POWERSUASION - Key Persons


Annalise Raziq

Job Titles:
  • Project Manager
ANNALISE RAZIQ has worked as an actress and project manager for PowerSuasion for the past four years. She has an extensive background in improvisation, having studied at Second City and ImprovOlympic, among other places. She is also a freelance writer and had her children's play A Bow in the Clouds produced by Parabola Theatre Company. She holds a BFA in Theatre Arts from Webster Conservatory. Her favorite role is that of mother to her 18-year-old daughter Kalila.

Karolus Smejda

Job Titles:
  • President, Consultant, Corporate Playwright, Author, Facilitator, Course Designer, Course Developer

Marlena Ascher

Job Titles:
  • Process Consultant, Writer

Suellen Burton

Suellen Burton has performed with PowerSuasion since 1987. Her favorite PowerSuasion characters are Linda, a victim of sexual harassment; Diane, a self-motivated independent assistant who feels she's overly managed; Katherine, a cold-hearted bottom-line investigator for the Chicago Board of Trade,; and Florence, a wealthy but uninformed beneficiary of a trust fund. In addition to her PowerSuasion work, she has performed with many theaters in the Midwest, including The Goodman, Northlight Theatre, Noble Fool, and Chicago Dramatists. Suellen has also represented PowerSuasion and the PowerSuasion Players in the business community for client development.