Meet Our Columnists: Be Inkandescent Magazine
Welcome to our COLUMNIST page, where we highlight the work and writing of each of our clients who are experts in a variety of industries ranging from careers to health care, insurance, leadership, management, and more. Every month, these columnists offer practical tips, insights, and solutions that every entrepreneur can incorporate into his or her business.
We invite you to send our columnists an email with questions, ideas, and suggestions. The email addresses are listed at the bottom of each bio.
If you’d like to become a Be Inkandescent Columnist, send an email to publisher and editor / publisher Hope Katz Gibbs at hope@inkandescentpr.com. Here’s to your success!
FOOD + WINE
Chef Edgar Alvarez grew up in Guatemala, and today takes the recipes his mother, aunts, and grandmother used to new heights at his Latin American restaurant, Avenida.
Edgar shares: “The thing that is etched in my memory is the scene of my grandmother, aunts, and mother preparing a meal at my grandmother’s ranch outside the city. It was an all-day affair, for we were a giant family and when breakfast ended, all the women in the family would go off to the market to buy the freshest produce, meat, and fish for lunch and dinner. They did not have much to spend, but la comida was always full of love and flavor.”
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COLUMN = FOOD
Award-winning chefs Kim and Edgar Alvarez bring their good taste for the finest in gourmet eating to the FOOD + WINE column of Be Inkandescent Magazine. Trained at the Culinary Institute of America, Chef Kim Katz Alvarez has worked in some of the finest restaurants in San Francisco and Philadelphia. In fact, she met Chef Edgar Alvarez when they were cooking at The Striped Bass, a four-star restaurant in downtown Philly, perhaps best known as the scene of the anniversary dinner in the Bruce Willis thriller, The Sixth Sense.
Today Kim and Edgar own the hot Latin American restaurant Avenida in Mt. Airy, PA. Since opening in December 2009, they have received rave reviews from locals and critics. Stop by for dinner tonight—or keep checking back to their FOOD + WINE column for recipes.
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COLUMN = HUMAN RESOURCES
Sharon Armstrong has more than 20 years of experience as the owner of Sharon Armstrong and Associates. She is a human resources consultant, trainer, and career counselor who consults with many large corporations and small businesses. She has facilitated training, completed HR projects, and provided career transition services for a wide variety of clients in the profit and nonprofit sectors. She is also the co-author of the The Essential HR Handbook.
Sharon received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern Maine and her master’s Degree in Counseling from The George Washington University. She is a certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR).
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PHOTOGRAPHY
In the 20 years that Washington, DC photographer Steve Barrett has been taking pictures, the likes of Michael Jordan, Margaret Thatcher, Hosni Mubarak, Spike Lee and Boris Yeltsin have found their way to the end of his lens. He has photographed George Clooney, James Earl Jones and Bill and Hillary Clinton and Sen. John McCain.
His photos have been featured in Vanity Fair, Time, Newsweek, Fortune, USA Today and Washingtonian, among others business and general interest publications. Alumni magazines have always been some of his favorite clients and he has taken cover and inside feature shots for Harvard Auburn Stanfrond, the Career College Association and Vanderbilt.
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Bryan Beatty is a Certified Financial Planner® and partner at Egan, Berger & Weiner LLC, which is based in Northern Virginia. With more than 20 years of experience in the financial industry, he is a principal of this independent financial services firm, which is experienced in all aspects of investment and retirement planning.
An active member of the Financial Planning Association’s Career Development and College Outreach Committees, Beatty is a graduate of the University of Maryland with a BS in Finance. He was the former president of the Finance, Banking and Investment Society, and he is an avid musician who plays guitar and writes music in his spare time, and occasionally plays area venues. Originally from Baltimore, Beatty has lived in Northern Virginia since 1992.
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COLUMN = EXECUTIVE COACHING
The founder of The Berdéo Group, Laura Berger, has 15 years’ experience as a consultant advising leadership in the areas of global operations management and strategy, project and change management, solution development, and implementation. She is a confidant of CEOs and senior executives who consistently realize their potential as leaders to see their companies flourish.
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COLUMN = PRESENTATIONS
The founder of the Graphic Recording Studio, Alece Birnbach brings experience as an illustrator, fine artist, and advertising expert to her company, which is hired by the Fortune 100 to craft graphic recordings at their conferences, workshops, and proprietary meetings.
Her unique combination of skills and experience gives Alece the unique ability to listen differently to what clients need and to draw out (literally!) their ideas always with sustainable outcomes in mind.
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COLUMN = CONSTRUCTION
Jennifer Bognet is the vice president of Bognet Construction, and is responsible for many strategic and operational aspects of the company, including client relations, business development, marketing and communications, human resources, and community outreach. She works closely with the executive team to ensure the effective execution of corporate strategy and goals.
In this role, she defines and deploys evaluation and measurement tools and processes, and uses her expertise to enhance Bognet’s project-delivery system, with a focus on continual improvement.
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COLUMN = FUTURISTS
Chris Carbone has worked in trend and foresight consulting for over a decade, serving clients from Fortune 500 corporation and foreign and US government agencies. During this time he has researched and authored dozens of reports and scenarios on wide-ranging topics…from the future of leisure and play, to the future of urban mobility, to emerging consumer lifestyles in China.
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COLUMN = WEALTH
Marguerita M. Cheng, CFP® is the CEO of Blue Ocean Global Wealth, which provides corporations and institutions with portfolio construction, investment due diligence, and risk-management consulting services. The firm works with families, entrepreneurs, and executives to help them identify and achieve their financial goals. As a CFP Board Ambassador, she helps educate the public, policymakers, and media about the benefits of competent, ethical financial planning.
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COLUMN = CAR CARE
Judy Curry, the chief marketing officer for Curry’s Auto Service, has a Business Management degree from George Mason University.
When she and her husband Matt opened up the first shop in Chantilly in 1998, Judy was initially responsible for maintaining the books, paperwork, payroll, and a variety of other vital administrative functions needed to keep the business going.
Once the company grew, she took on all the marketing and advertising responsibility, a job she thoroughly enjoys. She is instrumental in creating a safe and comfortable repair shop environment for her female colleagues and friends. This effort, along with several Car Care and Driving clinics she conducts every year, got her recognized in 2009 by the Washington Business Journal as one of their “Women Who Mean Business” Awards.
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COLUMN = PUBLIC SPEAKING
Professional speaker and coach Dawnna St. Louis began her career in 1990 as a technologist. Hungry to learn, she dove into mastering computer hardware, enterprise networks, and software programming languages such as C++, Java, and C#. Her knack for converting techno-babble into concepts that business leaders could understand caught the attention of executives, who soon asked her to help solve their communications issues. Her ability to speak confidently in public landed Dawnna her first professional speaking engagement, at 25, before a Congressional Committee for the US District Courts in the Southern District of Florida.
Dawnna’s desire to share her personal knowledge and expertise with other entrepreneurs and business leaders led her to branch out on her own and form the highly successful Miami-based speaking and coaching firm, www.dawnna.com. Her clients include professional athletes and public figures, as well as C-level executives. “My goal is to coach executives to create memorable and powerful messages, and public figures to answer those embarrassing impromptu questions fearlessly and flawlessly,” she says. “The results never cease to amaze my clients, who report that after my program they have higher sales, improved public profiles, and the confidence to deliver a well-developed, powerful message.”
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COLUMN = HEALTHY LIVING
Lyndsey DePalma is the founder of new Arlington, VA tea house and reflexology studio—about the treasure that is tea, the power of reflexology to heal and harmonize, and her entrepreneurial dreams for the future.
Before coming up with the concept for House of Steep, the shop’s creator Lyndsey DePalma wanted something for herself—to relax, and just be, for a while each day.
Not satisfied with any of the existing answers and armed with some entrepreneurial hard-wiring and a respect for natural healing, Lyndsey left her corporate career in human resources to bridge the gap.
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COLUMN = LEADERSHIP
Ana Dutra is the CEO of Mandala Global Advisors, a company she recently founded, and a senior global advisor for Humantelligence, a technology solutions company. She has 28 years of experience as a global executive, consultant, and business leader in industries such as technology, manufacturing, and professional services. In the last six years as the CEO of Korn/Ferry Leadership and Talent Consulting, Dutra created a $300 million new global business through a combination of organic growth, multiple acquisitions, innovative go-to-market approaches, and incorporation of technology and digitalization of products and services.
A Brazilian native with more than 20 years of experience in P&L management, business growth, and C-Level business consulting in more than 30 countries, Dutra is also a director on the boards of the Executives Club of Chicago, the International Women Forum, Children’s Memorial Hospital of Chicago, Governor State University, and Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL).
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COLUMN = RETIREMENT
A founding partner of Egan, Berger & Weiner, LLC Michael Egan has 24 years of experience in the financial services industry. He has been a mutual fund analyst, and an accountant and financial planner.
A graduate of George Washington University with a degree in Finance, Egan hosted a weekly radio show on financial planning in the Washington market. He has also been a presenter on retirement planning for Fairfax County Public School’s Adult and Community Education. Egan is an active member of the Financial Planning Association.
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COLUMN = GO GREEN
Dave Feldman is the founding director of Bethesda Green, a dynamic 501c3 that serves as a catalyst and trusted resource for building a healthy economy and sustainable community. This model initiative has set up the first green business incubator and education center in the DC/Maryland region.
Feldman is also the CEO of the Livability Project LLC, an organization that provides structure and tools to help communities develop sustainability initiatives. Through Livability, Feldman leverages his entrepreneurial experience, international economic development expertise, and passion for sustainability to implement socially responsible, “green” community development projects that can be replicated worldwide.
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COLUMN = NETWORKING
Donna Fisher is an entrepreneur at heart. She loves creating and growing fun and profitable businesses. For 20 years, she has had her own business as a speaker/trainer for corporate meetings, conferences and conventions. She earned her Certified Speaking Professional designation CSP in 1998 and has continued to present programs on “People, Power and Possibilities.”
Along with her speaking business, she is the co-owner and President of HiHat, Inc., a manufacturing and retail business for drums and percussion instruments. http://www.percussiononline.com
In 2009, the Percussion Center was ranked as one of the “Top 50 Fastest Growing Woman-Owned Businesses in Houston” based on a growth of 156% from 2002 to 2009 and 20.8% from 2007 to 2008. This led to the creation of her training program, “Drumming Up Business.”
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Marga Fripp is the Founder and President of Empowered Women International.
The award-winning social entrepreneur, and international consultant in art marketing and entrepreneurship with a focus on women, is a former journalist and a native of Romania with over 17 years of experience in solving social problems through the arts, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Fripp is passionate about training, coaching and inspiring women artists, artisans and creative entrepreneurs to pursue their passions. She worked with thousands of women in the US and internationally, and helped them to start up or grow businesses that fuel innovation, opportunity and social change.
In May 2002, Marga created Empowered Women International to give voice and create entrepreneurial opportunities for immigrant, refugee and other marginalized women. Over the past ten years, Marga’s effective and passionate leadership turned EWI from a volunteer-run program to an award-winning organization with more than 3,500 supporters, over 2,500 women beneficiaries, and more than $1 million generated in donated services.
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Sonya Gavankar is an award winning television personality who can be seen hosting programs on PBS, BGTV, and MHz Networks. Her career has spanned diverse programs from international food shows to hard news.
She serves as the face of the Newseum by hosting live interview programs, appearing in video installations, video blogs and game shows. She brings a cohesive voice to the Newseum’s 250,000 square feet of exhibit and interactive programming.
In her free time Ms Gavankar goes behind the camera. Her photography has been shown in several Washington area galleries and she is a casting director for independent films.
In 2013, she joined the Inkandescent team as the supervising producer for the growing TV shows on InkandescentTV.com.
Learn more about Sonya at sonyagavankar.com.
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PUBLISHER, BE INKANDESCENT MAGAZINE
PRESIDENT, THE INKANDESCENT GROUP, LLC
Prior to founding Inkandescent Public Relations in 2008, Northern Virginia freelance writer Hope Katz Gibbs worked as a newspaper and magazine reporter since graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1986. After studying for her master’s degree in Educational Leadership at The George Washington University, she launched her freelance writing business in 1993.
Hope’s articles have appeared in The Washington Post, USA Today, The Miami Herald, The Costco Connection, The National Press Club’s Wire, and dozens of association, business, education, and general interest magazines. Read her published articles here.
In 2010, Hope launched Be Inkandescent magazine, and also began work on her first book, 100 Truly Amazing Women Who Are Changing the World—and how you can, too..
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ILLUSTRATION + DESIGN
Michael Gibbs is the designer of Be Inkandescent Magazine and our website, Inkandesent Public Relations.
An award-winning designer and illustrator, he has been freelancing for some of the nation’s most well-known publications and companies since attending Pratt Institute as a photography and illustration major in the mid-70s.
His award-winning artwork has appeared in Newsweek, Time, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Worth Magazine, Consumer Reports, Harvard Business Review, and publications for United Airlines, Verizon, IBM, Sears, American Airlines, CitiGroup and Oracle.
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COLUMN = INSURANCE
Scott Golden, CFO of the health benefits firm Golden & Cohen is recognized as an industry leader in the small to mid-size insurance market, and ranks among the area’s top producers according to the Washington Business Journal’s Annual List.
He received a BS in Marketing from the University of Maryland in 1985, an MBA from George Washington University in 1990, and later a JD and LLM in taxation from the University of Baltimore. His advanced academic and legal degrees enable him to evaluate local and national mandates in conjunction with helping his clients prepare and implement the proper strategy.
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COLUMN = GENERATIONS
Millennial experts Morley Winograd and Michael Hais have had careers that include entertainment and media market research (Frank N. Magid Associates), a stint in the White House (Clinton-Gore second term), technology and communications (AT&T), academia (USC’s Marshall School of Business and the University of Detroit) and—where it all began for Mike & Morley—Michigan politics (polling and Democratic Party Chairman, respectively).
They teamed in 2007 to write the first of two highly reviewed books on Millennials. Today, they speak, consult and write on how Millennials are remaking every aspect of American life: entertainment, lifestyles, leadership, work, technology, government, politics, education and community.
Their 2011 book, Millennial Momentum, examines how Millennials are remaking every aspect of American life: entertainment, lifestyles, leadership, work, technology government, politics, education, and community.
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COLUMN = MUSIC
Adrianne Hamilton has spent decades working in marketing and sales positions, working as the director of market research, designing logical databases, heading up meeting facilitations, and raising funds for charitable organizations. Adrianne received a Bachelor of Science degree in Italian from Georgetown University in 1990, then went on to get a Master of Arts degree in Italian Literature from New York University. She is fluent in Spanish and Italian. A rock star at heart, Adrianne is the lead singer of the rock band, Longtooth, and the acoustic Americana band, The Parklawn Ramblers.
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COLUMN = FINANCE
Nancy Hartsock is a financial advisor and financial planning specialist with The Hasenberg Group at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Washington, DC. She specializes in wealth management, financial planning, and multi-generational family work.
During her years in the financial services industry, she has helped her clients reach their wealth goals through hard work and a common sense approach to successful investing. Nancy began her career in the financial services industry with AXA Advisors, LLC in 2001 prior to joining Smith Barney in 2005.
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COLUMN = FINANCE
John Hasenberg is a senior vice president for wealth management with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney
in Washington, DC. He works with individuals, families, business owners, corporations, and nonprofits. Featured services range from selecting investments to retirement planning to sophisticated estate planning. Prior to joining Smith Barney, he spent six years with A.G. Edwards, where he was a member of the firm’s President’s Council in 2005 and 2006.
John is active in many business and civic organizations. He was a member of the Leadership Greater Washington Class of 2007 and remains active with that organization. John currently serves on the advisory board of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) and the board of directors of the Jubilee Support Alliance. At the Greater Washington Board of Trade, he was named the 2005 Ambassador of the Year for being the top membership recruiter and served as co-chair of the board’s Cultural Promotion Task Force that same year.
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COLUMN = FUTURISTS
Andy Hines is Lecturer and Executive-in-Residence at the University of Houston’s Graduate Program in Futures Studies, bringing together the experience he earned as an organizational, consulting, and academic futurist.
He co-founded and is currently on the Board of the Association of Professional Futurists, and has co-authored three books: “Thinking About the Future: Guidelines for Strategic Foresight (Social Technologies, 2007),” “2025: Science and Technology Reshapes US and Global Society (Oak Hill, 1997),” and “Managing Your Future as an Association (ASAE, 1994).”
His newest book, “ConsumerShift,” was published in 2011.
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COLUMN = EDUCATION
Dr. Carol V. Horn is coordinator of Advanced Academics Program (former Gifted and Talented Programs) for Fairfax County Public Schools in Northern Virginia.
She has worked in gifted education for the past 20 years and has a Master of Education in Educational Psychology with an Emphasis on Gifted from the University of Virginia.
She earned her doctorate in Teacher Preparation and Special Education from The George Washington University and is the 2002 recipient of the Hollingsworth Award from the National Association for Gifted Children for outstanding research study in the field of gifted education.
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Attorney Lisa M. Hughes is experienced at preparing wills and trusts, powers of attorney, guardianships, and conservatorships; in administering estates of decedents and incapacitated individuals; and in the related tax and asset-protection planning. Her particular areas of focus include succession planning for closely held businesses, same-sex couples, and incapacitated beneficiaries, as well as certain elder-law challenges and trusts for those with special needs.
A graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, Hughes is licensed in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, and has more than two decades of experience in estates, trusts, and wealth-planning.
Additionally, Hughes is a member of the Board of Governors of the Trusts and Estates Section of the Virginia State Bar; she is a Public Safety Trainer with the Commonwealth Autism Service www.autismva.org; and she serves as legal counsel to Spectrum Housing Foundation, a tax-exempt organization that facilitates support for disabled adults.
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COLUMN = TRANSFORMATIONS
Dr. Celia Im is the founder of the unique personal development program, Lighting the Creative Spark,, which is a transformational tool that uses music to awaken, enlighten, and empower clients so they can release old, negative patterns that are keeping them from being happy, healthy, and effective.
Celia is an international, award-winning musician and has taught on the faculties of Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland, and George Mason University. Her degrees include a Doctorate of Musical Arts from Peabody Conservatory, a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin Conservatory, and a certification in the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music.
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COLUMN = INKANDESCENT RADIO
Bringing the voices of small-business owners to the radio waves is the goal of The Inkandescent Radio Network, which launched in the fall of 2012.
Hosted by journalist, publicist, author, and entrepreneur Hope Katz Gibbs, the show will spotlight the Entrepreneurs of the Month featured on her monthly business magazine, www.BeInkandescent.com, — as well as the Truly Amazing Women she has interviewed for her book project, www.TrulyAmazingWomen.com.
Gibbs will also be interviewing the bestselling authors, nationally renowned artists, and expert columnists featured in Be Inkandescent magazine, and on her popular networking website, www.InkandescentNetworking.com, which lists hundreds of the best networking events—and professionals—in seven East Coast cities. Plus, she’ll be talking to top restaurateurs, chefs, foodies, and hoteliers whom she spotlights in her “From Soup to Nuts” reviews.
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COLUMN = INKANDESCENT SPEAKERS BUREAU
At InkandescentSpeakers.com, our professional speakers are some of the most knowledgeable business experts, been-there-done-that entrepreneurs, corporate and government leaders, visionary educators, and veteran futurists who can give you a glimpse at what is ahead on the horizon.
With wit and a sense of humor, our experienced speakers offer best practices and insights into the hottest trends in business, and organizational, professional, and personal development through corporate keynotes, workshops, seminars, webinars, lunch-and-learns, and networking events.
To learn more about our speakers, their topics, and the bureau, visit www.InkandescentSpeakers.com.
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COLUMN = HEALTHY LIVING
Jill Leslie is a certified Ayurvedic practitioner, herbalist, wellness chef, and yoga teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area who, for more than two decades, has been immersed in the study and practice of natural healing.
The entrepreneur, who has owned her own businesses since graduating from the University of Maryland in 1986, founded the award-winning retail shop Milk & Honey in Sebastapol, CA, in 1999. She sold it in 2006 so that she could dive deeper into her study of yoga and Ayurveda.
As she discovered the life-changing wisdom of these ancient practices, she began sharing her knowledge at wellness retreats, yoga studios, and through cooking classes. Her passion for herbal medicine and nutrition, and her love of sweets, inspired her to found Ayurvedic Alchemy, in 2008.
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COLUMN = MEDICINE
An emergency physician at INOVA Fair Oaks Hospital who is certified in both pediatric and adult emergency care, Dr. John Jones opened Simplicity Urgent Care in 2010 with his business partner and fellow emergency room doctor, John Maguire, MD.
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COLUMN = VIDEOGRAPHY, ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Andrea Keating founded the nation’s first film-and-video-crew staffing agency, Crews Control, in 1988. Since then, the company has become a multimillion-dollar international firm that provides video production crews and related services to the corporate media market.
With 250 of the global Fortune 500 companies as clients, and more than 2,000 video crews on its roster, Keating’s focus today is the same one that she launched the business with nearly 25 years ago: To match each client with the best local crew for each specific shoot.
A serial entrepreneur with a passion for helping new companies grow and develop, she has helped launch several businesses including the media staffing and production management firm, TeamPeople, and Scenios, where she is on the Board of Directors.
She also sits on the Board of Advisors for the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship in the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, which is her alma mater.
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COLUMN = GIRLS ON THE RUN
With more than 17 years experience in marketing strategy, branding, membership, and customer programs, writer and PR expert Catherine Keightley excels at developing marketing strategies that meet and exceed revenue goals on challenging budgets and timelines.
She is currently the executive director of Girls on the Run of Northern Virginia, a position she began in June 2010 after spending nearly a decade working as an independent marketing consultant. In that capacity, she worked as a pro bono partner with The Women’s Center to clarify its evolving mission and quantify revenue opportunities, as well as developed a year-end board of directors’ presentation.
She also co-wrote the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments brochure to increase the number of foster parents enrolled in the Respite Foster Care program. The brochure was used to develop a radio script that resulted in a nearly 30 percent enrollment increase.
Last spring, Catherine was instrumental in helping to organize and promote an incredibly successful fundraising benefit for Kidsave International, called Kismet for Kidsave, which raised nearly $140,000 for the program that helps connect kids in foster care with loving families.
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COLUMN = SALES
Kenneth Krogue co-founded InsideSales.com in November 2004 and currently leads its marketing, business development, consulting, education, implementation, and support departments. He has more than 24 years of experience in sales, development, and marketing in both domestic and international markets.
Prior to joining InsideSales.com, Krogue was one of the original founders of UCN, now inContact (NASDAQ:SAAS). Prior to inContact, he built and directed the inside sales division at FranklinCovey (NYSE:FC), a leading provider of time and life management training systems. He has received many industry awards including being recognized among the Top 25 Most Influential Inside Sales Professionals in 2010 and 2012 by the American Association of Inside Sales Professionals (AA-ISP).
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COLUMN = SPORTS
Professional soccer player Joanna Lohman has played in the WUSA Festivals in both Minneapolis and Los Angeles in 2004, and was a member of the 2005 Freedom Reserves. She trained with USWNT during the 2004 Olympic Residency Training Camp, was a member of U21 U.S. national team from 2000-2005, captaining the squad from 2003-2004. She helped lead her U21 team to three Nordic Cup championships, earning MVP honors in 2002.
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Carmen Wu, CRPC®, partnered with Egan, Berger & Weiner, LLC in August 2007. She brings 25 years of experience in the financial industry, and has served as financial adviser, branch manager, regional manager, chief operations officer and vice president of a regional banking institution.
A graduate of the University of Southern California, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science/International Relations, Martinez is an active member of the Rotary Club of McLean, a community service organization, and has served on the board of directors for five years.
She is also an active member of the Financial Planning Association and the Financial Services Institute, and is currently enrolled in the College for Financial Planning.
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WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT
Max Kukoy has been a Washington DC based freelance web developer/designer since 2000. Max earned his master’s degree in environmental science from the University of Oklahoma in 1993, then started working in public health and environmental policy at Washington DC based non-profits. After a few years of policy work, he started working on his organizations web site, eventually deciding to start working as a freelancer under the name maxwebworks.
Sites range from simple database-driven sites, to ones with e-commerce capability. Max uses widely used and supported open source software applications to build web sites. He believes the site should be easy for the client to use and maintain and emphasizes building accessible web sites.
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A freelance editor and writer in the mental health field for the last 20 years, Kathleen McCarthy is the senior editor for Be Inkandescent Magazine, and also writes the magazine’s Parenting column.
In 2012, Kathleen became the manager of the new speakers bureau, InkandescentSpeakers.com, an international organization of small business experts that travel around the globe to provide best practices to entrepreneurs.
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COLUMN = SALES
Business strategist Lisa Earle McLeod is an expert in sales force and leadership development. An author, consultant, syndicated columnist, media commentator, and keynote speaker, she is recognized as a thought-leader whose latest book, “The Triangle of Truth,” was named a Washington Post Top 5 Business Book for Leaders.
A bottom-line oriented business advisor whose firm, McLeod & More, Inc. was featured in Fortune Magazine, she is also a problem-solving expert whose conflict resolution handbook was delivered to every member of the House and Senate. And she’s a leadership contributor for Forbes.com and the author of more than 500 articles.
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Tricia Mininger, business banker for PNC Bank, manages business and nonprofit banking relationships for clients in the Greater Washington, DC, market. She excels at finding solutions for her clients’ cash-flow needs and is an expert in deposit and lending services.
Tricia also is a certified Women’s Business Advocate for PNC, one of 500 bankers in the company educated to better understand the challenges and opportunities for women in business. Tricia holds bachelor’s degrees in Marketing and Hispanic Languages and Literature from the University of Pittsburgh and is currently pursuing an MBA at George Washington University. She resides in Arlington, Virginia.
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COLUMN = HIRING + HUMAN RESOURCES
Barbara Mitchell is a human resources and organization development consultant who is an expert in the areas of recruitment and retention. She has experience in both for-profit and not-for-profit sectors and has consulted to a variety of organizations around the world.
She served in senior human resources leadership positions with Marriott International and several technology firms in the Washington, DC, area before co-founding the Millennium Group International, LLC (TMG) in 1998, which she sold in 2008.
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COLUMN = EDUCATION
Educational leader and City of Fairfax resident Ann Monday became superintendent of the City of Fairfax Schools on July 1, 2007. She retired on June 30 as the assistant superintendent of instructional services for Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), a district she has worked in since 1973 when she became a teacher at Kilmer Intermediate School in Vienna.
She then served as chairperson of the English department at Chantilly High School from 1976-1980, when she became an administrative aide at Marshall High and subsequently a sub-school principal at Lake Braddock High School.
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COLUMN = LAW
Stefan C. Nicholas is a director and chair of Jackson & Campbell’s Estates and Trusts practice group and a member of the Business Law practice group. He has extensive experience in drafting wills, trusts, and all ancillary documents in connection with estate and gift-tax planning, as well as asset-protection planning, including both on- and off-shore asset-protection trusts and the use of corporate entities. Stefan also has extensive experience with sophisticated wealth-transfer techniques such as grantor retained interest trusts, qualified personal residence trusts, and defective grantor trusts.
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COLUMN = EDUCATION
In 2006, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Superintendent Jack D. Dale named Peter Noonan, Cluster VII assistant superintendent and former principal of Centreville High School, as the new assistant superintendent for instructional services, effective August 1.
Prior to that, Noonan has served as assistant superintendent for Cluster VII schools, including the Centreville, Chantilly, and Fairfax High School pyramids. In this position, he initiated instructional and organizational change using professional learning communities, increased accessibility to educational technology resources for students and staff members, and school leadership development to support diverse learners.
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COLUMN = PARENTING
Based in the Washington, DC, area, Cari Shane Parven, a former television and radio reporter, writes for The Washington Post, Cooking Light, The Washington Examiner, Fromer’s Budget Travel, MYBusiness Magazine, Swimmer, Maryland-Life, Home & Design and more. She is also a contributing essayist in the new anthology, “Knowing Pains: Women on Love, Sex, and Work in Our 40s.”
Her dream as a child was to be like Jane Goodall sitting in the forest among the chimps, or Margaret Mead observing the natives in Samoa. As a mother of three and wife to one, she can do neither, so instead she blends into the culture around her and writes about what she sees. Her observations can be found in her blogs, “Inside the Beltway and Under the Radar” and “Keepin’ It Real,” where she writes about mental health issues for Gannet’s WUSA-TV. Parven is a frequent contributor to The Huffington Post and the “Friendship Examiner” for examiner.com.
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COLUMN = WINE
John Peters is the director of wine at Culinaria Cooking School, which opened its doors in the fall of 2010.
He has been in the wine business for nearly three decades. With his father and brother, John founded Wide World of Wines in 1982 and ran the retail business through 1989, hand selecting wines from vineyards all over the world. John then went to work for Continental Liquors until 1994, and from 1997 to 2003 he was the Mid-Atlantic marketing manager for DeLoach Vineyards.
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COLUMN = GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
Pam has more than three decades of in-depth experience in policy and politics, with expertise in congressional budget/appropriations and federal grant programs.
Her select policy experience includes housing and community development, housing finance, transit/transportation, taxes, and trade.
With a focus on bridging the knowledge gap between elected officials and their constituents, Pam has achieved success in her own government relations business for 16 years and for elected officials in the US Senate, US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs (1989-95), and the NYS Senate Federal Affairs Office (1986-1989).
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COLUMN = CAREERS
Prior to co-founding Rhodes & Weinstock in 2009, Paige Rhodes spent more than 15 years in staffing, human resources, and law-firm management.
Throughout her career, she gained an intricate knowledge of the temporary, temp-to-hire, and direct placement services. In addition to her staffing industry experience, Paige also spent several years in human resources, and as an HR Manager at two large law firms in the DC Metropolitan area.
The combination of in-house and outplacement recruiting experience gives her a unique understanding of the hiring needs and concerns of her clients, from large multinational corporations to small start-ups.
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COLUMN = EVENTS
Ranked one of Washington, DC’s, top meeting and event planners since 2009 by the Washington Business Journal, Roxanne Rukowicz Ladd’s Behind the Scenes Events, opened its doors in July of 2008 with a single concept in mind: to offer organizations access to an affordable, full-service meeting-and-event-planning solution.
Having worked in the Washington, DC, meeting and event industry for over a decade, Roxanne started her career at the Greater Washington Board of Trade in 1999. Her experience with this influential regional network of business leaders allowed her hands-on training from the start. What began as a mere temporary work assignment later progressed into a position as general manager as she excelled at each advanced meeting-and-event-planning position she held.
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COLUMN = FASHION
Charlotte Safavi has written for many publications, including The Washington Post, The British Sunday Times Magazine, House Beautiful, Victorian Homes, and Better Homes and Gardens.
Her style blogs also appear on The Huffington Post. Born in London and educated at Oxford University, her heritage is Iranian. She now resides in Northern Virginia with her husband and son. For more information, visit www.charlottesafavi.com
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COLUMN = REAL ESTATE
Shep Saltzman has been working in the real estate industry since 1985. He began his career at the Mortgage Investment Corporation, where he became a partner and worked until 1999 when the firm merged with Access National Bank (now Access National Mortgage).
He also worked as an real estate agent with RE/MAX before becoming a loan officer and consultant with 12th Street Mortgage, which specializes in conventional, FHA, and VA residential loans.
In 1993, Saltzman and his wife, Barbara Balsamo, co-founded the Realty Investment Company. He is the principal broker, and the couple specializes in representing buyers and sellers of residential real estate throughout Northern Virginia.
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COLUMN = COOKING SCHOOL
Stephen Sands (pictured first, left, with his team, Chefs Robyn Alexander and Pete Snaith, and wine director John Peters) began his culinary career in 1989 as the lead assistant for Francois Dionot, the director and founder of L’Academie de Cuisine in Bethesda, MD. Stephen assisted both L’Academie chefs, and visiting guest chefs, ensuring the execution of classes for the chefs was seamless, and he assisted students in the participation classes with instruction and techniques during classes.
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COLUMN = SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Beverly Schwartz joined Ashoka as senior marketing counsel from Fleishman Hillard, an international communications agency. At Fleishman, she built and helped manage its social issues portfolio, using her expertise in social marketing as the foundation for the portfolio. She also developed and directed Fleishman’s domestic and international social impact portfolio and was project director of the non-advertising portion of the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s “Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign.”
Schwartz´s interest in social issues spans most of her career. In the mid-70s she was executive director of the Minnesota Association for Nonsmokers and was instrumental in passing the nation’s first state law banning smoking in public places.
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COLUMN = HISTORY
“Author and publisher David Bruce Smith* has a bachelor’s degree in American Literature from George Washington University, and a master’s in journalism from New York University. During the past twenty years he has been a real estate executive and the Editor-in-Chief/ Publisher of Crystal City Magazine.
Smith has written 11 books: “In Many Arenas,” • “13 Young Men, Tennessee,” • “Three Miles From Providence,” • “Conversations with Papa Charlie,” • “Afternoon Tea with Mom,” • “Letters to My Children,” • “Building the Community,” • “Continuum,” • “Building My Life,” • and his most recent, “American Hero: John Marshall, Chief Justice of the United States.
His company David Bruce Smith Publications, specializes in creating, designing, and composing limited-edition books on a variety of subjects: authors, historic figures, artists, and leaders. Several are about the amazing life-story of real estate developer and philanthropist Charles E. Smith. David Bruce Smith Publications is committed to educating young children through books, literature and historic sites.
In January 2014 he launched the The Grateful American™ Series — an interactive, multi-media program designed to restore enthusiasm in American history for children.
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COLUMN = EDUCATION
Dr. Jane Snider received her BA, MA, and, in 1978, her EdD in special education, from The George Washington University, and she began her career as a special education classroom teacher. Since then, she has become a pioneer in the field of educating children with certain learning disabilities.
After personally observing and working with thousands of children who were not performing in their various school environments, she discovered that many students have differing learning patterns. Frustrated and lacking self-esteem, these children, often labeled as learning disabled, were crying out for help.
They had trouble reading, writing, or breaking big tasks into smaller steps. Yet Dr. Snider knew they could learn with a different learning environment and teaching strategy. In her view, the children were not learning disabled; they merely learned differently.
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COLUMN = LEADERSHIP
Angela Sontheimer is the managing director of Lincoln Leadership Institute at Gettysburg, where she is responsible for overseeing operations, marketing, and curriculum design for the Institute.
She is a graduate of Gettysburg College and holds a master’s in Leadership and Liberal Studies from Duquesne University. Angela has a background in institutional advancement and has worked extensively in operations and events management. She is one of the developers and creators of the Institute’s experiential leadership development program, “A Transformational Journey from Gettysburg.” This three-day experience uses the Civil War and the Battle of Gettysburg as a metaphor for addressing modern business challenges.
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COLUMN = HEALTH CARE
Robin Strongin is an accomplished public affairs expert with more than 25 years of experience working in Washington, DC. Her areas of specialization include health care, science, technology, and innovation. Robin has worked with and for federal and state governments, regulatory agencies, Congress, think tanks, nonprofit organizations, corporations, coalitions, and trade associations.
She founded Disruptive Women in Health Care in 2008 to serve as a platform for provocative ideas, thoughts, and solutions in the health sphere. We recognize that to accomplish this, we need to call on experts outside of the health industry.
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COLUMN = SELF-HELP
Rod Stryker is the founder of ParaYoga and the author of The Four Desires: Creating a Life of Purpose, Happiness, Prosperity, and Freedom. He also blogs for The Huffington Post.
Rod is widely considered to be one of the preeminent yoga, tantra, and meditation teachers in the United States.
He is renowned for his depth of knowledge, practical wisdom, and unique ability to transmit the deepest aspect of the teachings and practices to modern audiences and students from all walks of life. Rod has taught for more than thirty years, training teachers and leading corporate seminars, yoga retreats, and workshops throughout the world.
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COLUMN = TRAVEL
Robin Tierney is a full-time freelance writer who covers art and artists, health, cuisine, and the outdoors. When traveling, this avid (some say intrepid) cyclist looks for offbeat, intriguing places, inventive eco-friendly ventures, and hiking, biking, and water trails that provide communion with natural wonders.
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WRITER AND FILM EDITOR
Susan Utell has worked in all aspects of the broadcast industry—including editorial experience cutting news and programming for San Francisco network affiliates KPIX, KQED and KGO.
Her advertising agency editorial experience began with a four-year employment at the Bay Area’s first full-fledged post-production facility, One Pass Film & Video. There, Susan worked with advertising agencies; JWT NYC/Chicago; McCann-Erickson; Foot, Cone & Belding; Riney & Associates; Goodby, Silverstein and Partners; Y & R and Goldberg, Moser, O’Neill. She left One Pass in 1984 to begin a successful decades-long freelance career.
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COLUMN = MANAGEMENT
Alice Waagen, PhD, is president and founder of Workforce Learning LLC, a leadership-development company that since 1997 has provided managers and C-level executives with the skills and knowledge they need to build a more productive work environment.
Prior to founding Workforce Learning, Alice served as senior director of corporate training for Amtrak in Washington, DC, and director of education, training, and development for Freddie Mac in McLean, VA. In both of those positions, Alice created and implemented workplace-development programs that served her internal clients from the shop floor to the executive suite.
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A founding partner of Egan, Berger & Weiner, LLC, Sheldon Weiner, LUTCF, has more than three decades of experience in the financial industry. After graduating from the University of Maryland, and the Hartford Insurance Company School of Advanced Underwriting, he earned the LUTCF (Life Underwriter Training Council Fellow), and also served as president of Creative Financial Programs, Inc.
Weiner has 10+ years of experience as a teacher and lecturer for various educational institutions in the area, and is an active member of the Financial Planning Association.
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COLUMN = WEBSITES
Nancy E. Wigal owns and operates Search Engine Academy Washington DC, an organization that trains and certifies anyone with a website on the search engine optimization (SEO) techniques necessary to have their pages show up higher search results.
With two, three and five day SEO training and certification courses, as well as customized SEO training packages ranging from four hours to two days, you and your team will learn the latest and most comprehensive ways to increase traffic to your website.
For more information, call 202.725.1422 to see what SEO training is right for your organization, and visit www.search-engine-academy-washington-dc.com online for course offerings and registration information.
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COLUMN = LEADERSHIP
Steve Wiley is the founder and president of The Lincoln Leadership Institute at Gettysburg. He is also an entrepreneur, author, and highly acclaimed speaker who has influenced and entertained tens of thousands of top executives from around the world. Without exception, he receives the highest ratings possible from his audiences.
His business experience includes the founding of three companies: two international franchise organizations and a national chain of fleet-management centers. He has successfully negotiated multimillion dollar funding agreements for his own companies with some of the top venture-capital organizations in the world. His strong leadership ability has earned him recognition in top publications, including Venture magazine, USA Today, and Entrepreneur magazine.
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COLUMN = FUTURISTS
Woodgate is the president of The Futures Lab, a futures-based consultancy based in Atlanta, with six satellite offices around the world. The firm specializes in creating future potential for major corporations and institutions, especially in the fields of entertainment, media, culture, communications, and new communities.
He spent nine years as a British diplomat, and 13 years as a corporate executive, and is an authority on the application of emerging and immersive technologies and the changing human in the design and production of experiential entertainment with his creation of what are termed “Sense Events.”
His clients have included Philips Electronics, Intel, Shell, Fiat, Nokia, Pemex, AKZO-Nobel, GSK, Casio, Nestle, SWB, MTV Europe, Intel, Ford, Kellogg’s, Coca Cola, BBC, WorldSpace, Nissan, among others.
To book Derek for a speaking event, click here.
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