THE DEVELOPMENT

Elizabeth Engele is the Co-Founder & Board member of MakerGirl, a non-profit which hosts 3D printing workshops. Through her nonprofit, she has been able to educate over 5,000 girls in 28 states in STEM research. She continues to create meaningful solutions for complex socio-cultural challenges through her experiences in design, entrepreneurship, and sales. Aside from that, she recently achieved her master’s degree in design from Illinois Institute of Technology’s Institute of Design after spending four years working for LinkedIn in sales, recruiting, and operations. She grew up on a farm in Southern Illinois which is why she’s passionate about bringing MakerGirl to rural and under-served communities. On the side, she serves in the children’s ministry at Park Community Church and in her free time, enjoys traveling, competing in triathlons, and baking. Elizabeth was recognized in Forbes 30 under 30, and her fantastic work has been featured in dozens of publications including Inc, NBC Chicago, and WGN. In this episode, Elizabeth shares advice around overcoming obstacles.

Mita Mallick is the head of inclusion, equity, and impact at Carta. She is a columnist for SWAAY and her writing has been published in Harvard Business Review, Entrepreneur, and Business Insider. Mita is a corporate change-maker with a track record of transforming businesses and cultures. A passionate storyteller who believes in the power of diversity to spur creative strategic thinking which can ultimately transform brands. Previously, Mita was featured in LinkedIn News’ 6th annual Top Voices List in Marketing & Advertising, earned an MBA from Duke University, and has held serval roles at top companies including Avon and Pfizer.

Santiago is co-founder of 1903 PR, ranked Forbes Next 1000, and a consistent contributor to Entrepreneur and Forbes. Santiago amassed experience from a wide variety of different industries including machine learning, cybersecurity, augmented reality, renewable energy, automation, ag tech, and environmental conservation. His work in-house and within agencies deliver substantive coverage in local, vertical, and national media. Since stepping into a leadership role with the agency, Santiago has won gold in the 2019 Bulldog Award for PR Up and Comer, as well as a 2020 bronze Stevie Award in the Communications Professional of the Year category. 

Odalys is a podcast host, content creator, and storyteller. Odalys aims to shine a light on unheard stories and deliver them with empathy, authenticity, and consistency. Her podcast, Hella Latin@, recently reached 16K+ downloads to date and was voted Top 60 Latino Podcasts Follow in 2021. Odalys also leads storytelling/personal branding workshops for first-gen college students. She has led more than 70 workshops for Bay Area universities to date and received the PRSA People to Watch Under 30 award in 2019. Previously, Odalys studied public relations at San Jose State University and has held several roles around business at globally recognized companies. In this episode, hear advice around sharing your authentic story. 

Melody Wilding is a consistent contributor to Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Forbes where she writes on leadership, management, and workplace advice. Recently, Melody was named one of Business Insider’s “Most Innovative Coaches” and her new book, “TRUST YOURSELF: Stop Overthinking and Channel Your Emotions for Success at Work”, was ranked #1 New Release on Amazon and selected as “Best book of the Month” on Apple. Additionally, Melody is an executive coach for Sensitive Strivers, her clients include CEOs, leaders, and managers at top Fortune 500 companies such as Google, HP, IBM, and others. Her work has been featured on The New York Times, The Oprah Magazine, NBC News, and dozens of other high-profile publications. Melody is an expert in helping highly sensitive and high-achieving leaders and professionals overcome the emotional challenges of leadership, management, and success. In this episode, hear about the challenges associated with overthinking and how to best avoid it.

Jason Scalzo is the executive director of Boxing Is Love, focused on mobilizing a population of eager talented young people desperate for opportunity. While working in Liberia, they work to inspire perseverance, determination, and the necessary hope to empower progress. Previously, Jason received his bachelor’s in psychology from the College of Charleston, then went on to earn an MBA in international business global economics from the University of South Carolina. In this episode, Jason shares advice around what it means to persevere during difficult times.

Erika Cruz is a Coach, Speaker, and Founder of Purpose Driven Latina. She helps her community align with their purpose and find fulfillment. After eight years in the tech industry, Erika turned her side hustle into her main hustle - all thanks to TikTok. Her content on TikTok focuses on bringing people back to themselves to align with their deeper purpose, gain confidence, and dream big. In this episode, Erika shares advice on how to navigate through imposter syndrome.

Carson is a senior studying marketing at Grand Canyon University. Recently, Carson has been helping students grow professionally, by sharing content that focuses on advice around marketing, networking, and all things LinkedIn. In this episode, we’ll discuss how students from non-top tier universities land an internship, how to effectively network, and how to make the most out of their college experience.

Rebecca Louise is a global fitness NASM Certified Trainer, best-selling author of It Takes Grit, and founder of the BTES Fitness App. An international fitness entrepreneur, Rebecca’s mission to help others overcome excuses and achieve lasting change has garnered her over 400 million views. Her podcast, It Takes Grit, crested 250,000 downloads and has featured influential names including Olympic Medalist Katie Hoff, Chris and Lori Harder, Dr. Josh Axe, and Cassey Ho. Her success and insights have been highlighted in Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Entrepreneur and many other publications. She’s served as the face for Le Coq Sportif and been an ambassador for globally recognized brands including Nike, Amazon, Nordic Track, GoPro and Disney. A continual content creator and empowerment-focused influencer, Rebecca strives to make fitness and success accessible to the masses through her numerous platforms and courses. In this episode, hear phenomenal advice on confidence and discipline. 

Jarrod Best-Mitchell is a sales trainer, content creator, and LinkedIn coach. After 14 years of working in sales for globally recognized brands such as Nokia, Microsoft & Samsung, Jarrod recognized that his passion was really in training others how to sell, how to achieve their desired results, and achieve high-performance. He’s been able to transition from corporate life and launched a business that he loves; helping people and companies sell better and utilize LinkedIn to achieve their goals. He utilizes social media to leverage his brand and training, while continually partnering alongside companies to help them strengthen their sales approach. In this episode, hear about how sales are truly the lifeblood of an organization and hear advice to enhance your techniques.

Reagan Mackrill (aka G’day Frank) is a brand identity designer from Sydney, Australia. His branding consultancy works with small-medium businesses and personal brands to develop their brand identity. Specifically working with those in the tech industry as well as podcasters. In this episode, learn how branding is an important skill that can be widely applicable in a variety of ways, along with the benefits and strategy behind it.

Dana Williamson is a travel influencer, blogger, and content creator based in Sydney, Australia. She is the founder of Wandering Donut, which focuses on showcasing underrated and unique destinations and promotes realistic travel to inspire a constantly growing and engaged worldwide audience. Dana started travel blogging while still in High School, had her first travel collaboration at age 17, then at 21 became the youngest trainer & leader for a major entrepreneurial retreat operator. She created, lead, and sold out her own food and photo tour to New Zealand and was the first instagrammer ever to partner with the Solomon Islands tourism board. She has been to over 30+ countries and has seen firsthand how important branding is worldwide. Additionally, Dana has created content for and collaborate with some of the world’s leading brands, including GoPro, Sony, Cebu Pacific Air, Port Douglas Tourism, Adobe, and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. In this episode, learn how to maximize your brand. 

Danie Jay is an entrepreneur, youtuber, and blogger. Danie is focused on helping teachers gain the confidence and skills to build authentic scalable personal brands. She does this through one-on-one private coaching, taking clients from lacking in clarity and confidence to owning their story, and through her social media presence. Danie is passionate about helping others achieve their dreams and turn their passions into profits. In this episode, hear fantastic advice about strengthening your personal brand.

Ram is an award-winning design director, blogger, top-ranking podcaster, speaker, creativeLive.com instructor, and author of two internationally acclaimed books 'How to get a job as a designer, guaranteed' and 'How to get a mentor as a designer, guaranteed'. He's based in Sydney, Australia, and in 2012, started the blog GiantThinkers.com which helps thousands of design students and graduates be employed. For 15+ years he’s been working for global agencies including Ogilvy & Mather, DDB, JWT, and McCann Worldgrou4p on clients such as Audi, McDonald’s, Qantas, Coca-Cola, Telstra, Google, and The Louis Vuitton Group. Ram has since been featured in Communication Arts, HOW magazine, Herman Miller, deFrost*, AIGA.org, and Apple. Ram now focuses on helping decision-makers, business owners, leaders, and organizations get unstuck, lightning-fast through coaching, consulting, and advisory. In this episode, learn about the importance and benefits of mentorship.

Nada is the founder and CEO of Rise Up For You, Leadership and Career Confidence Coach, and TEDx Motivational Speaker. Nada has been featured on hundreds of podcasts and radio shows and has also been a motivational and educational speaker on platforms such as TEDx Talks, The Female Quotient, The California Human Resources Conference, Wonder Women Tech, The Human Gathering and more. Her company, Rise Up For You has been featured and worked with brands such as CBS, LA Fitness, Google Next 19, and more. Nada is a proud TEDx speaker, Best Selling Author on Amazon, has been awarded the Chief's Award from the Orange County Sheriff's Department, is a three-time finalist for The Emerging Woman-Owned Business Award, and was most recently awarded the 40 Under 40 Award for Orange County Professionals in 2020 and the Women of Influence in 2021 for Entrepreneurship. In this episode, learn about the importance of emotional intelligence. 

Kayla is a proven communicator known for creative storytelling, business savvy, and relationship building. Currently helping transform Boeing’s culture with thoughtful, engaging communications strategies and tactics. In this episode, Kayla shares how to execute effective communication to help you reach your goals.

Stacey George & Sasha Spivey are the founders of Franki Ray, a luxurious collection brand. Every Franki Ray creation is uniquely designed and constructed of the finest leathers by the hands of artisans. They’re beyond skilled in branding and have done an incredible job showcasing their work in a gravitating and unique way. In this episode, learn how to leverage marketing to drive awareness, strengthen your brand, develop trust, and find your target audience.

Kira West is a Brooklyn born creator, entrepreneur, and writer with a strong passion is making wellness both more accessible and inclusive. She is the Founder of Made ByKwest, a travel and wellness-inspired line made to withstand all of life’s adventures. Although Kira works full-time in the travel & tech industry, she has found ways to continue to travel, work out, and eat healthy despite a busy schedule. In this episode, Kira shares phenomenal advice around wellness and how to keep your eyes fixed on your passion.

Becki Saltzman is a chief curiosity seeker at the applied curiosity lab. To understand the role of curiosity in the lives of remarkable people, Becki spent two decades studying and collaborating with behavioral scientists, embedding herself into a variety of industries and cultures, and conducting interviews around the world. These findings and adventures led her to found the applied curiosity lab and create curiosity training modules. She speaks and writes about curiosity as a tool for business insights and elegant, competitive advantages—as well as a lens for adventure. Additionally, Becki is a LinkedIn learning instructor, Host of Applied Curiosity Lab Podcast, and is the author of "Living Curiously: How to Use Curiosity to Be Remarkable and Do Good Stuff". In this episode, learn how to strengthen your curiosity muscle and use applied curiosity to ask smarter questions, solve problems, sell to others, and even avoid common data blind spots that can lead to faulty conclusions.

John is one of the world's leading experts in "Design Thinking” and Innovation. A highly sought-after speaker and lecturer, John is a graduate of Stanford University with a degree in Engineering - Product Design (Design Thinking) and Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of business with an MBA in organizational behavior, marketing, and entrepreneurship. A former head of innovation for a Fortune 500 wireless telecom, John has also been the SVP of innovation for a leading strategy consultancy. John is a world-class athlete in two sports (cycling and speedskating) and an Olympic silver medalist, as well as an NBC Olympic Sports analyst, and a guest lecturer on Innovation at several leading universities (Kellogg, Marquette, CEDIM). John is a three-time TEDx speaker, and an award-winning author of two books, including the (2018) best seller: Design For Strengths: Applying Design Thinking to Individual and Team Strengths. John is also a thought leader in the field of “chronoception” - the neuroscience and psychology of how humans process time. In this episode, John shares advice on resiliency.

Erika Gerdes is a leadership advisor, speaker and coach. She is a former 12-year Google global business executive who now works with high achieving leaders and teams from companies like Google, Pinterest, Twitter, and Time to embrace the philosophy of Full Range Living so they can take bigger risks, have more fun and make a bigger impact. Erika has an M.A. in Organizational Communication and a Graduate Certificate in Mediation and Negotiation. She's an ICF-certified professional coach, and completed specialized leadership development training with CoActive Training Institute and Harvard's Immunity to Change framework for making transformational change. She is certified Reiki level 2 and has been speaking, teaching and coaching for 20+ years. In this episode, hear advice on remaining authentic. 

Dylan is the CEO of Next Gen HQ. A Forbes 30 Under 30 entrepreneur, Dylan and his team provide the momentum founders, students, and young professionals need to win at work and in life. Dylan has been featured in Forbes (30 Under 30 - Education), Inc, Adweek, Entrepreneur, and USA Today for his work leading a venture-backed, scaling startup. Dylan + Next Gen work with leading brands including AMEX, Target, and Capital One to help them stand out and reach the next generation. A graduate of Duke University (‘17), Dylan has spoken in front of tens of thousands on global stages. In this episode, hear advice on networking and entrepreneurship. 

Terry is an executive and career coach, speaker and best-selling author of Winning the Game of Work: Career Happiness and Success on Your Own Terms. After 30 years of corporate business experience, 15 of which were in senior managerial roles, Terry chose to become a coach to concentrate on helping leaders step fully into their potential to lead satisfying careers. Though the majority of her professional experience is in financial services and marketing, her work exposed her to a wide variety of industries, business climates and corporate transitions such as mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and restructures. In this episode, learn how to overcome doubt and remain confident.

Kwame is the Director of the American Negotiation Institute where he conducts trainings that empower professionals to persuade, lead, and resolve conflict more effectively. Kwame is also the host of the world’s most popular negotiation podcast, Negotiate Anything. He is dedicated to empowering others through the art and science of negotiation and persuasion. Now downloaded more than 2,500,000 times, Negotiate Anything has a dedicated and growing following with listeners in more than 180 countries around the world. Kwame’s TEDx Dayton talk, Finding Confidence in Conflict, was the most popular TEDx Talk on the topic of conflict in 2017, and has been viewed over 200,000 times. His book, Finding Confidence in Conflict: How to Negotiate Anything and Live Your Best Life, is an Amazon Best-Seller and has helped countless individuals overcome the fear, anxiety, and emotion often associated with difficult conversations through a branded framework called Compassionate Curiosity. In this episode, hear advice on negotiation. 

Marc is the President of The Talent Strategy Group, helping the world's largest and most successful companies improve the quality and depth of their talent. Marc co-authored the Harvard Business Review Publishing best-selling book One Page Talent Management. Companies worldwide apply its discipline of science-based simplicity, accountability and transparency. His new book 8 Steps to High Performance was released in August 2018 by Harvard and is quickly reaching best-seller status globally. He is widely quoted on talent issues in the business media and has been recognized as one of the Top 100 Influencers in HR. He has been published in or heard on Fast Company, Financial Times, BBC, Bloomberg Radio, Inc., Harvard Business Review, New York Post, and some of the world’s most popular podcasts. Previously, Marc served as VP, Talent Management for Avon Products and SVP, Leadership Development for Bank of America and a Congressional Staff Assistant. In this episode, hear advice on performance. 

Bill is a proven leader skilled in directing global teams and building sales strategy, with over 14+ years of award-winning sales and sales leadership experience. He’s worked for globally recognized brands, including career builder, LinkedIn, and Slack. He is recognized as an innovator and thought leader on sales best practices, account strategy, and technology integration, specifically within the human capital management sector. In this episode, hear advice on strategic communication. 

Meghan Ramsey (aka Meghan the Traveling Teacher) is a well-known influencer & blogger. Meghan focuses on helping people make trips happen by providing them with the best tips around saving money and providing all things travel resources. A while back, Meghan quit her full-time teaching job in Washington, DC to work in the education technology sector and to experience a whole new world of teaching and traveling. However, the decision to leave her job certainly was not easy and there is so much that goes into those types of decisions. Meghan is here to share her advice on pursuing a new career and how to take that next step.

Greg Satell is a transformation & change expert, international keynote speaker, and bestselling author of Cascades: How to Create a Movement that Drives Transformational Change, whose work has appeared in Harvard Business Review, Barron's, Forbes, Inc., Fast Company and other A-list publications. His earlier book, Mapping Innovation, was selected as one of the best business titles of 2017. An accomplished entrepreneur, executive and one of the foremost experts on transformation today, Greg speaks to audiences around the world and works with leading organizations to better compete in a disruptive marketplace. He is consistently ranked as one of the top five innovation bloggers in the world and was named by IDG as one of "10 Digital Transformation Influencers to Follow Today." Greg helps organizations overcome resistance to change and blaze a path toward a better future. In this episode, learn why innovation isn’t about finding the right ideas, but rather it’s about finding great, meaningful problems that need solving.

Jeff has held several roles around product management and is currently the Director of Product and Category Management at BlackHawk Industrial. In this episode, Jeff shares ideas to effectively lead during times of crisis and reestablish trust within an organization.

Meredith is an HR leader in the tech industry. She created, designed, and launched Linkedin's Nationally Recognized ERG Pay and Award program, Distinguish, Linkedin's global ERG leadership development program, C.E.O., Linkedin's first Executive Recruitment program Bridge. Programs featured in Linkedin's Diversity reports for 2019 and 2020. Nominated and selected as Top 100 under 50 Diverse Emerging Leaders Nationwide by Diversity MBA Magazine, 2015. Served as Diversity Coaching Consultant/ Faculty Member at The Forum for Workplace Inclusion Conference, advising Diversity and Inclusion Leaders from Government, Law Office, and Private Corporations. In this episode, Meredith shares on the importance of diversity and inclusion.

Luke is a leadership developer and life coach. He helps non-profits and business leaders understand how to maximize their potential to lead and serve others. He does this through speaking at events, half-day & all-day workshops, and one-on-one coaching. In this episode, learn how to better lead and serve with humility. 

Jeff is an Executive Coach, People Developer, and Gallup-certified Strengths Coach. He is the author of “The Power of 168”. He aims to see potential come to life and be fully activated in people, who then inspire a generation of leaders that challenge and invest in themselves and others, to unleash their limitless potential. In this episode, hear advice on leadership.