Ryan Ripley, Principal, TMR Consulting, Interviewed by Debbie Fliehman Regarding Enterprise Transformation

Luis Gonzales is a communications consultant, coach, and trainer with more than 25 years of experience helping improve business outcomes for organizations. 

He has successfully driven learning initiatives by incorporating effective communication, cross-cultural communication, customer satisfaction and soft-skills training. 

Luis works closely with CEOs, leaders, and individuals to positively impact business outcomes through effective communication in global, multicultural, and remote work team settings. 

Luis has lived and worked in India, Mexico, and Brazil.

He is a keynote speaker and a member of the Association for Talent Development (ATD), Association of International Educators (NAFSA) and the Society for International Education, Training, and Research (SIETAR).

Luis Gonzales can be reached at Luis@fierceinc.com.

Debbie Fliehman can be reached at DebbieF@creativetechresources.com or 847-902-4175.

Donna Smith Bellinger is an internationally known speaker, author and award-winning business coach whose corporate experience in sales, leadership and business development enables her to create and implement strategies that ELEVATE her clients' revenues.

Known for her professional and experience-based insights, Donna is a master at communications and helping her clients create sustainable revenue. She takes pride in helping them become the leaders in their businesses and achieve success in their careers. Seen on television, heard on radio and recognized by numerous national publications, her mission is to impact more than just the client's bottom-line.

In this time of social distancing, it is important to leverage every precious connection. Afterall, as Donna says,  "if you're not selling, you're not making money."

As a professional speaker and author, Donna specializes in working with those who feel they have "hit the wall" in their personal or professional growth.

Her signature systems include Revenue Up: From Sluggish to Sensational in Sales. Through her Elevate Your Sales process, Donna helps established owners and operators of service-based businesses overcome sluggish revenues, achieve consistent cash flow, stimulate sales, inspire teamwork, and improve customer service.

Donna is the author of:
You Lost Me at Hello: Actionable Principles that Move You Beyond Networking and Creating the 8th Day and the 25th Hour.

Learn more about Donna at www.donnasmithbellinger.com and www.askdsb.com.

Debbie Fliehman can be reached at DebbieF@Creativetechresources.com and
847-902-4175.

The Catherine Johns 5P Approach to Magnetic Introductions

Have you ever walked away from a networking group knowing you didn't make the connections you'd hoped for?

Do you ever wonder if people know - or care - what you can do for them?

Have you ever wished you knew what to say in a real or virtual networking event?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this podcast's episode if for you.

Catherine Johns, communication consultant and speaker, shows executives and entrepreneurs how to make meaningful connections at every networking event, real or virtual. And, it's not by droning on about their business and their background and their bio.

She'll help us develop a new take on the old elevator speech with her 5P Approach to Magnetic Introductions.

Contact Catherine Johns at Catherine@catherinejohns.com or 773-688-8570.

Contact Debbie Fliehman at DebbieF@Creativetechresources.com or 847-902-4175.

Steve Bellinger's  first novel, The Chronocar: An Urban Adventure in Time, won the 2018 Best Indie Book Award for Science Fiction; the 2019 Independent Author Network's Outstanding Science Fiction Award; and the 2019 Reader's Favorite Gold Medal Award for Young Adult Science Fiction. It was the Black Science Fiction Society's Book of the Month, The Black Authors Association Pick of the Week, and is part of the University Archives of Steve's Alma Mater, the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Steve's latest novel, Time Waits for No One: The Chronocar Chronicles, is the follow-up to The Chronocar. Other books in this series include, Edge of Perception: A Paranormal Science Fiction Love Story, and e-Pocalypse: The Digital Dystopia is Coming. They are published by Wordwooze Publishing and available in paperback, ebook and audiobook on Amazon and other online book retailers. You can buy autographed copies at www.BellingerBooks.com.

Steve is also a contributor to Over the Edge: The Edgy Writers Anthology, available in paperback on Amazon.

Steve was born and raised on the West Side of Chicago by a single mom who worked nights for a printing company. She would bring home books and magazines to encourage him and his siblings to read. This is how he discovered Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke and the other masters of classic science fiction. It didn’t take long for him to get the itch to write. Over the years he’s written everything from newspaper articles, comic strips and radio drama to short stories and fan fiction.

A long time computer geek, he wrote his first computer program for an IBM 360 mainframe in 1968. He’s been involved with digital technology ever since, and with the Internet from its infancy to the World Wide Web that it has become. As a computer software instructor, he’s taught a number of classes on the Internet and the World Wide Web, both technology and content. Then, as now, there is a tendency to treat the web as a reliable, trustworthy source of information, when, in reality it is not.

Steve has taught special classes on keeping kids safe online and how to deal with misinformation and scams online. Fake News, as it is now called, has become more prevalent and even more effective.

Steve Bellinger can be reached at Author@SteveBellinger.com.
For information on his books and to order autographed copies, visit www.BellingerBooks.com

Debbie Fliehman can be reached at DebbieF@Creativetechresources.com or 847-902-4175.

Bob Mobley, a senior executive coach, and a mentor, has been described as having a razor-sharp mind and a deep curiosity about people. His highly successful one-on-one and group coaching programs are based upon his thirty years of mentorship and coaching with Senior Executives around the world. 

Raised and educated on the east coast, Bob found wonderful mentors and teachers at Deerfield, Yale, and Columbia; people who inspired him to be himself and encouraged his love of learning. His fascination for exploring what makes people tick has resulted in a unique and refined gift for helping people be more effective while becoming who they truly are.  

Today, there are few leadership coaches who have enjoyed Bob's track record of improving effectiveness in so many world-class companies. And, as Bob said, "The benefit is mutual. The opportunity to work with skilled, intelligent, successful men and women in different cultures around the world is probably the best education I could have had."  

Bob is committed to and focused on putting passion into executives' hearts and inspiring them to be the best they can be. His belief is that it is people, not programs, that make a difference. He said, "I hold up a mirror to people so they see themselves in action."  

Bob's clients are among the most prestigious and the best-of-the-best — Baxter, American Airlines, Aon, The Boston Consulting Group, AstraZeneca, Dell, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Clorox, JPMorgan Chase & Co., General Electric, Marsh, Rothschild, Wells Fargo, Smiths Medical, Travelers and quite a few more.  

Bob has developed, tested, and perfected several successful methodologies to working with people. Your Character Counts helps clients increase situational awareness and clearly project through behaviors, attitudes, and communication skills the characteristics of successful leadership.  

Ten Commandments for Successful Leaders helps senior executives develop a vision for work that is larger than the problems faced on the job. This unique approach helps individuals understand the reasons for the perceptions they create in others. 

Bob has coached thousands of individuals over the years and has helped them build trust with their teams, and to excel on their own personal and professional leadership journey.

In this episode, Bob talks about the strategy and power of silence - conversational language pauses. He shares the importance of understanding that we absorb conversations, visualize them, and store them in our memory. Conversational pauses and silences enable the listener to touch our ideas. Bob recommends ways to develop the skills necessary to become more effective and successful. 

Suggestions for developing this valuable skill include, among others:
1.   Practice being conversational
2.  Find your own comfort level coming to meetings
3. Work on talking about benefits instead of process 
4. Practice having conversational discussions with those who need help
5. Use silence as a tool and plan for pauses
6. Give people a chance to touch and own your ideas
7. Work on encouraging discussion 
8. Give people time to talk and the time to respond
9. Focus on helping others get what they want
10. Work at building trusted advisor relationships

Bob Mobley can be reached at mobleysv@gmail.com and 208-720-3054.

Debbie Fliehman can be reached at DebbieF@Creativetechresources.com and 847-902-4175.

Mike Whisman is a business executive with 40+ years of progressive experience in Fortune 500 manufacturing operations and quality leadership in military, medical device, and pharmaceutical industries. Mike has held high levels of responsibilities in multi-functional, multi-plant, and multi-divisional arenas. He offers an extensive background in device and biologic manufacturing, Total Quality Management, operational excellence, supplier performance improvement, and assessment using the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and Shingo Prize Criteria. He has helped companies improve performance to world-class levels.

In this episode, Mike addresses factors an organization needs to consider when striving for world-class leadership. These include acknowledging that leadership is a process, designing a strategic plan, developing a succession plan, assessing risk factors, and deploying and measuring to ensure desired results are being attained. 

Mike expertly speaks about the importance of creating a mission, vision and values, developing strategies for each, defining metrics for measuring success, and celebrating milestones. Designing a strategic plan calls for identifying team members, aligning activities with the mission, vision, and values, defining goals and objectives, and developing a budget and timeline. Developing a succession plan involves identifying successors and mentors and the required training and education, communicating the plan, and setting that plan in motion. Assessing risk factors includes identifying supplier products and services, aligning those with the organization's products, evaluating capacity, the impact of natural disasters, and other occurrences, and developing a plan to offset risks. Deploying and measuring requires developing a communication plan, identifying training, education, and role modeling methods, agreeing on universal metrics, and setting a plan in motion. 

Mike Whisman can be reached at mrwhizsr@aol.com and 847-271-5075.

Debbie Fliehman can be reached at DebbieF@Creativetechresources.com and 847-902-4175.

Greg Hohner is an Executive Black Belt with more than 35 years of experience working in business and quality, including lean six sigma. His role has been to drive the programs and projects necessary to integrate continuous improvement strategies, tools, techniques, and methodologies throughout the business. As the voice of quality improvement for many organizations, Greg has been at the forefront of building cultures of excellence. His experience includes more than seven years in the benefits outsourcing industry with Aon Hewitt and Xerox.

For more than 25 years, Greg has worked for a variety of Fortune 500 companies and Big Six Consulting firms. They include McGraw-Hill, MSO Medical, Baxter Healthcare International, Coopers & Lybrand, KPMG, and Abbott Laboratories. While working at Baxter Healthcare International, Greg held several roles, among them, that of the Director of National Accounts and Business Development for eight years. There, he led a group of 60 sales representatives supporting the dialysis' largest volume customers. Based on profitability and sales growth, Greg was awarded the National Acount Sales Achievement Award for three consecutive years. 

Greg has a BS in Industrial Engineering/Manufacturing Systems from Purdue University and an MBA from the University of Chicago. In addition to being an Executive Master Black Belt, Greg is a certified Lean Master Black Belt, a Six Sigma Black Belt, a PMP (Project Management Professional), a Certified  Quality Engineer, and a Professional Engineer.

Greg Hohner can be reached at Greg.Hohner@gmail.com.

Debbie Fliehman can be reached at DebbieF@Creativetechresources.com or 847-902-4175.

Nicole Wolter is the president and CEO of HM Manufacturing, a U.S. based company that manufactures gears, timing belt pulleys, splines, shafts, chain sprockets, sheaves, and related parts for power transmission and precision mechanical components. The company offers custom assembly services and engineering support from its 10,000 square foot facility located in Wauconda, Illinois. Industries served include pharmaceutical, aerospace, marine, medical, packaging, food and beverage processing, and automotive.

Nicole has a background in engineering and finance and joined HM in 2009. She worked in a variety of departments and was promoted in 2015 to Vice President of Operations. with over 10 years of experience in manufacturing, her experience includes in-depth training on manual lathes and milling machines, and she is NIMS and CAD certified.

Since starting at HM Manufacturing, Nicole has overseen a renovation of the company's technology and manufacturing processes, as well as the addition of new technologies, including a new ERP system. Nicole has played a major role in the expansion of HM Manufacturing marketing and social media presence in an effort to broaden its reach, increase sales and instill teamwork among employees. Nicole's leadership and vision have helped HM Manufacturing to thrive and become a leader in the power transmission components industry. 

Nicole Wolter can be reached on LinkedIn, Twitter, Email - nicole.wolter@hmmanufacturing.com or Phone 847-487-8700.

Podcast Host, Debbie Fliehman, can be reached at DebbieF@Creativetechresources.com or 847-902-4175.

Igniting Creativity from Within
Matthew Ferraro has composed, arranged and orchestrated music for everything from Academy Award-winning films The Insider, The Incredibles, Emmy Winning TV shows Futurama, Dune, Olive the Other Reindeer, The Muppets and video game titles including Spiderman, X-Men, Medal of Honor, You Don’t Know Jack, to BBC and ITV television and radio productions, as well as hundreds of commercials including Gatorade, VISA, and McDonald’s among others. His music is licensed worldwide.

Ferraro has composed for, arranged, and performed with Grammy Winning Artists: Buddy Guy, Erica Campbell, Seu Jorge, Hugh Masekela, Barbara Streisand, Mike Farris, Raul Malo, Chuck Mangione, Tom Hambridge, Bassekou Kayoute, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Aaron Neville, Natacha Atlas, Members of the Tonight Show Band, Ennio Morricone among many others. His choral music is published by Boosey & Hawkes.

He is one of the few composers who is commissioned by the Vatican and the Jesuits as his music outside of Hollywood is noted to focus on social issues.

His multi-media symphonic/choral work "The Tension of Opposites" was deemed a new art form, "Orchestral Journalism" by the California Arts Council because of his use of pre-records as part of the fabric of his music, and his “unique ability to tell a compelling story with music”. –NEA.

Ferraro is a TED fellow. You can view Matthew’s Ted talk, Overcoming Obstacles, on youtube.

Matthew is available to speak to organizations, groups, and businesses on a variety of topics in three major categories: Motivation and Personal Development, Creating and Producing Music, and Enhancing business with an Artist's Flair.  Matthew Ferraro can be reached at www. MatthewFerraroMusic.com or mmfmusic01@gmail.com

Debbie Fliehman can be reached at DebbieF@Creativetechresources.com or 847-902-4175.

Character Development and the Role It Plays in Leadership
Bob Mobley has coached thousands of individuals over the years and has helped them build trust with their teams, and to excel on their own personal and professional leadership journey.

Bob has developed, tested, and perfected several successful methodologies for working with people. Your Character Counts helps clients increase situational awareness and clearly project through behaviors, attitudes, and communication skills the characteristics of successful leadership.

Ten Commandments for Successful Leaders help senior executives develop a vision for work that is larger than the problems faced on the job. This unique approach helps individuals understand the reasons for the perceptions they create in others.

Bob's clients are among the most prestigious and the best-of-the-best — Baxter, American Airlines, Aon, The Boston Consulting Group, AstraZeneca, Dell, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Clorox, JPMorgan Chase & Co., General Electric, Marsh, Rothschild, Wells Fargo, Smiths Medical, Travelers and quite a few more.

Bob is committed to and focused on putting passion into executives' hearts and inspiring them to be the best they can be. His belief is that it is people, not programs, that make a difference. He said, "I hold up a mirror to people so they see themselves in action."

Today, there are few leadership coaches who have enjoyed Bob's track record of improving effectiveness in so many world-class companies. And, as Bob said, "The benefit is mutual. The opportunity to work with skilled, intelligent, successful men and women in different cultures around the world is probably the best education I could have had."

Raised and educated on the east coast, Bob found wonderful mentors and teachers at Deerfield, Yale, and Columbia: people who inspired him to be himself and encouraged his love of learning. His fascination for exploring what makes people tick has resulted in a unique and refined gift for helping people be more effective while becoming who they truly are.

Bob Mobley is a senior executive coach, and a mentor, who has been described as having a razor-sharp mind and deep curiosity about people.  Hig highly successful one-on-one and group coaching programs are based upon his thirty years of mentorship and coaching with Senior Executives around the world.

To speak with Bob Mobley about a coaching assignment - mobleysv@gmail.com, 208-720-3054.

Debbie Fliehman can be reached at DebbieF@Creativetechresources.com, 847-902-4175.