SOLIDLEADERS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- CEO of Spot Consulting LLC
Alton F. Martin has more than 16 years of experience at the CEO level, and is a subject matter expert on contact centers.
Martin provides CEO and board advising, senior executive coaching, and C-suite consulting. He leverages consulting experience gained in more than 20 countries across five continents to assist clients in improving the effectiveness of their contact centers. His expertise also encompasses outsourcing strategy and execution for customer-facing channels in verticals, including technology, transportation, and consumer goods.
Martin is the CEO of Spot Consulting LLC, which specializes in improving the margins and profitability of contact center operations. He also works as a program faculty member for the Center for Executive Education at the University of Tennessee, advising on the development of the University's Vested Outsourcing curriculum and methodology.
Prior to holding the above roles, Martin was the CEO and co-founder of COPC Inc. from 1996 to 2009. There he created an international market for assessing and certifying contact centers and BPO operations. Over the course of his tenure, he also improved service delivery results, opened and developed international relationships, managed such clients as Microsoft and Adobe, and led major product development and deployment activities. He saved his clients millions by reducing costs, improving customer satisfaction, modifying training, and increasing first contact resolution rates. Typical engagements lasted several years and had values ranging from $250k to $500k per year.
An accomplished public speaker, Martin has spoken at innumerable conferences across the globe, including the BT Alex Brown Client Conference, the Outsourcing World Summit, and the TELUS International Customer Summit. His articles have appeared in the Journal of Strategic Performance Measurement and the Controller's Advisory, among other publications. Martin holds an MBA from the University of Virginia and a BA from Tulane University.
Andrew Rauch has more than 15 years of experience working with and serving boards of directors, CEOs, executives and business owners on matters of strategy, marketing, technology, compensation, business and capital development.
Andrew has jointly or independently served and advised more than 200 for-profit and not-for-profit organizations in industries including technology, training, real estate, telecommunications, consulting, professional services, banking and venture philanthropy. He is the Founder of ventureandphilanthropy.com, an advisory firm which provides LIFE Capital™ to the community of venture and philanthropy.
Andrew serves on the Advisory Board of SOLID Green Systems, Sales Overdrive, LLC. and is a Director with Common Steps.
Andrew earned a bachelor's degree in accounting and finance from Pace University in Pleasantville, New York. Andrew is married to Sabrina, has three children and resides in Dripping Springs, Texas.
Arie Brish has more than 18 years' experience as an accomplished leader and entrepreneur, holding various CEO roles and corporate GM tenures. He has executed multiple operational turnarounds including scaling business unit revenue from $288M to $710M in a four-year period, advancing the company market share from fourth to first position.
Brish achieved notable success by turning around a bad P&L situation during a major profit improvement project. Under his guidance, he saw a 24% margin gain during the two years he led the $200M business. In new product launches he achieved $30M-50M annual sales in a short ramp period and initiated a new products partnership program with over 40 successful introductions.
In fundraising, Brish raised over $15M in equity investments for multiple start-ups and more than $100M in funding and government grants for numerous corporate projects. His network extends to hundreds of international investment groups. Key skills include general management, mergers and acquisitions experience, revenue growth, crisis management and turnarounds. Brish's domain experience includes Cleantech, hi-tech, IT, real estate, government industrial, non-profit and transportation. With a background in energy and technology, Brish has led six start-up organizations and has aggressively pursued cutting edge technology throughout his career.
Brish leverages his experience from multiple disciplines to achieve exceptional proven results. Thriving in difficult situations, Brish produces outstanding quantifiable results. He is a mentor in executive assessment, motivation and decision-making, combining his comprehensive and eclectic business acumen with strong multi-cultural skills and wide international experience.
As an executive coach, Brish offers action planning for fast-track development and leverages current opportunities to accelerate clients' careers. His particular strengths lie in identifying and analyzing strengths and weaknesses, CEO and BoD evaluations, project management and strategic planning. He has experience in business development, funding, marketing, sales, M&A (on both the selling and acquiring side), and has a proven track record in company turnarounds.
Since 2008, Brish has been Director of U.S. Operations for Leviathan Energy, a privately held cleantech start-up, leading the company's business development and marketing efforts. In this role he recruited several joint projects, negotiated supply-chain partnerships and worked with several academic institutes on joint research.
From 2002 to the present day, Brish has held a number of interim executive roles with various companies in investment, business development and operations.
From 2004 to 2008 he was CEO for Tehuti Networks, a VC-backed technology startup which he turned around to post-founding sustainability. He achieved significant global customer traction, negotiated six international channel partners and four global manufacturing outsourcing engagements resulting in a strong capital-efficient operation.
Earlier positions held by Brish include Co-founder and VP Marketing and Business Development with Conformative Systems and several senior executive positions with Motorola. From 1991 to 1994 he was Director of Marketing and Sales, and from 1994 to 2002 he held the position of Business Unit General Manager for business units ranging from $200M to $700M in annual revenue.
Brish holds a BSEE from Ben Gurion University, an MBA from Recanati School of Business at Tel Aviv University, and an Energy Technology certificate from the University of Texas, and has completed additional senior leadership programs at Motorola University. He is currently a member of the Wind Subcommittee and the Green Building Subcommittee with Texas Renewable Energy, was on the board of the Austin Marathon and acts as mentor for IBM Smart Camp and Wharton Business School.
Aurelian Bukatko has more than 38 years of experience in accounting, finance, leadership, and consulting, including 14 years as a CFO.
Bukatko provides CEO advising, senior executive coaching, and C-suite consulting. His core competencies include financial and strategic planning, treasury cash management, business risk management, and company growth. He has worked extensively in both the U.S. and Europe, including a 5-year stint in Germany, and has demonstrated his skill in turnarounds, mergers and acquisitions, and the legal movement of corporate assets over international borders, including those of South America, Asia, and Australia.
Since 2011, Bukatko has been a CFO Consultant at Experis (formerly Jefferson Wells). He provides his consulting services to companies across the globe, including French, Japanese, Canadian, and American businesses.
He held his most recent CFO role (2007-2010) at the European / North American exploration and development company Northland Resources, Inc., where he also held the title of Corporate Secretary. He successfully moved the company's assets and corporate headquarters to Europe and led the company's IPO in three major stock exchanges. Thanks in large part to his work, Northland Resources is now running a billion-dollar program. From 2003 to 2006, he served as the CFO and SVP of Alfred Karcher USA, a leading provider of cleaning equipment. He led a successful turnaround, expanding the company's big-box consumer client base / dealer network while maintaining exceptional levels of customer satisfaction and web sales development, distribution, and warranty management.
Barry George has more than 29 years of experience at the CEO, VP, C-suite, and director level in companies ranging from $7M to $1B in revenue.
George provides CEO advising, senior executive coaching, and C-suite consulting. His core competencies include sales, marketing, technology, relationship development, and team building. Throughout his career, George has led turnarounds for such major companies as Toshiba and Siemens, and founded business relationships between his companies and hundreds of Fortune 1,000 and Global 200 entities. His industry specializations include networking, communications, personal platforms, payment, professional services, security, and Internet marketing.
Currently, George is also the VP of Sales and Business Development at The SEO Engine and a Senior Coach + Advisor at Impact Ventures. He also recently served as Vice President of Global Sales at Wedge Networks. There, he built the sales processes, programs, and standards for the company's global product launch, and established key partnerships with industry leaders. Before joining Wedge, he served as the VP of Sales for Zenius Mobile Payments Solutions. His last C-suite position was Chief Marketing Officer of CelLynx, where he saved 80% in operating costs by outsourcing sales and hiring contractors, and spearheaded a successful Internet marketing initiative consisting of 280,000 unique webpages.
At Toshiba America, George initially held the position of Channel Sales Director. After growing business from $14M to $43M, among other accomplishments, he was promoted to Enterprise Sales Director. He then led Toshiba America in a massive turnaround. He aggressively pushed sales of tablet technology to companies like PepsiCo, Oracle, Procter and Gamble, and more, and cornered 100% of Microsoft's US notebook contracts. Sales more than tripled, growing from $48M to $156M.
Earlier, he worked as VP and General Manager of SMC Networks, with full P&L responsibilities. There, he designed, trained, and implemented new channel programs for 1,600 resellers. He held the same position of VP and General Manager prior, at Siemens Business Services. He turned this faltering $100M division around and restored it to profitability. Yet his greatest achievement may well have been the growth of D-Link Systems. While serving as the EVP of this then-$7M company, he grew sales to $480M, secured 800 Fortune 1,000 companies as customers, and spearheaded its successful IPO. George's earlier roles include Regional VP of CORE International, Regional VP of CompuCom, Founder/CEO of Computerland, and Operations Manager of AAMCO.
George holds an MSM in Organizational & Leadership Development and a Graduate-level Executive Coaching Certificate, both from the University of Texas at Dallas. He also has a BA in Economics from the University of San Francisco. He is a Xerox Professional Selling Skills Certified Trainer, a Franklin Covey: Helping Clients Succeed Certified Trainer, and an International Coach Federation Certified Professional Coach. George serves on the boards of the No Limits Institute, a nonprofit organization, and Voice Assist, a public company.
Bart Lauwers has more than 14 years of experience as CIO and CTO of global public companies ranging from $900M to $10B in revenue.
Known as a P&L savvy technologist, Lauwers has significant proficiency in technology-fueled turnarounds and high-growth enterprises. He is a strategic IT leader with a 25-year record of excellence in solving business problems and accelerating growth, fast-tracking organizational maturation of IT, positioning companies for strong futures, and leading struggling companies in turnarounds. Lauwers has earned a reputation as a trusted advisor to corporate boards, CEOs, and executive teams.
Lauwers advises CEOs, CIOs, and corporate boards on best practices for delivering sustainable cost reduction, productivity improvements, and increased effectiveness through innovation. For the past year, Lauwers was Consulting Vice President at CareFusion, a $7 billion medical device manufacturer with 16,000 employees across 40 sites. He led an international organization of 400 staff and was responsible for global infrastructure, enterprise architecture, SAP, and establishing the information security practice.
From 2008 to 2012, Lauwers was principal of Genthree, an IT strategy consulting practice based in Austin, TX and Brussels, Belgium. There, he advised client executives in the high-tech, government, healthcare, financial, aviation, and digital marketing sectors on IT modernization, information security, technology scaling issues, big data, machine learning, cloud computing, and startup incubation.
Prior, Lauwers was Chief Technology Officer of Netmining (2007-2008), the Belgium-based industry leader in behavioral targeting. He directed global operations and developed patented algorithms for segmenting and qualifying leads. Through administration of R&D and IT, he improved margins by 85%, reversing a 5-year trend of loss and launching a major turnaround that led to acquisition. He outsourced non-core IT and increased product effectiveness by 2,600%, improving TCO and customer attachment. By establishing operations in the US, China, and Eastern Europe, he increased revenue by 1,700%.
Preceding Lauwers' CTO role at Netmining, he was Division CIO with Cisco Systems' Customer Advocacy BU (1996-2007), leading IT in the US, Europe, Asia, and Australia. This $10B business unit served Cisco's global top 1,000 customers. Lauwers established trusted advisor relationships with executives and cut IT cost by 45% while growing service to 12 sites and 7,500 clients. While at Cisco, he led cross-functional teams of up to 460 members and directed R&D efforts, driving continuous improvement of delivered services. Lauwers also co-founded Cisco's Information Security practice.
Mr. Lauwers is a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and holds a Masters of Science in Advanced Information Technology and Business Management from the University of Wales. He has also received significant CIO-level executive coaching.
Belinda-Leigh Hall has more than 15 years of experience at the VP, executive VP, and CEO levels at small, medium, and large businesses.
Hall provides executive coaching, CEO advisory services, and C-suite consulting. She leverages her leadership experience in companies ranging from startups to multibillion-dollar businesses to assist clients in virtually all facets of senior management. Specialties include improving organizational performance, opening and developing markets, and developing businesses, teams, and individual executives.
Hall has served as the CEO of the Houston, TX-based firm BLH Financial Services, LLC since 2009, where she performs executive coaching and consulting. From 2010 to 2012, she was Senior Consultant of the $1 billion organization Sheshunoff Consulting + Solutions. There she developed and implemented $2.4 million in revenue enhancements and expanded growth capability by designing and launching electronic delivery channels and virtual branch offerings.
From 2007 to 2009, Hall served as Executive Vice President and Chief Deposit Officer for Green Bank, a startup. Within one year she increased bank deposit growth by 75% and asset growth by 63%. From 2004 to 2007, she held the position of Executive Vice President and Director of Treasury Management Services at Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria-approximately the fifteenth largest commercial banking entity in the world. There her initiatives brought in over $3 million in noninterest income and fee collection.
From 2000 to 2004, Hall worked at Guaranty Bank in the role of Vice President & Regional Manager of Treasury Management Services. There she triggered $35 million in savings and elevated noninterest income by 15%, 20%, and 30% in 2003, 2002, and 2001, respectively. From 1997 to 2000, she served in the same position at First Banks, where she improved noninterest income by 120%. Prior to this, her storied career included numerous positions at BankOne, JPMorganChase, and an investment consulting company.
Hall holds a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree from the University of Texas. She is a Certified Treasury Professional with a Certificate of Achievement from Rice University.
Job Titles:
- Managing Partner and Founder of Strategic Customer Solutions, LLC
Bill Mortimore has more than 24 years of executive-level experience in the professional services, information technology and executive search industries.
Mortimore delivers C-level consulting and coaching services for top leaders including executives, senior managers, and professionals. He offers career transition coaching by leveraging his experience in comprehensive individual assessment, the development of personal and highly effective strategies, collaborative action plans, and the refinement of resumes and interviewing skills.
Since 2009, Mortimore has served as managing partner and founder of Strategic Customer Solutions, LLC., a boutique executive recruiting and career coaching business serving companies and professionals in the information technology industry. From 2007 to 2009, he worked as Vice President of Global Infrastructure Technologies for MJM Global Search, an affiliate of Management Recruiters International (MRI Network), the world's largest recruiting company with 1,100 offices in 39 countries. From 2001 to 2006, Mortimore served as Director of Worldwide Field Engineering for Quantum Corporation, a manufacturer of storage systems, where he was responsible for engineering support of new product qualifications for HP, Dell, IBM, Sun, EMC2, Tandberg, and StorageTek. From 2001 to 2005, he worked as Director of OEM Account Management for Quantum Corporation and led a team that qualified and launched new products for Quantum's OEM customers that generated revenues of $924M for fiscal year 2003 to 2005.
Mortimore earned an MBA from the University of Denver. He is a registered advisor to CTEK, a Colorado-based non-profit organization that helps develop the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the Rocky Mountain region. He is also a veteran of the U.S. Navy with experience in advanced flight training and electronic warefare training, as well as a former member of the University of Denver EMBA alumni advisory board.
In Bill's free time, he enjoys camping and boating with his wife, daughter, two sons, and their families, as well as following new developments in science and technology and meeting other business owners and professionals at networking events.
Job Titles:
- Principal Consultant for Brandit Marketing
Bob Merz has more than 19 years of senior executive experience in marketing, advertising, and communications, and has served in EVP, GM, SVP, and VP roles of these disciplines.
Merz provides C-Suite and VP-Level consulting in strategic marketing, marketing communications and product development. He is passionate about developing creative, strategic and tactical marketing initiatives that deliver significant, measurable ROI. Merz advises SOLIDleaders clients in how to grow their brand, leveraging his experience growing brands, which generated between $100 million and $3 billion in revenue.
Since 2008, Merz has served as Principal Consultant for Brandit Marketing, specializing in B2B and B2C brand marketing and business development for large, corporate clients and small businesses alike. From 2007 to 2008, Merz held was interim VP Marketing for Red River Tea Company. Prior to this, he was EVP of Strategic Marketing for Hot Stuff Foods, a $100M food manufacturer, where he led B2C and B2B brand and product development marketing. Earlier, he served as VP of Marketing and Advertising for 7-Eleven Inc. Prior to this, Merz served as SVP and GM of BBDO Worldwide - Houston, a full service advertising agency, managing the global Texaco account. As GM, he managed the P&L, led business development, and managed client franchisee-agency relations. Earlier Merz served as VP of Advertising and Sales at Pennzoil Companies, where he led global marketing efforts for multiple brands representing $1.9 billion sales. Merz began his career in 1975 with Anheuser-Busch, where he ran the $3B Budweiser brand and a $1.4B portfolio of eight target-specific brands.
Merz earned an MBA in Marketing and Finance and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Organizational Development from Southern Illinois University.
Bruce Graham Coe has more than 25 years' leadership experience, has led six major national capital campaigns and numerous annual fundraising initiatives for non-profit organizations.
As a Partner with SOLID Executive Partners, Coe delivers strategic advisory and coaching services by leveraging his experience in marketing, interpersonal skills, and turn-around strategies for transitional markets. A highly energetic, passion-driven professional with extensive experience in leading organizations to achieve their mission, Coe creates a collaborative atmosphere among team members for an affinity-oriented culture.
Since 2007, Coe has served as Chaplain of The Woman's Hospital of Texas, a 400-bed specialty hospital in Houston, Texas. Responsibilities include initiating and starting the first Chaplaincy program for the hospital, developing several patient and employee programs to improve the quality of services, and serving on the hospital's ethics, bereavement, and patient-centered committees. From 2002 to 2005, Coe was Senior Pastor at Castle Hills First Baptist Church, a 13,000-member congregation in San Antonio, Texas, where he drove and managed annual revenue of $11M, directed over 200 paid employees, coordinated over 600 volunteers, and implemented fiscal strategies reducing expenses (saving $3M, or 32 percent) and raising revenues with a 21 percent increase in three years. Coe has also held leadership roles at First Baptist Church Chandler in Chandler, Arizona (1993 to 2002) among others.
Coe earned a BS from the University of the Ozarks and a Master of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has been featured on Day Star (Christian Broadcasting Network), PTL (Christian Broadcasting Network), and WOAI (NBC-affiliate, San Antonio, TX). Coe is active in the Southern Baptist Convention, a 16M-member organization that hosts a national convention with approximately 15,000 in attendance and the distribution of over $500M annually towards missional purposes. He served as Chairman of the Executive Committee (2001-2002) and Chairman of the Committee on Order of Business (2004-2005).
Daniel Mueller is one of the earliest and most active pioneers of the executive coaching industry. As of 2020, he has provided executive coaching for more than 1,525 CEOs and executives, delivered 86,000+ hours of one-on-one executive coaching, and has been privileged to witness major transformation in the lives of most clients.
Passionate about serving leaders at every level, Daniel is dedicated to helping executives become more effective in all aspects of their personal and professional lives. Prior to specializing in executive coaching, he was CEO of a management training company, a business advisory firm, and an organizational development consultancy - all three of which heavily influenced his unique approach to executive coaching. In addition to drawing on these disciplines, Daniel has extensive training in the behavioral sciences, behavioral psychology, and executive career counseling. An avid student of executive leadership, he regularly speaks and publishes on subjects critical to executive peak performance.
Since 1996, Daniel has specialized in CEO and executive coaching, working in three main areas: leadership coaching, helping executives remove blind spots, leverage strengths, and overcome weaknesses; executive career coaching, helping executives transition from one role to another; and executive onboarding coaching, helping executives start new roles. He also provides training for professional leadership, career, and life coaches, and has a sub-specialty and passion around coaching faith-based leaders of non-profits.
Since his first executive coaching engagement in 1987, Daniel knew he had found his calling, and had a meteoric rise to the top of the emerging executive coaching profession. However, the more outwardly successful Daniel became, the greater the internal pain grew of feeling like an imposter. He chose to numb this pain with alcohol, which led him into recovery for alcoholism - his sobriety date is March 4, 1996. Humbled and broken, Daniel began diligently working to attain personal transformation. This story of amazing success, total failure, and complete redemption has led to one of his favorite sayings: "I coach from a place of weakness, not strength." From the wreckage emerged a tried and true methodology for helping any executive grow to the next level - if they are willing to do what it takes. Daniel is a good example of: "If he can do it, anyone can."
From 1990 to 1996, Daniel served as President and CEO of Solid Foundation International Inc., an organizational design and development consultancy. There, he led team-building initiatives, administered hundreds of interview-based 360° assessments for executive coaching clients, and created individualized leadership development plans.
From 1986 to 1990, Daniel was CEO of MAI, a management consultancy acquired in 1990 by Organizational Leadership and Development, Inc., and from 1982 to 1986, was CEO of Wellness Consultants, Inc., a management training company. He began his career in 1975 as a personal trainer and fitness coach.
Daniel started college at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and relocated to Austin to complete a degree in the Plan 2 Honors Program in Liberal Arts at the University of Texas at Austin, which he never finished. He is gratefully married to the love of his life, Patty, and has three awesome daughters.
Dany Artel is an entrepreneur, coach, international speaker and business consultant on leadership, human behavior and organizational development issues.
Dany began his career in Social Communications and has a master's degree in Business Administration from the Insper Institute of Brazil.
He has more than 15 years of experience as a consultant for companies such as Delphi Automotive, Manzanillo International Terminal, Goodyear, Nextel, Newell Rubbermaid, Nestlé, Nortel, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, Telefónica, Votorantim and others.
He is certified as a coach by Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coaching USA, with Master Training in Group Facilitation and WorldHost Programs on Customer Service issues by People1st International of the UK.
Dany is also a Certified Facilitator in Israel's Points of You Methodology.
He is a Brazilian citizen, residing in Panama since 2016. He held the position of Regional Director of King's Training Panama through January 2020.
Job Titles:
- Agent
- Senior Executive
- President of Checktronic
- SVP of Services at Axway
David Adams has over 17 years of senior executive P&L experience in major, global corporations and has held significant CEO, COO, CIO and SVP roles.
Known for his business acumen and change management expertise, Adams is a customer advocate who blends companies' needs with leading-edge technology solutions. A diverse group of firms have relied on him to replace underperformers and increase bottom-line margins and profits.
Adams is SVP of Services at Axway, a $300 million global software provider. He is presently growing revenue by an average of 19 percent for such firms as Chase Bank, Wells Fargo, Sony, Kraft, Humana and AstraZeneca.
Adams is a change agent and a leader among executives spearheading the design and implementation of global cloud offerings. In locations in dozens of countries, he has been responsible for staffs ranging into the thousands and income in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Working with budgets in excess of $75 million, Adams has both cut and controlled costs while increasing margins and profits. His judgment has earned him the respect and trust of many presidents and CEOs.
From 2002 to 2009, Adams helped lead Sterling Commerce, a $600 million e-commerce and security solutions firm. He was continually promoted to positions of increased responsibility and authority, culminating with his appointment as SVP of Operations & Support. Entrusted with 70 percent of the revenue and 40 percent of the staff (1,100 in 17 countries), Adams improved margins by 10 percent across the board, with some reaching as high as 81 percent. Customer satisfaction grew under his handling of acquisition activities, driving professional services revenue from $22 million to $120 million.
Previously, from 2000 to 2001, Adams was COO of SCA Technologies, a start-up delivering consulting solutions for ERP implementations.
Adams led Fujitsu ICL's IT team as VP from 1994 to 2000. In addition to the traditional CIO role, he also managed application support and oversaw an internal help desk that provided outsourced assistance functions for ICL customers and partners. While there, Adams started an outsourcing unit that offered e-procurement solutions to the high-tech industry.
In 1993, Adams became President of Checktronic, a North Texas-based check authorization firm, with a mandate to position the long-term loss leader for sale. Under his guidance the company turned a profit in 90 days, resulting in a successful divestiture.
Prior to Checktronic, from 1990 to 1992 Adams led start-up Viata's IT, development and delivery teams in developing and deploying early frequent-shopper programs for the retail sector. From 1985 through 1989, he was in charge of all technology operations for Hall-Mark Electronics, where he directed the electronics distributor's data center.
In 1982, Adams joined what is now Unisys as a systems engineer. He began his career in 1981 in direct sales of computer-related supplies for Wallace Business Forms of Dallas.
Adams holds a BBA in Marketing from the University of Texas at Arlington.
Job Titles:
- Founder and Head of AustinWorkNet
David Hughen has over 19 years of experience driving creative human resource strategies and solutions.
Hughen is focused on optimizing employee commitment and productivity. He links his clients' strategic business goals to all engagements, and measures results in concrete ROI metrics tied to top line and bottom line performance.
Hughen believes barriers to employee commitment and productivity are often a result of organizational issues such as broken compensation and reward structures, vague job descriptions and expectations, and ineffective recruitment methods, to name a few. He advises organizations in proven methods to effectively identify and address barriers to optimal organizational performance. Hughen designs systems and processes that drive his clients' ability to maximize productivity. He measures his success by the tangible, measurable outcomes of improved revenue generation and operational efficiency. He also addresses soft skills issues such as total quality leadership, organizational communications, and employee training. Hughen offers a wide gamut of advisory services in the fields of human resources and organization development and design.
Founder and head of AustinWorkNet, Hughen addresses the new work dynamic in post-recession times. Hughen believes that today, the best companies are approaching the relationship of work and people differently than in the past. He advises clients on how to best make that occur for maximum increases in productivity, employee satisfaction, and overall performance.
Hughen is a speaker and consultant to this new work environment. He is passionate about helping organizations think differently about their structure, their leadership, and their very definition of work.
Prior to AustinWorkNet, Hughen served as VP, Human Resources for HelioVolt, a next generation solar company. Previously, he was VP HR and Administration with ClearCommerce while also providing advisory services to a range of VC-led firms in the Central Texas region-which led to the eventual formation of AustinWorkNet. Hughen joined ClearCommerce from Exterprise, where he served as VP, Human Resources and managed the successful acquisition of Exterprise by Commerce One. Prior to Exterprise / Commerce One, Hughen oversaw human resources for Applied Materials-Austin. In that capacity, he managed Applied's explosive growth to more than 3,500 employees. Before Applied Materials, Hughen managed H.R. operations for NEC Electronics in California. His emphasis on H.R. metrics led to a scorecard methodology for better understanding the health of the organization.
He holds Bachelor's and Master of Science degrees in Human Resources and Organization Development from the University of San Francisco. In addition, Hughen is chairman of Communities in Schools' Leadership Circle (Advisory Council) and is a board member of Workforce Solutions.
Derek Avera has more than 27 years of experience in sales, management, coaching and consulting, including 8 years in VP- and director-level positions. As SOLID Leaders' VP Sales and Marketing, Avera is responsible for developing and executing SOLID's sales and marketing strategy. He also provides executive coaching with a strong emphasis on sales and marketing and supports SOLID's executive coaches and advisors in their business development initiatives.
Avera is passionate about executive leadership development, performance coaching, the sales process, relationship building and quality communications. As a sales trainer and speaker, he delivers inspirational and practical sales training for sales executives and their direct reports, as well as SOLID's coaches and advisors. In addition, he conducts 360-degree, interview-based assessments for SOLID's Assessment Practice.
From 2011 to 2018, Avera served first as Agency Business Consultant and later as District Manager for Farmers Insurance. He held responsibility for all aspects of his district's growth and won multiple awards for guiding numerous independent agencies to rapid growth and profitability. As a business coach, he provided leadership coaching and business advice for many business leaders, entrepreneurs and high-potential executives.
Prior, from 2007 to 2010, he served as VP International Business Development for travel services business YTB International, where he led a successful expansion into Canada and generated $2M in monthly revenue in 2 months. His previous role, from 2004 to 2007, was Business Development Officer for Evangelical Christian Credit Union. There he closed $40M in real estate loans. His earlier positions included VP - National Sales of Merchants' Choice Card Services (1999-2002), Senior Sales Executive of KnowledgeBase Marketing (1997-1999), and Sales Manager for Perry Homes (1991-1996).
A native Texan, Avera holds a BBA in Marketing from Abilene Christian University as well as numerous certifications, including FINRA Series 6, Series 26, and Series 63. He is a frequent guest speaker and enjoys delivering dynamic presentations and facilitating interactive business workshops. Outside of work, he spends quality time with his beloved family, plays golf and follows all major sports.
Job Titles:
- Senior Human Resources Executive
Donald H. Sabathier is a senior Human Resources executive with more than 22 years leadership experience in seven different industries, both private and public.
Sabathier leverages his business and operations acumen to drive organizational efficiency and effectiveness. His management competencies span the gamut from setting and executing strategic corporate vision to hands-on delivery of leading-edge HR technologies. He provided internal coaching and counseling for managers and executive leadership while with several different industries.
Sabathier is known for his ability to analyze and diagnose organizational challenges and to provide accurate, timely and successful solutions. Currently, Sabathier is providing C-level HR management consulting.
Prior to 2009, Sabathier was VP of HR for Vanco Energy Company, a $1 billion, privately held oil & gas exploration company with operations in West Africa and Eastern Europe.
Before his role at Vanco, Sabathier was Director HR / Compensation & Benefits for Intermet Corporation, a privately held, global $750 million metal casting & manufacturing organization with twelve plants in the US and three in Europe.
Previous to this, Sabathier was VP of HR for Magnum Hunter Resources, Inc., a $494 million dollar oil & gas exploration and production company with domestic land and offshore operations.
From 1998 to 2002 Sabathier was Director, Compensation & Benefits and Director of HR for NorthWestern Services Group, a $1.1 billion dollar diversified company providing electric and gas distribution, energy services, HVAC and telecommunications.
Earlier in his career, Sabathier's assignments included leadership positions with Pinkerton Security & Investigative Services, U.S Army, Saudi Arabian Marketing & Refining Company, Occidental Petroleum, and Helmerich & Payne, Inc.
Sabathier holds internationally recognized HR certifications in: Senior Professional in Human Resources, Global Professional in Human Resources, Certified Compensation Professional, Certified Benefits Professional, Global Remuneration Professional, Certified Retirement Administrator, Certified Retirement Counselor and Certified Security Supervisor.
Sabathier & Associates provides Human Resource consulting for public traded and privately owned organizations needing interim HR leadership or project based advisory services.
Dr. Jeannine Sandstrom has more than 34 years of senior executive coaching and leadership development experience, and has served clients in businesses worth up to $250 billion.
Dr. Sandstrom provides CEO and board advising, senior executive coaching, and C-suite consulting. A pioneer of the industry, she founded and led three national consulting companies and launched her own CEO coaching practice before joining SOLIDleaders. She is equally skilled in developing executives of turnarounds, startups, and already-successful firms, and specializes in working with high-profile leaders.
In 1996, Sandstrom founded the Dallas, Texas-based firm CoachWorks International, Inc. She continues to serve both as the company's CEO and as a coach for senior executive leaders. A selection of notable successes includes advising the owner of a plateaued company on leadership style, approaches and ideas to result in a 70% year-over-year revenue increase within 18 months; coaching the SVP of a $1 billion global nonprofit to position herself for promotion to COO; and consulting with the president of a $25 billion organization to develop the results generated by his direct reports, resulting in his being chosen as CEO of the company.
Prior to this, from 1979 to 1995, she held the position of President of The Sandstrom Group, a private leadership development coaching, and change management consultancy. During this time she also held other roles, including General Manager and Senior Vice President at Lee Hecht Harrison, Inc. from 1992 to 1995. There she managed a five-state regional office and provided executive coaching and leadership development to the financial services and energy industries. From 1987 to 1991 she served as Senior Principal for King Chapman Broussard & Gallagher, coaching top management and board members on executive leader selection and team development. Earlier roles include Executive Vice President of Rhodes & Associates, Inc. (1982-1986) and Assistant Director for East Texas State University's Center for Business Research and Professional Development (1979-1982).
Dr. Sandstrom holds an Ed.D. in Human Resource Development and Counseling and an M.S. in Human Resource Management and Marketing, both from East Texas State University. She also holds an M.Ed. in Education Curriculum & Instruction from Texas A&M University and a B.A. from Anderson University. She holds several executive coaching certifications including Master Certified Coach (ICF) and Certified Executive Partner (SOLID).
Ellen Kramer is a senior executive with nearly 29 years of marketing experience in key leadership and CMO roles for startup, middle-market, and high-profile corporations.
Kramer has an intense focus on growth goals and customer value. She provides executive advising and coaching to CEOs and heads of marketing in both public and private companies in a wide variety of industries. Kramer has particular expertise in: Strategic Planning, Database Marketing / CRM, Customer Acquisition and Lead Generation,
Frederick Haught has more than 29 years of experience as a senior executive for companies ranging from startups to $9B global entities, much of it gained in international markets.
Haught provides CEO and board advising, senior executive coaching, and C-suite consulting. He has a deep background in oil & gas production and services and various advanced technologies including: information technology, satellite and communication, geophysical sciences, nanotechnology, advanced physics, and biotechnology. He has also played major roles in founding companies and spent years in oil & gas industry consulting, services, and manufacturing. A global executive, his career has taken him across four continents, with extensive work in the Middle East. His specializations include business development, corporate development and transformation, mergers and acquisitions, strategy development, and market and opportunity identification.
Haught is vice president of Al-Rushaid Group and head of Al-Rushaid Technologies, business units of the $4B Al-Rushaid Group, one of the top ten industrial conglomerates in Saudi Arabia. He recently developed, and is currently managing, more than 7 new joint-venture relationships. He also orchestrated a $150M sale of oil & gas drilling assets and outsourcing of the workforce for provisioning the assets to deployment in Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Prior to taking on his current roles, he was the vice president of business development, strategy, and acquisitions, with responsibility over corporate strategy and business units worth more than $200M.
Prior, he served as vice president and practice leader for oil & gas in the Americas for Infosys, a $2.8B company providing a wide range of services to the energy and manufacturing industry. Some of his achievements there include closing an $8M contract for improving the largest refinery in North America; managing business relationships with such companies as ExxonMobil and Valero; and developing a deployment plan for entering untapped Latin American markets. He also served as the oil & gas practice leader for the $9B oilfield services company Schlumberger, where he drove $50M in sales over 3 years.
Haught founded the systems integration services company Team1 International in 1990. He served first as its president and later, after the company was acquired by a European consortium in 1999, as managing director and board member. Team1 grew to $20M by the time of his successful exit and through several successive acquisitions was ultimately acquired by Microsoft in 2002. This success was partially due to his experience as cofounder, VP, and board member of Lante Corporation, an Internet services and IT company that made its IPO at $1.1B.
Between founding and leading those two companies, he worked as the COO of BSG / IT, a provider of IT and systems integration to the oil & gas and manufacturing industries. Haught's strategies, business plans, and investment acquisition led to BSG's continued growth and eventual sale at $300M. Haught's other career experience includes work in consulting with Andersen Consulting and Ernst & Young - Middle East, and in oil & gas with Dow Chemical and Satyam.
Mr. Haught holds an MBA in Finance and Quantitative Business Analysis from the University of Cincinnati and a Bachelor of Science from Case Western Reserve University. He is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the Houston Petroleum Club, and serves several companies on boards of directors and in advisory roles. Haught lives in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
Job Titles:
- President of Organizational Development Solutions Worldwide
E. Heidi Cottle has more than 27 years' executive leadership experience establishing and implementing a variety of business and employee benefit solutions for some of the largest employers in the United States.
Cottle delivers strategic advisory and coaching services by leveraging her experience in local and national health care reform, and establishing efficiencies through organizational development controls to bring margin improvement during difficult economic times. Cottle is currently an organizational consultant for employers on a local, national, and international basis.
Presently, Cottle is President of Organizational Development Solutions Worldwide (ODSW), a professional services organization providing a comprehensive range of business services, products, and solutions to help clients succeed by better managing finances and employees. Responsibilities include managing Fortune 500 to Fortune 1000 companies in a variety of business organizational capacities.
Cottle was previously the President of Intermountain Employee Services at CBIZ, Inc. a professional services company providing a comprehensive range of business solutions. Responsibilities included the inception of a National Federal Government Contracting Department of Labor (DOL) Prevailing Wage Division for CBIZ National Employee Services Division as a subject matter expert in administrative compliance for Prevailing Wage governance rules.
At the same time, Cottle has been active in Employee Benefits and Health and Productivity Management (Wellness) Solutions. She has been instrumental in local and national health care reform committees including specialized expertise in Department of Labor Wage & Hourly Division (DOLWHD) Prevailing Wage Compliance for Federal Government Contractors for the U.S. and its territories. Cottle maintains oversight of her own wellness company, BeneCare, which is designed to help employers focus on a holistic approach to employee health management. Cottle has designed, negotiated, and established Physician Hospital Organization (PHO) employer contracts in rural areas of Ohio, South Carolina, and Louisiana.
As an entrepreneur, Cottle owned and operated her own multi-state and national employee benefit firm, BeneCor. BeneCor was sold to CBIZ, Inc., a publicly traded company, in July of 2002. During her tenure at CBIZ, she served on various internal and external boards, including the American Benefit Council (ABC), ERISA Retirement Industry Committee (ERIC), and CBIZ Women's Advantage. ERIC and ABC serve as national employee benefit and retirement policy committees for the Fortune 500 to Fortune 1000 companies in the U.S. CBIZ Women's Advantage is a national program dedicated to mentoring and advocating women in their personal and professional pursuits.
Prior, Cottle worked as National Sales Manager for Health Benefits America (HBA), a national consulting firm where she was instrumental in establishing and implementing national managed care networks for some of the largest employers in the United States, including Xerox Corporation, Eastman Kodak, Marriott, Chevron, Holiday Inn Worldwide, and AT&T. Cottle began her career by internationally recruiting physicians to provide needed medical care to Third World countries and rural communities throughout the United States.
Cottle attended the University of Utah, and has earned specialized licensure as a subject matter expert and industry consultant in employee benefits and as an associate of risk management. Cottle is continuing her educational pursuits in other specialized industry designations. Cottle is a guest lecturer for state, local, and national organizations including Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA), University of Utah School of Business, and Clemson University School of Business. She is a committee member of the Utah License Examination Review Committee and was recognized as an industry leader in the National Association of Health Underwriters magazine's July 1998 edition.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers
Jan Erik Johansson has more than 30 years of international experience as a change and information manager, technology deployment innovator and strategic marketer for a major player in the global energy sector.
The former longtime oil and gas executive is now President of JEJ Consulting in Houston. He also serves as Logica North America's O&G VP and Practice Manager supervising 140 consultants. With SOLIDleaders, his engagements focus on transformation, integration, organizational change, M&A, and IT and operations strategy, primarily but not exclusively with O&G clients.
Johansson spent three decades with Schlumberger, a leading oil field services provider. In addition to the major oil companies, Johansson has worked with national and regional oil companies throughout the world. His assignments have included Asia, Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, Latin America and the USA. He retired in 2009 as technical consulting director for Schlumberger Information Solutions and formed his own consultancy.
Among his many projects have been risk-spending assessments in the petroleum upstream sector, planning for real-time drilling, acting as an engagement manager, field operation optimization, E&P subsurface operations improvement, a rapid technology roll-out, an E&P operations productivity assessment, performance improvement simulation, and IM/IT strategy development.
In addition to line operational management activities, Johansson led many IM initiatives at Schlumberger. These included development of the upstream IM project for Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., allowing the merger of three affiliates into one entity. He also oversaw the remote information management center for upstream data at SAGA Petroleum in Oslo, Norway. Johansson spearheaded development of a seismic interpretation system (Charisma), which at the time was a leading world-class system. He was instrumental in introducing oilfield IM to clients in Europe and the former Soviet republics and managed the attendant organizational changes.
In 2006, Johansson initiated and developed Schlumberger's technical consulting group, expanding it from two to 27 people in 18 months. It eventually grew under his leadership to more than 50 consultants operating worldwide.
In 2001, Johansson was a principal in an O&G study conducted to help Schlumberger determine its downstream strategy. In 1998, Johansson was the account director for the company's $74 million OMNES JV with Cable & Wireless. As such, he was responsible for Schlumberger's operations and services including WAN, desktop outsourcing, LAN management, satellite communications and directory services. Johansson also evaluated a technical JV with a large independent oil company related to trading and scheduling in the feedstock supply chain.
In 1988, Schlumberger tasked Johansson with evaluating four BUs that were part of an acquisition. He recommended a divestiture and two spinoffs, persuading top management to retain and invest in what became Schlumberger's still-profitable software arm.
Before joining Schlumberger in 1978, Johansson began his career with Ericsson as a business development manager for Indonesia in 1976.
Johansson holds an Engineering Degree in Electronics with a Transmission Technology Specialty from Polhelms Technical Gymnasium in Gothenburg, Sweden. He has taken courses in leading and managing change and strategic use of information technology at Stanford University; marketing management at Columbia University; technology advancement in European markets at the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland; and executive leadership at the Levinson Institute in Boston.
Johansson is an active member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Society of Professional Well Log Analysts, American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists. He serves on committees of the Ocean Energy Center and is a member of the National Offshore Industry Association's Public Affairs and Education Committee.
Jay Allen is the CEO and Co-Founder of Executives Network and CXO, private collaborative organizations with over 5,000 executive members from the major companies in the US and Europe. He has over 25 years' experience as an entrepreneur, strategic advisor and executive manager.
Jay has served in Sr. Marketing, Sales and Business Development roles for Fortune 500 companies and early stage companies across five different industries and was ranked by Colorado Company Magazine as one of the top networked executives in the Rocky Mountain region. He continues to oversee the deal flow and networking operations of various portfolios and the Executives Network enterprise. Jay received his Bachelor of Science in International Marketing from Brigham Young University and enjoys life with his wife and five children in Littleton, Colorado.
Jay Griggs has more than nineteen years of leadership experience in the software, hardware, and manufacturing industries. She has held key roles in startup, mid-size, and Fortune 500 companies.
Griggs has particular expertise in marketing, sales, business development, and product management. In marketing, she has significant experience leading market research, strategic marketing, brand management, corporate events, and global channel marketing. Griggs has managed regional sales organizations in the professional services and technology industries. She also has significant experience in product marketing and product management.
Griggs provides executive advising and coaching to heads of marketing in both public and private companies in a wide variety of industries. She also provides career and life coaching to high potential executives.
Jerry Carmody has more than 25 years' experience in executive-level sales and financial operations management. He also has significant expertise in estate and financial planning, including institutional money management for several leading institutions and Fortune 500 companies.
Carmody leverages his experience in coaching and mentoring to deliver SOLIDleaders' services to top-level executives and senior leaders, specializing in sales, prospecting and closing of high-end business deals. He has coached CEOs of major organizations and top leaders throughout the world. Carmody leverages his significant network of key influencers to help clients grow their personal networks. He is talented at understanding a client's core behavioral and cognitive drivers, facilitating transformation and next level performance. Carmody also serves SOLID clients as a financial advisor, helping companies large and small to limit liability through custom asset protection strategies.
From 2007 to present, as President and CEO of the Carmody Group (a registered investment advisory firm), Carmody has offered advice on business succession planning, corporate recapitalization, asset protection, gifting, and deferred compensation plans in Texas. He specializes in family estate planning, from negative net worth to over $100 million, coordinating a team of advisors to help grow, protect and preserve wealth through generations. He also has significant expertise in private and institutional money management, financial planning, and insurance.
Prior to starting the Carmody Group in 2007, he held the position of Director of Training and Development, Managing Principal at Lincoln Financial Group - Sagemark Consulting from 2003. In that capacity he mentored and coached hundreds of advisors, certified financial planners, attorneys and CPAs in how to grow their practice while maintaining his own. Carmody worked with the Dallas office to generate over $25 million dollars a year in production and was consistently in the Top 5 nationally. He was on the board of the prestigious National Select Financial Planner Group where he selected, coached and mentored the best of the best.
Previously Carmody worked for Cigna Financial Group from 1997, who were later bought by Lincoln Financial Advisors / Sagemark Consulting. There he was an Estate/Financial Planner in the High Net Worth Group, having previously built a solid career in business banking and international credit with Autodesk in Sausalito, California. Carmody began his career in San Francisco in 1986 with senior management positions at Household Finance Corporation, Wells Fargo Bank, Autodesk, Gary Fisher Bicycle Corporation and West America Bank - Napa Valley. In Dallas he was Corporate Communication Manager for Nissan Corporate, then founded an Edward Jones Investments office in Colleyville, Texas.
As Founder and Chairman of Men in Transition (M.I.T.), a career, life, mentoring and coaching group, Carmody firmly believes individual, one-on-one coaching is the best vehicle for true, intrinsic change. He addresses each client's particular needs and provides a customized array of resources, helping each reach their full potential. He is known for his passion in helping people gain the best possible careers and providing coaching services to faith-based organizations. Carmody has five predominant areas of focus in his life-God, family, ministry, work and mentoring-and is actively involved at Gateway Church, Southlake, Texas.
Key Board of Director roles Carmody holds include the Presidents Council at Dallas Christian College. He also serves on the board of directors at the Well of the Oath Legal Clinic. Carmody holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Oklahoma, Price College of Business.
Joe Pack has more than 30 years' of C-level experience as CEO, president, and VP and has led dozens of organizations through cutting-edge IT tactics, team building, and a "Lead by Example" mentoring approach.
Pack specializes in executive coaching for high-potential leaders and junior executives. He also serves as an advisor to entrepreneurial CEOs in areas such as strategic planning, tactical execution, process selling, leadership, and team building. Pack has significant expertise in sales, sales management, sales training, manufacturing, and operations skills learned during his time in the U.S. Military.
From 2008 to present, Pack has excelled as CEO, president, and owner of Murphy Business, a business broker agency servicing companies with up to $25M in sales revenue. From 2000 to 2011, Pack assisted leaders in establishing KPIs within their organization - enabling them to achieve new revenue goals both on the top and bottom line.
During this time, Pack was also CEO of a midsize manufacturing company where he turned around negative EBITDA, achieved 20% revenue increase, and reduced employee turnover from 21% to 10% via implementation of monthly communication meetings and plant reviews. He also cut costs by 20%, direct labor by 18%, and scrap from 5% to 1% within one year - resulting in savings of $3M through investment in Six Sigma, Kaizen, 5S, and other process and best practice improvements.
From 2000 to 2003, Pack worked as VP of Sales & Marketing for Unimark Plastics, where he negotiated a $20M contract with the largest medical customer and re-invented the business process, allowing both companies to reduce the cost of doing business, and secured the contract for three years with automatic renewals. Pack has also led C-level groups and directed them to improve success in leadership, decision-making, and business profitability.
As an executive, Pack has had to make tough decisions to ensure the company makes its goals and objectives. With a keen eye from both the 30,000 feet level and the floor level, he has been able to create an environment within the organization that is focused on the betterment of all the stakeholders: the owners, Board of Directors, customer, employee, company management, and vendors/suppliers.
John Ciulla is a senior executive with 15 years' experience of full P&L responsibility in key leadership and CEO roles, and a 29-year track record of success in business development, operations, and IT. He has led multiple corporations as Senior Vice-President and Chief Information Officer, and was recently recruited by the President of Xerox Corporation to transform Xerox into a services-led company. At SOLIDleaders, he offers expertise in P&L, mergers and acquisitions, and change management.
As Senior Vice-President of Xerox Global Services since 2004, Ciulla has full P&L responsibility for 5000 employees in Document Outsourcing, overseeing all functions. He has grown earnings before interest and tax by 325%, increased revenues by 50% from $800 million to $1.2 billion, and created a new global strategy for high-end document services offerings. He led successful acquisitions of Amici (e-Discovery) and Advectis (electronic mortgage), and assisted with ACS Business Process Outsourcing totaling $6.5 billion.
From 2002 to 2004, Ciulla led Neogent, transforming it into a world-class IT services organization focusing on security for identity management. He directed sales and client growth, doubling company revenues in a year. He restructured the company and executed an exit strategy, selling Neogent to Sun Microsystems.
From 2000 to 2002, Ciulla was responsible for product, IT and real estate operations worldwide at Vignette. He coordinated acquisitions, sales, and marketing for twenty offices worldwide and oversaw development of complex web applications and portal software.
At IBM Tivoli Systems from 1998 to 2000, Ciulla was responsible for a $250 million budget and over 500 employees, reporting to the CEO. He oversaw worldwide customer support, launched an online marketplace business unit, and created worldwide customer-focused applications.
As VP and CIO at Entex Information Systems from 1992 to 1998, Ciulla transformed a product company into a services-led organization and created rapid growth from $1 billion to $3 billion. He was a key leader in acquiring Random Access, LEAD, and FCP Technologies, and devised an exit strategy with the senior team, selling services to Siemens and product to CompuCom.
Ciulla's CEO, Operations, and IT experience are built on early business development experience. From 1980 to 1992, he was a business development star at EDS and Perot Systems, where he closed and maintained high-profile accounts, including a $250 million US Army account.
Ciulla has BS Management/Computer Sciences degree from St John Fisher in Rochester, New York, where he was named on the Dean's Honor List all four years. He resides in Austin, Texas.
Job Titles:
- President of the HR Consulting Practice of Travista Enterprises
John Comparin has more than 32 years of experience as a human resources management and consulting executive.
Comparin provides CEO and board advising, senior executive coaching, C-suite consulting, and executive and organizational assessments. A world-class human resources specialist, he has managed HR challenges in companies undergoing everything from bankruptcy recovery to rapid growth, and has led due diligence and integration activities for numerous large-scale mergers and acquisitions.
Comparin is the president of the HR Consulting Practice of Travista Enterprises, LLC, a global human resources consulting service provider. Travista specializes in M&A activities, including due diligence and integration. It also provides advising on compensation, benefits, organizational development, employee retention, succession planning, and executive search.
Prior to joining Travista, Comparin served as the EVP of Human Resources and Administration for Global Crossing Corporation. He held responsibility for HR operations in 23 countries. This included managing dramatic changes while the company exploded in size from just 350 employees to 17,000 through domestic and international acquisitions. He played a major role in creating the strategies that pulled the company out of bankruptcy, overhauling the employee management program with new recognition programs and quarterly incentives.
John Honeycutt has more than 25 years of leadership experience in executive management consulting and marketing leadership, and has provided C-suite and SVP-level advisory services to clients with revenues exceeding $10B.
Honeycutt provides C-suite advising and consulting. His core competencies include market development and business growth, organizational change management, operational strategy, and third party independent verification and validation. He specializes in helping clients engage the emerging workforce, taking innovative ideas from conception to implementation, and elevating brand value.
Honeycutt served as the senior director of sales & marketing and marketplace development at Key Energy Services, an oil well servicing contractor with over 8,500 employees across the globe. Through his leadership, Key's Central Marketplace generated $225M. He managed 42 direct reports, and indirectly led 1,200 employees in 60 locations. As part of the corporate offices, he led due diligence screening processes for 100+ acquisition opportunities, launched two new divisional brands, and managed award-winning marketing efforts in multiple industries.
Earlier, Honeycutt served as a senior manager of human capital & energy at Deloitte Consulting. There he directed a change management project team for a 12,000-employee client, and provided advisory services to several other Fortune 1000 companies. Prior to joining Deloitte, he was a senior manager of organizational change management & marketing at Capgemini Energy, playing a major role in the consolidation of 2,500 back office support staff into a single company. He spearheaded numerous change initiatives and culture transformation programs as part of a $3.5B IT/BPO outsourcing deal.
His first major executive position was as a partner and solutions practice director for CSC, a management consulting, IT, and outsourcing company. He led an enterprise-wide change management team for a $10B organization and sold an extended supply chain management program involving the US military and two major defense contractors. His earlier positions included senior consultant at Andersen Consulting, and petrophysicist at CoreLab / Western Geophysical.
Honeycutt holds an M.S. in Management, Computers, and Systems from Houston Baptist University and a B.S. in Geology from Wichita State University. He also holds an executive certificate in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University, and is the author of "College Contract" and "Provocative Business Change."
Job Titles:
- CFO for the Kabbalah Centre International
John Reiland has more than 29 years' C-level experience, has served in 6 CFO roles and sits on a number of boards in the telecommunications, software and retail industries.
Reiland leverages his experience to lead initiatives in capital and debt financing, systems development, acquisitions and divestitures. He uses his analytical and motivational skills to collaborate with management to improve profits, resolve variances, refine forecasts and identify opportunities for improvement.
Since 2011, Reiland has served as CFO for the Kabbalah Centre International. From 2008 to 2011, he was CFO at SingerLewak, a Top 100 CPA firm. From 2000 to 2007, Reiland was engaged by Edelman Financial Group (formerly Sanders Morris Harris Group, Inc.). His company portfolio included StarVox Communications, a $40M telecommunications provider where he served as CFO during its Chapter 7 liquidation. He also acted as Independent Restructuring and Turnaround Advisor for Ronco Corporation; U.S. Dataworks Inc.; New England Pantry Inc., a $61M convenience store chain, and IQ Services Inc, a start-up company producing handheld wireless tablets for HVAC industry technicians. Before that, Reiland served as CFO and Director for NEON Systems Inc., where he led the IPO launch. Earlier in his career, he was CFO of Charter Communications and held similar roles at WorldCom International in Switzerland and was CFO for Houston International Teleport. He began his management career at Price Waterhouse.
Reiland earned a BBA in Accounting from the University of Houston and attended Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is a Member of the AICPA and a Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor. He currently serves as Chairman of the Audit Committee for Flotek Industries. Los Angeles Business Journal nominated him for CFO of the Year 2009. A CPA, he has significant turnaround and restructuring experience.
Karen J. Hartnett has more than 23 years of C-suite consulting human resources experience for organizations with assets of $3.5 to $21 billion.
Hartnett delivers CEO advising, C-suite consulting, and senior executive coaching for top leaders, with particular focus on CEO, CHRO, CMO and General Counsel positions. She leverages her career in financial services to provide business advice in various aspects of senior management in a broad array of industries including energy, professional services, and manufacturing. Hartnett is especially skilled in bringing executive teams into strategic alignment, and has significant expertise in succession planning and C-level meeting facilitation. She has directed every discipline of human capital management during her 40-plus year career.
Since 2001, Hartnett has been Principal of KJH Consulting providing strategic human capital advice to CHROs and other senior executives. She worked with Guaranty Bank, a subsidiary company of Temple-Inland, Inc., from 2001 to 2008-first as its primary human resources consultant and then as its Chief Human Resource Officer. As CHRO, she guided Guaranty's spin-off from Temple-Inland, Inc., and took part in ringing the bell at the New York Stock Exchange. From 1991 to 2001, Hartnett led the HR team at Bank United in Houston, through its IPO until acquisition by Washington Mutual. She headed HR for Equimark in Pittsburgh from 1989 to 1991. From 1983 to 1989, she launched her banking career in Dallas with Republic Bank and rose to CHRO for the Interfirst/Republic merged company, First Republic, which sold to NCNB (now Bank of America) in 1989. Her earliest corporate experiences were with Zale Corporation in Dallas (1980-1983) and Mobil Oil Corporation in New York City (1976-1980), and she served six years in the administration at Sweet Briar College (1970-1976).
Hartnett earned her B.A. in English Literature at Sweet Briar College in Virginia and completed additional studies at the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia in business and education. She is a long-standing member of the Houston Ballet Foundation's Board of Trustees and a Lifetime Member of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. She has published articles in the American Banker, the industry's daily newspaper, and in the ABA Banking Journal.
Job Titles:
- Senior Executive
- Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Bell
Karen Morris is a senior executive with more than 16 years of marketing experience in key leadership and CMO roles in middle-market to large, publicly held companies.
Morris has a 22-year track record of success as a brand visionary and thought leader with a key proven ability to deliver marketing solutions across a broad product portfolio. Morris has overseen global brands with several billion dollars in revenue and has run her own marketing consulting business, coaching c-level executives on aligning internal and external brand positioning and passionate purpose definition. She has exceeded goals in both large multi-national and small start-up environments.
Morris provides executive advising and coaching to heads of marketing in both public and private companies in a wide variety of industries. Her core competencies include: Strategic Marketing, Brand Management, Product Marketing, Account Acquisition/Expansion, Social, Mobile Marketing, Advertising, Content Creation, Media and Public Relations, Channel Marketing, Sales Promotion, Market Research and Product Management.
Presently, Morris is Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Bell and Howell. Previously Morris was President and CEO at Morris Worldwide Marketing, a marketing company specializing in the high technology industry. Morris provided executive-level marketing leadership, leveraging her consistent success in the strategic development and tactical execution of industry-recognized marketing initiatives in the telecommunications industry.
As Chief Marketing Officer at ZOS Communications, a position she held from September 2010 until August 2012, she built Platform-as-a-Service product and communication strategies for mobile, social and digital, ensuring local relevance and impact.
Morris was Vice President of Marketing at Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, Inc. in North America. She has more than 19 years of management experience at Sony Ericsson and Ericsson, Inc., one half of the joint venture with Sony. Prior to her role as Vice President of Marketing, Morris served as Head of U.S. Channel Marketing where she managed all aspects of channel marketing functions and deliverables across Sony Ericsson's wireless customer base, including AT&T.
During her time in the industry, Morris has overseen many campaigns that received honors from trade and industry associations and served on the Board of Directors for the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) Wireless Foundation. Along with garnering two Summit Creative Awards, her initiatives have been honored by CTIA, The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and The Advertising Federation. Morris graduated from Georgia State University with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing.
Kaveh Mir is a serial entrepreneur with more than 15 years of CEO and senior executive experience. He has started several businesses, grown them into multimillion-dollar operations, and led them through major transformational changes, mergers and acquisitions.
Mir provides occupational ability and behavioral assessments, executive coaching, CEO advising and consultative advisory. He has completed advanced certifications and training in the full gamut of senior executive and C-level executive assessments. In addition, he has significant expertise helping first and second-line managers to grow their skills in execution, relationship, management and leadership. Through SOLIDleaders, Mir provides clients with broad-based executive coaching, CEO advising and management consulting. He has particular expertise in over 11 behavioral and psychological assessments and plays a lead role in SOLIDleaders' Executive Assessment Practice.
Mir launched his first venture in 1997 and has been in a number of executive and CEO positions since. His executive experience runs the gamut from project manager to the C suite. After shifting his focus from CEO roles to coaching and consulting senior executives, he completed in-depth training in the behavioral sciences, organizational design and organizational development. He acquired specialized knowledge regarding change management initiatives, corporate cultural transformation and best practices in how to ensure alignment with a CEO and/or Board's business strategy.
In 1997, while an employee of the company, Mir acquired PSI2000 Ltd., a financially distressed software house specializing in providing Health and Safety solutions. He negotiated capital infusion with the lead investor and, as the newly installed MD, assembled a new management team, developed a customer retention strategy, created a financial model to ensure adequate cash flow, designed and took to market three new products and led strategic oversight of the company. Under Mir's leadership, PSI2000 grew into a $1.6 million operation with only 10 employees and three managers.
Having taken PSI from a loss position to a 20 percent net profit, Mir sold the company for $2.4 million in 2008 and merged it with Ace, an asbestos mitigation and management firm. AcePSI Group now has more than 120 employees, a 10-member management team and annual revenues exceeding $9.5 million. As MD/CEO, he led all M&A activity including due diligence (with FD), commercial negotiations (with lawyers) and post-merger integration/restructuring.
During the past three years, through almost 20 engagements, Mir has advised and assisted several business organizations on a variety of topics including executive coaching, leadership development, organizational development and change, organization design, employee engagement, talent management, succession planning and team development. Mir began his career in 1993 as a developer and business analyst with Performance Support International (PSI), where he was attached to KPMG.
Mir earned an MBA from Cranfield School of Management (UK), as well as an MSc in human computer interaction and a BSc (with honors) in computer science, both from Queen Mary and Westfield College (University of London). He is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Directors, an ICF-certified coach, a British Psychology Association-certified User Test occupational ability and personality assessor, and a certified project manager.
Job Titles:
- D - Link 's SVP for Market Development
Keith Karlsen has significant C-level expertise in sales, marketing, business development and strategy. During his more than 19 years as a senior executive, as an EVP he ran a P&L of more than $300 million.
Karlsen leads consulting engagements that leverage his broad functional background extending from product development and management to marketing, sales and sales management to general/executive management.
Much of Karlsen's consulting focuses on strategy, business planning, market analysis and development, go-to-market plans, channel development, business analysis and due diligence. He also provides senior executive coaching in his areas of expertise.
Known for his business acumen and P&L management, Karlsen employs an inspirational leadership style. He is passionate about helping SOLIDleaders' clients enhance incremental revenue and growth via aggressive development of new markets, channels, products, customers and partnerships. Karlsen is drawn to active involvement in an organization's design and implementation of its overall strategy and direction, as well as its execution and implementation.
Karlsen is able to drive results by being adept at strategic negotiations and leveraging internal and external organizations. He combines these skill sets with market savvy and a strong business intuition to target organizational structuring in ways that accelerate growth and boost profitability. In recent years, Karlsen has created and managed new initiatives within existing companies that have produced double- and triple-digit revenue growth annually.
From 2002 to 2009, Karlsen was a senior executive at D-Link Systems. As EVP for North America, he oversaw an annual budget of more than $100 million and led a staff of more than 125. By developing new products, channels and markets, Karlsen drove D-Link's strategy and successful execution into business markets, both SMB and enterprise, with more than 37 percent CAGR. He increased brand exposure and developed and expanded private label business. Total revenues across six channels exceeded $300 million, increasing 35 percent the first year and subsequently averaging 12 percent CAGR. Karlsen also started a sales organization in Mexico that grew revenues by more than 127 percent CAGR since its inception.
As D-Link's SVP for Market Development, Karlsen built and directed two new divisions (OEM and broadband) and oversaw product management while maintaining responsibility for business development. He restructured both divisions and grew revenues by 45 percent and 37 percent CAGR, respectively. As VP of Business Development, Karlsen started a new business function and organization focusing on expanding U.S. business. He developed and managed key partnerships with suppliers in support of the emerging product strategy. Karlsen also negotiated key business agreements as product offerings expanded to take advantage of new market opportunities.
From 1998 to 2002, Karlsen served as Senior Director of Business Development and Strategy for Gateway. He created and managed a new business development and strategy team targeting emerging consumer and SMB markets by going "beyond the box." As Director of Product Marketing, Karlsen was responsible for creating and managing a marketing team supporting a growing $4 billion product line. Key segments included SMB, education, and state and local governments, as well as enterprise accounts.
From late 1983 to 1998, Karlsen held several upper echelon marketing positions at NCR/AT&T. He began his career as a systems engineer in the Financial Services Division of EDS.
Karlsen holds an MBA from the University of Dayton and a BA in Economics from Wheaton College. He has completed additional masters-level management courses at the University of South Carolina, Pepperdine University, Northwestern University and Cranfield University in Birmingham, England.
Job Titles:
- Executive
- Strategy Consultant
- VP of Marketing and Business Development at GE Access
Lisa Robb has over 24 years of executive experience within the Fortune 500. She has significant expertise in professional services, enterprise sales, marketing, channel building and M&A. Mrs. Robb serves as senior consultant for strategic planning, marketing and organizational assessment, design and development.
Robb is a strategy consultant who has helped numerous multibillion-dollar corporations and high-potential subsidiaries identify, improve and implement corporate strategies. Adept at quickly shifting from strategic to tactical, she gets results by leveraging a hands-on style, strong process orientation, and project management expertise.
Known as a bleeding-edge "data geek," Robb has a reputation as a thought leader in contemporary marketing. She is passionate about linking big-picture strategic thinking with actionable plans to get tangible results - improvement in top-line revenue and bottom-line profit. A tech-savvy innovator in Internet marketing, Robb's channel sales, cross-functional marketing, strategic planning and executive management experience enable her to evaluate complex markets and identify gaps and opportunities in go-to-market and organizational strategies.
A Social Media Strategist certified by the Social Media Academy, Robb excels at assessing where and how social media create competitive advantages. She is a co-founder of the Social Business Consulting Group and founder of MarketBlender, a business strategy, marketing and social media consultancy. Robb holds certifications in Six Sigma Quality Training and Strategic Facilitation Training and has completed significant training in Executive Development at the Center for Creative Leadership.
From 2004 to 2009, Robb was VP of U.S. Marketing for SYNNEX, a $7 billion public company (SNX). As VP of Marketing, she was responsible for 35 staff and a $32 million budget, leading strategic and tactical partner, channel and end-user marketing initiatives. Robb led engagements with more than 100 vendor partners including HP, IBM and Microsoft.
During 2002 to 2003, Lisa was VP of sales for CP Internet and Telecom. A politically savvy, diplomatic change agent, she led an organization-wide cultural transformation into new services, achieving previously unthinkable margins ranging from 29-49 percent.
Prior to this, from 1995 to 2002 Robb was with GE IT Solutions, a $2.5 billion value-added reseller. For much of her time at GE, she served as VP of Outsourcing, Sales and Consulting. Robb created go-to-market and delivery vehicles, leveraging five newly acquired regional businesses and transforming the existing go-to market approach. In the first six months, she achieved record-breaking, multi-year outsourcing contracts with United Healthcare, Target and Medtronic; 12 months later, gross revenue topped $195 million.
As VP of Marketing and Business Development at GE Access, Robb led M&A due diligence and integration for three acquisitions totaling $2 billion in 18 months. As a marketing team leader, she spearheaded marketing solutions for 1,400 resellers and 25 manufacturing partners. Robb transformed lead generation and in six months doubled the close rate from 33 percent to 66 percent within a key growth initiative. As VP of Corporate E-Strategy And E-business, Robb saved $2 million annually by introducing electronic trading relationships. A versatile executive, she also led complex, cross-functional initiatives in strategic and operational planning in organization and processes, systems and tools, competitive positioning and financial performance.
Prior to GE, from 1985 to 1995 Robb served in a variety of management and leadership roles, including VP of Professional Services and Outsourcing, for DataServ, a BellSouth company, where she led a team of 350 employees. Robb began her career as a field engineer with IBM in 1981.
Lise Hudson has more than 18 years of executive sales management experience in the broadcast and online media industries.
A versatile sales leader, Hudson has a proven track record in start-ups, turnarounds and with high growth companies. Her career includes management responsibility during multiple acquisitions and sales involving both privately and publicly held companies. She is known for her business acumen and ability to inspire and instill passion in others.
Hudson provides advisory services to sales, marketing and business development executives and their direct reports. She is also available for interim sales leadership roles as well as full time employment for the right sales executive role.
From 2007 to 2011, Hudson was VP of Sales and Marketing for RMM Online Advertising. Hudson's expertise in sales and marketing and sharp focus on revenue growth led to a 1,000 percent increase in gross revenue during a four-year period. Holding the line on expenses, she took out costs and increased overall profitability while managing a geographically distributed team of 20 sales leaders. Leveraging a strong background in marketing, Hudson created strategic marketing initiatives, which produced a 91 percent ROI between 2007 and 2009.
Hudson also served on the executive team that coordinated acquisition efforts culminating when LIN Media (NYSE: TVL) purchased RMM in October 2009. Continuing as Sales/Marketing VP, she provided executive leadership for online product and sales integration for LIN's 28 television stations, interfacing with LIN's senior management and 300 sales associates, producing 17 percent additional revenue.
Prior to her executive role at RMM, Hudson held the positions of General Sales Manager, Station Manager, and Director of Sales for Clear Channel Communications (OTCBB: CCMO) from 1997 to 2007. Overseeing as many as seven revenue streams at one time, her team consistently posted revenue growth while achieving and retaining top market share. Hudson successfully negotiated broadcast rights with the University of Texas, Dallas Cowboys and Houston Astros and implemented multi-streaming high school sports channels. In her role as DOS, she oversaw multiple station format changes and turnarounds and implemented a new yield management system.
Early in her career, Hudson demonstrated channel innovation in the fashion industry, where she was a buyer for one of the original designer discount retailers. She built a specialty wholesale business, representing clothing and accessory lines to high-end retailers. Hudson went on to start her own boys' specialty store in Texas, and this unique concept created demand that led to expansion into markets throughout the U.S.
Hudson attended Menlo College and San Francisco State University, and is a member of the AMA and IMA. She mentors single moms who relocated to Central Texas after Hurricane Katrina and women entering the workforce for the first time.
Job Titles:
- Chief Marketing Officer
- Managing Partner
Lorie Marrero has more than 20 years of experience as a CEO and entrepreneur. She is a Wall Street Journal bestselling author, an award-winning marketer, and an executive coach.
With significant expertise in sales, marketing and communications, Lorie is an accomplished speaker, trainer, and advisor to boards, CEOs and executives. She has served as a spokesperson in national media campaigns, reaching audiences as large as 99 million in a single day.
Currently, Lorie serves as Chief Marketing Officer and Managing Partner of SOLIDleaders. She delivers executive advising and coaching to C-suite and SMB executives, helping individuals and companies scale.
From 2007 to 2017, Lorie was CEO & Founder of ClutterDiet.com. She authored the #9 bestseller The Clutter Diet in 2009. This made Lorie a sought-after expert and attracted thousands of memberships from 18 countries. She leveraged her personal brand to build partnerships with household names like Amazon, Rubbermaid and Staples and to become a notable social media influencer. During this time, she served as a spokesperson for major international brands, including Microsoft, Walgreens, FedEx Office, and Goodwill, with her PSA commercial for Goodwill earning a 2011 Telly Award. She also contributed to major national publications such as Better Homes & Gard ens and Good Housekeeping, culminating in being featured on the masthead as Contributing Editor for Woman's Day for four years.
From 2000 to 2007, Lorie was CEO & Founder of LivingOrder, a regional organizational services company that is still operating today. During her tenure as CEO, Lorie built the original team from the ground up and established industry-wide benchmarking with peer companies.
Lorie has completed ICA- & ICF-approved coaching training and holds a bachelor's degree from Southwestern University. She lives in Austin, Texas with her husband Don and their combined six children.
Mark Smith has more than 33 years of experience in management, leadership, and consulting, and has held responsibility for budgets of up to $800M.
As a Senior Executive Partner with SOLID Executive Partners, LLC, Smith provides CEO advising, senior executive coaching, and C-suite consulting. He draws on his combination of consulting and senior executive experience to guide clients in innovating, effecting large-scale business transformation, and managing change. Smith is also well-versed in the various aspects of strategy and operations. His industry expertise covers insurance, finance, technology, and entertainment.
Smith currently holds the positions of Vice President & Partner and Head of the Strategy Practice for FSI within IBM's Global Business Services Unit. He assists major insurance companies across the globe in completely re-engineering their businesses, from strategy to marketing to customer satisfaction.
Prior, he served AlixPartners as the managing director of its Enterprise Improvement Practice and the head of its Global Insurance Industry Practice, with responsibility over 200 FTEs and a P&L of $100M. He was responsible for managing global insurance-sector resources as well as sales and service delivery.
Smith joined Farmers Insurance Group in 2003 as Senior Vice President, Chief Reengineering Officer, and Head of Service Center Operations for the Zurich Financial Services Group. His service center responsibilities included managing 3,000 employees across ten operations. He also spearheaded a series of transformative operational and organizational initiatives, including new systems integration. While continuing as SVP, he later became Chief Strategy Officer, acting COO, and Head of Strategic Initiatives and the regional PMO for the Americas Region (which included Farmers at $20B, Zurich North America at $21B, and Zurich Latin America at $2.8B). His achievements in these roles included developing and implementing two major operating models and a common IT platform. Other titles and responsibilities with Zurich included: Chief Customer Officer, with responsibility over marketing strategy and service center operations for 7,000 employees and 11 service centers; Chief Transformation Officer; and Chief Growth/Revenue Officer.
During his last years with Farmers, Smithserved in the roles of SVP, CSO, Head of IT and BI Strategy & Initiatives, and Executive Lead for Customer Strategies and Corporate Customer Centricity. In the position of CSO, he had responsibility for growth, customer strategy, customer experience, enterprise business analytics, intelligence, and IT. The CIO and a 200-person team reported to him. Smith's accomplishments included creating the Ideapoint innovation methodology and program, which won the 2009 Insurance Network News INNovator Award, as well as developing a project acceleration methodology (Accelerate) and a rapid Lean methodology (LeanPoint). All of these
Job Titles:
- Managing Director of Sustainable Ventures Alliance
Mark Walztoni has more than 35 years of experience as a coach, consultant, and executive leading geographically, functionally, and culturally diverse corporate and entrepreneurial teams.
Walztoni offers CEO and board advising, senior executive coaching, C-suite consulting, and executive and organizational assessment. He specializes in assisting companies with assessing their talent, teaming, and productivity risks during M&A due diligence and integration, leveraging a combination of broad M&A experience and executive coaching and assessment skills.
Walztoni is the Managing Director of Sustainable Ventures Alliance, LLC. Through Sustainable Ventures, he assists inventors, entrepreneurs, and investors with technology commercialization, and provides human capital advisory services to private equity-funded ventures and professional services firms. His portfolio includes such clients as Adidas, Lockheed Martin, and Flywheel Ventures. He is also a cofounder, and the chief business development officer, of Lotus Leaf Coatings, Inc., a PE-funded company that commercializes coating technologies. There he launched the business development and marketing role and raised three rounds of private equity investments.
Prior to Sustainable Ventures, he was SVP of Human Resources for Thomson Prometric, a $310M business unit with 3,500 employees across 11 countries in the US, Australia, Asia, and Europe. He led the integration of Prometric and the subsequent acquisition of another $70M, 700-employee competitor. Additionally, he reduced HR labor expense by 40% while keeping voluntary turnover below 9%, implemented a new HR business partner model, and led major outsourcing efforts that resulted in additional cost reductions.