients find a place that truly reflects their lifestyle, personality, and dreams. Athena’s background in interior design gives her a sharp eye for aesthetics, functionality, and the hidden potential within every property. She expertly guides clients through every stage of the process while helping them envision how a space can become a meaningful and personalized home. Her infectious enthusiasm, attention to detail, and genuine commitment to client success have made her a trusted name throughout Colorado’s real estate community. She proudly serves clients across Denver Metro, Boulder, Colorado Springs, Breckenridge, and surrounding areas with the same dedication and passion that have defined her career. Outside of real estate, Athena enjoys exploring Denver’s vibrant culture, searching for vintage treasures at estate sales, attending concerts, spending time with friends, and relaxing at home in Berkeley with her beloved furry companions, Boo Berry and Luci Fur. Athena’s accomplishments include being named a Five Star Real Estate Agent from 2017 and 2020 through 2023, receiving the 2022 DMAR Excellence Awards Silver recognition, being featured in Success Magazine’s “10 Industry Leaders” in 2022, earning recognition in 5280 Denver Magazine’s Top Producing Teams with Black Diamond from 2022 to 2023, and being named by USA Today as one of the Top 10 Entrepreneurs to Watch in 2022. Ashley Tison – Founder and President of OZPros | Opportunity Zone Advisory Firm I’m a firm believer that coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous. Ashley Tison, Esq., is a tax strategist, entrepreneur, and co-founder of OZPros, the leading advisory firm focused on Opportunity Zones and advanced tax-efficient investing. Through OZPros, he and his team have helped investors legally defer or reduce over 1 billion dollars in taxes while channeling capital into projects that create real community impact. A magna cum laude graduate of UNC Charlotte and the UNC Chapel Hill School of Law, Ashley spent years as a real estate and securities attorney, fund manager counsel, and operator across multiple businesses before building OZPros into a one-stop shop for Opportunity Zone strategy, fund design, and compliance. On stage and behind the mic, Ashley turns complex tax law into clear, usable playbooks for investors, advisors, and business owners. He speaks on Opportunity Zones, tax-efficient exits, audit-ready wealth strategies, and how to think like a family office at any scale. Known as the “OZ Sherpa,” he has been featured in national media and on dozens of podcasts for his practical, story-driven approach to doing well by doing good. Ashley Tison, known as the OZ Sherpa, has helped investors and business owners legally defer over $1 billion in taxes through Opportunity Zones and has guided the creation of more than 900 funds and businesses. With Opportunity Zones now permanently expanded under The One Big Beautiful Bill, Ashley is on the frontlines of helping entrepreneurs leverage OZ strategies. They work not just for real estate, but also for business sales and even cryptocurrency gains. He has taken over 2,000 calls with investors, advisors, and founders who want to keep more of what they earn and align their impact with legacy. He’s been featured on 100 podcasts and national media, but his focus is always on making these complex topics accessible for people who need clarity. With nearly 10,000 wealth builders in Ashley’s network, he would love to share actionable strategies your audience can put to work right away.

Isabelle Tashima – Growth Equity Investor at Volition Capital The companies that are winning the attention and getting rounds done quickly are the ones where AI is meaningfully changing unit economics or the delivery model or the margin profile of the business. Isabelle Tashima is a Senior Associate at Volition Capital, a Boston based growth equity firm that partners with founder owned, capital efficient technology companies. At the firm, she focuses on sourcing, evaluating, and executing investments in high growth businesses, typically working with companies generating between $5 million and $50 million in revenue that are positioned to become category leaders. Since its founding in 2010, Volition has managed approximately $2 billion in assets and built a reputation for backing disciplined, high performing entrepreneurs. Prior to joining Volition in 2024, Isabelle worked in investment banking at Goldman Sachs in New York as part of the Cross Markets Group, where she focused on middle market mergers and acquisitions. She further expanded her investing experience during her MBA through time at KKR, gaining exposure to large scale private equity investing and strategic growth initiatives. Isabelle earned her Bachelor of Arts in Economics with a minor in Psychology from Harvard University, where she was a member of the Varsity Women’s Volleyball team. She later received her MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management as an early admit, further strengthening her expertise in finance, strategy, and innovation. Originally from the Chicago area, she maintains an active lifestyle outside of work, with interests that include skiing, scuba diving, travel, and exploring new food destinations. Steve de Haan – Former President and Founder of Andrews Entertainment District It really was a conscious decision on who I wanted to be, what I wanted to accomplish. Steve de Haan worked at a Little Caesar’s Pizza in high school, and by graduation, he had advanced to being assistant manager. He became bar manager of a TGI Fridays before he could legally drink. His regional manager told him he “had learned as much as you’re going to learn here,” so the following weekend, he drove to Atlanta and walked into The Tavern at Phipps, which had just been on the cover of the Hudspeth Report. He put on a whole Tom Cruise “Cocktail” show for them. Within one year, the bar had doubled their revenue. Soon, Steve was recognized in the premiere issue of Jezebel Magazine as one of the top bartenders in Atlanta. He was invited to attend the Skyy Vodka Quest World Bartending Competition at Disney World. Steve placed seventh in the world as a “flair” bartender and won the state of Georgia title three times. When Steve was 29 years old, he was approached about becoming the beverage partner for a new property to open in Atlanta. Completely under-funded and totally naive, he said, “Okay, let’s do this.” He emptied his bank account to fund the initial deposit on the lease and later secured the funding through a friend of a friend, and soon became President. The company has been a debt-free company and growing organically for 12 years, including 8 bars and restaurant and has won national awards like the USA Today Top Ten Bar in the US.

Armen Avanessian – Author of Selling Senses: Unlocking the Power of Sensory Sales and Inner Wisdom Speed wins, whether it’s speed to market or speed to solution, speed wins, but perfection can kill momentum. Armen Avanessian as a potential source for your coverage. An award-winning fintech and payment sales leader with more than 20 years of experience, Avanessian recently released his debut book, Selling Senses: Unlocking the Power of Sensory Sales and Inner Wisdom. The book offers entrepreneurs a fresh perspective on why customers buy—not just based on logic or data, but on emotion, experience and intuition and how founders can intentionally design those experiences to drive growth, differentiation and long-term loyalty. Avanessian shares practical insights on building trust, standing out in competitive markets and creating meaningful customer connections through sensory engagement and human-centered leadership. He is available for interviews and can provide actionable takeaways for your audience. I’d also be happy to share a complimentary review copy of Selling Senses upon request. Faisal Hoque – #1 Wall Street Journal and USA Today Best Selling Author, Founder and Chair at NextChapter, Founder and Managing Director at Shadoka, Author of Globee Awards winning 2022 Publication of the Year for Best Business Book called Lift: Fostering the Leader in You Amid Revolutionary Global Change Unless you know and connect with yourself and connect with other people, you cannot certainly connect with your creation and the creation that actually creates value. Faisal Hoque is an accomplished entrepreneur, noted thought leader, technology innovator, advisor to CEOs, BODs, and the US federal government, and an author with more than 25 years of cross-industry success. He is the founder of SHADOKA, NextChapter, and other companies. They focus on enabling sustainable and transformational changes. He also serves as a strategic partner and a thought leader for CACI, and works extensively with US Federal Agencies. CACI is a $6 billion public company who plays a vital role in US national security. He is a 3 times winning Founder and CEO of Deloitte Technology Fast 50 and Deloitte Technology Fast 500™ awards. At the age of only 14, he began what would be the first of many businesses; cobbling together stereo components to sell from his father’s home in Dhaka, Bangladesh in order to save the money he would need to support his plan to study in the United States. He built his first commercial software product at the age of 19 while studying at the University of Minnesota, and went on to hold management positions in Pitney Bowes and then Dun and Bradstreet. In 1991, Pitney Bowes recruited him to join one of their R&D groups before he finished his undergraduate degree. As a serial entrepreneur, he has raised venture capital from angels, strategic partners, and institutional investors to fund his innovative business-to-business startups. Over the decades, his companies innovated products and solutions that: provided middleware software for complex, secure transaction processing; created industry’s first set of re-usable software components for integrated B2B e-commerce; and pioneered comprehensive business value management frameworks and platforms. As a thought leader, he has authored a number of award winning books on leadership, innovation, mindfulness, resilience, organizational transformation, and entrepreneurship, including the #1 Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller Lift – Fostering the Leader in You Amid Revolutionary Global Change (Fast Company), and the #2 Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller Everything Connects – Cultivating Mindfulness, Creativity, and Innovation for Long-Term Value (Fast Company). His work has appeared in Fast Company, Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Fox, CBS, Financial Times, Mergers & Acquisitions, Forbes, Leadership Excellence, and Huffington Post among other publications. He holds a strong belief that it is through knowledge sharing that we may provide the greatest clarity on how to improve our collective future. As a globetrotter, he is passionate about nature, people, culture, music, and design, and he loves to cook.

Wayne Allen Root – Wayne Allyn Root – Former Libertarian Vice Presidential Nominee, Nationally Syndicated Radio Host, Entrepreneur, and Author of The Power of Relentless: 7 Secrets to Achieving Mega-Success, Financial Freedom, and the Life of Your Dreams If you worry what critics say, you will never be successful in life. Wayne Allyn Root is an American entrepreneur, nationally syndicated radio host, television personality, and bestselling author known for his high-energy style and outspoken views on business, politics, and the American Dream. Often referred to by his initials “WAR,” he has built a multi-decade career spanning media, finance, and public speaking, earning a reputation as a relentless advocate for capitalism, economic freedom, and small business success. Root is the author of numerous bestselling books, including The Power of Relentless, TRUMP RULES, The Great Patriot Protest & Boycott Book, and The Murder of the Middle Class. His work focuses on achievement, financial independence, and winning strategies in both business and life. He first gained national political attention as the Libertarian Party’s vice presidential nominee in 2008, later becoming a prominent conservative voice across radio, television, and digital platforms. He currently hosts the nationally syndicated radio show “Wayne Allyn Root: Raw & Unscripted” on the USA Radio Network and the widely followed podcast “WAR RAW.” In television, he has hosted programs such as “America’s Top Ten Countdown” on Real America’s Voice and “Raw & Unfiltered” on Lindell TV. Earlier in his career, Root served as an anchorman and host on CNBC, then known as Financial News Network, where he developed his on-air presence and financial commentary expertise. Beyond media, Root has a background as a successful entrepreneur and Las Vegas gaming executive, along with experience as a reality television producer. He is a frequent keynote speaker, addressing audiences across the United States on entrepreneurship, leadership, and economic trends. His influence in talk media has earned him recognition on the Talkers Heavy Hundred list of the top radio hosts in America. Root’s career has also included close involvement in national politics. He was a visible supporter and campaign surrogate for Donald J. Trump, frequently serving as a featured speaker at events and maintaining a strong media presence during election cycles. His commentary is widely syndicated through Creators Syndicate and appears in newspapers across the country. Born in New York into a blue-collar family, Root credits his upbringing and relentless work ethic as central to his success philosophy. He now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada with his wife and children, continuing to build his brand across media, publishing, and public speaking. Ken Lizotte – Founder/CEO of Emerson Consulting Group and Author of Walden for Hire: Business Lessons from Henry David Thoreau There’s something about the credibility of a book, even though a lot of people say, well, who reads books anymore? Ken Lizotte CMC is Founder/CEO of emerson consulting group inc., a firm that has transformed 450+ business experts, professional service firms, private companies and nonprofit organizations into “recognized thought leaders” by helping them spread their thought leading ideas via publishing books and articles, and delivering speaking engagements so as to separate them from their “competitive pack.” Hundreds of Ken’s “client thought leaders” have published first-time books thanks to the efforts of Ken and his team. Author of nine books and editor of two more, Ken’s newest book “Walden for Hire: Business Lessons from Henry David Thoreau,” has been published by HarperCollins Leadership, and has been a columnist for the Huffington Post, Money Inc., the American Management Association, and Boston Magazine. He lives in Concord Massachusetts, a short 3-mile run to Walden Pond and Thoreau Farm.

Ashley Herd – Founder of Manager Method and Author of The Manager Method: A Practical Framework to Lead, Support, and Get Results If you walk out of a situation at work and all you’ve accomplished is jamming it down someone’s throat that you’re right, no matter whether you are or not, that’s likely going to impact the way that person works for the rest of the day. Ashley Herd is the Founder of Manager Method and the author of The Manager Method: A Practical Framework to Lead, Support, and Get Results. She is a former Head of HR for North America at McKinsey & Company and an employment attorney who began her career at Ogletree Deakins. Across her career in law, legal, and HR leadership roles at organizations including Yum! Brands, Ashley has worked with everyone from frontline restaurant managers to senior consultants, giving her a rare, ground level and executive view of what actually works in management. Ashley is known for her practical approach to leadership, shaped by years of seeing preventable workplace issues escalate simply because managers were never taught how to handle real situations. She has built a large following of more than 500,000 professionals by sharing clear, actionable guidance on hiring, feedback, performance management, and employee relations. Her work focuses on closing the gap between what companies expect from managers and what managers are actually trained to do. Through Manager Method, Ashley created a modern training system that combines on demand learning with live, HR led cohorts, allowing organizations to scale consistent, real world management training without relying on one time workshops that fail to stick. Her framework emphasizes scenario based learning so managers can practice high stakes conversations before they happen, improving both performance and workplace culture. Dr Suzan Song – Author of Why We Suffer and How We Heal: Using Narrative, Ritual, and Purpose to Flourish Through Life’s Challenges Purpose is something that has meaning that’s outside of oneself Dr Suzan Song is a Harvard and Stanford-trained psychiatrist, medical anthropologist and humanitarian mental health adviser. For more than two decades, she has dedicated her work on building resilience in individuals and communities affected by adversity – from everyday struggles to the world’s most challenging environments of war and human trafficking. Dr Song has advised the United Nations, multiple U.S. federal agencies and Ministries of Health, shaping systems of care for children and families in crisis to bridge clinical innovation with systems reform and localized approaches. She has a private practice in Washington D.C., is a professor of psychiatry at George Washington University and a sought-after speaker on leadership resilience, systems change and the science of healing. Her mission is to bridge clinical reality and systemic change, bringing the lessons of human survival into leadership, policy and programmes that can transform lives at scale.

David Cozzens – Founder and CEO of Train with David Anything you start, you’re just going to suck at, and that’s normal… but if you do something long enough and learn from your mistakes, you will get better as you go. Dave is a multi-location business owner and entrepreneur who has built and scaled one of the highest-volume personal training companies in Southern California. He grew the business from the ground up, focusing on systems, operations, and execution rather than hype or shortcuts, and now oversees multiple locations generating consistent cash flow without daily hands-on involvement. With over a decade of experience hiring, training, and managing teams, Dave specializes in turning service-based businesses into scalable operations. His work centers on practical growth strategy, customer acquisition, retention, leadership development, and building businesses that run without burning out the owner. Dave is known for his no-nonsense, execution-focused approach to entrepreneurship and shares real-world lessons on what actually works when growing a business – mistakes included. Barry H. Cohen – Owner of AdLab Media and the Co-Author of the Book 10 Ways To Get Sued By Anyone & Everyone If you don’t have proper agreement with your partners… how do you go back and fix that later? Barry H. Cohen is the Owner of AdLab Media and the Co-Author of the Book 10 Ways To Get Sued By Anyone & Everyone. For over thirty years, Barry has plied his trade in the advertising industry and the broadcast community. For the past twelve years, Barry has served as principal of AdLab. Prior to that, he held positions with New York radio stations WPAT and WOR, and served as General Manager of WKCW, a Virginia radio station. Barry is the author of a widely reviewed advertising guide book for smaller companies, entitled 10 WAYS TO SCREW UP AN AD CAMPAIGN.  He is co-author of the book Startup Smarts.  Barry has also authored guest columns for Floorcovering Weekly, Radio & Records and Performance magazines, as well as Tiempo de Mercadeo. A familiar speaker on advertising, Barry has addressed national and regional organizations, including the Radio Advertising Bureau, Interep, the Concert Industry Consortium, the Mid-Year Radio Symposium, the Natural Products Expo East, the US Small Business Administration, The NJ Innovates Conference, the NJ Florists Association, the Financial Institutions Marketing Association, the Mid-Jersey Business Expo and the Gateway Small Business Expo, in addition to the American Marketing Association and TD Bank. He is the recipient of several creative awards: from the NJ Ad Club, the Dynamic Graphics Foundation, the Association of Graphic Communicators, and the Silver Microphone Awards. Barry H. Cohen is the author of the acclaimed book 10 Ways to Screw Up an Ad Campaign (Simon & Schuster/Adams Media) and co-author of Startup Smarts (Simon & Schuster/Adams Media). He is also the co-author of the novel Comin’Home, and author of the Soul Switchers series of novels. Barry specializes in Strategic Planning and Media Liaison, leveraging his expertise in radio, television, magazines, and public relations. He graduated Cum Laude from Kean University with a B.A. in English/Speech-Theater-Media. Barry’s accomplishments extend beyond his education as he was admitted to the Roundtable Group expert consultancy and actively served on the boards of notable organizations including Kean University Alumni Association, NJ Ad Club, Allgood Entertainment, Network Plus, and Amwell Security. His impressive profile includes features and profiles in prominent publications such as NJ Business, NJ Biz, Entrepreneur, StartupJournal.com, AdLaw.com, Whole Foods, Pollstar, Radio Ink, Radio Business Report, Radio & Records, “The (Bergen) Record,” and “The Miami Herald.”

Wendy Lipton-Dibner – President & CEO of Professional Impact  and Author of What Matters Matters Most When you focus on impact, the money comes. Wendy Lipton-Dibner, M.A., is widely regarded as a leading authority on organizational development through strategic and operational impact. A multiple-time bestselling author, sought-after strategist, and serial entrepreneur, she is known for helping organizations increase profitability by maximizing the real-world impact they create for all stakeholders. As President, Founder, and CEO of Professional Impact, Inc., Wendy developed Organizational Impact Strategy, invented Real-World Impact Metrics, and created the Journey of Impact app. Her work has helped thousands of leaders across enterprise, healthcare, small business, and nonprofit sectors improve team effectiveness and revenue by focusing on measurable impact in people’s lives. She serves as a trusted advisor to professionals and influencers across a wide range of industries, from healthcare and finance to technology, hospitality, and e-commerce, and is internationally recognized as a dynamic speaker whose keynotes, trainings, and programs have reached millions. Her strategies have been praised by Forbes® as “The Secret to Success in Business” and by Inc.® as “Your path to profitable impact.” Wendy began her academic journey with a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Southern Connecticut State College and later entered the PhD program at Duke University, where she studied sociology, psychology, and social research. During her time there, she conducted and presented groundbreaking research, including a master’s thesis exploring the relationship between social class, school attachment, and delinquency. She was later recruited to manage a major research study at Texas Christian University, where she taught sociology, oversaw multiple evaluation studies, and published academic work. Her research team was even invited to present findings to the United States Senate, an experience that profoundly shaped her perspective on the tension between financial priorities and meaningful outcomes. This moment sparked a defining question that would guide her career: what if organizations prioritized impact over income? Motivated by this idea, Wendy left academia to launch her own business, designed as a real-world laboratory to test her hypothesis. Within six months, her company broke industry revenue records by making measurable impact its top priority. Her success led to widespread consulting opportunities, and she went on to refine and apply her strategies across numerous industries with transformative results. After selling her business, she expanded her work nationwide, gaining certifications in multiple schools of psychology and building a psychotherapy practice focused on helping sales professionals succeed through impact-driven approaches. Over time, she developed proprietary formulas—many copyrighted, trademarked, or patented – that consistently delivered high performance, customer loyalty, and revenue growth. Wendy has built multiple businesses, authored bestselling books used in organizations and academic institutions, and contributed extensively to business, healthcare, and social science publications. Known for her relentless drive and creativity, she attributes her success to a simple philosophy: Focus On Impact®. Each day, she challenges herself to expand her influence and continue her Journey of Impact, fueled by gratitude for the people and experiences that have shaped her life, including her enduring partnership with her husband, Dr. Hal Dibner. Ali Hafizji – CEO of Wednesday Solutions What matters most is your decision making capability… do you trust insights that the market reveals to you, or do you make decisions based on what somebody else is doing. Ali Hafizji is one of the creators of Traction, a live startup simulation that exposes real founder decision-making under constraint, and CEO of Wednesday, an AI-native product engineering company which has worked with multiple unicorns. Traction compresses months of early-stage chaos into a live experience. Founders and early team members operate inside the same simulated company, sharing limited resources and competing priorities, with one goal: attract paid users. What makes Traction different is what happens after the simulation. Participants are evaluated against the same behaviors and metrics consistently seen in teams that reach product-market fit, revealing the gap between stated intent and real decisions. Instead of interviews, advice, or frameworks, Traction reveals behavior.

Robyn Anderson – Founder of Jam AI The people are what makes my product unique, and the people are my product, not the AI. Robyn Anderson is a business strategist, seasoned marketer, and founder of Jam AI, a platform focused on helping professionals and small business owners confidently adopt artificial intelligence in their day to day work. With more than two decades of experience spanning marketing, events, and brand storytelling, she specializes in translating complex technology into simple, practical systems that drive real business results. Through Jam AI, Robyn delivers hands on training and tools that make AI approachable, useful, and human centered, empowering entrepreneurs to streamline operations, improve customer experience, and build sustainable growth without overwhelm. Oren Fanok – CEO & Co-Founder of Pegasus Ticketing We’ve seen a lot of prices rise and a lot of customer experiences drop. Oren Fanok is the Chief Executive Officer of Pegasus Ticketing, a next-generation platform transforming how attractions manage ticketing, operations, and customer insights. With a foundation in finance, management, and business analytics, Oren combines data-driven strategy with a mission-first mindset to help zoos, aquariums, and attractions operate more efficiently while contributing to global conservation efforts.

Jose Herrera – Co-Founder & CEO of Horatio If AI handles 80% of tickets, you need 80% fewer people… the math makes sense in the boardroom, but it doesn’t really survive contact with reality. Jose Herrera is the Co-Founder and CEO of Horatio, the modern outsourcing company revolutionizing CX services and the BPO industry. Under his leadership, the company has been recognized for its innovative approach to customer service. Jose is committed to delivering exceptional customer experiences and leveraging technology to drive business growth. Horatio is the trusted partner for some of the fastest-growing startups and enterprises in the world. Their on-brand customer support teams help them leverage CX as a revenue generator through personalized customer experience support. Horatio is headquartered in New York City with main offshore offices located in Santo Domingo and Santiago, Dominican Republic.​ Prior to founding Horatio, Jose spent seven years at Morgan Stanley as VP, covering Latin America and US Offshore markets, and began his career at Goldman Sachs. He attended Columbia Business School for his MBA in Entrepreneurship and Bentley University for his Bachelor’s of Science. Autumn Visser – Principal and Co-chair of the Corporate & Business Transactions Practice at Woods Rogers Your idea of what your business does in your head is very clear, but people on the outside have no idea because they speak a different language. Autumn R. Visser is a Principal and Co-Chair of the Corporate and Business Transactions Practice at Woods Rogers, where she works closely with entrepreneurs, founders, and growing companies on the legal strategies that shape how businesses are built and scaled. Her practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, corporate structuring, and emerging growth and venture capital, with a strong emphasis on helping businesses make smart decisions early so they can avoid costly problems later. Autumn is known for translating complex legal concepts into practical, real-world guidance that founders can actually use. She regularly helps entrepreneurs navigate entity formation, ownership structures, and investment readiness, often stepping in to correct issues that arise from rushed or misunderstood early decisions. Her approach centers on asking the right questions before action is taken, identifying risks in advance, and building structures that support long-term growth rather than short-term convenience. Recognized for both her professional excellence and leadership, Autumn has been named to Virginia Business Magazine’s Women in Leadership and is part of multiple “Legal Elite” recognitions. She is actively involved in the legal and broader business community through organizations such as the American Bar Association, the National Association of Bond Lawyers, and the Virginia Women Attorneys Association. She also serves as Treasurer and Board Member for Goodwill of the Valleys and as a Board Member for Virginia Navigator. Autumn earned her J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law and her B.A. from the University of Northern Iowa, and she is admitted to practice in Virginia and California.

Bobby Mascia – CEO of Green Ridge Wealth Planning and Author of Unchained: The Raw Truth About Entrepreneurship, Family Business and Life Balance We’re trying to unchain business owners from feeling like they bought themselves a really expensive job. Robert Mascia, known as “Bobby” to loved ones and clients alike, is a seasoned entrepreneur with a unique background working both on Wall Street and as an owner of several successful businesses. His story begins after graduating from Lehigh University with degrees in finance and marketing, which positioned him to launch his career in downtown New York as a hedge fund and assets management consultant. In 2003, Bobby took an unplanned hiatus from the Street to do something he had sworn off completely – working in the family franchise business. He saw no other choice when 9/11 and his parents’ personal health scares forced him to step away from his dream career. For nine years, Bobby learned every aspect of the Dunkin’ business and played a key role in expanding it. During his time there, Bobby helped grow his family’s ownership from 20 to 40 locations and $50m in revenue by developing a strong team and leveraging strategic partnerships. While this venture had forced him to abandon finance, it was, unbeknownst to him at the time, preparing him for much bigger things to come. Working with family can come with consequences, and by 2011, Bobby found his relationship with his father deteriorating. At the same time, his love of finance had never waned. Bobby knew that he had reached a fork in the road—continue his current journey or pivot into the unknown. He took a hard right and risked it all to do what he loved. Bobby spent several years preparing to take the giant step of starting his own firm. His vision was to create a financial planning and investment management experience that differed from what he had seen firsthand. He also knew that he had a unique proposition for business owners and entrepreneurs—a wealth of knowledge from his years of firsthand experience in the family business. Among the most valuable lessons he had learned about achieving financial success was the importance of quality relationships with smart, capable professionals. By 2016, he was ready and launched Green Ridge Wealth Planning. Fast forward to the present day. Bobby has built a firm true to his vision, offering business owners, individuals and families a boutique, highly personalized financial planning and investment management experience. He continues to stay true to his promise to be transparent, accessible and reliable, giving his firm what clients call “a family feel.” Bobby has built a team that shares his vision and passion for excellence. The result? A growing business where clients trust our team to guide them through life’s financial complexities so that they can live their best lives. Volodymyr Panchenko – CEO and Co-Founder of Portal AI Everyone has a personal AI agent, which can remember, care and do anything you want for you, about you and with you. Volodymyr Panchenko, CEO and co-founder of Portal.ai, He recently launched Portal One+, a platform built around persistent AI agents that remember context, understand users over time, and help execute tasks and workflows continuously rather than resetting each session. Previously, he founded DMarket, a digital asset marketplace acquired by Mythical Games, giving him firsthand experience with scaling, fundraising, and exiting in fast-moving markets. He can speak to why most founder–investor conversations fail in the first 10 minutes, how continuity and context change decision-making, what founders misunderstand about investor psychology, and how AI is shifting from reactive tools to systems that support ongoing execution.

Geoffrey Howard – CEO of Money Confidence Project  It’s estimated that employers are losing two hundred and fifty billion, that’s with a B, billion dollars a year in productivity due to employees and their financial stress, their financial anxiety. Geoffrey Howard is the CEO of Money Confidence Project. I’ve got extensive experience in the digital space with both ad-supported and subscription-based business models. I understand the value of creating recurring revenue streams, bundling product offerings, and maintaining long-lasting customer relationships. Over the course of my career, I’ve amassed and honed a vast arsenal of finance and administrative skills: Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A), Investor relations, M&A analysis, Controllership, Treasury / Cash Management, Financial Systems Implementation, Strategic Analysis, Business Modeling, Cost Analysis, Audit, Legal Compliance, Contract Negotiation and Drafting, Business Dissolution, People Management (HR), and Benefits Analysis. I’m especially skilled at building cross-functional relationships within the organization to improve and financial and operational performance. I am an effective presenter with the ability to translate and summarize accounting and financial data into something simple that everyone can understand. I’m not afraid to roll up my sleeves and be an individual contributor when necessary and my greatest satisfaction is knowing that I have helped others succeed. Amy Leneker – Author of Cheers to Monday: The Surprisingly Simple Method to Lead and Live with Less Stress and More Joy  So for everyone who hates Mondays, we’re hating 2,109 days of our lives, which is just not what we wanna do. Amy Leneker is an optimistic, joy-seeking, recovering workaholic. She’s also a leadership consultant with over 25 years of leadership experience, including a decade in the C-suite, who has helped over 100,000 leaders, teams, and organizations (from Fortune 100 companies to the public sector) thrive at work through keynotes, coaching, and training, centered on less stress and more joy. A first-generation college student, Amy earned both her undergraduate and graduate degrees while working full-time and later raising a family. She has studied leadership at Yale, neuroscience at the NeuroLeadership Institute, and stress resilience at Harvard Medical School. Amy has appeared in Forbes, Katie Couric Media, Inc., CEOWORLD Magazine, and other prestigious outlets. She is a regular contributor to Fast Company and the author of the national research study, The State of Stress and Joy at Work 2026. Cheers to Monday is her first book and was an instant national bestseller, debuting as the #1 bestselling business book on the USA Today bestseller list and in the top 10 on the Publisher’s Weekly bestseller list. She and her family make their home in the Pacific Northwest.

Aaron Chapman – Author of Redneckonomics: Unconventional Success by Takin’ the Beatin’ Path Nobody gives a damn about you, because they don’t. You got to give a damn about you. Aaron Chapman is a nationally recognized mortgage finance expert, entrepreneur, and speaker who has spent more than 27 years helping real estate investors build lasting wealth through strategic lending and financial discipline. Rising from humble beginnings working in the oil fields and as a long haul truck driver, Aaron carved his path into becoming one of the most influential figures in U.S. investment property lending, with his team underwriting a significant share of investor real estate mortgages nationwide. Known for his practical, no nonsense approach, he teaches that wealth is a skill developed through experience, not luck. Aaron has shared stages with leading voices in business and real estate, challenging audiences to rethink success through grit, accountability, and consistent action. He is the author of Redneckonomics: Unconventional Success by Takin’ the Beatin’ Path, where he distills decades of real world lessons on leverage, asset protection, and long term financial growth, offering a clear and proven framework for investors at any stage to create sustainable financial freedom.

Paul Sloane – Speaker on Lateral Thinking and Innovation and Author of The Art of Unexpected Solutions: Using Lateral Thinking to Find Breakthroughs If real people don’t have a pain which you’re solving, “then chances are your business not going to work. Paul Sloane writes and speaks on lateral thinking and the leadership of innovation. He gained a master’s degree in Engineering at Cambridge University. He joined IBM where he came top of Sales School. He was Marketing Director and then Managing Director of the database leaders, Ashton-Tate. He was appointed VP International for MathSoft and became CEO of software start up, Monactive. He is the author of 25 books which have sold over two 2 million copies in all. Titles include The Art of Unexpected Solutions, The Leader’s Guide to Lateral Thinking Skills, and Lateral Thinking for Every Day. He speaks at conferences and facilitates workshops for corporate clients. He has over 25,000 students for his online courses on Udemy. He is a visiting lecturer at Cambridge University, Lancaster Business School, Henley Business School and the Mumbai Institute of Technology. He is a recognized thought leader on innovation topics and has 38,000 followers on X. He lives near Windsor in England and is married with three daughters. Corporate clients include: Airbus, AKQA, Bayer, Bertelsmann, Liverpool University Business School, Microsoft, Reckitt Benckiser, Glaxo Smith Kline, Nike, Novartis, SABIC, Swarovski and Unilever. AD “The Kingmaker” Dunbar – CEO of Dunbar Consulting Your number one job as a man in a relationship with a woman is not to provide, is not to protect… it is to keep her attraction to you high. AD “The Kingmaker” Dunbar is a Relationship Performance Strategist who helps high-achieving married men become desired leaders again by restoring masculine leadership, polarity, and presence inside their marriages without therapy, emotional negotiations, or choreplay. He works with CEOs, founders, and executives earning $200K–$2M+ who dominate professionally but feel their authority and attraction quietly eroding at home. AD reframes marriage as a leadership arena, not a compromise, and teaches men how to lead with certainty, calm authority, and internal gravity.

Tracy Holland – Co-Founder of HATCHBEAUTY Brands, Founder of InnerFifth and Host of Potential to Powerhouse Podcast The mission in life, if you’re an entrepreneur, is to surprise and delight your customer, no matter what it is you do, and if you can under promise and over deliver on experience, you are going to be successful no matter what the category is. Tracy Holland is a founder, investor, and serial entrepreneur best known as the Co Founder of HATCHBEAUTY, where she helped build one of the most successful brand incubators in the beauty industry, generating more than $750 million in cumulative wholesale revenue. With a proven track record of identifying trends, launching products, and scaling consumer brands, she has become a trusted voice in both the operational and human side of entrepreneurship. She is the Founder of InnerFifth, an ecosystem designed to help entrepreneurs and creators build high growth businesses while maintaining alignment, clarity, and personal well being. Through initiatives such as the InnerFifth Accelerator, Goodwill Brands, and her podcast Potential to Powerhouse, Tracy focuses on guiding founders through both the tactical execution of scaling and the internal work required to sustain success over time. An EY Entrepreneur of the Year award recipient and Fashion and Beauty Award honoree, Tracy is also a member of The Committee of 200, a global organization of leading women entrepreneurs and executives. Known for her ability to connect strategy with mindset, she brings a unique perspective that blends business performance with personal transformation. She is scheduled to deliver a TED Talk in April 2026, where she will expand on her work around identity, resilience, and building success without burnout. Jack Oujo – Founder of Oujo Wealth Strategies and Author of Too Smart to be an Umpire If they spend $80,000 a year, the interest and dividends need to be greater than that to make sure that they’re okay and survive bear markets. Jack Oujo CPA/PFS, CFP(*), MS (Taxation) is the author of Too Smart to be an Umpire and founder of Oujo Wealth Strategies , one of the nations largest tax-focused wealth management firms. Before finance, he spent eight years as a professional baseball umpire, advancing to AAA and winning the Joe Ryan Award. Though denied a MLB spot, Jack turned the setback into motivation , leveraging his offseason accounting work into a thriving career. He earned the Avantax Top Producer Award for over 25 years and was the #1 producer for over ten consecutive years in the last decade. A graduate of Middlesex County College, Seton Hall University, and Fairleigh Dickinson University, Jack was inducted into the Old Bridge High School Wall of Fame in 2013. His community service includes coaching at St Rose High School and running a FREE youth umpire clinic in Brick, NJ. An avid golfer, he is a member of Coral Ridge Country Club in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Spring Lake Golf Club in New Jersey. Jack Oujo is a Financial Advisor. Securities offered through Cetera Wealth Services LLC, Member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through Cetera Investment Advisors LLC, a registered investment advisor. Cetera is under separate ownership from any other named entity.

Mark Podolsky – Managing Director at Land Geek and Host of The Art of Passive Income Podcast The fundamental way of you know, when you do marketing, a good headline, having strong urgency, scarcity, a clear call to action, like these fundamentals haven’t changed in eight years. Mark Podolsky, known as “The Land Geek,” is the Managing Director of Land Geek and a leading expert in raw land investing. Since 2001, he has built a highly successful career buying and selling undeveloped land, completing more than 5,500 transactions and creating a proven system for generating passive income through land deals. He is also the author of Dirt Rich, a practical guide that teaches investors how to build a scalable and efficient land investing business. Through his company, Frontier Equity Properties, which holds an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, Mark has established a reputation for integrity, consistency, and results. Beyond his own investing success, he is deeply committed to helping others achieve financial independence using the same methods that transformed his own life. Mark is also the host of The Art of Passive Income Podcast, where he shares actionable strategies, insights, and real-world lessons on creating passive income streams. As a coach, teacher, and mentor, he has built a strong community of entrepreneurs who are focused on building wealth in a practical, systematic way. His approach combines disciplined investing with simple, repeatable processes, empowering others to create freedom through land ownership. Noah St. John, PhD – Founder of St. John Executive Coaching and the Author of the Book The 7-Figure Life: How to Leverage The 4 Focus Factors for More Wealth and Happiness If you think about it, it’s like driving a car trying to reach your goals. Is like driving a car. In your car, there’s two forces at work, the driving force of the foot on the gas, restraining force of the foot on the brake. Noah St John is a communication expert, keynote speaker, and bestselling author of ten books. He is famous for inventing Afformations®, a positive self-talk tool that helps busy people remove mental barriers, build confidence, and make more money. Noah St. John, PhD is recognized as “The Mental Health Coach to the Stars.” Working with Hollywood celebrities, seven- and eight-figure company CEOs, professional athletes, top executives, and elite entrepreneurs, Noah is famous for helping his coaching clients make more in twelve weeks than they did in the previous twelve months, while winning back 1–3 hours per day and 4–8 weeks a year. Noah’s clients are the 0.1% rock stars who love to take action and get amazing results! Noah is also the only author in history to have works published by HarperCollins, Hay House, Simon & Schuster, Mindvalley, Nightingale-Conant, and the Chicken Soup for the Soul publisher. Noah’s mission is to eliminate not-enoughness from the world and he is internationally recognized for his signature coaching services; facilitating workshops at companies and institutions across the globe; and appearing on over 1,000 media outlets including ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, The Hallmark Channel, NPR, Entrepreneur, The Jenny McCarthy Show, Selling Power and SUCCESS Magazine.

Chris Dyer – Keynote Speaker, Consultant, Former 5x Inc. 5000 CEO, and Author of Moments That Matter: See, Shape, and Scale What Count I just don’t want the grass to be greener on the other side. I don’t want it to be any better. I’m going to create the best place you’re ever going to work. Chris Dyer is Inc. Magazine’s #1 Leadership Speaker on Culture, a 5x Inc. 5000 CEO, and 3x bestselling author of The Power of Company Culture, Remote Work, and Moments That Matter. Ranked #15 on Global Gurus Top 30 Organizational Culture Professionals for 2026 and named a Top 101 Global Employee Engagement Influencer five consecutive years (2022–2026), Chris is among the most in-demand keynote speakers on leadership, company culture, remote work, and the future of work. He has delivered 300+ keynotes in 20+ countries for organizations including NASA, Johnson & Johnson, Intuit, IKEA, and Southwest Airlines. A former CEO who built and led companies repeatedly named Best Places to Work, his 7 Pillars of Amazing Culture framework and Moments That Matter approach help leaders unlock productivity, performance, and profits with actionable strategies, insightful candor, and engaging humor. R. Karl Hebenstreit, Ph.D., PCC, PHR – Certified Executive Coach, Multi-Award-Winning Author, International Speaker and Author of Explicit Expectations: The Essential Guide & Toolkit of Management Fundamentals You won’t change your core motivation, your core motivation stays your core motivation for life, but you can change your behaviors, and you can change the way you look at things, and all it takes is pause and focus. Dr. Karl Hebenstreit is a certified executive coach, leadership and organization development consultant, author, and international speaker. His 25+ year career spans the areas of HR and OD in the biotechnology, clinical diagnostics, life sciences, healthcare, pharmaceutical, telecommunications, professional services, high-tech, and real estate services industries, having worked at Merck, Bellcore, AT&T, Lee Hecht Harrison, Cushman & Wakefield, Kaiser Permanente, EMC², Bio-Rad Laboratories, and Genentech/Roche. He holds a PhD in Organizational Psychology from Alliant International University/CSPP (where his dissertation focused on “Helping Organizations Attract, Retain, and Motivate employees with the Enneagram”), a MS in HR Management from the Rutgers Graduate School of Management and Labor Relations, an Evidence-Based Coaching Certificate from Fielding Graduate University (that led to his PCC), and is an IEA Accredited Professional with Distinction as well as an IEA Accredited Professional/Provider/Teacher. He is the author of The How & Why: Taking Care of Business with the Enneagram (now in its second edition) and the children’s book Nina and the Really, Really Tough Decision.

Richard McWhorter – Private Wealth Advisor, Managing Partner of SRM Private Wealth You have to treat them as human beings underneath it all… that’s where we all come back down to the baseline. Richard McWhorter CFP®, CRPC, SRM Private Wealth, is a dynamic financial advisor known for his distinctive and unconventional approach, bringing an alternative and fresh perspective to wealth management, financial topics, economics, and more. With over 30 years of wealth management expertise and having worked with some of the biggest companies in the finance industry, McWhorter combines traditional financial expertise with a creative, personalized approach. From finance lessons learned in the locker room, to the business that takes place backstage, he is a wealth advisor who thinks outside the box and believes in an edgy, innovative approach to finance. Based in Beverly Hills and working with ultra-high-net-worth clients, McWhorter distinguishes himself not only through his financial expertise but also through his enthusiasm for the music, sporting, and entertainment industries and his commitment to philanthropy. Throughout his career, he has bridged the gap between celebrities and several charitable causes. With personal and professional ties in the entertainment and music industries, McWhorter leverages his connections to create exclusive opportunities for his clients while supporting important causes and nonprofit organizations. He can speak as an expert, credible source on several topics related to wealth management and finance — especially those related to entertainment, music, sports and economics. He has been recognized by Forbes, Financial Times, and Barrons and quoted in numerous well-respected media outlets, including US News & World Report, Business Insider, GoBankingRates, and more. He is also a member of the Fast Company Executive Board. Kevin Lawrence – Strategic Advisor to CEOs & Their Teams, Author: The 4 Forces of Growth, Your Oxygen Mask First Problems never go away, and you could spend all day, every day, for years on problems… but then nobody ends up spending any time on the opportunities. Kevin Lawrence has spent three decades cracking the code on how to keep companies growing. Working side-by side with CEOs and leadership teams across North America, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, and Europe, he has developed a proven approach to help companies go from tens of millions to hundreds of millions in revenue. His insights are born from hands-on experience. Kevin is the author of Your Oxygen Mask First, a book that equips high-performing executives with seventeen powerful habits to drive sustainable growth while managing stress, protecting their mental health, and staying resilient under relentless pressure. He was a key contributor to Scaling Up (Mastering the Rockefeller Habits 2.0). His latest book, The 4 Forces of Growth: Defy the Odds and Keep Your Company Scaling, is the must-have guide to becoming a leader with impact far beyond the balance sheet, helping you to keep your company evolving and create a legacy that matters. Based in Vancouver, Canada, he leads Lawrence & Co, a boutique firm of growth advisors.

Jon McNeill – CEO and Co-Found of DVx Ventures and Author of The Algorithm: The Hypergrowth Formula that Transformed Tesla, Lululemon, General Motors and SpaceX When you automate first, you’re automating a bad process, and all you do is get to the bad answer faster. Jon McNeill currently serves as the CEO and Co-Founder of DVx Ventures. With a track record of founding and scaling six companies, Jon has led teams that generated tens of thousands of jobs and delivered multi-billion dollar returns for investors.  At DVx, Jon and his team have launched 12 companies that are attacking broad opportunities in large markets. Previously, Jon served as President at Tesla, where revenue grew from $2B to $20B in just 30 months. Following Tesla, Jon joined Lyft as COO, where he played a pivotal role in doubling revenues and helping to take the company public. With a history as a six-time serial entrepreneur, Jon has a wealth of experience in operating and scaling companies during periods of hyper-growth in revenue and operations and has delivered returns of 9x to investors. Jon currently serves on the boards of General Motors, Lululemon, Asurion, CrossFit, and Stash. He played a pivotal role in Lululemon’s turnaround, contributing to a 5x increase in stock value. He also sits on the Liquid AI Advisory Council. After graduating from Northwestern University, Jon began his career at Bain & Company. A frequent speaker and guest lecturer at Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, and Stanford GSB, Jon is known for delivering practical, actionable insights on innovation, leadership, and scaling operations. In his book, The Algorithm: The Hypergrowth Formula that Transformed Tesla, Lululemon, General Motors and SpaceX, Jon shares a behind-the-scenes look at how iconic companies scale and outlines a playbook leaders can use to drive sustained growth and impact. Jeremy Reeves – CEO of Scale Advisors and Author of The Scalable Profit Model: How to Grow Faster, Keep More Profit and Stress Less You can work two hours a day on the right things, or you can work 15 hours a day on all the wrong things, and you’re probably going to get better results working two hours a day on the things that actually move the needle. Jeremy Reeves is the CEO of Scale Advisors, an entrepreneur, growth strategist, and author of The Scalable Profit Model: How to Grow Faster, Keep More Profit and Stress Less. With nearly two decades of hands-on experience in marketing, copywriting, operations, and business scaling, he has generated close to $200 million in revenue across his own companies and the businesses he has advised. Jeremy has successfully scaled multiple companies to eight figures and led teams of more than 100 employees, giving him deep, practical insight into what it really takes to grow a business sustainably. Through Scale Advisors, Jeremy works with high-integrity entrepreneurs to build scalable profit models that allow them to grow faster while keeping more of their profits and reducing unnecessary complexity. His approach combines advanced marketing strategy with operational discipline, helping founders move beyond revenue growth alone and focus on profitability, efficiency, and long-term stability. Jeremy is known for translating complex growth challenges into clear, actionable strategies backed by real-world case studies. He frequently shares his expertise through virtual events, podcast interviews, and training sessions, where he delivers practical, no-nonsense insights on scaling from six to eight figures, improving margins, building effective teams, and creating businesses that are both profitable and sustainable.

Garrett Fritz – Partner & CTO at MetaCTO What is valuable now is the problem solving, the ownership, the stakeholder mentality, and really the engineering think work which is valuable. Garrett Fritz is a Partner and Chief Technology Officer at MetaCTO, where he works closely with founders, creators, and business leaders to turn ambitious ideas into fully realized digital products. With more than a decade of experience in software development and digital transformation, Garrett has led the creation of scalable mobile apps and platforms for both startups and established companies. His expertise lies in translating complex technical concepts into clear, practical strategies, allowing non technical founders to make confident decisions and move quickly from idea to execution. At MetaCTO, Garrett has helped build a reputation for delivering high quality, modern, and AI enabled solutions across a wide range of industries including wellness, education, sports, and professional services. He focuses on aligning technology with business goals, ensuring that every product is designed not just to function well, but to grow and perform in the real world. Known for his straightforward communication style and results driven mindset, Garrett emphasizes clarity, efficiency, and long term value in every project he leads. Beyond his work with clients, Garrett is passionate about supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs. He mentors founders, shares insights on digital innovation, and continues to explore how technology can make building a business more accessible, efficient, and impactful. Michael Jacobson – CEO of French Florist Our rent investment is actually we consider a digital investment as opposed to a physical rent overhead. Michael Jacobson is the Chief Executive Officer of French Florist, where he is leading the transformation of a traditional industry through technology, innovation, and a modern franchise model. With a background that blends entrepreneurship, digital strategy, and operational leadership, Michael has helped reposition French Florist from a single retail concept into a scalable and rapidly growing brand. His focus on systems, data driven decision making, and customer experience has enabled the company to deliver significantly higher revenue and stronger margins than the typical neighborhood flower shop. Under Michael’s leadership, French Florist has built a reputation for combining high quality floral design with advanced logistics, e commerce, and marketing capabilities. By integrating technology into every part of the business, from ordering to delivery to franchise operations, he has created a model that allows both consistency and growth across locations. His approach emphasizes efficiency, brand strength, and repeatable success for franchise partners. Michael is passionate about rethinking legacy industries and showing how innovation can unlock new opportunities in even the most established markets. Through French Florist and its franchise platform, he continues to help entrepreneurs enter the floral business with a competitive advantage, while delivering a better overall experience for customers.

Andy Freed – CEO and CEO of Virtual Inc. We’ve always just really focused on our culture and really focused on our employees. Andy Freed is a nationally recognized CEO, author, and strategic leadership advisor whose company, Virtual, Inc., has been named a Best Place to Work for more than a decade. Known for his exceptional communication insight, he helps leaders rethink how they show up, connect, and communicate during moments of change, uncertainty, and high stakes decisions. His work has been endorsed by figures including George Stephanopoulos, NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Senator Angus King, reflecting his impact across business, media, and public leadership. Andy emphasizes that even well intended change can create disruption when it is not communicated effectively, making communication a central driver of leadership success. With more than 30 years of experience, Andy has advised teams at Microsoft, Google, Meta, and other global organizations, helping them craft messages that resonate and drive action. As Chairman of Virtual, Inc., a strategic consulting, marketing, and professional services firm, he supports mission driven organizations across technology, healthcare, financial services, and life sciences, including member groups representing some of the world’s most influential brands. His leadership approach combines vision, analytical rigor, and creativity to align stakeholders and guide organizations through growth and transformation. Andy’s insights are captured in his forthcoming book, Lead Like the Boss, where he translates the structure and energy of a Springsteen concert into a practical framework for leadership communication. He teaches that communication is leadership, and that intentional interactions determine whether strategy succeeds or fails. His work focuses on helping leaders anticipate resistance, address concerns, and create clarity through frameworks such as Think, Feel, Do, ensuring that every message lands with purpose and impact. Daniel ‘Danny’ Bobrow – Communication Skills Coach at The Persuasion Blueprint Be clear as to the problem that you’re solving, and next, be sure that you validate it with real people. Daniel “Danny” Bobrow is a communication skills coach and the creator of The Persuasion Blueprint, a structured framework designed to help leaders and teams transform everyday conversations into opportunities for trust, connection, and collaboration. Through his coaching, training programs, and workshops, he works with organizations and individuals to improve communication effectiveness, recover lost revenue caused by miscommunication, and build cultures that foster loyalty and referrals. His approach emphasizes that true persuasion is rooted in empathy and understanding, focusing on how people feel rather than simply what is said. Bobrow holds dual MBA degrees from the University of Chicago and KU Leuven in Belgium, combining a strong business foundation with practical communication strategies. In addition to his professional work, he is an ultraendurance athlete and mountaineer, experiences that influence his disciplined and resilient coaching style. Known for delivering clear, actionable insights, Bobrow has helped hundreds of leaders and teams elevate their communication skills, enabling them to create stronger relationships, align teams more effectively, and drive meaningful results across their organizations.

Sam Bousfield – CEO Samson Sky – Switchblade Flying Car Money doesn’t solve your technology, but it at least buys you the time to get that done. Sam Bousfield is the CEO and founder of Samson Sky and the visionary designer behind the Switchblade Flying Sports Car, a hybrid vehicle that can be driven on roads and flown as an aircraft. With a professional background spanning more than 25 years as an architect, Bousfield later transitioned into advanced vehicle design and aeronautical innovation, combining engineering, business, and creative disciplines to pioneer next generation transportation solutions. He holds a degree in architecture with additional studies in business management, marketing, and sales, and is the author of multiple patents, with work that has been published in both popular and professional scientific communities. Bousfield began developing breakthrough aircraft concepts in the early 2000s, collaborating with former Boeing engineers and producing designs that were recognized by leading aerospace organizations and even used by the Swedish government for wind tunnel calibration. After shifting his focus to practical transportation challenges, he founded Samson Sky and created the Switchblade to merge air and ground travel into a single, efficient vehicle. Today, he leads the company’s efforts to bring the Switchblade to market, positioning it as a transformative solution for regional travel and a major step toward the future of personal mobility. Matthew Fornaro – Attorney at Matthew Fornaro, P.A. It goes back to not having the stuff in place to begin with, and then dealing with those issues later on, versus proactively doing it at the beginning. Matthew Fornaro have mentored emerging entrepreneurs as an instructor for both the Kaufman Foundation’s FastTrac New Venture Program and the Jim Moran Institute. Every day in my practice, I see how smart legal planning can help business owners avoid pitfalls and seize opportunities as they grow. I am happy to share clear, action-oriented advice so your listeners walk away smarter, safer, and more confident about building their businesses. Matthew Fornaro has been a business law attorney serving South Florida, since 2003. Prior to starting his own law firm, he was an attorney at a 300+ attorney civil practice law firm that served local, national, and international clients, and was also an attorney at a prestigious national law firm. Matthew practices complex commercial litigation, including contract disputes. Matthew, a member of the Florida Bar and District of Columbia Bar, also practices construction law, intellectual property law, homeowner and condominium association representation, and drafts and revises of business documents, including the formation of business organizations. Matthew assists new business owners in choosing and drafting all legally required documents. Matthew is involved in mentoring new attorneys, as both a graduate and instructor of the Kaufman Foundation’s FastTrac NewVenture Program, presented by the Broward County Office of Economic and Small Business Development and the City of Hollywood, as well as a graduate and instructor for the Florida State University College of Business Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship Small Business Executive Program.

Gary Ashworth – CEO, Chairman, Investor x 30, Built Multiple £100m+ Companies, Successful Multi Million Pound Exits, Bringing Together UK & UAE Founders Who Want To Double Their Stake Every Three Years, and Author of Double-Up Money Mastery You only have to double 100,000 bucks to make 100 million, now that’s just 10 good decisions. Gary Ashworth is a serial entrepreneur, CEO, Chairman, non-executive director, and media commentator with over four decades of experience building and backing businesses across the UK and Dubai. Over the past 40 years, he has founded or supported more than 30 companies spanning recruitment, healthcare, property, and banking consultancy, helping each scale sustainably, exit successfully, or evolve into industry leaders. He launched his first business, Abacus Recruitment, at age 21; it later listed on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market in 1995 and was sold three years later for ten times its original value. Building on that success, he founded InterQuest Group, growing it into one of the UK’s leading technology recruitment businesses with over £100 million in turnover, operating multiple brands and serving global clients across specialist technology markets. Today, he serves as Chairman of Albany Beck, a specialist banking consultancy, manages a diverse property portfolio, and actively invests in ventures that have achieved multiple £100 million valuations and successful multi-million-pound exits. He is also a business coach, public speaker, and mentor, working with founders and executives on growth, scalability, and wealth creation strategies, while connecting UK and UAE entrepreneurs focused on doubling their stake every three years. An Amazon best-selling author, he wrote Double-Up: Money Mastery, which teaches that doubling £10,000 ten times can lead to £10 million. Samantha Flynn – Founder of Award-Winning Junipr Public Relations, Strategic Comms for CPG, B2C & B2B Brands, Forbes Communications Council Member, Keynote Speaker, Certified Women-Owned Business (WBE) and Author of The EntrePReneur Advantage: Turning Chaos into Clarity Sometimes I think that your potential clients or customers have no idea that they could be your potential clients or customers, unless you make that crystal clear to them. Samantha Flynn is the founder of Junipr Public Relations, and she’s built a reputation for stripping away the jargon to help founders find their ‘So What?’ As the founder and owner of Junipr Public Relations, I help clients overcome communication challenges through comprehensive, strategic communications programs that deliver real impact. At Junipr, we believe in doing smart work for nice people—collaborating with clients who value thoughtful strategy, meaningful results, and genuine partnership. With 15 years of experience leading public relations initiatives across B2B, B2C, and CPG sectors, career highlights include features and partnerships surrounding the Super Bowl, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, SXSW and more, with work being seen in Good Morning America, the Today Show, CNBC Radio, Woman’s World, and more. As active thought leader in the public relations and marketing industry, speaking engagements include the Digital Summit Series, DigiMarCon at Solider Field, AAF Hawai’i and Syracuse University. Op-Ed content has been featured in PR Week, PR Digital Explained, The Wrap and more. She believes that PR isn’t a luxury for the end of the journey, it’s a foundational tool for decision-making and scale. Today, we’re unpacking her framework for cutting through a fragmented media landscape and why your ‘authenticity’ might actually be your greatest competitive advantage.

Bob Kocis – President and Chief Operating Officer of Aptean and author of The President’s Club Mindset: Inside the Winning Strategies of Tech’s Most Successful Sales People Everybody said curiosity was one of their key superpowers. Bob Kocis is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Aptean and a seasoned global sales leader with more than three decades of experience in enterprise technology and revenue growth. He is the author of The President’s Club Mindset: Inside the Winning Strategies of Tech’s Most Successful Sales People, where he distills the principles and habits behind sustained elite sales performance. Kocis began his career in sales in the mid 1990s and steadily advanced into senior leadership roles, including leading global channel and emerging markets at PTC, serving as Vice President of Worldwide Sales at ANSYS, and acting as Chief Revenue Officer at Continuum. Over the course of his career, he has built and led high performing sales organizations across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, including time based in Shanghai managing regional operations. Known for his customer first approach and focus on execution, Kocis has developed a reputation for transforming sales teams into consistent top performers and aligning culture with long term growth. At Aptean, he is responsible for global business operations and customer success, helping guide the company’s continued expansion as a leading provider of industry specific enterprise software solutions. Melissa Robinson-Winemiller – Keynote Speaker and Author of The Empathic Leader: How EQ via Empathy Transforms Leadership for Better Profit, Productivity, and Innovation AI is not going to fix all of our problems, most especially communication. Melissa Robinson-Winemiller is an international bestselling author, TEDx speaker, and leadership coach specializing in emotional intelligence and empathy driven leadership. She is the founder and CEO of EQ via Empathy, where she works with organizations and leaders around the world to make empathy a practical and actionable skill that drives performance, innovation, and culture. Her work focuses on helping leaders translate emotional intelligence into measurable business outcomes, challenging the traditional view of empathy as a soft skill and repositioning it as a core leadership capability. With more than 30 years of leadership and professional experience, Robinson-Winemiller brings a unique blend of real world insight and academic rigor to her work. After an early career in music, she shifted her focus to leadership and organizational development, earning advanced degrees including a doctorate in leadership with a focus on empathy in leadership. She is the author of The Empathic Leader, a book that outlines how leaders can use empathy to improve productivity, strengthen teams, and achieve better business results. Today, she continues to advise executives and teams globally, helping them build more human centered and effective organizations.

Sam Dorison – Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer at ReflexAI There is no perfect conversation. You can’t avoid landmines at all times. Sam Dorison is the Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer at ReflexAI. An expert in artificial intelligence strategy and product deployment, Dorison has been involved with AI-powered products in industries ranging from mental health to cybersecurity to smart cities. Before launching ReflexAI, he served as Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer at The Trevor Project, the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ young people. There, he published five peer-reviewed articles on mental health and oversaw teams including crisis services, training, research, technology, and finance. Dorison previously worked at McKinsey & Company and Harvard Kennedy School. He graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs. He also holds an LL.M. from Cambridge University and a master’s degree from University College London, both as a Marshall Scholar. Beyond ReflexAI, Dorison is heavily involved in causes that support families impacted by cancer. Sam lives in New York City with his husband. Sean Covey – Author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens and President of FranklinCovey Education Social Development is far more important than academic development. Sean Covey, President of FranklinCovey Education, is a business executive, best-selling author, speaker, and innovator. Sean is devoted to transforming education throughout the world through a principle-centered leadership approach. Sean directs FranklinCovey’s whole school transformation process, called Leader in Me®, which is now in more than 5,000 schools and 50 countries throughout the world. Sean is New York Times bestselling author and has authored or co-authored several books, including The Wall Street Journal’s #1 Business Bestseller with more than 500,000 copies sold, The 4 Disciplines of Execution, The 6 Most Important Decisions You’ll Ever Make, The 7 Habits of Happy Kids, and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, which has been translated into 30 languages and sold more than eight million copies worldwide. He is a versatile keynoter who regularly speaks to students and adults within schools and organizations and has appeared on numerous radio and TV shows and in print media. Franklin Covey Co today announced the release of a new special 30th anniversary edition of Stephen Covey’s (1932-2012) The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, which commemorates the timeless wisdom of The 7 Habits for a new generation with the book’s original content along with personal insights at the end of each chapter by Covey’s son, Sean Covey.

Dr. Mark Frenkel, MD, MA, FAANS, FCNS – Neurosurgeon Spine Surgeon    You’ll hate me for five or six weeks, and you’ll say this is the worst decision you ever made, and you’ll wish you never did it. And then it’s six weeks, you’ll be neutral, and in three months you’ll be happy. Dr. Frenkel graduated from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, the medical school of the renowned Cleveland Clinic. His degree was awarded with Honors with a Distinction in Research as a result of research he completed on anterior cervical surgery at The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. Subsequently he attended residency at Wake Forest University where he dedicated seven years to mastering the intricacies of neurosurgery under the tutelage of Dr. Charles Branch. Dr. Branch, a luminary in the field, is celebrated for pioneering numerous groundbreaking techniques in spinal surgery. Dr. Frenkel’s other mentors and teachers included Neurosurgeons trained at some of the most renowned institutions in the world, including Harvard and Johns Hopkins. He performed thousands of complex procedures during his training, culminating in the extraordinary privilege of being appointed Chief Resident for two consecutive years – a rarity in the field. Dr. Frenkel had one of the highest Neurosurgery Board scores in the country and in 2018 won the Congress of Neurological Surgery’s SANS Challenge – an annual national tournament of neurosurgical knowledge. Following his training, he was offered the opportunity to join Neuroscience and Spine Associates (NASA), one of the premiere neuroscience practices in the country. He relocated to Naples, Florida where he currently resides with his wife Dr. Lindsay Frenkel, an Intensive Care Physician, and his two young children, Cooper and Chloe. Dr. Frenkel has written numerous articles in the most esteemed neurosurgical publications and authored several textbook chapters on advanced techniques in spinal surgery which underscore his status as an authority in the field. He is recognized worldwide as a leader in spine surgery because of his excellent outcomes. He has several patents pending for new spinal surgery techniques, implants, and minimally invasive retractors. Dr. Frenkel’s expertise has garnered the attention of numerous medical device companies, who seek his invaluable insights for the development of cutting-edge surgical instruments. Jeremy Gartner – Founder of Career Propulsion From having a very transactional conversation to having a meaningful relationship driven discussion that is going to end up opening doors those jobs, it’s just side effects. Jeremy Gartner is the Founder of Career Propulsion, where he helps ambitious executives land VP and C-suite roles faster, often securing compensation packages ranging from $250,000 to over $1 million through a proven, data-driven approach. Prior to founding Career Propulsion, he built an unconventional and highly accomplished career, beginning as a particle physicist at CERN, where he conducted high-energy physics research published in leading peer-reviewed journals. He later earned a PhD in Aerospace Engineering while contributing to the development of next-generation military aircraft at Northrop Grumman. Gartner was also groomed for executive leadership at Becton Dickinson, where he led high-impact MedTech initiatives and filed 13 patents, including granted U.S. patents in smart drug delivery, infection control, and medical device technology. Despite often being the least “qualified” candidate on paper, he consistently secured high-profile roles by mastering positioning, trust-building, and career storytelling. Today, through Career Propulsion, a seven-figure coaching firm, he teaches executives how to replicate this success using a proprietary framework that has achieved an 88 percent success rate in placing clients into VP and C-suite roles, with an average salary increase of 65 percent, while providing personalized guidance on navigating hidden job markets and high-level negotiations.

Steve Brown – Global Keynote Speaker & AI Futurist. Former executive at Google DeepMind & Intel and Author of The AI Ultimatum: Preparing for a World of Intelligent Machines and Radical Transformation  AI is an amplifier. It is a way of amplifying human impact. Steve Brown is a leading voice in the field of artificial intelligence. A former executive at Google, DeepMind and Intel, he has delivered hundreds of information-packed and entertaining keynotes across five continents, inspiring audiences to take action with AI.‍ As a thought leader on AI, generative AI, autonomous agents, digital transformation, and the future impact of AI on business, education, and society, Steve draws on decades of experience in AI and high-tech industries to help leaders craft winning AI strategies that drive innovation, boost productivity, and fuel growth. Over his 25-year career, Steve has held senior leadership roles, including Senior Director and in-house Futurist at Google DeepMind in London and Intel’s Chief Evangelist and Futurist. He is the co-founder of The Provenance Chain Network, a company providing supply chain transparency and security services for the U.S. Space Force, as well as a strategic advisor to two AI startups and a BCG Luminary. Steve works with global brands, Fortune 100 companies, startups, and government agencies. His clients include Nike, JP Morgan, Samsung, Comcast, Audi, PepsiCo, and Disney. He has been featured on major media outlets including BBC, CNN, Bloomberg TV, ABC, CBS, NBC, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired Magazine. In addition to delivering keynote speeches, Steve runs AI innovation workshops that inspire organizations to explore new possibilities with AI. His book, “The Innovation Ultimatum: How Six Strategic Technologies Will Reshape Every Business in the 2020s”, published by Wiley, serves as a practical guide to innovation and digital transformation. Steve’s mission is to help organizations build a better future with AI by creating new customer experiences, streamlining operations, and elevating the workforce. Steve holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Microelectronic Systems Engineering from Manchester University. Born in the UK, he is now a U.S. citizen and lives with his wife in Portland, OR. Katie Nelson  – Founder/CEO of Sales UpRising  Just don’t find yourself in the wrong room. Katie Nelson is the dynamic Founder & CEO of Sales UpRising, where she’s widely known as “The Sales Catalyst.” She brings a bold, no-nonsense, and refreshingly honest approach to sales coaching with a single-minded goal: to deliver real results, not fluff. With nearly three decades of sales experience, Katie is a three-time business owner who has helped hundreds of small businesses accelerate their revenue trajectories, especially those stuck under the $250K mark, a milestone she considers a proof of concept. Katie’s philosophy is simple: cashflow is oxygen for your business. Without sales, there’s no revenue, and without revenue, there’s no business. She believes that every everyday action—posting on social, chatting, sending a message—is a step toward a sales goal. She excels in teaching sales as authentic, human-centered conversations, helping clients break free from the “five-figure rut” by focusing on relationship-driven, high-impact sales tactics rather than expensive marketing misfires. In addition to coaching, Katie delivers keynote presentations that combine entertainment and strategic insights, and hosts Top 6 mastermind sessions, consulting, and speaking events designed to help business owners boost cash flow and scale sustainably.

Andrew Schmertz – CEO and Co-founder of Hopscotch Air You can’t just show up in this industry and hope that they come. Can’t build it and they will come that doesn’t work. Andrew has more than a decade of experience in the aviation industry, having co-founded Hopscotch Air, Inc. As CEO, he manages all aspects of the business, including sales, marketing, and regulatory issues. Previously, Andrew had an extensive career in media, serving as an anchor/report for Business Week TV where he anchored business reports for WABC and WLS-TV. He currently is the chairman of the charter committee of the National Air Transportation Association, the industry trade group of private aviation. Andrew is a Board member of Air Taxi Services and Support, a charter airplane marketplace. He has served on the FAA Aviation Rule Making Committee, advising the government of duty and rest time revisions. And he serves as an independent arbitrator with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, where he has developed significant knowledge of securities law. Andrew is an attorney, licensed in New York, and a licensed pilot, with land, instrument, and sea ratings. Tim Ferris – Author of 5 #1 NYT/WSJ bestsellers, early-stage investor, Tim Ferriss Show podcast (1B+ downloads), founder of the Saisei Foundation Tim Ferriss is an American entrepreneur, author, investor, and podcast host best known for his work at the intersection of business, performance, and lifestyle design. He is the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling books, including The 4-Hour Workweek, Tools of Titans, and Tribe of Mentors, which have collectively influenced millions of readers worldwide. Ferriss is also an early-stage technology investor and advisor, with a portfolio that includes companies such as Uber, Facebook, Shopify, Duolingo, and Alibaba, among dozens of others, where he has helped startups scale from early adoption to mainstream growth. His media presence extends through The Tim Ferriss Show, one of the most popular business podcasts globally, which has surpassed one billion downloads and features in-depth interviews with world-class performers across industries. In addition to his work in business and media, Ferriss is the founder of the Saisei Foundation, through which he supports initiatives in mental health, scientific research, and education. His career reflects a progression from entrepreneur and operator to investor, interviewer, and curator of ideas, with a continued focus on optimizing performance, understanding human potential, and exploring meaning and well-being at scale.

Joe Pine – Author, Speaker, Management Advisor, and Author of The Transformation Economy: Guiding Customers to Achieve Their Aspirations Why you exist as a business is to help people flourish in their lives, to become more and more of who they are meant to be. Joseph Pine II is an internationally acclaimed author, speaker, and management advisor to Fortune 500 companies and entrepreneurial start-ups alike. He is cofounder of Strategic Horizons LLP, a thinking studio dedicated to helping businesses conceive and design new ways of adding value to their economic offerings. Mr. Pine’s 2026 book, The Transformation Economy: Guiding Customers to Achieve Their Aspirations, marks a major evolution in his groundbreaking work and presents transformations as the highest form of economic value – guiding customers to become who they want to become. With transformations inputs don’t matter, only the outcomes that customers achieve. It shows businesses how to take advantage of this opportunity by getting into the business of guiding transformations. In 2020 Mr. Pine and his partner James H. Gilmore re-released in hardcover The Experience Economy: Competing for Customer Time, Attention, and Money featuring an all-new Preview to their best-selling 1999 book The Experience Economy: Work Is Theatre & Every Business a Stage. The book demonstrates how goods and services are no longer enough; what companies must offer today are experiences – memorable events that engage each customer in an inherently personal way. It further shows that in today’s Experience Economy companies now compete against the world for the time, attention, and money of individual customers. The Experience Economy has been published in fifteen languages and was named one of the 100 best business books of all time by 800ceoread (now Porchlight). Mr. Pine also co-wrote Infinite Possibility: Creating Customer Value on the Digital Frontier with Kim Korn, Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want with Mr. Gilmore in 2007, and in 1993 published his first book, the award-winning Mass Customization: The New Frontier in Business Competition. Each book details Mr. Pine’s breakthrough thinking as he has accurately charted many structural shifts, from individualizing goods to today’s focus on customer experiences and many other changes in the economy and consumer sensibility. The economic competitive reality of the future is fast-paced change. Mr. Pine helps clients design strategies to leverage these new economic opportunities and create experiences that drive revenue. Since revolutionizing the way we should approach and think about business with The Experience Economy, Joseph Pine has continued to be at the forefront as a thought leader. He wrote his second op-ed page article for The Wall Street Journal, “Inflation and the Experience Economy“, in the January 6, 2022 newspaper, and his co-authored piece, “The ‘New You’ Business“, in the January-February 2022 Harvard Business Review was his fifth for the journal. In his speaking and teaching activities, Mr. Pine has addressed the World Economic Forum, the original TED conference, and the Consumer Electronics Show. A former Visiting Scholar with the MIT Design Lab, he is currently a Lecturer with the Columbia University School of Professional Studies, and has also taught at Penn State, Duke Corporate Education, the University of Minnesota, UCLA’s Anderson Graduate School of Management, and the Harvard Design School. He serves on the editorial boards of Strategy & Leadership and Strategic Direction and is a Senior Fellow with both the Design Futures Council and the European Centre for the Experience Economy, which he co-founded. Mr. Pine’s experiences prior to co-founding Strategic Horizons include holding a variety of technical and managerial positions with IBM. Hugh Massie – Executive Chairman and Founder of DNA Behavior International We don’t want to change who the core of a person is, but we want them to know how to adapt depending on who they’re dealing with and in what situation. Hugh Massie is the Executive Chairman and Founder of DNA Behavior International – the Behavior and Money Insights Company. As a Titan 100 CEO and widely recognized Behavioral Solutions Architect, Hugh Massie addresses every opportunity and challenge from the proven perspective of “behavior makes money”. With his unique analytical approach, Hugh helps growth-minded leaders create an Exponential Future by building “category king” people-centric businesses, and in the process, enhance financial decision-making, culture, and performance. Hugh’s purpose is to empower people worldwide to optimize the alignment of their natural “hard wired” talents and financial behaviors to make quantum leaps for creating an Exponential Future with reduced stress. Thereby enabling greater happiness, more success and improved health for longer. Applying the pioneering behavioral finance research Hugh has undertaken since 2001, his moonshot  goal is to commercialize DNA Behavior’ AI-driven BeSci Tech Platform so that by 2030 fully it informs over 1 billion people annually on how to enhance their decision-making and relationships for increasing  life, financial and business longevity by 30 or more years. Hugh partners with clients to create an Exponential Future by developing trail-blazing financial behavior  apps for building the “New BeFi Economy” impacting all key areas of life, finance and business.

Rebecca Irey – Founder and CEO of Blue Skye Financial As entrepreneurs, we have the ability to move the world the way we want it to, to break a system and remake it better. That is our superpower. Rebecca Irey is the founder and CEO of Blue Skye Financial, a national firm on a mission to change the financial trajectory of American families, from dependence on broken systems like debt and Social Security to building true legacy wealth and financial independence. With over 25 years of experience, Rebecca brings a unique mix of straight-talk, heart-centered strategy, and values-based planning that resonates with individuals, families, and business owners alike. She specializes in tax-free retirement, Social Security and Medicare optimization, estate planning, and small business tax strategies, offering practical insight delivered with warmth, humor, and conviction. What sets Rebecca apart is her belief that wealth isn’t just about numbers, it’s about dignity, agency, and living a life you’re proud to pass on. From empowering women in transition to guiding veterans and federal employees through benefit optimization, she’s known for making complex financial decisions simple, meaningful, and actionable. Rebecca also leads one of the most mentorship-driven financial sales teams in the country and has partnered with organizations like Save the Children to align every client win with greater social impact. She’s a passionate educator, an unapologetic truth-teller, and a mom of seven who knows how to lead with both head and heart. Whether she’s talking about how the wealthy play the game differently—or why every family deserves a team of experts—Rebecca will inspire your audience to think bigger, act boldly, and build a financial future they believe in. Dr. Zal Phiroz – Supply Chain & Data Science Professor and Fortune 500 Consultant The nature of a supply chain is to change and to adapt and to be flexible in certain ways so that it can survive the constantly changing environments that it’s put into. Dr. Zal Phiroz, a global supply chain expert and business leader who has worked at the highest levels of industry and academia. He spent years at Procter & Gamble leading major international projects and partnerships with retailers such as Walmart, Tesco, and Walgreens. He is the co-founder and president of Pier Consulting Group and currently teaches graduate-level Supply Chain Management at Harvard University. Dr. Phiroz is also a frequent speaker at international forums including TEDx and the United Nations in Canada, where he shares insights on global logistics, sustainability, and the future of supply chains. Dr. Zal Phiroz is a powerful business leader and established industry specialist in marketing and global supply chain practices, within the fast moving consumer goods and IT industry. Zal has held a number of executives, senior management and senior advisory roles including time spent with Proctor & Gamble and TELUS. He currently teaches Supply Chain Management (Masters Level) at Harvard University. With an established foundation in IT and management, Zal led a number of international special projects at Procter & Gamble, including $100M+ projects on shrink, Wal-Mart capacity optimization, Tide product concentration, IAMS demand projection, and recall. In addition to leading an exploratory team tasked with overseeing global P&G innovation, Zal contributed to the Folgers divestiture, Gillette merger, and managed cross-functional special project partnerships with major retailers including Wal-Mart, Shoppers Drug Mart, Tesco, CVS, and Walgreens. As the co-founder and President of Pier Consulting Group Inc., Zal is responsible for direct collaboration with medium sized corporations, leading academic institutions, and federal charities on sustainability, macro marketing, and management and coordination of all supply-chain and operations projects. Major projects have included management of international consumer marketing research, aggregate data analysis on competitive markets, growth opportunity quantification, and optimization of supply chain coordination. A dynamic public speaker, Mr. Phiroz is a regularly invited to guest lecture at various Universities on topics relating to Supply Chain Management. He has also spoken at TEDx, UN Canada, OPAL (Chicago, Newport, Toronto), and currently instructs graduate-level Supply Chain Management at Harvard University.

Alexandra Seaman – Senior Vice President at Furniture.com That’s really the problem we’re solving is this decision fatigue. Alexandra Seaman is the Senior Vice President at Furniture.com, where she plays a key role in shaping the company’s growth, brand strategy, and digital customer experience. With a strong background in e-commerce, partnerships, and marketplace development, she has helped position Furniture.com as a leading online destination that connects consumers with a wide network of furniture retailers and brands. Throughout her career, Alexandra has focused on building scalable platforms that simplify the shopping experience while delivering value to both consumers and partners. At Furniture.com, she has been instrumental in expanding strategic relationships, enhancing the platform’s user experience, and driving initiatives that bridge the gap between traditional furniture retail and modern digital discovery. Known for her collaborative leadership style and sharp understanding of consumer behavior, Alexandra brings a forward-thinking approach to the evolving home furnishings industry. Her work centers on leveraging data, technology, and partnerships to create a seamless path from inspiration to purchase, helping customers find the right products while enabling retailers to reach broader audiences. Spencer Rubin – Associate Attorney at GRELLAS SHAH You can even talk the algorithm into giving you a higher score based on the prompts that you give it, because it’s trying to appease you. Spencer Rubin is an Associate Attorney at Grellas Shah LLP, where he focuses on advising startups and established companies on the legal complexities surrounding artificial intelligence, technology transactions, and data governance. His practice centers on helping clients navigate AI governance, intellectual property strategy, and privacy compliance, particularly within high stakes commercial agreements and mergers and acquisitions. Spencer has developed a strong reputation for structuring and negotiating agreements involving data ownership, model rights, and the licensing of AI driven solutions. He works closely with both vendors and customers to ensure that contracts reflect not only legal protections but also practical business outcomes. Known for his ability to translate complex legal frameworks into clear, actionable guidance, he serves as a trusted advisor to companies operating at the intersection of innovation and regulation. In addition to his legal practice, Spencer is an active voice in the evolving conversation around AI and the law. He regularly writes and speaks on emerging issues in the field, including presentations at major global events such as SXSW Austin and SXSW Sydney, where he shares insights on how businesses can responsibly and effectively adopt artificial intelligence technologies.

Sam Goodner – Entrepreneur, Angel Investor, Keynote Speaker and Author of Like Clockwork: Run Your Business with Swiss Army Precision The formula for operational scalability is clarity plus repeatability plus time. Sam Goodner is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, and mentor with a passion for solving business problems through the innovative use of technology. A dual citizen of Switzerland and the United States, Sam has experienced a diverse journey from serving as a mountain infantry officer in the Swiss Army to being recognized as an Inc. 500 CEO and Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. In 1993, Sam founded Catapult Systems, which grew into the world’s leading Microsoft Systems Integrator before being acquired in 2013. During this same period, he also founded and sold two software product companies (PowerDOC and Inquisite), started a mobile application development firm (Mobile Alchemy), and launched a digital agency (Slingrock). A global traveler and lifelong learner, Sam took his family on a year-long journey around the world in 2014, homeschooling his two children while embracing education and exploration. In 2016, Sam invested in FlashParking, a small technology startup. As president and later chief strategy officer, he helped guide the company to becoming the largest parking technology company in the world with over $100 million in revenue and a valuation of $1 billion. Now retired from running companies, Sam focuses on sharing his insights with entrepreneurs and business leaders. Jim Effner – President & CEO of P2P Group You never want to be selling you always want to be solving problems. Jim Effner is founder and President of P2P Group, a company specializing in sales training for financial services professionals. His mission is to help bridge the gap between financial advisors’ potential and their performance. Prior to forming the P2P Group, Jim was Managing Partner of one of the largest Northwestern Mutual offices in the country. He built the Effner Financial Group to nearly 150 full-time and college advisors, insuring over 65,000 policyholders with a face amount of nearly $27 billion. A Million Dollar Round Table qualifier every year he worked in the business, Jim is now a lifetime member of MDRT. He was a three-time Recognition Dinner/Forum qualifier, which represents the top 5% of all Northwestern Mutual advisors. In fact, he was the youngest person to make Forum the first two times he qualified. As a new advisor, he led his region in 1990, 1991 and 1992, placing runner-up in the Bronze and Silver awards, and 3rd in the Gold. Jim has overcome numerous life challenges, including losing his hearing just 30 days after taking his Managing Partner contract. He brings his commitment to excellence, his passion, energy and conviction – along with his perspective of 30+ years in the industry – to every aspect of his business. A graduate of Valparaiso University with a degree in finance and economics, Jim has exemplary credentials in all facets of the industry – including sales, management and training. Jim and his wife, Lynn, live in Henderson, Nevada. They have three children: Brittney, Brianna, and Bryce.

Javier Marín – Author of Live From America: How Latino TV Conquered the United States If you build one Spanish speaking market and one Spanish speaking vote, that’s a big power. Javier Marín is a media executive, producer, and author of Live From America: How Latino TV Conquered the United States. He is widely recognized for helping shape the growth of Spanish language television in the U.S. through decades of leadership in broadcasting, content, and media strategy. Over the course of his career, he has worked at the center of the Latino media industry, helping major television brands expand their reach and cultural influence while bringing Hispanic audiences to the forefront of American media. Through his book, Marín offers an insider’s perspective on the rise of Latino television, the business forces behind its success, and the personalities who helped transform it into a powerful part of the U.S. entertainment landscape. Neil Thubron – Executive Mentor, Coach, Teacher, and Keynote Speaker The worst thing you can do is delegate someone and then interfere. You need to delegate someone and then empower. Neil Thubron is an executive mentor, coach, teacher, keynote speaker, and sales and leadership development consultant who helps leaders and teams achieve more in both business and life. With more than 30 years leading large multinational sales organizations and 25 years in corporate leadership, he brings a practical, experience based approach shaped by his background as a business owner, senior sales executive, endurance athlete, and former Army officer. He works with executives, sales teams, and organizations through executive coaching, value based sales training, and strategic growth workshops, with a focus on clearer thinking, stronger leadership, disciplined performance, and sustainable results. Neil is also the owner of XNRG, an extreme sports event company, and the author of the Amazon bestselling book YUCAN Achieve Any Big Goal.

Mikael Avatar – Coach, Paralympic World Record Holder, Abstract Artist, Composer, Inner Freedom Architect Don’t build the business around what you know. Build it around what you survive. Mikael Avatar is a coach, speaker, Paralympic world record holder, abstract artist, composer, and creator of The Mikael Avatar Method. Born in Sweden and now based in Thailand, he has built a life and body of work centered on resilience, authenticity, and inner transformation. His story begins with extraordinary odds: he was clinically dead at birth and later told he would never walk, yet he went on to become a world record holder in the long jump at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics, a record he held for 12 years. That journey of defying limits became the foundation for decades of work helping high performers, entrepreneurs, executives, and leaders reconnect with purpose, energy, and what he calls authentic power. Today, Mikael combines the mindset of an elite athlete, the insight of a seasoned coach, and the soul of an artist. Through his coaching, writing, music, and visual art, he helps people move beyond external success and into deeper personal freedom. His work is rooted in the belief that achievement without inner peace is incomplete, and that real transformation begins when people stop performing a false version of themselves and start living in alignment with who they truly are. Whether he is guiding clients through personal breakthroughs, creating abstract art, or composing music, Mikael’s mission is the same: to help others live with greater truth, joy, and freedom. In addition to his coaching and speaking, Mikael is developing a multidisciplinary abstract performance art project that blends music, video, theater, and live performance. An early collaboration video with German artist and musician Sacha Alexander von Oertzen can be viewed here: The Mask Jeremiah Konger – CEO of Annuity Association & NestEasy Annuities, Annuity Educator, Speaker, Podcaster  An annuity is a financial tool that allows people to either secure a guaranteed income stream in their retirement years or safely grow their nest egg as they enter preservation mode. Jeremiah Konger is founder and CEO of Annuity Association and America’s First Direct to Consumer Annuity Buying platform where my team and I help pre-retirees and retirees make smarter, safer, fully informed decisions about annuities. Our demographic, 50–75yo who want clarity, confidence, and guaranteed income strategies—without the confusion or high-pressure sales tactics that plague the financial industry. We’re 100% independent and product-agnostic, and our mission is simple: educate first, empower always. I’m most proud of the fact that we’ve built one of the fastest-growing annuity education platforms in America – earning a spot on the Inc. 5000 list (#294 overall and #21 in Financial Services)—while staying true to transparency and consumer advocacy. We’re proving you can scale without compromising ethics. Sandy Markwood – CEO of USAging The goal of Area Agencies on Aging is to help older adults be able to live well and age well where they want to, which is at home and in the community. Sandy Markwood is CEO of USAging, the association representing the national network of 600+ Area Agencies on Aging and advocating for the Title VI Native American Aging Programs. USAging and its members help older adults, people with disabilities and family caregivers live with optimal health, well-being, independence and dignity in their homes and communities. They offer supportive services in a range of critical areas, including elder rights, nutrition, caregiver support and health and wellness. Sandy  will talk about the importance of good nutrition for older adults’ health and independence; different meal programs and nutrition services typically available to older adults; and the Eldercare Locator, an information and referral center that helps people find meal and nutrition services in their communities. USAging, the national association representing the network of Area Agencies on Aging, has a new campaign to educate older adults and their families about how vital nutrition is to healthy aging. The campaign provides real and meaningful support to older adults facing inflated prices at grocery stores and lack of access to nutritious food.

Vince C. Ning – Founder & CEO of Nabis, 2x YC Founder, Forbes 30U30, Ex-Microsoft Engineer, Junior Olympian Gold Medalist The process for trying to learn about the industry resulted in the service that was needed itself. Vince C. Ning is the Founder and CEO of Nabis, the leading licensed cannabis wholesale platform connecting brands, manufacturers, and retailers across the United States. A two time Y Combinator founder and Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, Vince is known for building large scale marketplace infrastructure in highly regulated industries. Before launching Nabis, he began his career as a software engineer at Microsoft and later co founded Scaphold, a developer platform that was ultimately acquired by Amazon Web Services. Vince founded Nabis with the vision of creating the technology and logistics backbone for the legal cannabis industry, enabling brands to efficiently distribute products while giving retailers reliable access to inventory and data driven insights. Since its launch, Nabis has grown into one of the largest cannabis distribution platforms in the country, supplying hundreds of brands and serving the vast majority of dispensaries in major U.S. markets. Vince studied Computer Science and Economics at the University of Virginia and has also pursued studies in public policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Outside of entrepreneurship, he is a Junior Olympic table tennis gold medalist, marathon runner, and lifelong builder who enjoys combining technology, logistics, and policy to create category defining infrastructure. Evan Meyer – Gov-Tech Entrepreneur, Civic Ninja, Podcast Host The fundamental experience you have when you go anywhere is whether it looks like people care about that place or not Evan is a tech entrepreneur passionate about transportation, revitalizing urban spaces through art, civic service, and building purposeful organizations, communities, and cultures. Evan is the founder of several impactful ventures. He founded BeautifyEarth.com, a tech platform and marketplace that accelerates urban beautification through art, with a focus on mass government adoption. He also launched BeautifyEarth.org (501(c)(3)), a public charity dedicated to beautifying schools in underserved communities. Through Beautify, he has facilitated thousands of murals worldwide, collaborating with hundreds of communities, organizations, cities, and national brands. In addition, Evan founded RideAmigos.com, a tech platform that optimizes commuter travel and behavior through intelligent programs and analytics, serving governments, enterprises, universities, and businesses globally. He is also the creator of MyGovTools.org, a platform designed to rebuild trust in government by enhancing efficiency, data transparency, and civic engagement. As a civic leader, he has served in several key roles, including District Director for the California State Senate, where he applied his skills to improve the processes of political teams and ensure that constituents’ voices were heard and their needs better represented. He also served as President of his neighborhood association, empowering residents to engage in the public process, and worked with the City of Santa Monica to develop innovative, actionable strategies for civic engagement. Evan leads seminars on building corporate cultures, the importance of community and civic engagement, and political philosophy. His video podcast, Meyerside Chats, provides a platform for conversations with public officials about fostering civil discourse on challenging issues and bringing humanity to traditionally polarized spaces. He loves the outdoors and fitness, is a master of creative projects, and is an avid muralist and musician. He finds the world fascinating in every way.

Erika Rasure – Chief Financial Wellness Advisor at Beyond Finance You can make all the money in the world, but if you don’t feel content or right with it from an emotional or mental perspective, you’ll never enjoy it. Dr. Erika Rasure, a former financial advisor and university professor turned financial therapist, has helped thousands of people approach their finances in more intentional, healthy ways. She serves as Chief Financial Wellness Advisor at Beyond Finance, where she meets weekly with hundreds of clients working their way out of debt and toward financial freedom. In addition to her work at Beyond Finance, Dr. Erika serves as Chair of the Research Board for the Financial Therapy Clinical Institute. She is a member of the Financial Review Boards for Investopedia, The Balance, VeryWell Family, and VeryWell Parents. Her insights and interviews have been featured in prestigious national outlets such as Barron’s, CNN, Forbes, Fox Business, MarketWatch, NBC News Now, USA Today, and Yahoo. Dr. Erika holds a doctorate in Personal Financial Planning from Kansas State University and is a Certified Deep Transformational Coach, an accreditation focused on changing patterns in actions and behaviors. She addresses holistic wellness in her work, incorporating the practice of yoga, as she is also a registered yoga teacher, into her comprehensive approach to financial therapy and financial wellness. Dr. Tom DuFore – Founder & CEO of Big Sky Franchise Team Franchising solves really critical problems for expansion, which is it costs money to open more locations and it takes time to hire staff and manage staff. Dr. Tom DuFore is the founder & CEO of Big Sky Franchise Team. He is an author, entreprenuer, franchise expert, and host of the “Multiply Your Success” podcast. Big Sky Franchise Team is an award-winning consulting firm specializing in helping growth-minded entrepreneurs franchise their business. Tom and Big Sky have advised more than 600 clients, including Jamba Juice, Two Men & A Truck, Matco Tools, and many others. Tom values building others up, whether it’s an owner looking to franchise their business or members of his team. His leadership focuses on treating people with respect, encouraging them to be their best, and always learning. He seeks to live out his company’s purpose to “Inspire and Foster Greatness” through its three core values: Win-Win Relationships, Professional Excellence, and Continuous Improvement. Tom has an undergraduate degree in business, an MBA, and a DBA. He is happily married with three wonderful children. In his free time, Tom enjoys coaching youth baseball, writing music, and listening to audio books.

Dr. Vanitha Swaminathan – Associate Dean at University of Pittsburgh School of Business and Author of Hyper-Digital Marketing: Six Pillars of Strategic Brand Marketing in an AI-Powered World I think it’s a huge pivot. If you remember the time when we had to pivot from traditional marketing to digital, this is a pivot that’s just as significant Vanitha Swaminathan, Associate Dean for Research and Strategic Initiatives and Thomas Marshall Professor of Marketing at the University of Pittsburgh School of Business, has released a groundbreaking new book titled Hyper-Digital Marketing: Six Pillars of Strategic Brand Marketing in an AI-Powered World. Rapid advances in technology and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) have ushered in a new era of hyper-digitalization. This shift is reshaping how organizations operate, transforming traditional marketing roles and creating new ones that require deeper integration across marketing, technology, and other business functions. In Hyper-Digital Marketing, Swaminathan offers a practical framework for strategic brand thinking built around six key pillars designed for an AI-powered world. The book equips marketers, business leaders, and technologists with tools to navigate digital disruption, strengthen their brands, and drive sustainable growth in a rapidly evolving marketplace. Matt Jones – Creative Strategist, Keynote Speaker, Brand Coach, Author, Start-Up Mentor and Co-Founder, Four Pillars Gin There is no such thing as a good brand name. Google, Facebook, Apple are not good brand names. Tesla is not a good brand name. Matt Jones is a creative strategist, keynote speaker, brand coach, author, and startup mentor best known as the co founder of the globally celebrated craft distillery Four Pillars Gin. Originally from Wales and now based in Australia, Jones has built a career at the intersection of branding, storytelling, business strategy, and customer experience. With a background spanning economics, politics, and creative strategy, he first gained recognition as Chief Political Adviser to the UK Conservative Party before transitioning into the world of brand experience and marketing. He later served as Chief Creative and Strategy Officer at Jack Morton Worldwide, where he worked with global brands including IBM, Microsoft, Qantas, Sony, Samsung, and Volkswagen to help them navigate the emerging era of experience driven brand building. In 2013, Jones co founded Four Pillars Gin alongside Stuart Gregor and Cameron Mackenzie, helping transform the Australian distillery into one of the most celebrated craft gin brands in the world, earning the title of World’s Best Gin Producer three times. As the brand strategist behind the business, he played a central role in shaping its storytelling, customer experience, and cultural identity while connecting brand purpose with practical business growth. Today, Jones works globally as a sought after keynote speaker and advisor, helping entrepreneurs, corporations, and leadership teams understand how powerful storytelling, creativity, and purposeful brand design can drive long term growth. Through his coaching and strategic work with companies and startups, he focuses on helping organizations clarify their purpose, craft compelling narratives, and create memorable experiences that build lasting customer relationships. He is also the author of Lessons From Gin, a business book that shares insights from building a world class craft brand and applies those lessons to modern leadership, marketing, and entrepreneurship.

Brian Samson – Founder & Chairman of Plugg Technologies If you pass the baton and your message isn’t crystal clear, you might waste a day or a couple days of having that work output meet the deliverables that you were initially hoping for. Brian Samson is the Founder and Chairman of Plugg Technologies, a technology staffing and nearshoring firm that connects U.S. companies with highly skilled professionals across Latin America. With more than a decade of experience building global teams, Samson has become a recognized voice in the nearshore talent movement and the future of distributed technology workforces. Samson began his international entrepreneurial journey after relocating from San Francisco to Buenos Aires in 2015, where he helped scale a FinTech startup and built a team of dozens of professionals in Argentina. That experience revealed the depth of technical talent available in Latin America and inspired him to launch Plugg Technologies to help U.S. companies access this talent efficiently and responsibly. Under his leadership, Plugg Technologies has grown into a trusted partner for startups and technology companies seeking nearshore engineering and digital operations talent from countries such as Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia. The company focuses on helping organizations build high performing remote teams while maintaining strong collaboration through shared time zones and cultural alignment. In addition to his work at Plugg, Samson is an entrepreneur and investor who has helped build multiple nearshoring businesses and has held leadership roles in venture backed technology startups. He is also the host of The Nearshore Cafe Podcast, where he interviews founders, engineers, and executives about global hiring, innovation, and the evolving technology ecosystem across the Americas. Samson holds an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and has spent years living and working throughout Latin America. His career has focused on helping companies scale globally while building strong, collaborative teams across borders. Eduardo Torrealba – Co-Founder and CEO of Lumafield The main way that we will win or fail as a company is how well we execute. Eduardo Torrealba is the Co Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lumafield, a technology company that is transforming how manufacturers inspect and understand the products they build. Lumafield develops industrial X ray CT scanning systems and cloud based analysis software that allow engineers to see inside physical parts without cutting them open, helping companies identify defects, improve quality, and accelerate product development. Eduardo is an engineer, product creator, and entrepreneur with a track record of turning complex hardware technologies into accessible and affordable tools for engineers. At Lumafield, he leads the company’s strategy, product vision, and growth as it works to modernize manufacturing diagnostics for companies around the world. Lumafield serves customers ranging from startups to major global manufacturers, including companies such as Milwaukee, SharkNinja, Unilever, Henkel, and New Balance. Before founding Lumafield, Eduardo led engineering and product development for the Fuse 1 selective laser sintering 3D printer at Formlabs, where he helped bring advanced industrial manufacturing technology to a broader market. Earlier in his career, Eduardo co founded Oso Technologies while in graduate school and created PlantLink, an internet connected soil moisture monitoring platform designed to help gardeners care for their plants. The company was later acquired by Scotts Miracle Gro, providing him early experience in building a company and bringing a connected hardware product to market. Eduardo holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Baylor University and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. He splits his time between Lumafield’s headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts and the company’s office in San Francisco, California.

Glen Dunzweiler – Filmmaker/producer, Public Speaker and Homelessness Advocate and Author of The Moralists The answer is what can I do? And you don’t have to do everything, but what can I do to make the people around me better? Glen Dunzweiler is a filmmaker/producer, public speaker, and video coach. His documentary yHomeless? is available on Amazon Prime and his new book, A Degree In Homelessness? Entrepreneurial Skills For Students can be found on Amazon Books! glendunzweiler.com  Glen wrote the book for students who only know how to be successful in school. He currently lives in Los Angeles and works to make his creative projects sustainable. In 2015, he moved from a professorship at CSU San Bernardino to Los Angeles to focus on the business side of entertainment. He found distribution for yHomeless? and began work on his second film, a biopic titled Deuce -about a former student getting himself out of The South Side of Chicago. In addition to filmmaking and book authoring, Dunzweiler speaks publicly about insights gained from working with the homeless and with community leaders; strategies for navigating the differences between academic and business success for students; and tips for smoother presentations for corporate audiences. Charlie Curson – CEO and Founder of Mandarin Associates & Author of Be More Strategic: 12 essential practices to build the life and career Planning is sequencing actions. It feels safe. Strategy is about choices. Charlie Curson is the Founder and CEO of Mandarin Associates, a strategic advisor, investor, facilitator, and accredited leadership coach with more than 25 years of experience helping organizations think and act more strategically. He has worked with more than 250 organizations across over 30 industries, partnering with global companies such as Visa, McDonald’s, Unilever, Experian, Volkswagen Group, L’Oréal, and Barclays, as well as ambitious start ups. Through this work he has helped design and deliver bold growth strategies, innovation programs, and leadership development initiatives that enable organizations and leaders to perform at a higher level in complex and rapidly changing environments. Curson has spent much of his career helping leaders build stronger strategic capability. After early experience in engineering and top tier consulting, he found his calling working with a world class strategy team in London that helped organizations design and implement ambitious strategic direction. Over time, clients increasingly asked not only for strategic guidance but also for help building the capability within their own teams. For more than fifteen years he has coached leaders around the world to develop stronger strategic thinking and decision making skills, emphasizing that strategy should not be confined to boardrooms or MBA programs but should be a practical skill available to anyone seeking to lead more effectively. Known for blending research based frameworks with real world application, Curson integrates cutting edge thinking with practical tools that help leaders and teams navigate uncertainty, clarify direction, and create momentum. His work focuses on helping people become more conscious, creative, and decisive in their leadership and professional lives. Curson is also the author of the forthcoming book Be More Strategic: 12 Essential Practices to Build the Life and Career You Want, which explores how individuals can develop the mindset and habits required to think strategically and succeed in today’s complex world.

Joel Hilchey – Keynote Speaker, Author, “Fun-at-Work” Expert and Author of The 6-and-a-half Habits of Highly Defective Bosses: Serious Lessons for Accidental Managers  When you need a creative solution, separate the idea generation process from your decision process. Joel Hilchey is an ideas guy. His gift seems to stem from a strange combination of observation, insight, and blatant disregard for conventional thinking. He’s also a juggler (literally and figuratively). In addition to leading the Beanstalk Creative team, he maintains a busy schedule as a keynote speaker on workplace culture, creating unforgettable spectacles on stage. He’s the father of 3 kids, 2 of whom co-habitated a uterus, and he attempts to be a good husband. Joel has authored 4 books – most recently The 6-and-a-half Habits of Highly Defective Bosses – Serious Lessons for Accidental Managers, and he taught engineering for over a decade at McMaster University, where he was named one of the Top 150 Alumni. He’s a seasoned barbershop quartet singer, he formerly chaired the board of the world-renowned Hamilton Children’s Choir, and he’s a semi-competitive joggler (that’s right… juggling whilst jogging). Chris Clearfield – Leadership Strategist & Author of The High-Altitude Entrepreneur: A Framework for Scaling Smarter, Leading Better, and Living Freer The stuff that helped your business grow at the beginning, at some point, that really starts to hold you and your company back. Chris Clearfield is a leadership strategist, author, and Harvard-trained scientist who works with high-performing entrepreneurs to help them scale without becoming the bottleneck in their own business. He has coached founders and executives at SMEs and large companies, including Netflix, Microsoft, Etsy, and ExxonMobil, helping leaders navigate complexity, redesign how decisions get made, and build teams that operate with clarity, ease and ownership. He is the co-author of Meltdown: Why Our Systems Fail and What We Can Do About It, winner of the National Business Book Award and the Thinkers50 Strategy Award. His new book is The High-Altitude Entrepreneur. Learn more at highaltitudebook.com.

Jeff Galloway – U.S. Olympian, Best-Selling Author, Race Director, President at Jeff Galloway Productions and Fitness Expert If you find something that you can do that will help others improve the quality of their lives, then it will take on a life of its own. Jeff Galloway was a U.S. Olympian, best selling author, race director, and internationally respected fitness expert whose influence on the running community spanned more than five decades. A member of the 1972 U.S. Olympic Team in the 10,000 meters, Galloway competed among the top distance runners of his era before dedicating his life to helping others discover the benefits of running and lifelong fitness. Through his company, Jeff Galloway Productions, he created training programs, seminars, and events that guided runners of all ages and abilities, inspiring hundreds of thousands of people to pursue healthier and more active lives. Jeff Galloway passed away on February 25, 2026, leaving behind a lasting legacy in the world of running and personal fitness. Galloway was widely known as the inventor of the Run Walk Run training method, a revolutionary approach that allows runners to alternate running and walking intervals to improve endurance, reduce fatigue, and lower the risk of injury. The method opened the door for countless people who once believed running was beyond their reach. He was also the author of 19 books about running, walking, and fat burning exercise, including The Run Walk Run Method, the title book behind his widely adopted training philosophy. Through his books, coaching, and encouragement, Jeff Galloway helped transform the sport of running into a welcoming community where anyone could participate, and his impact will continue to motivate runners for generations to come. Faisal Hoque – #1 Wall Street Journal and USA Today Best Selling Author, Founder and Chair at NextChapter, Founder and Managing Director at Shadoka, Author of Globee Awards winning 2022 Publication of the Year for Best Business Book called Lift: Fostering the Leader in You Amid Revolutionary Global Change Unless you know and connect with yourself and connect with other people, you cannot certainly connect with your creation and the creation that actually creates value. Faisal Hoque is an accomplished entrepreneur, noted thought leader, technology innovator, advisor to CEOs, BODs, and the US federal government, and an author with more than 25 years of cross-industry success. He is the founder of SHADOKA, NextChapter, and other companies. They focus on enabling sustainable and transformational changes. He also serves as a strategic partner and a thought leader for CACI, and works extensively with US Federal Agencies. CACI is a $6 billion public company who plays a vital role in US national security. He is a 3 times winning Founder and CEO of Deloitte Technology Fast 50 and Deloitte Technology Fast 500™ awards. At the age of only 14, he began what would be the first of many businesses; cobbling together stereo components to sell from his father’s home in Dhaka, Bangladesh in order to save the money he would need to support his plan to study in the United States. He built his first commercial software product at the age of 19 while studying at the University of Minnesota, and went on to hold management positions in Pitney Bowes and then Dun and Bradstreet. In 1991, Pitney Bowes recruited him to join one of their R&D groups before he finished his undergraduate degree. As a serial entrepreneur, he has raised venture capital from angels, strategic partners, and institutional investors to fund his innovative business-to-business startups. Over the decades, his companies innovated products and solutions that: provided middleware software for complex, secure transaction processing; created industry’s first set of re-usable software components for integrated B2B e-commerce; and pioneered comprehensive business value management frameworks and platforms. As a thought leader, he has authored a number of award winning books on leadership, innovation, mindfulness, resilience, organizational transformation, and entrepreneurship, including the #1 Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller Lift – Fostering the Leader in You Amid Revolutionary Global Change (Fast Company), and the #2 Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller Everything Connects – Cultivating Mindfulness, Creativity, and Innovation for Long-Term Value (Fast Company). His work has appeared in Fast Company, Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Fox, CBS, Financial Times, Mergers & Acquisitions, Forbes, Leadership Excellence, and Huffington Post among other publications. He holds a strong belief that it is through knowledge sharing that we may provide the greatest clarity on how to improve our collective future. As a globetrotter, he is passionate about nature, people, culture, music, and design, and he loves to cook.

Steve Ramona – Host of Doing Business With A Servant’s Heart You got to step into every interaction that you have in our business. For your personal life, really doesn’t matter how you go really uplift them. What value can you bring to somebody? Steve Ramona is the host of Doing Business With A Servant’s Heart – Steve’s guests are Top Business Leaders who will get great resources and tips in the Podcast to help the audience grow their personal and professional lives. Steve Ramona is a unique super-connector/ Human SEO specializing in building impactful partnerships through personalized introductions. With a remarkable portfolio involving $1 billion in projects and over $125 million in partner deals, showcasing the incredible value he brings to every partnership. Steve is dedicated to facilitating connections that yield results. His introductions are not just emails; they include tailored video explanations that add a personal touch and ensure each connection is meaningful. Showcasing the incredible value he brings to every partnership. In addition to his partnership work, Steve hosts the popular podcast, *Doing Business with a Servant’s Heart* podcast, which reaches an audience of over 50,000 people per episode and continues to grow! He also produces the TV show *Together We Serve*, boasting a remarkable monthly audience of 1.2 million viewers. Featuring inspiring CEOs, founders, presidents, and entrepreneurs with incredible stories, Steve uses his platforms to forge powerful collaborations and partnerships. Join Steve on his mission to create meaningful connections and foster growth through service! Patrick Grimes – CEO and Founder of Passive Investing Mastery Nobody was telling me anything about. Here’s the 50 different ways you can invest into alternative investments that don’t have the same market fundamentals and aren’t driven by the same factors as real estate in the stock market and and by the way, they’ll build real stability, real security in your financial portfolio. Patrick Grimes, the CEO and founder of Passive Investing Mastery, has helped hundreds of successful professionals reach their financial goals through alternative investment options with tax-advantaged cash flow, appreciation, and limited exposure to market volatility and inflation. He has been active in investments since 2006, including purchasing land and distressed assets, renovating, and stabilizing for cash flow. Patrick’s private equity firm, Invest On Main Street has acquire thousands of apartment units and is diversified into natural gas and oil portfolios across five states. He is a frequent speaker on podcasts and at conferences. He writes on alternative investing and coauthored the best-selling book Persistence, Pivots and Game Changers. Previously, Patrick designed and built manufacturing automation and robotic systems in the medical device, EV, and aerospace industries. Patrick holds a BS in mechanical engineering and an MBA and MS in engineering.

MichaelAaron Flicker – Founder/CEO of XenoPsi and Author of Hacking the Human Mind: The behavioral science secrets behind 17 of the world’s best brands The power of words are very commonly underestimated by entrepreneurs, by marketers. MichaelAaron Flicker is an American entrepreneur and behavioral science strategist who serves as the founder and chief executive officer of XenoPsi Ventures, a brand incubator that provides financial, marketing, and intellectual capital to a diverse portfolio of companies. He started XenoPsi when he was just a young teenager and has grown it into one of America’s fastest-growing private firms, leading nine operating companies and consulting with more than 100 brands across sectors. MichaelAaron is co-author of Hacking the Human Mind: The behavioral science secrets behind 17 of the world’s best brands, a book that reveals how top companies use behavioral science to drive lasting growth. A recognized thought leader at the intersection of business and marketing, he founded the Consumer Behavior Lab to help brands apply behavioral science principles, and he co-hosts the Behavioral Science for Brands podcast exploring the latest insights in human decision making. His work has been featured in Fast Company and other industry publications, and he has been honored as one of NJBIZ’s “40 Under 40.” He holds degrees in political science and philosophy from Boston College and lives in New Jersey with his wife and three children. Dean Foster – International Business Expert and Author of Business Beyond Borders: Stories, Tales and Lessons Learned from Working in 100 Cultures Around the World You can’t change the culture that you’re choosing to work with. That’s not your job, and it’s a long process to try to do that, but you can manage it and manage it for success. Dean is the founder of DFA Intercultural Global Solutions ,and founder and former Worldwide Director of Berlitz Cross-Cultural. Based in New York City, Dean has played a central role in the development of the field of cross-cultural training and consulting. Dean has worked with most major Fortune 500 companies, national governments and NGOs (the United Nations and World Trade Institutes, among others), and as guest lecturer and faculty for premier educational institutions, including Harvard Business School, Columbia University School of Business, New York University, and Darden Business School. His work has taken him to more than 100 countries. He is the host on CNN of the nationwide “Doing Business in… ” series; a frequent guest commentator on culture, global work and social issues for CNN, CNBC, the BBC and other radio and TV shows; and has been interviewed in Newsweek, USA Today, New York Times, and elsewhere. He is the creator and host of the more than irreverent podcast, “Oops, Your Culture’s Showing!” Dean is a frequent presenter at major international conferences related to global work and cultural issues. He has been an active member of and speaker at the annual international conferences of Worldwide ERC©, the National Foreign Trade Council, the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), the International Institute for Human Resources (IIHR), and other organizations. In 2012 Dean was inducted into Worldwide ERC’s prestigious “Hall of Leaders”; in 2013 he received the Forum for Expatriate Management’s acclaimed Lifetime Achievement Award. Dean has written many articles and published six books, including “Bargaining Across Borders“, voted as one of the top ten business books of the year by the American Library Association. As a contributing editor with National Geographic, he wrote the monthly “CultureWise” column appearing in National Geographic Traveler Magazine. His latest book, “BUSINESS BEYOND BORDERS: Stories, Tales and Lessons Learned from Working in 100 Cultures Around the World” was published, November 2025. Dean is on the faculty of American University’s Intercultural Management Institute in Washington, DC. He received his Master’s degree in Sociology from the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research, NYC.

Kaelyn Query – Award-winning Event Producer and Author of So Worth It!  We actually make more money doing less events because we’re spending more time on each these clients then become repeat clients. A lot of our corporate clients were on retainer for them, and so we actually do better with less events. What a wild concept, right? Kaelyn Query Caldwell is an award-winning event producer, small business owner, serial entrepreneur, author of So Worth It!, consultant, professor, and public speaker based in Lexington, Kentucky whose work spans clients across the United States and beyond. She began her career in events and hospitality during high school and turned her passion into a professional venture in 2013, eventually founding multiple successful companies including Kentucky Event Company, LexEffect Venues, and My Wedding Planner while producing countless events nationally and internationally. Kaelyn hosts the Big Ideas Small Business podcast and serves as the Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at Transylvania University, where she mentors and teaches aspiring business leaders. Her entrepreneurial achievements have earned her numerous honors such as Entrepreneur of the Year and Top Event Planner recognitions, and she is active in her community through leadership and board roles. When she is not creating experiences or writing, Kaelyn enjoys travel, cooking, and time with her wife and son. Rusty Shelton – Founder of Zilker Media and Co-Author of “The Authority Advantage: Building Thought Leadership Focused on Impact Not Ego“ The way you punch above your weight class today is not to lead as a company with something to sell. Instead, it’s to lead as a thought leader with something to teach. Rusty Shelton is the Founder of Zilker Media and Co-Author of “The Authority Advantage: Building Thought Leadership Focused on Impact Not Ego“. Rusty Shelton first spoke at Harvard on the changing world of marketing and PR at the age of 23. He is a bestselling author, dynamic keynote speaker and successful entrepreneur who has focused his career on helping leaders build thought leadership focused on impact, not ego, writing three acclaimed books and speaking around the world to a variety of audiences, from YPO to SXSW Interactive to Forbes. He is Chairman of Zilker Media, an award-winning agency based in Austin, TX that builds people-driven brands and Senior Marketing Strategist at Forbes Books. Rusty’s keynotes blend humor and targeted examples to challenge assumptions about personal branding, showing audiences how to build authentic thought leadership focused on impact, not ego. He’s known for a mix of story-telling, candor and practical, put-it-into-action-next-week guidance – showing leaders how to make an impact and build trust in an increasingly skeptical world – and have a lot of fun along the way. He has shared the stage with Steve Forbes and Alan Mulally, spoken for YPO, EO, SXSW Interactive, the University of Texas, numerous Fortune 1000 companies and served on the faculty at more than 20 Harvard Medical School CME courses. He is the co-author (alongside Adam Witty) of The Authority Advantage: Building Thought Leadership Focused on Impact, Not Ego (ForbesBooks, 2023), which features a foreword from David Meerman Scott, Authority Marketing: How to Leverage 7 Pillars of Thought Leadership to Make Competition Irrelevant (ForbesBooks, 2018), which features a foreword from Steve Forbes, and co-author (alongside Barbara Cave Henricks) of Mastering the New Media Landscape: Embrace the Micromedia Mindset (Berrett-Koehler, 2016). An avid Texas Longhorns fan, he sits on the University of Texas Texas Exes PR Committee and is a proud member of Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) in Austin, where he serves on the board. He lives just west of Austin in Spicewood with his wife, Paige and three children (Luke, Brady & Sadie) and their very rowdy black lab, Charlie. Rusty loves to play golf, fish, coach his sons’ sports teams and is the QB for Lake Travis’ top “old man” flag football team.

Will Cooper – AKA Doc Holiday – Founder of Stock Market Ping Pong We’re not looking for miracles. We’re not looking for home runs. We’re looking for safe, simple, repeatable, profitable trades. Will Cooper is a serial entrepreneur turned professional day trader with more than 15 years of experience building companies in the Oil and Gas industry. During that time, he founded and helped develop seven start ups that collectively generated more than $500 million in gross revenue. When the COVID pandemic disrupted the energy sector, Will shifted his focus to the financial markets, transforming a long standing personal interest into a full time profession. Over the next two years, he developed a proprietary trading protocol and algorithm designed to identify repeatable opportunities using a disciplined, rules based approach. Today, nearly six years into his trading career, Will trades independently from his laptop, applying the same structured thinking that guided his success as an entrepreneur. He now shares his experience and methodology with others, helping traders understand the principles of consistency, discipline, and process that drive long term performance in the markets. Brian Will – Serial Entrepreneur and Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestselling Author of The Dropout Multi-Millionaire: 37 Business Lessons on How to Succeed in Business With No Money, No Education and No Clue I had always build businesses that don’t require me to actually be in them and working them. Brian Will is a serial entrepreneur who has created or co-created seven very successful companies in four different industries over the last thirty-five years. These companies were worth over a half a billion dollars at their peak. His first business was a 10-year stint in the landscaping industry that he started when he was twenty years old. This was followed by three online internet start-up companies during the dot.com boom of the late nineties and early 2000s. Today, Brian owns a growing chain of restaurants in the Atlanta area as well as an Insurance and Technology company based on Denver and a residential and commercial Real Estate business in Georgia and Florida. He also serves on city council in his hometown of Alpharetta, Georgia. Brian is an industry leading Business and Sales Management Consultant to companies from startups to fortune 500. During the course of this career Brian has done multiple turn around projects and helped those organizations drive billions of dollars in sales. He now owns a growing chain of restaurants in the Atlanta area, an Insurance and Technology company in Denver and a residential and commercial Real Estate business in Georgia and Florida.

Brent Bowers – Land Coach at The Land Sharks There’s this special thing about American land that people just want to own it. Brent Bowers is a real estate investor, entrepreneur, and educator who serves as the CEO of Zech Buys Houses LLC and a Land Coach at The Land Sharks, where he helps investors build passive income through buying and selling vacant land. A former U.S. Army officer with more than eight years of service, Brent began investing in real estate in 2007 with the goal of creating financial stability and spending more time with his family. Over time, he shifted his focus from traditional residential investing to land investing, recognizing its simplicity, scalability, and ability to generate recurring income without the challenges of tenants or property maintenance. As the president of Zech Buys Houses LLC, he has built a portfolio of land and real estate investments and developed systems that generate consistent monthly income. Through The Land Sharks, Brent now mentors and trains investors on his proven strategies for finding, acquiring, and reselling vacant land, helping others create reliable cash flow and long term wealth through land investing. Josh Morgerman – Founder of iCyclone  People ask me this all the time. They’re like, what’s wrong with you? And all I can say is, listen, honestly, I was born this way. Founded by storm chaser and adrenaline junkie Josh Morgerman, iCyclone is the brand name under which he chases hurricanes and collaborates with others on weather-related projects. The iCyclone team is a loosely-affiliated, cross-functional club of chasers, researchers, and meteorologists unified by their shared passion for Earth’s mightiest spectacle: the hurricane. The iCyclone mission has always been to penetrate, experience, and document the inner cores of hurricanes as they thrust ashore—via video, data collection, and blogging. iCyclone’s original chase turf was exclusively the USA. That changed in 2007, when Josh Morgerman singlehandedly hunted ferocious Category-5 Hurricane Dean on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula—the only chaser to do so. This splashy debut launched a string of solo, daredevil Mexican chases that have established Morgerman as the most prolific chaser of Mexican hurricanes and a specialist in this region. Since 2007, he’s logged a whopping eight successful hurricane chases in Mexico, on both the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts and in doing so has captured rare video footage and useful data for the USA’s National Hurricane Center. In 2013, when the Atlantic failed to produce any chaseable hurricanes, Morgerman and the iCyclone team expanded their focus to East Asia, chasing and penetrating the inner cores of an incredible four typhoons in just over a month, including Category-5 Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in the Philippines. Recent high-profile chases include devastating Hurricane Odile in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in 2014; Typhoon Goni in Ishigaki-jima, Japan, in 2015; Typhoon Dujuan in Su’ao, Taiwan, in 2015; and the incredible Category-5 Hurricane Patricia in Jalisco, Mexico, in 2015. Salima Lin – Managing Partner, Strategy, M&A, Transformation, and Thought Leadership at IBM Consulting Humans as humans, those who have AI will replace those who don’t use it. Salima Lin has more than 25 years of management consulting and leadership experience in developing and executing business and operating strategies, driving transformation, developing new business models and operationalizing process improvement. During her career, she has advised numerous Fortune 500 companies, primarily in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, diagnostics, medical devices, managed care, and healthcare delivery. Her experience spans strategy development in the Americas, with strategy and transformation across industries and domains for IBM’s consulting business globally. She has a master’s degree in health policy and administration from Harvard, and a bachelor’s degree in business administration and biology from Simon Fraser University.

Vance Morris – Former Area Food & Beverage Manager at Walt Disney World and President & Chief Experience Officer of Deliver Service Now institute Your marketing is designed to do two things, attract the people you want and repel the people you don’t want. Vance Morris is a customer experience strategist, entrepreneur, speaker, and the President and Chief Experience Officer of the Deliver Service Now Institute. He is widely recognized for helping businesses transform ordinary transactions into extraordinary customer experiences that drive loyalty, referrals, and long-term profitability. Vance spent more than a decade as a senior leader at Walt Disney World, where he served as an Area Food and Beverage Manager and helped oversee operations in one of the world’s most respected service organizations. During his time with Disney, he learned firsthand the systems and operational discipline behind creating memorable guest experiences, building customer loyalty, and delivering consistent service excellence at scale. Following his Disney career, Vance became an entrepreneur and successfully built and operated multiple home service businesses. Drawing on his Disney experience and real-world ownership perspective, he founded the Deliver Service Now Institute in 2013 to help business owners escape price competition and instead compete on customer experience and perceived value. Through his proprietary XPerience Service System, he has helped more than 1,100 businesses improve customer retention, increase profitability, and create lasting client relationships. Today, Vance works with entrepreneurs, service professionals, and organizations across industries through consulting, coaching, speaking, and immersive training programs. His work focuses on helping companies create customers for life by delivering intentional, memorable experiences at every stage of the customer journey. Vance Morris is considered one of the leading voices in applying Disney-style service principles to small and mid-sized businesses, showing owners how to turn service into a competitive advantage and a powerful driver of growth. George Pesansky – Forbes Councils Contributor at Forbes Coaches Council and Author of Superperformance: 8 Strategies to Reach Full Potential for Yourself, Your Team, and Your Organization When we become the managers of our own improvement factory, we can really hold ourselves to a whole different level of accountability. George Pesansky is an operational excellence expert, executive coach, author, and performance strategist with more than three decades of experience helping individuals and organizations achieve consistent, high-level results. He is widely recognized for his work in leadership development, process improvement, and building repeatable systems that enable sustainable peak performance. Throughout his career, George has worked extensively with Fortune 500 organizations, developing innovative methodologies that streamline operations, eliminate ambiguity, and create cultures of clarity and accountability. He has trained and supported more than 10,000 professionals in Six Sigma, Lean, and World Class Manufacturing principles, helping organizations improve efficiency, strengthen leadership capability, and drive measurable business outcomes. George is also the founder of Capacity2Care, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping high-performing professionals contribute their expertise to charitable organizations, creating meaningful operational and social impact. In addition to his coaching and consulting work, he is the author of Superperformance, a book that teaches leaders and professionals how to identify, replicate, and sustain their highest levels of performance by turning best practices into standard practices. Today, George works with executives, teams, and organizations around the world through coaching, speaking, and training programs, helping them unlock potential, improve performance, and build systems that produce consistent, long-term success. Fabiana Neves – CEO of Castrol Americas There is a lot going on, on joining forces of the private sector, the government, the industry, universities, right? So to look after ways of sustainable human presence in the moon. Fabiana Neves is the President and CEO of Castrol Americas, part of the bp group, where she leads one of the world’s most recognized lubricant businesses across North and South America. In this role, she is responsible for driving business growth, strengthening Castrol’s market leadership, and advancing innovation across automotive, industrial, and energy sectors. Fabiana brings more than two decades of leadership experience within Castrol and bp, having held senior roles across marketing, business development, and general management. Her career includes positions such as Vice President of Business Development and Integration for Latin America at bp, as well as multiple leadership roles at Castrol, including General Manager, industrial marketing leader, and regional commercial executive. Through these roles, she has led strategic initiatives focused on brand growth, customer engagement, and commercial performance across global and regional markets. Prior to becoming CEO of Castrol Americas, Fabiana served as Vice President for Castrol Americas, where she helped lead major brand initiatives and partnerships, while supporting Castrol’s mission to develop high-performance lubricants and advanced technologies for demanding environments, including space and next-generation mobility applications. Known for her strategic leadership and deep expertise in global energy and lubricant markets, Fabiana has built a reputation for driving transformation, strengthening customer relationships, and leading high-performing teams. Today, she continues to guide Castrol Americas through a period of innovation and growth, helping shape the future of mobility, industrial performance, and energy solutions.

Tom Hardin – Founder of Tipper X The hardest part is just to accept responsibility and own it. And actually, the hardest part also is to forgive yourself. I mean, that’s still what I go through today. Sometimes it’s just sort of that stuff. Sort of that self forgiveness, because we can be, you know, our internal voices of our thought can be, can be pretty, pretty negative at times. Tom Hardin is the founder of Tipper X and a globally recognized keynote speaker, corporate trainer, and advisor specializing in ethics, compliance, and culture risk. Early in his career, he worked as a financial analyst in New York City, where he became involved in insider trading and later cooperated with federal authorities as an undercover informant in one of the largest insider trading investigations in Wall Street history. Operating under the codename “Tipper X,” his cooperation helped federal investigators build cases against major financial figures and exposed widespread ethical failures within the hedge fund industry. Today, Hardin has transformed his experience into a platform for education and prevention. Through Tipper X, he delivers keynote presentations, compliance training, and advisory services to corporations, financial institutions, and universities around the world. His work focuses on helping organizations understand the psychological and cultural factors that lead to ethical breakdowns, and how to build stronger ethical decision making systems. He is also the author of Wired on Wall Street, which shares his firsthand account of financial misconduct, cooperation with federal authorities, and his personal journey toward accountability and redemption. Brendan Keegan – CEO of Merchants Fleet and Author of The FUD Factor: Overcoming Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt to Achieve the Impossible – Overcoming Fear Leaders are not born. They’re made. And the first thing that really has to happen is someone just needs to make a conscious decision that they want to be a leader. Some people come to that decision on their own. Others, somebody sees it in them and taps into their leadership. But leadership has nothing to do with title. It has to do with doing little extra. Picking up the basketballs. Raising your hand before you even know what the project is. Informally, you’re putting yourself into a leadership role, and that’s really powerful. Brendan Keegan is chairman, CEO and president of the board for Merchants Fleet, the fastest-growing fleet technology company in North America. Brendan is the creator of the bFEARLESS movement. He also is the author of three books, including his newest, The FUD Factor: Overcoming Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt to Achieve the Impossible. Keegan has contributed more than 200 articles to Fast Company, Inc. Media, Entrepreneur, Newsweek, Fox Business and Harvard Business Review. During Keegan’s time at Merchants Fleet, the company has been named a two-time Inc 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Company, Deloitte Best Managed Company and a Fast Company Top 10 Most Innovative Company.  Brendan P. Keegan has spent a lifetime facing down fear, uncertainty and doubt in order to make his visions a reality. And for the hundreds of thousands of people who have been inspired by his revolutionary approach to leadership, he offers an unmatched mix of creativity, generosity, wisdom and tenacious commitment to making a positive impact on the world. An award-winning six-time president and chief executive officer, Brendan is well-known in the business world for his ability to envision outcomes that seem audacious, or even impossible — until he makes them a reality. As the current Chairman, CEO & President of the Board for Merchants Fleet, the fastest-growing fleet technology company in North America, he has created a culture of innovation that empowers employees, partners and investors to transform the industry. Brendan has dedicated himself to cracking his own code and building simple, repeatable systems that anyone can use to live and lead without limits. He shares his insights through regular contributions to Forbes, Fast Company, Inc., Newsweek and other publications, along with his books, blog posts, podcasts and speaking engagements.