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Wonder Woman in Business, Michelle Johnston

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Michelle Johnston, PhD

Dr. Michelle K. Johnston is a management professor, executive coach, and leadership expert who is the Clifton A. Morvant Distinguished Professor in Business at Loyola University New Orleans. Her first book, The Seismic Shift in Leadership, The Seismic Shift in Leadership: How to Thrive in a New Era of Connection, is now an Amazon bestseller. She was recently named A Woman of the Year by CityBusiness and one of the most influential New Orleanians.

Michelle is a celebrated keynote speaker presenting at conferences and events nationwide. She received her Ph.D. in Communication from Louisiana State University and was named to the prestigious 100 Coaches Group, which consists of the top executive coaches worldwide.

For speaking engagements, media, and more, visit michellekjohnston.com

THE OLD LEADERSHIP CHARACTERISTICS OF POWER, CONTROL, AND FEAR ARE BECOMING MORE AND MORE OBSOLETE.


Authenticity, compassion, and alignment are the new paths to leadership success. A leader’s new power lies in their ability to connect.

Whether you’re the coach of a sports team, a nonprofit executive, the president of your family’s business, or leading a small organization or a Fortune 500 company, the secret sauce lies in your ability to connect.

While leaders might consciously understand that connection is important, they don’t necessarily know how or what to do. In The Seismic Shift in Leadership, author Dr. Michelle K. Johnston compiles her years of experience as an executive coach and business professor with the voices of eighteen leaders at large and small organizations across North America, South America, and Europe to empower you to project your authentic leadership style, to show compassion to your team, and to align yourself with your company.

BUY THE BOOK HERE

Enjoy the podcast

Michelle Johnston, PhD

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Wonder Woman in Business, Barbara Kaplan

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Barbara Kaplan

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Barbara Kaplan helps clients generate new revenue, earn client retention and loyalty, and distinguish their businesses in an increasingly commoditized and competitive marketplace. She brings to her consulting and coaching work over 20 years experience as a professional services marketer and 15 helping individual lawyers and law firms define, pursue and win the business they want. She is devoted to helping them make that skill second nature.

Barbara’s in-house experience includes senior-level marketing and business development roles at a global AmLaw 50 firm and a mid-Atlantic regional firm. At the latter, she initiated several firsts including a firm-wide marketing and public relations program, client visit/feedback initiative, lateral integration program, spokesperson training and cross-serving strategies that built business and new-found alliances among offices. 

Barbara’s personal approach and pragmatic perspective derive from her belief that giving people the tools to achieve what they want to achieve yields a confidence and level of skill that turns ideas into action.  

Current work focuses on:

  • Creating customized business development training and coaching programs to meet individual and firm-wide practice goals

  • Succession planning, including establishing future vision, determining strategies and goals, and developing action plans and benchmarks

  • Building enduring relationships in an increasingly disruptive economy

  • Personal branding to ensure uniqueness and longevity

  • Facilitating workshops and retreats on a variety of topics

Barbara is principal of BSK Strategies, a business development consulting practice helping professional services firms earn new and higher-value work, establish thought-leadership and promote competitive advantage. She works with firms of all types, sizes and styles, each with a unique culture and set of challenges. She also teaches the ins-and-outs of client development and networking skills building at the law school level to help students approach future employers with a marketing mindset at the ready. 

Barbara received her MBA in marketing from Northwestern University’s J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Earlier in her career, she pursued her love of French by earning a certificate in French studies from the Universite of Poitiers in Poitiers, France, and a master’s in French language and literature from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. 

Barbara lives in the suburbs of Philadelphia.

Enjoy the podcast.

Barbara Kaplan

Connect with Barbara

Barbara S. Kaplan, BSK Strategies

Win and Keep the Business You Really Want

484.431.7068 | Website | LinkedIn 

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Wonder Woman in Business, Kathleen Hilton

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Kathleen Hilton

Curious, resilient and humor-forward professional services marketing executive and proven revenue generator. Kathleen Hilton is a 30+ year Big Law marketing veteran (hence the humor-forward attribute) focused on outcomes driving increased customer loyalty and revenue.

Kathleen guides and coaches lawyers to build and sustain authentic relationships. Internal and external clients value my ability to scope the full customer experience, from the front-end sales process to ongoing service. Her portfolio spans account management, industry sector marketing, sales coaching, DEIB, ESG, designing thinking and brand.

Here are a few favorite resources: You’re Not Listening: What You’re Missing and Why It Matters; Strategy and the Fat Smoker: Doing What’s Obvious But Not Easy; the Go Giver; Anand Sanwal at CB Insights; anything Axios and Smart Brevity. Certified by IDEO U Insights for Innovation and by Inspiring Comfort as a Trainer.

Enjoy the podcast.

Kathleen Hilton

Connect with Kathleen

stage LLC - https://stage.guide/

Inspiring Comfort - https://www.inspiringcomfort.com/our-story

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathleen-hilton-8781873/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/kathleenbigsur/

Kathleen Helen Hilton, co-founder + principal

kathleen@stage.guide

1.443.509.5510

Wonder Woman in Business, Valerie Nelan

Valeri Nelan

a.k.a. Valerie Pepper

Valerie Nelan writes under the pseudonym Valerie Pepper. During the day, Valerie Nelan is Chief of Staff at Baker Donelson law firm, working with and on behalf of the Firm’s CEO and COO. In this role, she operates at a tactical, strategic, and operational level to execute on a variety of Firm priorities and initiatives. She regularly collaborates with multiple departments across the Firm, launching and overseeing special projects, monitoring them as needed, ensuring follow-through, and sustaining the necessary momentum for completion. Throughout her workday, she is a listener, advisor, proxy, doer, goalkeeper, implementer, integrator, and air traffic controller. Baker Donelson is a large, 600-lawyer firm located primarily in the southern United States.

By early morning and in the evenings, Valerie dons her “professional smut dealer” hat and writes steamy romantic comedies as Valerie Pepper. She independently published her debut novel in April 2023 and is working on the next two books in the series. The recipient of the Contemporary Romance Writers’ 2021 Stiletto Award, Valerie holds a Masters in Fiction and has been writing for nearly twenty-five years. She is an incurable optimist and a firm believer in happily ever afters, even if they take more than one try. Learn more at www.authorvaleriepepper.com or find her on social media – Instagram and TikTok are her favorites – @AuthorValeriePepper.

Buy the book here.

He’s always wanted her. She doesn’t do long term. Can he convince her to take a second chance on true love?

Devon Rayne has spent five years running from memories of the firefighter husband she lost. But when her grandmother’s will demands she return to take possession of her childhood home, she has no choice but to stay the required six months. She just needs everyone to leave her alone. And the scraggly dog that’s shown up is a definite no.

Paramedic Aaron Joseph wanted Devon the minute he saw her all those years ago. So when she falls at his feet–literally–her first day back, he figures his time has come. Lucky for him, he’s got the whole town on his side, from his meddling fire chief to some cantankerous old ladies. And the dog can definitely stay.

Aaron is ready to push past all his doubts for the woman he loves. Can Devon face her fears and open her heart to love a second time?

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the first book in the Guided to Love small town romantic comedy series. If you enjoy sizzling sex scenes, small town shenanigans with nosy busybodies and a guaranteed happy ending, then this is the book for you! Perfect for fans of Tessa Bailey, Lucy Score, and Melanie Harlow.

Enjoy the podcast.

Valerie Nelan

Wonder Woman in Business, Ana Brown

Ana Brown

Exciting things are happening at 3583 Market St, the former home of Empire Acro Gymnastics, which has sat vacant for over seven years. On February 3, Ana Brown hosted a pop-up preview at The Raincross District, her new “curated marketplace, wellness studio, and event space” in Downtown Riverside.

Just a few years ago, Ana and her family lived in Corona and would frequent Riverside for our downtown restaurant scene and walks up Mt. Rubidoux. It was on one of those morning walks when she was overcome by her vision to open a wellness studio. When she descended Mt. Rubidoux Brown immediately began driving around Downtown looking for a place that could house her vision. The idea to open a studio grew once Ana found the property a few steps away from the Riverside Food Lab.

“Don’t quit your day job while you’re working on your day dream” Brown told me while working her job as a loan officer from her laptop behind the counter of her newly opened marketplace which is breathing new life into this expansive storefront.

It wasn’t long after Ana and her husband acquired the property and began renovations on the space that they also purchased a home on Mission Inn Ave., less than a quarter-mile from their shop. Restoring the aging building was a family affair, Ana’s husband, Michael Carey, was the contractor for the renovation and their children hand picked off the crumbling plaster to help restore the walls. Not only has Ana made Riverside home for her family and business, she is also working to make it the home for other aspiring small-business owners.

“Finding a highly desirable location at a reasonable price is a challenge for the small business owner. By creating a collective of small businesses in one location, we eliminate high overhead allowing the small business owner to offer competitive prices and focus on growing their business” says Brown.

The Raincross District, which will celebrate a grand opening in March, is currently home to 11 vendors with room for ten more. Wall space is made available for free to local artists, like Julie Rose of the Eastside Art House, to exhibit and sell their work. Riverside’s Richie Velazquez, better known as Deladeso, installed some of his slime and grime work.

For a city with four major colleges and universities with a total of over 70,000 students, The Raincross District is a welcome addition to the city–providing a well curated home for creative expression and impeccable shopping.

Connect with Ana

Email: ana@raincrossdistrict.com

The Raincross District

Open from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. daily

3583 Market Street in Riverside, CA

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Wonder Women in Business, Amanda Scott

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Amanda Scott

At Willis Towers Watson, Amanda Scott is the Global Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) Leader based in London. She leads a global team that helps clients evaluate and address the critical people-related issues, assets, liabilities, risks and opportunities surrounding corporate transactions. She inspires people to think differently about the future as they implement large-scale organizational change to drive innovation, diversity, and positive growth.

She is also the CEO/Founder of Mike’s Mates, a mental health charity in the UK. Additionally, Amanda is a Board Member for Global Women 4 Wellbeing (GW4W) and the Viviana Durante Ballet Company; remuneration committee member for Pensions Management Institute (PMI), and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion council member at Bayes Business School.

She regularly publishes industry thought leadership, provides commentary to the UK press and social media, and is an active public speaker. She has also received awards for Excellence in Leadership from Consulting Magazine; Corporate Leader of the Year by National Business Women’s Awards; HERoes for Inclusion and Diversity by Yahoo Finance; and was awarded as one of the UK 50 Leading Lights for Leadership & Kindness from Women of the Future.

Amanda graduated with an MBA in Management & Organization, and Finance from the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. There she was the 2007 President and 2006 Vice President of Finance of the Board of Directors for the Part-Time MBA Association. Additionally, she holds a BA in Natural Sciences from Johns Hopkins University.

Enjoy the podcast.

Amanda Scott

Connect with Amanda

Email

Amanda.Scott@WTWCo.com

LinkedIn

linkedin.com/in/amandabscott

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