John began his professional career with the Coca-Cola Company in 1979 and in 1982 became one of a four-member team selected to establish Coca-Cola USA’s first new product development department.

In 1993, AT&T hired John as director of global retail marketing for their newly acquired NCR Corporation. John helped create a professional marketing organization and the programs that supported NCR’s movement toward market-driven R&D.

In 1999, John left corporate life and became CEO and Publisher of his online startup, Business Book Review, a business book summary and subscription service. He managed and edited the work of 11 professional writers, built the business to over 700,000 subscribers worldwide and sold BBR to a larger publishing unit in 2008.

In 2009, John launched the online version of The Literary Coach^TM, a consultancy he started in 2005, offering individual consulting and creative workshops for first-time and established authors.

In addition to providing individual coaching and creative workshops, John delivers best practices seminars and webinars on a variety of business and personal skills development topics. He has lectured at the Library of Congress and to growing list of companies, including AT&T, Booz Allen Hamilton, Ford, General Motors, Nintendo, Siemens, and Rockwell Collins.

“Don’t write the book; write the posposal first!”

Emile retired from the Marine Corps Reserve in 1995, as a Colonel, last serving Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Training, Marine Force Reserve.  Upon retirement, he worked as an American Express Financial Advisor, later moving to the Shilla Corporation, a regional third party administrator for employee benefits. 

In 1998, Emile started the first chapter of Business Network International in Louisiana.  He moved to Atlanta in January of 2002 as the Managing Area Director, BNI, Atlanta.  The aggressive growth of his region included an extensive educational program for BNI members. 

 Emile is the Managing Partner of RPM Advisors and is a franchise owner of the Referral Institute.  He has been a Referral Institute Master Trainer and has developed a number of referral training programs that are taught nationally.  He is also certified as a DISC Practitioner by Personality Insights, Inc. and has conducted DISC training for businesses both large and small.  Emile is known for his fast-paced, results oriented training style.  His dynamic presentations provide on-the-ground, useful information, mixed with action items and a little fun. 

 Emile is the Executive Director for Fast Forward Restart, a nonprofit organization working with small businesses and nonprofits in their recovery from major disasters.  Current project areas include New Orleans, LA, Livonia, MI, and Rumford, ME. 

Paul Breslin is the managing partner of Panther Hospitality, a hotel consulting company that he founded in 2005. He heads a team of industry professionals who guide developers and hoteliers in all aspects of their businesses from property acquisition and infrastructure to the successful opening and operating of a hotel.Prior to founding Panther, Mr. Breslin’s hospitality career spanned ten hotels in nine cities, and included positions at the world-famous Fontainebleau Hilton Resort and Spa, the Sheraton San Diego Resort, the Sheraton New Orleans, and three high-profile Atlanta convention hotels. Prior to leading his hotel consulting company, he served as Managing Director of the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel where he led the transformation of an $80 million asset from an operating loss of $4 million in 2000 to a gain of $9 million in 2006.

A passionate industry leader, Mr. Breslin teaches hotel management at Georgia State University’s Cecil B. Day School of Hospitality. Respected by his peers, he has served in leadership roles with the Atlanta Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), the Georgia Hotel & Lodging Association (GHLA), the Georgia Hospitality and Travel Association and the Atlanta Hotel Council.

Paul is also Chairman & President of the Shamrock Society in Atlanta, Georgia. The Shamrock Society is a group of Irish and Irish-American leaders in Atlanta who support Irish values of family, faith and charity, through Irish-related causes and charities and other charitable organizations. Each member is active in business, education, ministry, philanthropy, or government, and the Atlanta community.

Diane Crompton loves all things social and helping people showcase their unique skills.  It made sense that Diane was an early adopter of social media and leveraged her knowledge of social media to help people build their personal brand.  Her multi-faceted career includes experience as an educator and as a nationwide recruiter where she recruited medical specialists nationally for several contingency and retained search firms. In addition, she has worked for ten years as a Senior Career Consultant with an international human resources consulting group.  In this role she has coached hundreds of professionals from all organizational levels and industry backgrounds, including Fortune 500 firms locally and nationally.  Since 2004 Diane has applied her knowledge to consult with professionals on how to build their personal brand by using social media strategically.  In her consulting practice she partners with organizations to enhance their success through strategic use of social media.
Diane is the co-author of several books including “Seven Days to Online Networking,” (JIST 2008) and “Find a Job Through Social Networking” (JIST 2010).  She has had the opportunity to share her expertise at industry, corporate and academic events and has presented live and web based sessions on this topic to organizations throughout the country.  Diane has also served as a SME (Subject Matter Expert) and is a frequent contributor to media on this topic. 
Diane holds a B.S. degree in Education from Springfield College in Massachusetts, combined with graduate studies in Instructional Design. She is a member of ACPI (Association of Career Professionals International), and CDI (Career Directors International). 

The Travel Collection LLC is a marketing consulting practice specializing in the travel industry.  Headquartered in Atlanta, GA, the Travel Collection is led by travel industry veteran, Cheryl B. Weldon.  A world traveler, Weldon’s passion for travel came at an early age.  She embarked on her first international trip at the age of seven joining her minister father on trips overseas with his church members. 

Named “One of Most Powerful Women in Travel” in 2002 by Travel Agent Magazine, Weldon is the former Vice President of Travel Agency Marketing for Worldspan, LP (now Travelport, owner of Orbitz). She holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business, a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree from Florida State University and is a Certified Travel Counselor (CTC).  Destined to be an entrepreneur, Weldon led her MBA entrepreneur team to First Place in the Georgia Bowl Business Plan Competition and Second Runner-Up in the International Moot Corp Competition.  She is active in several professional women’s organizations and enjoys volunteering her time mentoring young women through Atlanta-based Pathbuilders.

Delbert E. Winn is President and CEO of QuesTech International, Inc., a worldwide provider of legal licensing and business opportunity consulting services for the international community, headquartered in Alpharetta (Atlanta), GA, with affiliated offices in New Delhi, India, Bangkok, Thailand, Beijing, China, Jakarta, and Indonesia. Prior to forming QuesTech, Mr. Winn held several prominent corporate legal, sales and business development positions with international companies including serving as Managing Director, International of FATS, Inc., a worldwide virtual training company for police and military, and V.P. Business Development and International General Counsel for InterDigital Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: IDCC), a worldwide wireless telecommunications equipment manufacturer and technology licensor. Del has successfully established sales and distribution operations for companies in 48 countries and outsourced manufacturing services in 7 countries.  He has traveled to 44 countries including to India 76 times. He is an expert on Foreign Corrupt Practice Act compliance.

He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the University Of Mississippi School Of Law, where he received the American Jurisprudence Award for Excellence.  Mr. Winn has been an invited speaker on international business and legal matters by the Croft Foundation, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS, the Terry School of Business, University of Georgia, the J. Mack Robinson College of Business, Ravenshaw University, Cuttack, Orissa, India and the American Chambers of Commerce in Bangkok, Thailand and Manila. Mr. Winn and his family reside in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Frank Harris, MBA, NPDP

Frank Harris started his new product development career on the front lines as an application sales engineer for an industrial products company.The next 20+ years were spent leading new product programs from developing business strategy to actual product launch for companies, including a start-up technology company.  His management roles included Vice President of engineering, Vice President of marketing, sales and licensing, and CEO and President.  During this period he led programs that in additional to starting new companies also included launching ten new products from power tools, cellular telephone battery chargers, and portable electronic accessory products for fortune 50 companies to food products.  In addition to developing new products, Frank is an entrepreneur who held senior management positions with a start-up battery technology company and who, with a partner, started a restaurant franchising company.
Frank is a certified New Product Development Professional (NPDP) from PDMA.  His education started at North Carolina State University where he received a BS in Engineering.  He also received a Masters of Business Administration in marketing from George Washington University, Washington, DC.  .
Frank his wife Judy and their three boys are passionate about helping children in foster care.  The family opened its home to 8 different foster children over a 6 year period.   Today, Frank mentors foster teenagers providing them access to an adult who cares, listens and councils them, with the objective of motivating the teenagers to finish high school.

Frederick Marx

Frederick is CEOof Keylingo Translations. He founded the company in 2004 to help businesses everywhere do business anywhere. Born into a military family, international travel and language are two things that Frederick has been familiarwith  since the age of three. Now slightly older, Frederick believes that good translation is even more “Key” today than it was in the past. From managing a commercial loan portfolio of international clients at NationsBank, to receiving his MBA at the Goizueta Business School, and working as an expat in Santiago, Chile, Frederick honed his business skills before striking out on his own. Now with Keylingo well established and successful, Frederick is living his entrepreneurial dream and has now set his sights on helping others do the same.

“In the last couple decades, translation has become increasingly complex. Growing demand and low entry barriers make purchasing translation services like buying wine. You have a sea of potential choices, consisting of large and boutique producers and everything in between. The “Key” to making the right choice is to get educated.”

Lawrence A. Martin, III

 In 2010 Lawrence started a new online company “1 World Educational Solutions Group, LLC.” providing online enablement and student retention services by providing an online platform to host, manage and deliver online classes and programs.  Lawrence newest venture has already been provided provisional patents and he looks to expand his product to other market segments in the coming months. 

 Lawrence Martin is Director, Development and Realization at NCR, Inc. responsible for continuous improvements utilizing six sigma concept transformations.Lawrence is an AACSB Professionally Qualified and Certified college instructor, an executive certificate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in corporate strategy and organizational leadership; he earned an executive master of business administration degree with concentration in technology and finance from Auburn University and has a bachelor of science from Auburn University.  Lawrence also holds Six Sigma Green Belt, Product Management Certification and numerous other awards and citations. in Process Management Engineering.

Jack Shaw

For over 20 years Jack Shaw has provided advisory services to leading Technology Solution Providers including IBM, SAP, Oracle and others  as well as providing expert guidance and best practices to Fortune 500 Companies such as General Electric, Coca Cola, Allstate, PacBell and many more.

Jack is a visionary technology and business strategist who has spent his career leading companies in numerous industries and their technology suppliers to better, more efficient ways of conducting and operating their businesses.

Mr. Shaw is widely recognized for his expertise in such leading edge business technologies such as:
• Mobile Commerce
• Decision Management
• Social Media
• Virtualization and Cloud Computing
• Supply Chain Management
• Process Improvement
Jack graduated from Yale with a degree in Business Administration and has an MBA from Kellogg in Finance and Marketing.

Yves Archambault

Yves Archambault is a sales leader with a solid record of meeting and exceeding revenue goals.  He practices solution selling in order to sell complex solutions to Fortune 500 companies. His industry experience spans Telco, Healthcare, Retail & Wholesale distribution, and CPG. His international experience was honed in various countries across Europe and Asia-Pacific.  His commitment to success, professionalism and integrity are hallmark of his career. He is skilled at building alliance partnerships and relationships with executives based on trust. He consistently provides best in class service and advice to customers.

Yves is the Sales Vice-President for Bleum, a Chinese Outsourcing firm focused on Offshore Application Services, based in Shanghai, China.  Prior to joining Bleum, Yves worked in similar sales leadership roles at Avanade (an Accenture company), IBM, HP and NCR.

To combine international best practices with top talent from China and around the World to serve as a seamless extension of our customer’s IT organization.

Chris Guiney is a principal in Heidrick & Struggles’ Atlanta office and a member of the global Industrial Practice, with special focus in power and utilities. He is also a member of the firm’s Consulting & Advisory Services Practice.
Chris joined Heidrick from Ernst & Young LLP, where he was most recently the coordinating partner and executive director for their energy, power & utilities practice, leading the growth strategy and go-to-market for the practice and working with prominent energy clients. Prior to this role, Chris served as the national managing director of KPMG’s energy practice leading growth, strategy and marketing as well as serving as client executive sponsor some of the largest clients in the firm’s industry practice.
Chris brings 20 years of experience working in the energy industry, delivering creative solutions to address leadership and operational challenges.
Chris is a member of, and has spoken at, numerous energy industry associations and trade organizations.  Additionally, he regularly teaches executive education courses and seminars on a variety of topics and is also a regular guest lecturer at the University of Georgia Terry College of Business, and Emory University’s Goizueta Business School and other higher education institutions.
Chris graduated from State University of New York, College at Oneonta with a BA degree in psychology. He is active in the local community, serving on the committee for environmental policy and sustainability for the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce; executive chairman of ShamRockin for a Cure, a national charitable benefit serving the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation; and Atlanta’s chapter for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. He also coaches youth football, baseball and lacrosse.

As President of The Ball of Fire, Inc. based in Atlanta, Georgia, Bernadette Boas is herself “a ball of fire” who compels individuals to discover who they truly are and meant to be, and leverage their real self in their business and in their life.

In the next few months she will add author to her long list of credentials with Shedding the Corporate Bitch; the first of many life topics that she and her media and publishing company address within the Shedding the Bitch™ portfolio from Ball of Fire, Inc.

Shedding the Bitch™ is focused on shifting individuals angst, attitudes, and negative mindsets from Bitch to Rich… whether it is due to a corporate career, an entrepreneurial venture, to divorce, relationships, in-laws, raising kids, chronic illness, bulleying, menopause, and dozens of other subjects that prevent people from realizing the riches in life.

Bernadette is an active networker around Atlanta, as well an avid cyclist, runner and dog park visitor with her four legged best friend Charlie.

Ryan Curry has been involved in multiple facets of the real estate industry, ranging from design and construction to development and brokerage.  Ryan’s background gives him a unique perspective to meet the needs of clients.
Prior to Raney Real Estate, Ryan focused on development and consulting for hotel and mixed-use properties throughout the United States.  Ryan has also worked for several top 20 general contractors and has experience in all phases of project delivery, having put in place more than 2.5 million square feet of work. 
Originally from Boston, Ryan relocated to Atlanta to attend Georgia Institute of Technology where he received a Bachelor of Civil Engineering degree.   Ryan also has a Master of Business Administration with dual concentrations in Finance and Real Estate from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University.
Ryan Curry is an active member of the Atlanta community
• Member of the Honorary Board of Special Olympics Georgia
• Member of the Board of the Atlanta Saint Patrick’s Day Parade
• Active in both Georgia Tech and Emory University Alumni Affairs
He and his wife, Amy, reside in Vinings.

Kate Boccia began her journey as a philanthropic leader in the community early on. Her lifelong love of community service and her desire to give back earned her a solid reputation as someone who makes a difference. 

As a Realtor, Kate Boccia was a Lifetime Member of the Million Dollar Club in Palm Beach County, Florida prior to moving to Alpharetta and starting a family. In recent years, she has worked as an art dealer, pioneering the opening of the first contemporary art gallery in North Fulton. This allowed Boccia to bring her vision to the suburbs.

In addition to careers in real estate and art dealing, Kate has been a volunteer with The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in Atlanta for more than 20 years and currently serves on the Executive Board of Directors. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation has honored her with Volunteer of the Year Award and a National Leadership Council Appointment for her strong leadership roles.

With a creative eye, Kate sought out ways to bring the community together, thus creating the setting for her latest venture, a blog titled ‘My Life in the Burbs’.  As a platform to create awareness of small businesses, and a jumping block for her daily deal program, Shop, Eat, Live, Boccia intends to once again make a direct impact on the community she lives in.

Boccia currently resides in Alpharetta, Georgia with her husband, Frank and two adult children.