Laurie Guest
An entrepreneur, keynote speaker and author, Laurie Guest became known as a “go-to-resource” for customer service excellence during a successful career in the healthcare industry. In 1997, she channeled that expertise into Guest Enterprises, Inc., her own speaking and training company. For more than two decades, she has shared her practical point of view on customer service and staff development to audiences across the country, blending real-life examples and proven action steps for improvement.
Laurie is an award-winning columnist and the author of two books. With her latest, The 10¢ Decision: How Small Change Pays off Big, Laurie presents her most sought-after and impactful strategies to find and retain the best staff and highest-quality customers while delivering exceptional guest experiences. Laurie is a certified speaking professional, a designation held by less than 12% of speakers worldwide. She lives in northern Illinois where she is a wife, mother of two, lover of board games and below-average cook.
Laura Goodrich
Laura Goodrich is an expert on Transformation and the Future of Work. She has over 20 years of experience as an executive coach. And is recognized by Thinkers 360 as the top 20 thought leaders in Transformation, Future of Work, Change, Culture, and Technology. Her global perspectives on workforce dynamics and change have earned her a reputation as someone who can create positive outcomes in even the most challenging workplace dynamics. She was recognized as the 10 Most Inspiring Businesswomen to Watch in 2020
Calvin Stovall
Calvin is the Chief Experience Officer for ICONIC Presentations, LLC. Calvin specializes in delivering high-energy, customized keynote presentations for organizations that desire to reach or maintain ICONIC status. Calvin focuses on delivering the perfect blend of business concepts, story-telling and music themes to bring home an impactful message that touches both the heads and hearts of his audiences. He has energized and motivated people nationwide with his high-content, unorthodox, and humorous platform.
Armed with more than 25 years of experience in the hospitality and non-profit services industries, Calvin’s audiences learn real-life, hands-on practical customer experience and leadership principles which can be easily applied to business challenges today. Calvin designed a practical and systematic technique called The ICONIC Framework™ to help organizations achieve and maintain iconic status in the eyes of their customers. Calvin is also host of The ICONIC Mindset podcast where he and his co-host share the secrets behind what it takes to make your business, idea or movement iconic.
Calvin most recently served as CEO of the Soulsville Foundation, a Memphis-based non-profit built on the rich legacy and tradition of the iconic 60’s and 70’s soul recording label, Stax Records. Calvin also served as marketing and brand strategist for the fundraising arm, ALSAC, for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The pinnacle of his hospitality career was his promotion to vice president of brand marketing with Hilton Worldwide where he was responsible for the marketing and public relations efforts for more than 150 Homewood Suites by Hilton hotels. While under his leadership, Homewood Suites by Hilton was voted best in class by numerous consumer advocacy publications, including Consumer Reports and recognized four times by J.D. Power and Associates for its unwavering commitment to customer service quality.
Calvin holds an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Chicago State University and a Master’s of Hospitality Management from Cornell University School of Hotel Administration.
Holly Hoffman
Holly Hoffman was the last remaining member of the Espada Tribe and the last woman standing on Season 21 of CBS’ hit reality show “Survivor Nicaragua”. Through that experience, and others throughout her life, Holly was inspired to share her message of survival.
A professional motivational speaker and the author of “Your Winner Within” and “Write Yourself a Note”, Holly acknowledges that life is made up of challenges, and we are oftentimes faced with situations that seem insurmountable. But within each of us is an ability to focus our thoughts, emotions, and energy to succeed—if only we have the knowledge, tools, and discipline to do so.
A native of South Dakota, Holly’s writing and speaking not only offer encouragement and optimism but a roadmap for self-discovery and spiritual enlightenment. Readers and audience members alike walk away inspired to light the fire of successful living within themselves.
Today, Holly is a member of the National Speaker’s Association and a recipient of the Certified Speaking Professional designation, and travels across the country and internationally, speaking to a wide variety of corporations, associations, universities, schools and women’s organizations. Holly inspires her audiences to take opportunities and focus on faith, attitude, determination, confidence, desire and perseverance.
Joe Schmit
Joe Schmit is an award-winning broadcaster, community leader, author and popular keynote speaker. As a sports broadcaster he has covered every major sporting event in the past 4 decades and has interviewed many of the biggest names in sports. He joined KSTP-TV in 1985 and has won 18 Emmys from the National Television Academy. In 2020, Joe was awarded The Silver Circle designation by the Upper Midwest Chapter of the Emmys for extraordinary contributions to the broadcasting industry. He was also honored with a National Headliner Award in 2001.
Before joining KSTP-TV in 1985, he was Sports Director for WBAY-TV in Green Bay, Wisconsin. His career also includes positions as weekend sports anchor for KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and WKBT-TV in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Joe earned his degree in Mass Communications from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Joe is also an author of two books: “ Silent Impact ” and “ The Impact Blueprint.”
In 2019 Joe was also inducted into the Minnesota Speakers Hall of Fame and earned his CSP designation (Certified Speaking Professional) from the National Speakers Association. Less than 15 percent of NSA members worldwide have achieved the CSP designation.
Joe is a long time youth mentor committed to advocating for a number of community organizations with Big Brothers and Big Sisters is at the top of his list. He is a past president and board member of the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Greater Twin Cities. He has raised over $3 million for the organization through the Joe Schmit Celebrity Golf Tournament which had a 16-year run. In 2000, he was the winner of the Jim Kelly Distinguished Service Award from Big Brothers and Big Sisters and in 2001, a winner of the Odyssey Award for commitment to youth mentorship. He was also honored as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund (JDRF) Community Leader of the Year in 2005.
In 2018 Joe was honored with the Mike Givens Distinguished Service Award for The Mind over Matter Foundation. Joe and his wife Laura also chaired a $4.5 million dollar capital campaign for VEAP, the largest food shelf in Minnesota. He is past president and board member of the Fairway Foundation and has contributed time to many other charitable organizations.
Christine Cashen
People across the globe are raving about Christine Cashen and her refreshing take on everyday life. Christine is one of the few individuals to meet the rigorous induction criteria of the National Speakers Association, CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame, and there’s no question that she deserves that honor; her effortless ability to pull in any audience with her remarkable insights on commonplace situations make her and her messages unforgettable. And, yes, she is also a Certified Virtual Presenter.
For 20 years Christine has shared her expertise on conflict resolution, stress management, and cultivating a happier more productive workplace.
Author of the award-winning books, THE GOOD STUFF: Quips & Tips on Life, Love, Work and Happiness and It’s YOUR Business: Good Stuff for Your Personal, Professional, and Funny Business. Christine holds a bachelor’s degree in Communication and a master’s degree in Adult Education. In 2016, she was the recipient of an honorary doctorate from Central Michigan University.
Before embarking on her journey as a speaker, she worked as a university admissions officer, corporate trainer, and broadcaster. She is a mother of two, wife of a “hottie engineer,” and an average golfer.
Mark Mayfield
Mark Mayfield: CSP, CPAE
It’s pretty simple what Mark Mayfield does:
he talks about very serious stuff in a very funny way.
He has one of the most diverse backgrounds in the speaking industry having owned and operated several businesses ranging from livestock production to golf instruction, and spent ten years as a lobbyist for a Fortune 500 company. He co-owns a comedy writing service and is one of the rare individuals in the world who is equally adept at performing comedy shows or high content speeches.
Mark has received rave reviews sharing the stage with a wide variety of celebrities like Peter Frampton, Rachel Platten, Walk The Moon, Colin Powell, and Bob Newhart and has introduced the President of the United States on a live, nationwide television broadcast. He is the author of several business books and two jokebooks, and has spoke to virtually every type of corporation, convention, and trade association in America. He has received the CSP designation from the National Speakers Association and been inducted into their Hall of Fame. A national convention planner recently called Mark “one of the very few, really funny, inspiring men in America today”. Mark’s mom also said that once after a small bribe.
Ted Ma
Ted Ma is an international keynote speaker, author, and leadership strategist who works with leaders to increase their influence and impact. Unlike many leadership experts, Ted built an international sales team from scratch to over 6,000 independent agents, reaching the top 0.1% of over 300,000 sales reps. As an elder millennial, he has been coaching leaders for over 18 years. He believes that enhancing performance, morale, and loyalty begins with creating a culture of mentorship.
Ted was named one of the Top 100 keynote speakers of 2019 by Databird Business Journal and has been featured in publications including USA Today, Inc, CNBC, and the New York Times. He has shared the stage with speakers like John Maxwell, Jack Canfield, and Mel Robbins.
Jeff Kortes
Jeff has more than 25 years experience in human resources. He has worked at companies that specialize in manufacturing, construction, and high tech. During his career he has worked to recruit, retain and develop employees, at companies including ConAgra Foods, SPX, Midas International and American Crystal Sugar.
Jeff is the founder of Human Asset Management LLC, which helps organizations to recruit, engage, develop and retain talent. Organizations that embrace his process have experienced reductions in employee turnover of 40-80%. He is a member of the National Speakers Association (NSA) and a frequent speaker on the topic of loyalty, employee retention, recruitment and culture building. He is an avid high school wrestling fan, CrossFit participant and US Army veteran. Jeff is the author of Give Your Employees C.R.A.P…and 7 Other Secrets to Employee Retention and HR Horror Stories…True Tales from the Trenches.
Debbie Peterson
Debbie Peterson runs a speaking and coaching business to help her audiences and clients develop a focused mindset for fulfilling professional results by harnessing the power of their thoughts.
Her audiences and clients have shared that with Debbie’s Clarity System, they experience
- More clarity of professional direction, producing better self-aligning decisions
- An increased focus for clearer, consistent action
- More momentum, keeping them motivated to achieve the next level of success on their terms.
Debbie has 25+ years in Corporate with experience in Business Administration, Project Management, and Investor Relations. She is a certified Trainer of NLP at the Master Practitioner level and has spent over ten years studying, designing, and delivering keynotes, workshops, and corporate trainings using Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) as a foundation. Debbie has presented to thousands of employees, leaders, and clients at various sized organizations.
Debbie is the creator of “The Way Forward Mentorship Program” and the “The Way Forward in Career and Life Mastery Weekend” for women leaders and emerging leaders. She is a professional member of the National Speakers Association, Women’s Speakers Association, and an author with her book, Clarity: How Smart Professionals Create Career Success on Their Terms, released in 2019.