Steve Farber is the founder of The Extreme Leadership Institute, an organization devoted to changing the world through the cultivation and development of extreme leaders in business, nonprofits, education, and beyond. Listed on Inc.’s ranking of the Top 50 Leadership and Management Experts in the world, and #1 on Huffington Post’s 12 Business Speakers to See, Farber is a bestselling author, popular keynote speaker, and a seasoned leadership coach and consultant who has worked with a vast array of public and private organizations in virtually every arena.
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Greg Alcorn is the founder and CEO of Global Contact Services (GCS) with locations in North Carolina and New York. GCS provides outsourcing, management and consulting in the area of customer service. GCS currently has over 800 employees. He is a regular speaker on the subjects of “soft skills.”
Greg’s a North Carolina resident, graduating from Catawba College and earning his MBA from UNC-Charlotte. In 2010 he was named Catawba’s Alumnus of the year, 2015 Church and College award and the Adrian Shuford Award in 2016.
For five years, he served on the NC State Board of Education. From that experience, Greg started ApSeed Early Childhood Education in 2015. ApSeed provides eReaders to economically disadvantaged children ages 0-4 years old, 6,000, so far. Recently, he received the MLK, Jr. Humanitarian Award for this work. He remains involved in numerous non-profits.
Greg’s book is a result of many relationships across all walks of life. He has worked in a blazing hot brickyard, played on a Cinderella Final Four basketball team for one week, and for decades, he has helped Fortune 500 companies with customer communications. The book of 7 Dumb Things We All Say is a quasi-memoir filled with soft skills of do’s and don’ts.
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Stephen is the founder and CEO of Predictive ROI, a digital marketing agency, and the host of Onward Nation — a top-rated daily podcast for learning how today’s top business owners think, act and achieve. Onward Nation is listened to in 120 countries around the world.
Stephen is the author of three books, including the #1 bestseller, “Profitable Podcasting,” and his digital marketing insights have been featured in Forbes.com, Entrepreneur.com, The Washington Post, and Inc. Magazine.
H. John Oechsle joined Swiftpage (www.act.com) in July 2012 and currently serves as Chief Executive Officer. John came to Swiftpage with an over 30 year track record of building highly profitable and sustainable revenue growth for emerging companies and established global leaders.
Prior to joining Swiftpage, John served as the Executive Vice President of Strategy and Product for DigitalGlobe. During his tenure, he was instrumental in shaping the future of the company and driving revenue growth through the launch of a number of very successful product lines. Prior to DigitalGlobe, John was the Senior Vice President of Technology and Content as well as Chief Information Officer for IHS Inc. Before that he was the Chief Information Officer and Vice President of Information Management Worldwide for Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, a Johnson & Johnson company, where he was responsible for all technology and e-business. Earlier in his career, John served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Land America Financial Group, Inc., and Director of Global Information Management for Kellogg Company. John holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in computer science from Rutgers University and is a graduate of the Tuck Executive Program at the Amos Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College.
John is an advocate for technology and education in Colorado and has been an active contributor and served as 2007 Chairman of the Colorado Technology Association (CTA). John supports Open World Learning, an organization that uses the power of technology and peer teaching to develop leadership and ignite a love of learning among children. John also supports Kidstek, an organization dedicated to making technology accessible to youth. John has been recognized several times for his involvement in the industry. In 2006 and in 2009, John was awarded the Technology Executive of the Year, and the Titan of Technology awards by the CTA. John was also awarded the Bob Newman Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Community by the CTA in 2011 and the Nancy J. Sauer Philanthropy award in 2016. In 2015, John was appointed to the Business Experiential Learning Commission (BEL) by the Governor of Colorado and continues to serve on that commission today.
While not at Swiftpage, John juggles his time being a husband, father, and grandfather and spends the time he has left playing golf, skiing and boating.
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In 2003, Nick was in a snowboarding accident that left him in a coma for over three weeks. The doctors told his parents that he probably wouldn’t walk, talk, or eat on his own again. Less than three months later, he was running out of Franciscan Children’s hospital. Now a Certified Infinite Possibilities Trainer, Nick speaks to groups that benefit from his message of overcoming adversity.
Nick grew up in the real estate industry and got started on his own at an early age. Most notably, he was knocking on pre-foreclosure doors at 16 and 17, doing up to 50 doors a day. This experience helped shape Nick’s real estate career.
Now, Nick specializes in working with lease purchasers to get them into a home and on the path to homeownership. Regardless of a buyer’s credit situation, he looks at their complete financial picture and comes up with a plan to get them into a home.
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After a devastating divorce and bankruptcy, this single mother of two rebuilt her life through real estate. In the process, Dixie Decker accidentally stumbled upon a unique method for buying and profiting in real estate without using any of her own money or credit: student housing.
In just three years, she mastered the process, building her net worth to over $5,000,000 and $100,000 per month in positive cash flow! Today her cash flow machine runs practically on AUTOPILOT, so she can focus on her family, growing investments, building associations with other women, and helping others succeed.
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Jesse Cole is the founder of Fans First Entertainment and owner of the Savannah Bananas. His teams have welcomed more than one million fans to their ballparks and have been featured on MSNBC, CNN, and ESPN.
The Bananas have been awarded the Organization of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, Business of the Year, and won the CPL Championship in their first year. Fans First Entertainment has been featured on the INC 5000 lists as one of the fastest-growing companies in America. The Savannah Bananas currently have sold out every game for two straight seasons and have a waiting list in the thousands for tickets.
Jesse is an in-demand speaker and released his first book “Find Your Yellow Tux – How to Be Successful by Standing Out” in January of 2018. The book launched #1 in three categories on Amazon and has been sold in 18 countries. Staying true to his mantra, “Whatever’s normal, do the exact opposite,” Cole launched the book with a World Book Tour at Epcot.
Cole’s greatest mentors are Bill Veeck, P.T. Barnum, and Walt Disney. All three share a wall in his office on custom-made posters that display the words Innovation, Showmanship, and Vision. Cole believes to be successful you need to stand out and be different.
He releases daily videos, blogs, and articles on LinkedIn. He is passionate about creating attention, loving your customers more than your product, and loving your employees more than your customers. Cole is the host of the Business Done Differently Podcast and has been featured on more than 100 podcasts including the Ziglar Show, StoryBrand with Donald Miller and NPR’s Only a Game.
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JT McCormick is the President and CEO of Scribe Media, a publishing company that’s created an entirely new way for you to write a book. The company has worked with nearly 1,000 authors and was recently ranked in their category as the #2 best company to work for in Austin and #4 in their category for all of Texas. JT is also the author of “I Got There: How I Overcame Racism, Poverty, and Abuse to Achieve the American Dream.”
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Stephen is the founder and CEO of Predictive ROI, a digital marketing agency, and the host of Onward Nation — a top-rated daily podcast for learning how today’s top business owners think, act and achieve. Onward Nation is listened to in 120 countries around the world.
Stephen is the author of three books, including the #1 bestseller, “Profitable Podcasting,” and his digital marketing insights have been featured in Forbes.com, Entrepreneur.com, The Washington Post, and Inc. Magazine.
After graduating from Clemson University, Scott Fogleman began his career in advertising sales at The Wall Street Journal, followed most recently by a successful sales career with SYNNEX Corporation managing the Google Brand inclusive of Chrome Education.
Scott’s passion for higher education began during his time with Clemson’s Undergraduate Student Government and as a member of President’s Cabinet. At Up&Up, he leads the East Sales Region with a mission to impact change by bringing strong, positive, executable campaigns to his clients and their constituents.
Allison Lanier’s curiosity for the sales process began as a teenager while working in the retail environment. Years later, she graduated cum laude from the University of South Carolina, Aiken Campus and quickly realized her excitement for sales had developed into a true passion.
As a Business Development Manager for Up&Up, Allison brings her experience in sales leadership and execution from past employers such as Verizon Wireless and PepsiCo. At Up&Up, she uses her passion for people to create a positive, effective, and rewarding campaign experience for the West Sales Region.
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While trekking through the Himalayas, the Andes and the Alps; while camping in the Arctic Circle and living on a houseboat in Kashmir, India, Bill Cates built and sold two successful publishing companies. For the past 25 years, his mission has been helping professional service companies grow through referrals, introductions, and other relationship marketing strategies. Bill Cates has spoken to over 350,000 professionals worldwide and has trained over 70,000 in his system. You will gain a proven process to enhance client engagement and leverage that engagement into quality introductions that result in new clients.
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Clate Mask is the CEO and co-founder of Infusionsoft, the leading all-in-one sales, and marketing software built for small businesses and eight-time Inc. 500 or Inc. 5000 winner. Clate was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist, a Top 100 Small Business Influencer by Small Business Trends, and one of the 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs of 2013 by Goldman Sachs. Clate is a national speaker on entrepreneurship and small business success, and he is the co-author of the New York Times bestselling book, “Conquer the Chaos: How to Grow a Successful Small Business Without Going Crazy.”
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Robbie Kellman Baxter has been advising entrepreneurs on business strategy for 20 years. Her clients have included solopreneurs and venture-backed startups as well as industry leaders such as ASICS, Netflix, Electronic Arts, and The Wall Street Journal. She has worked with nearly 100 organizations in over 20 industries on growth initiatives.
A sought-after writer and keynote speaker, Robbie has presented at top universities, associations and corporations, as well as to corporate boards and leadership teams around the world. Robbie has created and starred in 10 video courses in collaboration with LinkedIn Learning on business topics ranging from innovation to customer success and membership.
As the author of The Membership Economy: Find Your Superusers, Master the Forever Transaction & Build Recurring Revenue, a book that has been named a top 5 Marketing Book of the Year by Inc.com, Robbie coined the popular business term “Membership Economy”. Robbie’s expertise with companies in the emerging Membership Economy extends to include SaaS, media, consumer products and community organizations.
Prior to launching Peninsula Strategies, Robbie was a strategy consultant at Booz-Allen, a New York City Urban Fellow and a Silicon Valley product marketer. Robbie received her MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and graduated with honors from Harvard College.
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John Waid has thirty years of sales and sales leadership experience in Fortune 500 companies and twelve years of senior consulting experience in the learning and development field. John earned his MBA in International Business from a top program and is fluent in three languages which has allowed him to work in Europe, North, Central and South America. He started his own firm, C3—Corporate Culture Consulting, to work with leaders and their companies on their cultures.
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Prentice Howe has always believed in underdogs. As Owner and Chief Creative Officer of Door Number 3, a full-service advertising agency based in Austin, Texas, his passion is helping brands embrace their challenger-ability and topple their giants. Prentice has been featured in The New York Times, AdWeek, Inc., and Communication Arts and authored the Amazon best-selling book “The Empowered Challenger Playbook,” which describes his strategies in detail and backs them up with case studies.
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Sharon Spano, Ph.D., helps business leaders transform how they think, adapt, and respond in complex business environments. As a business strategist, author, and Professional Integral Coach, she leads her clients through specific research-based practices that empower them to realign their business strategy with a life of meaning, accelerated performance, and increased profitability.
Sharon is also the author of The Pursuit of Time and Money: Step Into Radical Abundance and Discover the Secret to a Meaningful Prosperous Life.
She is also a scholar-practitioner who enjoys researching and understanding some of the hard stuff of life so you don’t have to. There’s nothing like helping people move through challenges such that they come out more passionate and fulfilled on the other side.
Whether you’re a person in the midst of change, an entrepreneur, or an organizational leader, Sharon would love to help you discover a more meaningful and prosperous life.
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Adam Honig (HOE-nig) is the founder and CEO of Spiro (SPEAR-oh) Technologies, a CRM company focused on breathing new life into sales technology to help salespeople reach new heights. Adam has worked in the tech industry for over 25 years, building companies that deliver enterprise software and solutions, as well as developing award-winning teams across the globe. Together with Spiros founding team, Adam has developed tech solutions for over 300,000 salespeople in the past 10 years. He's learned invaluable lessons throughout his career, and today he shares his expertise with sales teams across the globe, empowering them to achieve success through targeted relationship-building, proven sales tactics, and inspired technologies.
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Eric Thurston has enabled many of the world’s leading organizations to leverage technology solutions to drive business performance. He is currently as President and CEO of Personify, a market-leading technology platform that helps organizations to better engage their constituents, maximize revenue and optimize operations. In his role at Personify, Eric has led the company through a founder transition, successfully acquired three new technology solutions, executed a major product rewrite and positioned Personify to be sold from its private equity sponsor Rubicon Technology Partners to Pamlico Capital.
As host of the Planet Leadership podcast, Eric meets with leaders, influencers, and movers and shakers in the association and nonprofit market to explore the issues and topics keeping up executives up at night, such as how to drive efficiencies within an organization, leverage technology to be more effective, and stay on top of trends in a rapidly evolving market.
Eric has a wealth of experience in the software industry, serving in leadership roles at Mitratech, P2 Energy Solutions, Oracle and SAP. He lives in Austin and enjoys boating, hiking, and fishing with his family.
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About Judy Sparks
Judy is the founder, CEO, and President of Smartegies LLC. Founded in 2008, Smartegies is a specialty marketing agency that has helped more than 150 companies across North America build stronger brands, implement effective communications, and develop winning strategies and proposals. Judy has worked in B2B marketing and sales roles exclusively since 1993, specializing in the AEC industry. Judy is a true expert in AEC marketing and has a proven record of success across her 25 years in the field.
About Katie Cash
Katie is an architecture, engineering, and construction marketer with over 15 years of experience serving the AEC industry. Katie is an expert strategist who helps her clients win big projects through creative marketing methods. Katie believes in thinking outside the box and has a gift for tackling challenges by using innovative and unconventional solutions. Today, Katie serves as the Vice President of Smartegies, working alongside Judy to help clients achieve maximum impact in their marketing efforts.
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John Iannarelli retired from the FBI after more than 20 years of service, during which time he was a member of the FBI SWAT Team and participated in the investigations of the Oklahoma City Bombing, the 9/11 attack, the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and the Sony hack. Among his many FBI assignments, John previously served in Washington, D.C. as the FBI National Spokesperson and later with the Executive Staff of the FBI's Cyber Division. He was a Cyber Squad Supervisor before becoming the Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Phoenix Division, the number two position overseeing all Criminal, Cyber and Counter Intelligence investigations throughout Arizona. During his FBI tenure, John was also the recipient of the FBI Directors Distinguished Service Award, for which he was selected from the ranks of the Bureaus 35,000 employees.
An energetic and entertaining speaker, John is the author of four books, including Why Teens Fail and What to Fix, a parents guide to protecting their children from Internet predators and other dangers, Information Governance Security about how businesses can protect their important information from loss or compromise and How to Spot A Terrorist Before Its Too Late, a guide to help people recognize and prevent terrorism before it can occur. His soon to be released fifth book, Disorderly Conduct, examines the lighter side of law enforcement and the humorous moments during Johns FBI career.
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Mike Canarelli is the CEO and Co-Founder of Web Talent Marketing and is recognized as one of the top digital marketing agencies in the United States who prides itself on providing unique, scalable long-term solutions for its clients. Mike holds a B.S. from Temple University’s Fox School of Business and Management where he studied Entrepreneurship and Management Information Systems. After six years as a freelance designer and web developer, he founded Axis Creative Group in 2006 and later merged with Web Talent SEO in late 2010.
Marcus Grimm, Chief Growth Officer at Web Talent Marketing, is dedicated to implementing strategies & tactics that utilize emerging technologies, particularly in sales, content marketing and marketing automation. Marcus’ experience extends across the entire buyer journey, from market research, prospect targeting and awareness, to lead acquisition, qualification, nurturing, presenting and closing. Marcus has extensively studied and utilized the latest in behavioral economics to translate decision theory from the classroom to the boardroom.
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Stephen is the founder and CEO of Predictive ROI, a digital marketing agency, and the host of Onward Nation — a top-rated daily podcast for learning how today’s top business owners think, act and achieve. Onward Nation is listened to in 120 countries around the world.
Stephen is the author of three books, including the #1 bestseller, “Profitable Podcasting,” and his digital marketing insights have been featured in Forbes.com, Entrepreneur.com, The Washington Post, and Inc. Magazine.
Our special encore guest today is Kelly Hatfield. Kelly has been in the recruiting and HR field for over 25 years as a successful business owner and entrepreneur. She is the host of the Absolute Advantage Podcast and partner in her most recent venture, Think It. Be It. – a human performance company for high achievers. Kelly’s work with companies in helping them develop their leadership, design recruiting, as well as retention strategies gives her a unique perspective into the hiring experience and leadership from all angles. Now…you may remember Kelly and the wisdom she shared during Episodes 274 and 524 of Onward Nation. And if you haven’t listened to, studied, and applied all she shared during her previous interviews…I highly encourage you to add Episodes 274 and 524 to your list of vital priorities.
Dr. Deborak K. Ekstrom is the president of Salisbury Plastic Surgery in Massachusetts — a very successful clinic and she’s a highly skilled surgeon and has been honing those skills over decades. But success wasn’t easy. It never is Onward Nation. Even if from the outside, it might seem that way.
It takes hard work — it takes commitment — it takes a drive to get over the obstacles and past the naysayers who are attempting to stand in your way. And it takes mentors who can take us under their wing and share their guidance with us. Dr. Ekstrom had people like that in her path — she listened — and she persevered.
And you will also hear about how she has reached a place in her career and life where she wants to not just give back — but to teach, to share, to be a conduit of educational resources...and so I’m excited for her to walk us through the media company her and her team have created called Deluge Beau.
So, Onward Nation — this will be a conversation around grit, tenacity, smarts, and building for the future that I think you are going to find extremely helpful.
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