THE YES WORKS - Key Persons
A Riddle That's Not Funny When is a job requirement not a job requirement? This may be a riddle, but it's no joke. When there are no consequences for consistently missing a job requirement, then it is by definition NOT a job requirement. It's an item on the employer's wish list. When a leader says, […]
Job Titles:
- CEO
- CO - FOUNDER
- Business Partner
- Visionary Leader and Business Owner
Aaron Schmookler is a visionary leader and business owner with a profound mission: elevating human dignity in the workplace. With a relentless commitment to enhancing both work lives and business outcomes, Aaron and collaborates with business leaders who know their people are their greatest asset.
Drawing from a diverse career spanning outdoor leadership, corporate contributions, theater founding and direction, and teaching theater and business communication in high schools and colleges, Aaron's journey may seem non-linear, but there's a cohesive theme that ties it all together. For nearly three decades, he has inspired individuals and teams to discover their intrinsic motivation, foster collaboration, and unleash their creative potential in service to others.
In 2014, Aaron co-founded The Yes Works alongside his business partner, Adam Utley. Together, they developed the innovative Teamification Culture Operating System and training model which Aaron and The Yes Works team employ to drive legendary communication, collaboration, and leadership within client companies.
The Yes Works team's impact reaches far and wide, serving clients across industries and geographical boundaries. Renowned companies such as Microsoft, MOD Pizza, DiscoverOrg, SOG Knives, Sage Intacct, and Textainer have entrusted their workforce transformation to Aaron and The Yes Works because of their uncommon effectiveness. By fostering a high-performance culture that uplifts both people and profits, the Teamification approach proves that true genius thrives when the right engineered environment meets skill and mindset.
Adam Utley has dedicated his work to help teams build habits that lead to higher accountability, more fulfillment, and work cultures that inspire people.
He does this by training people to practice a language he loves; the language of improvisation. What he's found in working with leaders at every level of the businesses he serves is that this language resonates with people of all personality types. It helps to connect people with their teammates and paves the way for greater results with less effort.
Adam and his business partner, Aaron Schmookler, co-founded The Yes Works in 2014 and developed the Adeptability Model of collaboration and leadership training and the Adeptable Culture Audit that supports a collaborative culture of accountability.
Job Titles:
- CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP / ENGINEER
Since 1994 Ann Amati has helped companies across multiple industries use guidance from their own current and past customers to grow future sales. She has a track record of creating positive turning points in her clients' relationships with their customers leaving behind a legacy of improved competitiveness and strong customer retention. Ann helps companies "print money" by helping vendors hold onto customers longer, grow relationships bigger and add new business faster-all using customer advice.
A former strategic planner, Ann Amati has accurately defined problems and formulated solution-oriented retention and growth recommendations to emerging, established, and international companies for over twenty years. She has helped product firms diversify their offerings, service firms turn around troubled accounts and high-tech verticals deepen market penetration.
Before establishing herself as a customer relationship consultant, Ann Amati was a COO, strategic planner, consultant and project manager in health care, high tech, start-ups and banking. She has a Master's in Hospital Administration from the University of Missouri.
Job Titles:
- Director of Engineering at HERE Technologies
Cassie Christopher empowers leaders to create greater employee wellbeing during the workday through supportive management strategies and worker self-care practices. As a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Workplace Wellbeing Consultant, and humor-wielding energetic changemaker, Cassie injects action into building resilient, adaptable teams that thrive amidst change.
Formally trained in designing and delivering workplace wellness programs, Cassie noticed that all the money spent on these programs was wasted unless employees experienced a supportive workplace culture and manager. Now, in addition to helping individuals improve their mental and physical health, Cassie trains leaders on the supportive policies and skills they can implement to empower their workers, leading to a more engaged workforce that experiences less burnout and a more profitable company.
A University of Washington business grad with an MSc in Nutrition, Cassie blends evidence-based practices with real-world experience in high-growth companies. A recognized professional speaker, Cassie is a 2024 NSA Northwest Storytelling Champion.
When not on stages or in boardrooms, she trains future well-being champions in the art of behavior change coaching at Bastyr University and works with women struggling with binge and emotional eating in her private nutrition practice. You can find Cassie eating good food or on beach walks with her family in Edmonds, WA. (Just don't mention sardines - she draws the line!)
Job Titles:
- CRITICAL COMMUNICATIONS / ENGINEER
With almost three decades of strategic public relations expertise, Dave has navigated a diverse range of challenging public events. From his origins as a U.S. Navy Public Affairs Officer to his roles as a Corporate Chief Marketing Officer and Non-Profit President, he excels in adeptly managing crises across sports, entertainment, non-profit, military, government, corporate, education, charity, and start-up domains.
Job Titles:
- CLIENT EXPERIENCE MANAGER
Enna Cloudette Romales comes to The Yes Works with history as a Hospitality Management professional with over 8 years of experience in the Hotel and Customer Service industry.
Enna believes that the best marketing strategy in every business is providing an excellent quality of service that clients can recommend. Seeing clients satisfied and succeeding in their goals is the perfect advertisement a company can have.
As Client Experience Manager at The Yes Works, Enna employs her extensive experience in the customer service industry to ensure a stellar experience for our clients and everyone on their teams… She's dedicated to our clients' commitment to creating a work culture and environment where employees work together to achieve a common goal. Enna will do everything she can for you to ensure that the work we do with you at The Yes Works… works!
Hugh co-founded The Financial CoPilot in 2005, and as president was responsible for the strategic leadership and management of the business. In 2014, The Financial CoPilot's offerings began to shift in a significant way. This shift resulted in the company that exists today, Platform Transition.
Having earned a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Miami, Hugh has worked as an engineer for Pratt and Whitney, Merck, Hewlett Packard and GE Nuclear Energy. Over the years he served as the VP of Finance for several real estate development, social media, and financial services businesses.
Hugh served as a Major in the United States Air Force Auxiliary and also served as an Eastern NC Area Governor for Toastmasters International. His passion for financial and operational systems development and organizational leadership has assisted him in narrowing his focus on data migration through portability from any legacy system.
Job Titles:
- STRATEGIC PERFORMANCE & COMPLIANCE ENGINEER
Founder and President of Dynamism Leadership, formerly HR-Rx, Inc., Jeannie has a proven track record of successfully helping people cultivate trustworthy relationships so that they can notably connect with themselves and others. She leverages her diverse skill set and executive experience to steer individuals and organizations past obstacles paving the way for them to thrive.
Jeannie has over 30 years of combined experience in the positions of human resources generalist, manager, director, executive, inspirational speaker, facilitator, coach, and consultant. She has earned the following: Master of Science degree in Human Resource Management from Chapman University, Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Administration from San Diego State University. Senior Professional in Human Resource Management Certification, with the State of California add-on (SPHR-CA) from the Human Resources Certification Institute, Senior Certified Professional Certificate (SHRM-SCP) from the Society for Human Resource Management, Certified Professional Coach (CPC) and Master Practitioner (ELI-MP) from Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching and is an ICF Credentialed Professional Certified Coach (PCC).
Jeannie has a passion to help leaders and teams develop trustworthy relationships resulting in increased employee alignment, engagement, productivity, profitability, and connection.
We believe everyone deserves an end to clock watching, living for the weekend, and "same shit different day." It's time to work brilliant, have fun & thrive under pressure.
Founded in 2014, we're here because we want our children to inherit a fulfilling, fun, high-performing work culture - unlike what we had coming up. And why wait? You're going to create that future in your company now.
Maryanne brings more than 25 years as a corporate veteran in the financial, marketing and advertising industries to her role as Board Chair, CEO and Founder of 9th Gear Technologies where she is responsible for leading corporate strategy, scaling the company and investor relations. She is a frequent keynote speaker.
She is a capital markets specialist, launching a family of mutual funds and architecting fee-based asset management platforms for banks, broker dealers and insurance firms. Maryanne previously served as CEO of SurgeXLR, a boutique accelerator she founded that focused on faster paths to monetization. She was also involved in two successful
exits (Standard & Poor's and BNP Paribas) and consulted on the custom content and advertising efforts of many financial firms while working at The Wall Street Journal. Maryanne is an active angel investor and an expert on distributed ledger technology, ICOs and cryptocurrency.
Maryanne was educated at Cornell University (Material Science Engineering), LeMoyne (Finance) and Whittier Law School with continuous learning at Stanford University (Scaling Blockchain, Valuation Modeling, Angel Investing and part of the Blockchain Club)
Tricia Montgomery is a customer-obsessed marketing executive who has repeatedly helped companies accelerate revenue growth through brand transformation, innovative product launches and successful go-to-market strategies. Her 25+ years' experience spans retail, technology, CPG, B2B and B2C businesses for both startup and global companies- Procter & Gamble, Starbucks, Microsoft and Coinstar. In 2018, Tricia decided to chart a new course and do the same work she loves, now independently. As an executive advisor and outsourced CMO, Tricia fills a critical gap on an executive team, providing leadership and action on customer insights, brand/marketing strategy and go-to-market planning to help ambitious companies achieve sustained market growth, brand relevance and increased revenue.
With The Yes Works, Tricia brings her extensive experience and inquisitive nature to helping companies discover and plan for the the interplay between brand and culture.
Tricia is a proud Seattle native and enjoys outdoor activities with her husband and three children. She holds an MBA with a Marketing concentration from The University of Cincinnati in Ohio and a BA in Psychology from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. She has deep connections in the Pacific Northwest and currently serves on two non-profit boards: the Whitman College Board of Trustees as the Advancing Whitman Committee Chair and Board Director/Co-chair for Yellow Wood Academy.