Speakers
Saturday, March 23, 2013 at the Travelers Claim University, 99 Lamberton Road, Windsor, Connecticut
Morning Keynote
Valerie Coleman Morris
Valerie Coleman Morris, a former CNN domestic and international correspondent/anchor is considered a northern California Bay Area native when it comes to television news. She began her career in the early 70s in San Francisco at KRON-TV as a reporter and then KGO-TV as a long time anchor.
Valerie was an Air Force kid who lived in England, France, Scotland and Japan by the time she was a junior in high school. She’s a graduate of San Jose State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a graduate degree in Broadcast Communications from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
During her more than 15 years at CNN, her dozen daily reports were seen by more than 290 million households, businesses and airport networks. She is viewed as a financial journalist/educator with a unique point of view about money. Valerie is a three-time Emmy Award winning journalist. She also was part of the KCBS Radio Peabody Award winning team coverage of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Her long running syndicated radio feature for CBS Network Radio, With the Family in Mind, has aired three times a week nationally for more than 25 years.
Valerie works as an independent contractor for multiple domestic and international clients for whom she provides services regarding personal finance and financial literacy information through blogs, appearances (both radio/TV and digital), workshops and keynote addresses.
Her first book “IT’S YOUR MONEY SO TAKE IT PERSONALLY”® was published December 2011. It gives a multi-generation approach and mindset for a financial behavioral change to help families make a sustainable recovery from the recession. It’s available at Book Passage (http://www.bookpassage.com/book/9780615501758), at Indie Bound to find an independent bookstore in your area (http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780615501758 ) and Amazon.com.
Her website www.valeriecolemanmorris.com is the repository of Valerie’s client list, financial education messages, her three times a week CBS Network Radio reports, as well as the archives of her domestic and international blog posts.
Feel free to join Valerie on Twitter (@HerMoneyTalks) and Facebook (Valerie Coleman Morris) for upcoming events as well as financial tips.
Dr. Dorit Susan Ilani, Ph.D.
Your Business Can Grow Only As Much As You Do – The Pause Method For Business Owners
Certified Professional Coach, Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Neurofeedback specialist, Entrepreneur, Speaker and Transformational Facilitator
At a time of an unprecedented magnitude and pace of change the audience will learn:
- Make your business thrive – use the 8 cutting edge keys to optimizing your pauses (adults time-out)
- Discover how some of your daily habits feed or drain your performance using recent scientific insight.
- Sharpen your inner distinctions and profoundly empower yourself for greater business success.
About Dr. Dorit Susan Ilani, Ph.D. Dr. Dorit Susan Ilani, Ph.D. is a recognized change expert who makes the process of change feel safe, elegant and expedient. A ProSci Certified Corporate, Business and Organizational Change Management Consultant and Coach, Dr. Ilani uses her academic training as a licensed Clinical Psychology and Neurofeedback Specialist to coach and mentor individuals and organizations to achieve optimal performance and impact. Also an entrepreneur, author, speaker and Transformational Mentor, in all of her work she combines seamlessly the most recent cutting edge scientific information with spiritual understanding of human growth and potential, resulting in her development of the Pause Breakthrough Method™, also known as The Pause Method®.
Until recently Dr. Dorit Susan Ilani was the “best kept secret” to Hollywood stars, and has worked with top executives in the entertainment, financial, health and IT sectors with amazing outcomes. She also has worked with active duty Marines needing to function optimally while in the line of fire.
Dr. Ilani’s #1 passion is to help you achieve unprecedented results. She knows YOU make a difference. To get that message out Dr. Ilani produced two TV series (Global Perspectives & Transition Times), and has conducted extensive research on high achievement factors and taught thousands of students, clients and transformational personal growth seekers her Pause methodology. She has received several Outstanding Teaching Awards from the University of California, Irvine and Altrusa International Awards for her research on Global Perspective. She works internationally.
Linda Spevacek
President/Owner
SuccessSightline
Build Your Personal Brand Through Social Media
Women are inherently more social and understand the nuances of subtle engagement. We are perfectly wired to maximize these new social media platforms to build our personal brand to help achieve our professional goals. The trick to success is choosing the technological mediums that work for you – your business, your audience.
Not every platform is for every person. What your unique brand is and what your specific goals will determine which platform works for you. Kathy’s session will cover strategies for some of the key platforms, why they are important and what they can do for you.
- YouTube
- Google+
The audience will learn:
1. Effective social media engagement strategies to build your brand
2. Overview of 6 key platforms and what they offer and how to choose the right ones for your goals and objectives
3. How to measure for success
About Linda Spevacek Linda is an Executive Coach, Speaker and Author who helps entrepreneurs and small business owners expand and profit from their expertise. The marketplace is competitive and crowded, and successful professionals need to discover how to stand out.
Linda is a perfect example of how to use social media to build your brand. As a small business owner herself, by posting interesting, non-promotional tidbits using various platforms, she has garnered national attention from industry giants and others who ultimately convert to customers, promotional partners, knowledge sharers, and more.
Do you provide a valuable solution to a problem? People are looking for your solution every day, but how do YOU stand out, especially as a small business, amongst all of your competitors? Linda has been coaching business professionals how to achieve a higher level of success, and tremendously boost profitability, for over a decade now (after a career in high finance & investment deal-making.) She has a proprietary knowledge base of what makes people successful, what gets in their way and, most importantly ~ how to overcome what’s in the way!
Would you like to discover your own personal success profile? Linda offers a free Success Profile Assessment that provides insight to your success style plus personalized tips and strategies to implement immediately, improving both your satisfaction with your business and your profitability. Get your assessment free at www.SuccessSightline.com.
Anne Witkavitch, MFA
Principal
Anne W Associates
So…You Want to Write a Book?
Writing a book is one of the top goals people list on their “bucket lists.” In fact, it is a natural way to share your knowledge, subject matter expertise, or experiences with readers. A book is also a way to establish credibility in your area of expertise and can help promote your business and bring in passive income.
Today, there are many ways to publish a book, whether through traditional publishing or digital resources. But first the book must be written. Where do you start? What kind of book? What is the process?
This workshop is the perfect primer for anyone who has wanted to write a book but didn’t know where to begin. We’ll review:
- The different genres of nonfiction writing (memoir, self-help, business, how-to, etc.)
- Figuring out your “hook”
- Identifying a market
- Crafting the book proposal
- Choosing between traditional publishing or self-publishing
- The writing and editing process
- Building a platform
About Anne Witkavitch, MFA Anne is a modern day renaissance woman who has channeled her love of words and writing into a successful and diverse career in corporate communications, marketing, social media and publishing
Anne is principal and founder of Anne W Associates, a communications consultancy and marketing agency. She is also a professional writer, award winning editor and motivational speaker. Her first published book, Press Pause Moments: Essays about Life Transitions by Women Writers was honored with a 2011 Clarion Award from the Association for Women in Communications.
Anne’s work has appeared in many magazines, e-zines and blogs, including TravelingMom.com and MariaShriver.com. She is published in the book, Women Writing on Family: Tips on Writing, Teaching and Publishing, and was managing editor of the 2010 edition of Thin Threads: More Real Stories of Life Changing Moments.
Today, with so many options for publishing available, many people are realizing their dream to write and publish a book. Anne works with writers, both seasoned professionals and those starting out, on a consultative basis to guide them through the processes of idea development, book proposal writing, finding an agent or publisher, or choosing the self-publishing path. She also provides critique and feedback for writing, editing and revision. .
Anne holds an M.F.A. in Creative and Professional Writing and serves as faculty in the Department of Writing, Linguistics and the Creative Process at Western Connecticut State University.
Luncheon Keynote
Kathy Mcafee
Empowered to Connect
Getting ahead in your career as a professional woman requires more than just hard work; you will need many people on your side advocating for you. You must build a robust network of mutually-beneficial relationships that you have created and maintained over time, so that they are in place when you need them. That’s networking.
Motivational speaker and author Kathy McAfee will empower you to actively increase your visibility and value to the people in your network, thereby creating more opportunities for yourself and others. She will show you how you can more easily connect and build relationships with key people.
Don’t wait for people to notice you; instead learn to reach out and make the critical connections that can help accelerate your career and business success and add value to your organization and community.
It’s time to strategically leverage your sphere of influence to create more good in your world. It’s time to become a motivated networker.
Kathy McAfee is a professional speaker and executive presentation coach and is known as “America’s Marketing Motivator.” Her mission is to inspire business and community leaders to use more of their energy, influence and resources to create positive changes in the world. A certified master practitioner in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), and certified Blind Spots executive coach, Kathy has 22 years of corporate marketing experience plus 7 years as a successful solo-preneur. She is ovarian cancer survivor and author of the book Networking Ahead for Business. With an expertise in networking and high engagement presentations, she teaches her clients to project more of their talent, power and influence when they present themselves and their ideas to others. To learn more, visit MarketingMotivator.net and NetworkingAhead.com
Michelle Porchia
President
Inner Dimensions, LLC
Taking Time for Your Most Important Client – You (And Still Get Things Done)
Focus on Entrepreneurship and Personal Development
Learn how to make an appointment with yourself and keep it and make health and happiness a priority while developing your business.
- Learning not to do it all but rather doing what is important.
- Learning to schedule time for yourself in the same way you do for your clients
- Focusing on doing what is important without burning yourself out
About Michelle Porchia As a leading authority in communication and conflict resolution and interpersonal skills, Michelle Porchia provides innovative solutions to life’s challenges. She is a dynamic, interactive, down-to-earth trainer, speaker and certified Compass life coach who taps into the inner strengths of each individual and helps them to identify and create their own plans, goals and paths.
Michelle helps women break the cycle of “doing it all” and has designed a number of workshops that address these issues and show women the value in taking time for themselves. Michelle is the founder of the annual Innergize Day, a day dedicated to taking time for YOU–starting with one day a year. She also is the author of “Innergize Day: The Importance of Taking Time for Yourself” and contributing author to “Getting Things Done: Successful Women Speak.”
Michelle has been conducting seminars, workshops, and working with people both in the public and private sector all over the United States for over 20 years. She was the Corporate Training Manager at HBO. In addition to working in the corporate arena, she also works extensively with solo-preneurs, entrepreneurs, women and youth. www.innerdimensionsllc.com.
MaryAnn D’Ambrosio
MBA, Ph.D.
Founder and CIO
Leap Without Limits
Aligned For Change…
The Energy of Evolutionary Leaders!
During this workshop attendees will discover:
- Why NOW is the time for evolutionary leaders to be seen and heard!
- 4 Basic success elements that will ALWAYS evolutionize results!
- The “must have” leadership attribute that supercharges you and also allows you to sleep
- Peacefully at night!
- Powerful tools that meet the changes of these turbulent times!
About MaryAnn D’Ambrosio, MBA, Ph.D. You could say MaryAnn D’Ambrosio, MBA, Ph.D., is energetically charged…She swapped a lifelong career in the power industry for one where she sparks entrepreneurs, business leaders and service professionals to leap without limits and land in a place where they will grow and prosper.
How does she do it?
MaryAnn, gifted energy healer, speaker, coach, understands the fields of energy that connect us all, and she takes audiences through a process that instantly unites their personal strengths with their passion for success. An inspirational, engaging speaker, MaryAnn’s seminars are at once thoughtful and thought provoking. The audience naturally awakens to a deeper understanding and a new way of approaching business and life that brings about elegant breakthroughs. Transmuting AHA moments into awareness is profound and under MaryAnn’s guidance the nudges are soft; the results powerful and transformative! Using her signature Y.E.S. process, conference attendees…
- Discover how to align their energy field and its limitless possibilities
- Develop Inspired Action Steps – strategies to engage their energetic field so they move forward with intent
- Gain confidence in their ability to leap without limits, secure that they can match vision to outcome
MaryAnn speaks on the following topics: evolutionary leadership, personal development, and conscious creation.
Heidi E. H. Partain
Co-Owner
VP of Operations
BrightStar Care of Hartford
Diving into Business Ownership
About Heidi E. H. Partain Heidi is the co-owner of BrightStar Home Care of Hartford. BrightStar specializes in providing care for elders in their own home, an environment that is familiar, safe, and comfortable for them. BrightStar enables people to either return home from rehab more quickly or stay at home for as long as possible.
In late 2009, Heidi and her husband, Bob, started the Hartford Area office of BrightStar. Their passion for this business came from their own personal experience caring for a family member at home. Heidi and Bob saw the clear need for having quality, home-based caregivers support Bob’s father as he suffered through Parkinson’s Disease. Heidi spent the next 2 years “bouncing on the end of the diving board” before taking the big jump to leave Corporate America after 20 years and become an entrepreneur.
Heidi’s roles in her corporate life were with Burger King, McDonald’s, ADVO, and Yankee Candle. Her responsibilities included advertising, marketing, sales, and franchising various products for these retailers before diving into the meaningful work she now does with BrightStar.
BrightStar of Hartford has seen a four-fold revenue increase in the intervening years and is now one of the top 10 BrightStar offices in the United States. Join Heidi as she relates her experiences and advice on making the career change from employee to entrepreneur. Please select the session – Diving into Business Ownership.
Karen Hinds
CEO
Workplace Success Group LLC
Power Moves: How to be Distinct, Stand Out and Move Up
Isn’t it time you stepped out of your comfort zone and operate from a place of power, a place that makes you stand head and shoulders above personal and professional mediocrity? In this workshop you will learn how to:
- Be strategic in your approach to advancement.
- Develop the right mindset to sustain yourself personally and professionally in a position of power.
About Karen Hinds Karen Hinds is the Founder and CEO of Workplace Success Group. Workplace Success Group is an employee development firm that helps to increase the effectiveness of emerging talent. She is also the creator of The Power of Distinction™, a proprietary employee development system.
Her company provides solutions to employers who want to develop confident, professional teams that produce more, solve problems, and get along with each other.
Karen is the author of five books and writes a weekly business column for an international newspaper. Karen appears as a guest on radio and television programs. She has been quoted in Black Enterprise Magazine, Family Circle Magazine, featured in the Boston Globe and was the Keynote Speaker for the Hartford Business Journal’s Best Places to Work in Connecticut ceremony. Karen was nominated for the Woman Entrepreneur of the Year by the Connecticut Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners and won the Micro to Millions business award in 2008.
An immigrant from the Caribbean island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Karen came to the United States with her family to pursue the educational opportunities America offers. She attended and graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, with a B.A. in International Relations and Spanish. After college, she competed nationally and won a Watson Foundation Fellowship that was funded by IBM. The fellowship allowed her to travel to over six Caribbean nations, studying the impact of political commentary-calypso music on political systems.
Before starting Workplace Success Group LLC, Karen worked as a tour consultant for EF Educational Tours. She also worked with the Boston Private Industry Council and its financial services partner companies to train and develop the next generation workforce through collaboration with the Boston Public School System. Karen’s experiences have positioned her as an expert in the field of employee development and productivity, especially with emerging talent. She has worked with her team of experienced associates to position talented professionals to realize their full potential personally and professionally
Karen lives in Connecticut with her husband and son.
Jessica Pizano, Owner
Fit to You, LLC
End the Stress Cycle: Optimizing Health Through Nutrition and Exercise
- Understand the effects of stress on the body and how it can adversely impact your health.
- Use nutrition, supplementation, and exercise to calm the mind and body.
- Participants will begin to develop a personalized plan for stress reduction and health improvement.
About Jessica Pizano Jessica Pizano is the owner of Fit to You, LLC, which offers personalized training programs, and nutrition and health counseling. Her specialties include general fitness, weight loss, autoimmune disease, food allergies/sensitivities, post-rehabilitative work, training/nutrition for medical conditions, obesity intervention, pre- and post-natal exercise and nutrition, and Pilates.
A certified personal trainer and a corrective exercise specialist through the National Academy of Sports Medicine, she is also certified in Pilates through PHI Pilates and earned her Clinical Exercise Specialist and Longevity Wellness Specialist through the American Council on Exercise.
She completed her training to practice Health Coaching at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, which is the only nutrition school integrating all the different dietary theories—combining the knowledge of traditional philosophies with modern concepts like the USDA food pyramid, the glycemic index, the Zone and raw foods. She is certified as a holistic health practitioner through the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. She is currently working on a master’s degree in human nutrition at the University of Bridgeport and plans to continue her education to become a chiropractor.
Currently, Jessica practices personal training and health counseling in Glastonbury. Jessica is the lead instructor in the Professional Fitness Training program at Branford Hall Career Institute in Windsor, CT.
Her web site is www.fittoyouct.com.
Chris Makell
Blazing Business Success™!
5 steps that ignite your purpose, passion and profits
The reason you’re not creating more possibilities in your business is because you’re overlooking the basic components that create “blazing” success. Here’s a hint…it’s much more than “the numbers.” During this fun and interactive presentation you’ll learn how to:
- Discover and explode your “Blind Spot” to see the opportunities in front of you
- Expedite and feel your results with 3 simple words
- Activate true success by working less and achieving more
- Use brilliant and bodacious “thinking” to grow BIGGER
- Impact more people, improve your world and create personal “significance”
Blazing Business Success™ is within your reach, when you put these five steps to work for you to create more clients, more income and a greater experience of your purpose and passion
while leading your business.
About Chris Makell Chris Makell, creator the “6-figure Small Business Incubator™ guides entrepreneurs to be in the truth of their business so that they experience “real” freedom, with ease.
With more than 25 years in high-level corporate leadership positions at a Fortune 20 company and over 6 years as a business owner, she delivers a no nonsense approach and unwavering support of her clients along with a depth of experience, knowledge and expertise in marketing and business development.
Chris is a highly sought after speaker, workshop facilitator, certified coach/mentor whose abiding passion is in guiding more entrepreneurs to “think bigger” about the superior value you bring to your clients while delivering a greater impact and contribution to your market and the world.
At Chris Makell Coaching, our vision is to inspire and guide more entrepreneurs to transform their experience of business to one that is deeply satisfying, service-based and in full alignment with the freedom-based business and lifestyle you want to create.
Deborah M. MacNeal
Deborah M. MacNeal is certified through AAAI/ISMA as a personal fitness trainer and group exercise instructor. She is also a former national-level competitive natural bodybuilder.
Growing up in Tolland, Conn., Deborah was inactive, unhealthy, and overweight! After the birth of her daughter and a stern warning from her physician, she joined a gym. Hooked for more than 20 years, she has turned her passion for health and fitness into a rewarding career. With continuing education and mentorship, Deborah continues to evolve.
Jocelyn Maminta
Jocelyn Maminta is more than a journalist. She is a philanthropist and an entrepreneur.
Over her distinguished 20-year broadcast career, the Emmy Award-nominated medical reporter has anchored and reported for television stations in North Carolina, Milwaukee , Texas and Connecticut .
A political science graduate of the University of Missouri in Columbia, Jocelyn works tirelessly for many nonprofits across the state. She serves on the boards of Friends of Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital and the Arts Council of Greater New Haven and is a member of the Junior League of Greater New Haven. She has been honored numerous times for her volunteer efforts.
She is co-founder of Caroline’s Room, a safe haven for families coping with the challenges and uncertainties surrounding the birth of a premature baby. There are Caroline’s Rooms in Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Texas and Virginia.
Jocelyn is also CEO of Frangi Pangi, fine hosiery for that ‘bare leg’ look for women of every color. Made in the USA . Some proceeds benefit Caroline’s Room.
