April Lewis
April Lewis is a woman on a mission to improve the employee experience and develop leaders in organizations. As the President and CEO of the A. Lewis Academy, Inc., a coaching and consulting firm, she uses her extensive training and leadership background to transform organizations from the inside out through proven workplace wellness strategies. Her guiding principle is “Human first, Employee second.”
April’s passion for teaching professionals how to work well has led her to become a keynote speaker and consultant for Fortune 100 companies, organizations, and education institutions across the nation. She served as the Interim Chief Operating Officer of a healthcare system based in Maryland. Despite all of her accomplishments, April remains grounded and passionate about stress-free living. She is also a best-selling author and lover of tacos.
She served as a combat veteran in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Bright Star in Egypt. Her credentials include being a Certified D.I.S.C Facilitator, Certified Health Coach, Certified Executive Coach, and Certified Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) Practitioner. April Lewis has truly earned the title of “Leadership and Wellbeing Energizer” and her approach to transformation is a reminder to always put people first.
Tim Eggebraaten
Tim Eggebraaten has been a police officer since 1992 and had many different roles during his career with the Detroit Lakes, MN Police Department – DARE Instructor, Patrol Sergeant, Investigative Sergeant, K-9 Handler, and Chief of Police from 2011 to 2016. Tim retired from the DLPD in November 2016 after 24 ½ years in law enforcement and 3 years as a correctional officer. Tim and his wife, Denise, make their home in Detroit Lakes. Tim began talking about his own career path and leadership journey in 2016 and found that talking with others about personal and emotional topics greatly helped his own healing process and learned that others could benefit from knowing that they are not alone in their own journey. Tim will talk (and sing) with your organization about keeping the harmony in our lives and finding that balance to succeed in all aspects of our lives. Tim has spent many years performing as a one-man band and will use the power of music during his presentation to inspire and move your audience.
Wendie Pett
Wendie Pett, is passionate about motivating people to make fitness and good nutrition part of their daily routine. She teaches the balance of mind, body and spirit through her Visibly Fit™ wellness program. Wendie has a nationally syndicated television program that airs every Tuesday on the NRB Network. Her show also airs on Upliftv, WLCN, and IBN Television. She contributes weekly on KTIS radio in the Twin Cities as ‘Coach Wendie’ and is a featured columnist in VEGWORLD Magazine, The Christian View, Best Ever You, Refreshed, Vegan Lifestyle, and Diet.com. Wendie is a full-time business owner, a naturopathic doctor, wife, mother, author, speaker, TV host, advisory board member for Christian Women in Media and part-time volunteer. Her business consists of whole-food/plant-based wellness coaching, emotional healing, personal online training, fitness planning, educational and motivational speaking, and creating new products/tools to assist clients along their wellness journey. After a major injury to her shoulder, she resorted to body weight resistance exercises for strength and healing and hasn’t turned back to any other form of training since. She has helped countless others reach their fitness and health goals without ever compromising their joints, tendons, or ligaments – teaching that Your Body Is Your Gym™ and instilling new diet habits that have shown to reverse multiple diseases and allow people to get off medications.
Lori La Bey
Humorist, Heartfelt Stories, Practical Tools & Resources
Families and healthcare professionals are looking for the same thing when it comes to caring for those they serve. They want new, innovated way to assess and share knowledge. Lori La Bey has been recognized by Oprah as “Health Hero,” Maria Shriver as an “Architect of Change,” Dr Oz as the “#1 Influencer Online for Alzheimer’s,” and by AARP MN as a “Disruptor, Caring Creator, and Inspiring Leader.” Members of Lori’s audience benefit from her humor and heartfelt style as she:
- Delivers simple, practical tools and techniques they can easily implement,
- Provides a wide array of resources, and
- Demonstrate techniques to shift mindsets from crisis to comfort.
Been There Done That
Lori understands the lived experience of caring for others and herself. Her own family maneuvered the roller coaster of dementia with her Mother for 30 years, the journey of brain cancer with her Father, having a child almost die from Meningitis, taking in teens and adults in her home that no longer could live with their families. She knows what it’s like to be in the trenches of care: the stress, exhaustion, tug of war with family and friends, frustration of lack of access to support, knowledge, plus lack of a cure. Her healthcare background allows Lori to understand service delivery systems and how to adapt to move forward. Her marketing experience allows her to create unique strategies, create friendly onboarding processes, which provide dignity, respect, and empowerment to all involved. Lori understands we must provide a variety of platforms to engage and reach various learning styles. Some initiatives Lori has launched:
- The first, radio show dedicated to dementia and caregiving in the world,
- The first, video platform which raised the voices of people living with dementia in the world,
- The first, Dementia Friendly Community in the United States,
- Bringing the Memory Café’ concept to the United States from the United Kingdom, and
- The first global resource directory for dementia care.
- Her emotional based training to get people to feel the need to change, not just the mandate to do a job.
Caring Has No Boundaries
Lori La Bey specializes in dementia care, but her programs are easily adapted to a variety of groups as caring has no boundaries. Other prime audiences are: Hospice & Palliative Care, Loss and Grief, Conscious Compassionate Selfcare, Divorce, Bullying, Empowerment and Well Being, Cancer and Other Terminal Illnesses, Struggling Teens, Ageism, Economical and Simple Culture Adjustments, Living with Purpose, Marketing to Be Remembered, Caregiving and more. Lori presents to patients, families, and professionals and can easily adapt to be inclusive and respectful when speaking to combined audiences. She is available for keynotes, breakouts, and training programs range from an hour to multiple days.
Lori La Bey – Changing How Care Is Perceived, Received and Delivered
Laura Schara
Nature is our greatest teacher. Laura Schara, TV host of MN Bound on KARE-11 shares stories what it’s like growing up in the wild outdoors. She highlights valuable lessons learned by spending time outdoors which gives us tools to succeed in life, increase happiness & productivity as well as skills we need to thrive in business and entrepreneurship. The wilderness provides way more than basic needs and the teacher appears the minute we step outside.
Simon Keith
Simon Keith is the first person in the world to play a professional sport after undergoing a heart transplant, having received the heart of 17-year-old welsh boy in 1986. Their story has been well chronicled including an ESPN E:60 feature, “A Change of Heart”.
Simon Keith is not just a former professional soccer player and one of the longest-living organ transplant recipients in the world, Simon is world renown speaker, having shared his remarkable story at the Whitehouse, as well as the British and Canadian Parliaments, and with audiences around the world. Captivating audiences with his incredible story, Simon challenges people to find their “moments of truth” and dares them to live.
After receiving the gift of life at just age 21, and in the middle of a remarkable soccer career, Simon resumed his soccer career at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), playing two seasons with the Rebels and garnering many honors, including being named Student-Athlete of Year for the Conference as well as being voted as the USA’s Most Courageous Athlete. After his senior season, Simon was named the Most Valuable Player at the Senior Bowl and was drafted #1 overall into the Major Indoor Soccer League. Simon was drafted #1 overall into the USA’s Major Indoor Soccer League just three years after his surgery.
In 2011, he founded The Simon Keith Foundation, an organization dedicated to increasing organ donor awareness and supporting and educating transplant recipients. In 2018 The Simon Keith Foundation sponsored every child in the USA and Canada to attend the Transplant Games in their country.
His autobiography, Heart for the Game, details his unique life-journey, and he directs the proceeds from his book sales toward providing athletic training for other transplant recipients who undertake an active and healthy lifestyle.
In addition to his philanthropic efforts and professional soccer career, Simon is a successful entrepreneur who successfully built and sold 4 different companies over a span of 15 years. Most recently Simon served as the Chief Operating Officer for the Nevada Donor Network, a federally designated not-for-profit Organ Procurement Organization, leading the organization from a ranking of 53rd (out of 58) in the USA in 2011 to #1 in the USA from 2015-2019 (and the world) in terms of number of organ donors & organs recovered for transplant per capita.
Now one of the longest living organ transplant recipients in history, Simon has signed a major movie deal about his life with Kennedy Marshall Entertainment and the legendary movie producer Frank Marshall (Jurassic World, Jurassic World; The Fallen Kingdom, The Jason Bourne movies: Identity, Supremacy, Ultimatum, Legacy, Jason Bourne, Sully, Back to the Future 1, 2 and 3 , Raider of the Lost Ark, and many, many more).
In 2018 Simon fell ill, as his heart and kidneys began to fail. (Heart transplants average longevity is just 10 years). In an astounding twist of fate, in March 2019, Simon underwent a second heart transplant, as well as kidney transplant. Against all odds, due to a complicated immune system, Simon stood less than a 1.75% chance of ever receiving the critical lifesaving gifts needed to save his life and continue this already, remarkable, story.
Simon belongs to the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame and the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame, and in 2015 was named Canada’s Humanitarian of the Year.
In addition to Simon sharing his incredible story, Simon is considered an expert in leadership development, organizational culture, and entrepreneurship.
Annie Meehan
Annie Meehan is committed to transforming achievement from good to great by teaching people to rewrite their excuses into successful accomplishments. Speaking internationally as an expert on living an Exceptional life, she will motivate, inspire, and activate your audience to remove the road blocks that stand in the way. Your audiences walk out with a “WOW” factor that includes practical tools to immediately impact their lives both professionally and personally.
Having corporate, associations, and non-profits as clients, Annie provides actionable strategies to manage change, recognize the power of words in customer/employee experience, and eliminate excuses that keep people from attaining their goals. Her passion and engaging presence inspire people to take action.
Prior to becoming a speaker, Annie worked for a financial investment company for 9 years, compiling multiple promotions. After leaving the corporate world, she then owned and operated 2 fitness franchise locations, grew and led a direct sales team of 250+ people, and began speaking on the topics of health and wellness. Annie is a National Speakers Association (NSA) board member and a past president of the NSA -Minnesota chapter.
Annie is an author of 5 motivational books that includes her award winning book
“Be The Exception”. Her latest book, “Pineapple Principle”, offers a sweet journey to empowerment.
Annie has three adult children and lives in a southern suburb of Minneapolis with her husband and two dogs (Peanut & Leo). She loves volunteering in the community, traveling with family, and walking (or being walked) with the puppies.
Mike Max
Mike Max is the sports director at WCCO TV (CBS), hosts a nightly radio show on WCOO Radio in Minneapolis and has been on the speaking circuit for 25 years. He draws stories from thousands of interviews over the years that range from Michael Jordan to the captain of the Special Olympics softball team, all offer amazing insights into life. Mike received local and national acclaim for his six days of reporting from the front lines of “Minneapolis Riots” following the death of Gorge Floyd that reached millions of viewers throughout the country, earning him numerous awards but more importantly changing his life because of what he observed and connected with the most inside view of the beginning of an international movement. He owns his own company, Mike Max Productions, and has produced over 1000 hours of television programs with it. He also hosted “Life to the Max”, a magazine show that allowed him to travel the United States seeking out stories of inspiration through common people that did the uncommon. He has served as keynote speaker for companies, education groups and associations all looking for stories that only he can tell, because only he was there. He will make you laugh, make you cry, but most importantly, make you think!
Sarah Ciavarri
Sarah Ciavarri, M.Div., PCC, BCC, CDTLF, CDWF-C
Transformational. Playful. Power-packed storytelling. Daring. Authentic. Riveting. = So engaging participants actually put their phones away. = This is how event players and participants often describe Sarah’s presence. Through empathy, vulnerability, and her ability to dance in the moment, Sarah has the rare ability to connect with audiences live and virtually at a deeper level. Sarah is a sought-after creative thought leader on vulnerability and resilience, trained in all of Dr. Brené Brown’s curricula, who leaves her audiences with clear action steps to craft a life they love, minimize regrets through bold strategic action, and to achieve professional excellence in the midst of uncertainty and division.
During the pandemic Sarah worked on a COVID healthcare unit and knows in her bones the resilience and dedication to mission that is needed to stare down stress, fatigue, and fear and do what needs to be done.
Sarah’s programs help you and your team:
- Develop Resilience
- Unleash Kindness and Curiosity to Transform your Culture
- Harness the Power of Authentic Vulnerability
- Tap into Dr. Brené Brown’s Research on Leadership and Courage
- Learn How Empathy Can Increase Sales
- Move from Surviving, Through Striving, to Thriving
All of Sarah’s keynote programs are customized to each audience through a pre-event call to learn your organizations goals and what success looks like for you. Sarah does her research on your industry! Each program can be tailored to be delivered virtually, hybrid or in person. Most of these programs can be presented as a keynote, ½ day, or full-day workshop.
Sarah’s Virtual Experience: We got this! Sarah has facilitated hundreds of virtual events so you can trust your virtual event will go off without a hitch.
About Sarah:
Sarah Ciavarri, founder of Level Up Leadership, LLC, is a gifted keynote speaker, author, and thought leader who has been helping organizations, leaders, and teams achieve professional excellence and craft a life they love through increased resilience and authenticity for over a decade. Sarah is able to quickly connect with audiences large and small and travels the country inspiring participants to be courageous, resilient, and authentic. Sarah wrote, “Finding Our Way to the Truth: Seven Lies Leaders Believe and How to Let Them Go” to inspire leaders through her own relatable and humorous stories and to provide readers easy steps to be more successful in their own skin. Sarah is keenly attuned to the inner life of leaders and regularly presents on resilience, burnout prevention, and compassion fatigue.
Sarah is a Certified Facilitator of all of Dr. Brené Brown’s curricula: Dare to Lead, Daring Greatly, Bold, and The Gifts of Imperfection. Sarah has facilitated over 200 workshops on Dr. Brown’s research and has supported thousands of leaders to dream and live big. Sarah is among those who have been facilitating Brené’s research since the beginning. Sarah has the unique honor of being among just a handful of facilitators dual certified in Dare to Lead and Daring Greatly. In addition to this honor, Sarah was asked by the Daring Way senior leadership to step into greater responsibility eight years ago within Brené’s organization as a Case Consultant supervising candidates through integrating Brené’s research into their context. Sarah is Vice President of Spiritual Life at a large senior healthcare organization headquartered in Minneapolis, MN.
Sarah’s Alphabet Train: Sarah’s got lots of letters behind her name but really why you should care is this means Sarah is always learning and adding rigor to her coaching skills. If you want more details, here they are: Professional Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation and is a faculty member with Coaching4Today’s Leaders and LeaderWise, Leadership Agility 360 Assessments, Train the Trainer Certification, 1600 hours of Clinical Pastoral Education, and Board Chaplain Certification. She earned a Masters of Divinity from Luther Seminary where she was a Presidential Scholar. Sarah is an Advisory Board member for the Women in Leadership Program at Mankato State University, Mankato, MN.
Sarah is Vice President of Spiritual Life at a large senior healthcare organization headquartered in Minneapolis, MN.
A few fun things:
- Sarah got her afrave on this summer when she sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” at a nationally televised Twins game.
- Sarah lives on 10 gorgeous acres with her family, a small herd of goats, and two horses that are the best therapy money can buy.
- Sarah and her spouse designed and built their home. She can use a plumb bob, wire a house, and hang drywall with the best of ‘em.
- Sarah put herself through grad school by singing and dancing.
Pam Borton
Research shows that professional speakers from outside the organization and industry bring invaluable insights, perspectives, and expertise. The best professional speakers are masters at motivating, inspiring and bringing a different voice and experience to your audience.
Pam Borton is a true pioneer and expert on leadership and teamwork. As an author, speaker, executive coach and CEO of ON Point Next Level Leadership, Pam has spent her entire career shaping people, teams and organizational success by helping leaders develop high performing teams and engaged employees. With her signature mix of inspiration, authenticity, storytelling, and no-nonsense practicality, Pam has lead, coached and spoken to thousands of leaders and is consistently sought after as a strong female presence that is relatable to her clients and audiences. Whether she’s addressing Fortune 500 companies, professional sports organizations, government agencies, non-profits, schools or churches, Pam’s down-to-earth nature and insightful concepts will resonate.