carlykoffman, Author at Business RadioX ® Page

Special Edition Atlanta Business Radio: Georgia Society of CPAs

August 17, 2012 by carlykoffman

Special Edition ABR today had a special guest co-host, Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk.

Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk/bbr Marketing

Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk is the President and Founder of bbr marketing, a firm that provides marketing strategy and services to professional services firms. By having such a narrow market, she has been able to create a name for herself and her company, and was recently named “One to Watch” by AccountingToday on their Top 100 Most Influential People of 2011. She attributes the awareness and growth of her firm to a number of things, one of the most effective has been making connections with others and actively networking among her peers. She is never hesitant to make introductions to colleagues with the hopes that they will eventually work together, refer business to each other or simply enjoy getting to know each other. She’s even been known to reach out to her competitors, and has made some lasting friendships and alliances because of this strategy. At the end of the day, she feels the good that can be done by connecting people far outweighs any negative impact. And who doesn’t enjoy meeting someone new?

Boyd E. Search/The Georgia Society of CPAs

Boyd is the Chief Staff Executive of the Georgia Society of CPAs, he manages all staff in executing the activities, policies and strategic initiatives of the Society to the benefit of the membership. With 14 years of experience in association management, Boyd also manages the legislative efforts of the GSCPA and interacts nationally on behalf of the Society. As CEO, his work is focused on ensuring GSCPA delivers value to members by creating opportunities for CPAs to be leaders in their profession, directing legislative initiatives and advocating on behalf of the profession, communicating the most critical professional issues, delivering relevant high-quality CPE, safe-guarding the professions high professional standards, building community and developing engagement among members, and attracting the best and the brightest to careers as CPAs.

Previously Boyd worked as the Vice President of Education and Training for The Ohio Society of CPAs where he profitably managed the Society’s continuing professional education program of over 500 courses annually, as well as developed and managed events and sales.

Don Cook/The Georgia Society of CPAs

Don Cook is the Vice President of Membership and Business Development at the Georgia Society of CPAs, the premier professional organization for CPAs in the state of Georgia. His career includes 8 years in association management with an additional 8 years in government contracting and sales.

In his role with the GSCPA, Don is responsible for the member relations side of the business. Additionally, Don focuses on government relations and the issues facing the accounting profession while keeping an eye open for development of any new lines of business and opportunities that may arise. He is also a member of the American Society of Association Executives and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration with a minor in history from West Virginia Wesleyan College.

Hanno Ekdahl with Big Sky Associates, Carrie Podber with Pass2Pros, and Michael Moore with Buckhedge

August 16, 2012 by carlykoffman

Hanno Ekdahl/Big Sky Associates

Hanno Ekdahl, CEO of Big Sky Associates, Inc., is an entrepreneur with more than 10 years of experience as a managing partner and consulting principal. He has served on the EO Atlanta Board since 2009 and will become President of the EO Atlanta chapter in June 2013. He is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Big Sky Associates, Inc. Key engagements include the development of a new security clearance process for the U.S. Army, which dramatically reduced the time and cost to award security clearances. Based on the merits of this project, four Big Sky consultants, including Mr. Ekdahl, won the U.S. Army Commander’s Award for Public Service. During his career, Mr. Ekdahl has led a wide variety of engagements with major companies in the financial services, energy, manufacturing, retail and health care industries.

Prior to starting Big Sky Associates, Mr. Ekdahl worked at Novell and Cambridge Technology Partners. He holds an International MBA from University of South Carolina’s Moore School of Business and a Bachelor of Science from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Carrie Podber/Pass2Pros

Carrie founded Pass2Pros (P2P), soon to be the social network game where sports fans interact with their favorite professional athletes in a safe and secure online virtual environment.

She has experience in building operational foundations at start-up to expansion stage companies with a relevant background in the commercialization of e-commerce and software-related products.

Carrie also founded echain communities, llc., an online platform for facilitating introductions and building relationships in the business community. In addition it functioned as an online Social Marketing/PR/Media venue. Carrie co-founded eChainReaction, Inc., as an online collaboration and business networking platform for her existing network and client base within the start-up to expansion community. Carrie also was the founder of Flying Outsourcer, a comprehensive provider of outsourced business services to both pre and post-IPO companies and helped launch the Atlanta market for financial community events for both the private and public market.

Michael Moore/Buckhedge

With extensive experience consulting to new and established companies, Michael E. Moore is Co-Founder and CEO of Buckhedge. His work is centered on mentoring and coaching others in a variety of industries from IT and New Media, to service and distribution – always focused on creating value from connecting with others.

Over many years, Michael has become known as an effective and inspiring leader – planning, executing, managing, and troubleshooting second-stage strategic initiatives and complex projects of enterprise-wide consequence.

Mr. Moore has enjoyed career success in both staff and line functions in financial, manufacturing and service industries. His entrepreneurial endeavors have involved him in many leading-edge ideas and markets (transportation, logistics, design and sourcing). In the most recent decade he has contributed to capital mentoring and solutions education for angel and leveraged sources, (Gathering of Angels, Ritz Group and NBAI), and is a lifetime member of CEO Space.

Michael has served in many differing leadership positions – both faith and secular- based. His interests in the arts, education and the next generation have involved him in the Atlanta Dogwood Festival for many years and with Children’s Healthcare in community leadership. Michael currently serves as President of the Buckhead 50 Club, an 80 year old civic association, and is active in CEO Netweavers, a “pay-it- forward” association of seasoned executives. Mr. Moore has spoken on leadership and the responsibilities of position to boards and leadership teams in many areas during his 40-year professional career.

Amanda Charlesworth, Piper Harris, and Ann Tunali with the Charlesworth Realty Group

August 15, 2012 by carlykoffman

Charlesworth Realty Group

Amanda Charlesworth, Owner / Broker

Amanda began working as a real estate agent in 2003 with Re/Max, where she quickly accomplished the status of agent of the month, and was inaugurated into the Million Dollar Club. Her extensive experience includes working with builders, real estate investment, commercial and general sales. Amanda is an entrepreneur at heart, and in 2007 she earned her broker’s license and began Charlesworth Realty Group. Her company opened the doors with 2 agents and has grown to over 40. In 2010 Charlesworth Realty opened operations in Tennessee and in 2011 opened in Florida.

Amanda has also been quoted by the Atlanta Journal and Constitution and featured in Skirt Magazine for her expertise in the Atlanta real estate market. She has also been the featured guest on local radio shows.

Also joining us in the studio today were Charlesworth Realty Group Agents, Piper Harris (404.395.4778) and Ann Tunali (404-668-2420).

Penny Morriss and Ellen Roberson with Watson Penland, Gary Kneller with CareMinders Home Care, Andy Macke with Comcast Cable Communications, and Bill Jones and Steve Bachman with CollectorDash

August 13, 2012 by carlykoffman

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Penny Morriss/Watson Penland

Penny Morriss, Co-Founder of Watson Penland, is the Owner of Concierge Services of Atlanta, a company she founded in 1997 that provides specialized services to Class A office buildings, private clubs, luxury condominiums, and private individuals. Penny began working for Prentiss Properties in 1988 as Atlanta’s first corporate concierge for One Atlantic Center in Midtown. From 1994 to 1997, Morriss worked for the Washington, DC-based Intercontinental Concierge Corporation as the General Manager of their Atlanta office. Penny spearheaded the founding of Watson Penland when she saw the need for an Atlanta company to cater to the city’s thriving cosmopolitan lifestyle and burgeoning film and television industry.

Ellen Roberson/Watson Penland

Ellen Watson Roberson, Â Co-Founder ofÂ Watson Penland, founded Pace Travel of Atlanta in 1985 and over the span of twenty-five years has led a global travel agency catering to both corporate and leisure travelers as well as Atlanta’s entertainment industry including Lionsgate and Tyler Perry Studios. Pace Travel was consistently recognized for over a decade as one of Atlanta’s top twenty travel agencies and top female-owned firms. Ellen is a member of the International Airline Travel Agent Network. Ellen collaborated with Penny Morriss to form Watson Penland in an effort to merge their vast expertise in the travel and service industries. She now divides her time between the Atlanta and Los Angeles Watson Penland offices.

Gary Kneller/CareMinders Home Care

A few years ago Gary, in his mid-50s today, received some shocking news — he had stage three Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.Â The diagnosis initially was overwhelming — he had a hard time handling the uncertainty of cancer.Â But, as Gary has done in his life many, many times personally and professionally, he saw opportunity where many would see doom.Â Gary witnessed firsthand how the level of care in a lot of facilities didn’t meet the needs of patients. It was a motivating factor for him to launch CareMinders Home Care.Â In fact, he designed CareMinders to deliver care at home at a quality level that goes beyond what he ever received at a healthcare facility — by a landslide. He’s actually said that CareMinders honors those like him that have survived the rigors of cancer treatment.

Now Gary is taking his mission beyond the Atlanta market – into all U.S. markets. He’s already led CareMinders into franchising, opening in 15 states.Â Gary’s personal experience has resulted in a home care concept that offers more medical and non-medical services than any other franchise out there — his personal experience is a big reason why.Â A serial entrepreneur in every sense, Gary had previously owned a television station, a financial planning business and has other endeavors under his belt as well. But, the launch of CareMinders just a few years ago served as a practice in patience, persistence and perseverance.Â His successful triumph over cancer has given Gary a new lease on life — personally he’s now getting married and he is pouring all the energy he can into CareMinders.

Andy Macke/Comcast Cable Communications

As Vice President of Government and Community Affairs for Comcastâ€™s Big South Region, Andy Macke develops strategic relationships with government officials and community leaders to support Comcastâ€™s business goals and strengthen the community. He is directly responsible for Comcastâ€™s regulatory compliance, operations support and community investment in the 32 counties around the city of Atlanta. Andy is also responsible for overseeing Comcastâ€™s community investment strategy including Comcast Cares Day and United Way, among others.

Andy currently serves on the executive committee of the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce as Immediate Past Chairman. He also serves as a board member of the Cable Television Association of Georgia (CTAG) and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta. In the past, Andy has been recognized by the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce with the â€œChet Wells Awardâ€ for his outstanding leadership, and he was honored as the â€œBoard Member of the Yearâ€ by the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce for his work with the Education Committee.

Andy began his career in cable with AT&T Broadband and has worked for the Georgia Municipal Association as a Franchise Coordinator advising cities and counties on franchise related matters. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Georgia and a Master of Science degree in Telecommunications Policy from Georgia Tech.

Bill Jones/CollectorDash

Bill, Founder and CEO of CollectorDash, has a twenty-plus year track record of value creation. HeÂ has built two businesses from a very early stage through maturity. Bill was most recently President of Air2Web, Inc., a leading mobile marketing software-as-service business. With top enterprise and network operators as customers, Air2Web delivered over a billion text messages to consumers each year.

Prior to Air2Web, Bill was Director of Product Management for all of Nokiaâ€™s enterprise software. Bill was one of the top two executives leading Intellisyncâ€™s sale to Nokia. At Intellisync, he was the VP of Products running a varied portfolio of mobile software products sold to enterprise, carrier and consumer segments.

Prior to Synchrologic/Intellisync/Nokia, Bill ran global product management and user interface design for Lotus/IBMâ€™s suite of desktop applications. He was a pioneer in Windows applications at Samna.

Steve Bachman/CollectorDash

Steve Bachman, Vice President of Strategy at CollectorDash, is a proven executive with more than 30 years of experience building and growing startup and fast growth software and tech companies while creating shareholder value. His experience spans software, cloud based solutions, financial technology, e-commerce, mobile solutions, and information security.

Bachman was Founder & CEO of Automated Design Systems (sold to McAfee), President of Marshal Software Americas (sold to NetIQ), Founder & Director of Glue Communications (sold to Xcelerate), and Advisor & VP of Sales to c360 (sold to CDC Software). Steve is currently a Founder & Director of UK-based Image Analyzer and Director of AuditMyBooks.

Bachman is also the past President and Director of the Southeast Software Association, Founder and past Director of the Technology Association of Georgia, and currently a Founder and Director of both the Wireless Technology Forum and the Executive Sales & Marketing Association.

Todd Emerson, Bob Freeman, Katie Belew, and Eydie Koonin from Harry Norman, Realtors Atlanta Perimeter Office

August 8, 2012 by carlykoffman

Todd Emerson/Harry Norman, Realtors

Todd Emerson is Vice President and Managing Broker for Harry Norman, Realtors Atlanta Perimeter Office and the Blue Ridge, GA Office and currently manages over 90 Sales Associates. Todd joined Harry Norman, Realtors in 1998 and was a Top Producing Sales Associate for 7 years including Rookie of the Year in 1998 and Agent of the Year in 2001. In 2005, Todd switched gears and became a Managing Broker at Harry Norman’s Buckhead Office, and eventually moved to the Atlanta Perimeter Office in September 2008. In 2009, Todd also assumed Managing Broker responsibilities for Harry Norman’s Blue Ridge Office. In addition, Todd is actively involved with the Atlanta Board of Realtors and currently serves on the Board as a Vice President and also chairs the Governmental and Community Affairs Committee.

Joining Todd are three Top Producing Sales Associates from Harry Norman, Realtors Atlanta Perimeter Office: Katie Belew, Bob Freeman and Eydie Koonin. All three have vast experience in the Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, Buckhead, Brookhaven, North Fulton and East Cobb market areas.

Bob Freeman/Harry Norman, Realtors

Prior to beginning a career in real estate in 2007, Bob Freeman had a successful career with a number of small businesses in the technology field, working to develop and implement document management solutions for a variety of customers ranging from small law firms to Fortune 100 companies.

After 13 years in the technology field Bob decided he was ready for new challenges. Little did he know, but launching his career in real estate in March, 2007 could not have been a more challenging time. Not only did Bob have to surmount the normal obstacles one faces when launching any business; in addition, he had to deal on a daily basis with the changing realities of a housing market that were unlike anything our country has experienced since World War II.

A changing real estate market demands changes in the way real estate is marketed. Bob has been able to leverage his technology background by integrating the latest technology tools to meet the expectations of both his clients and consumers.

Overcoming those challenges, in five short years Bob has established a successful track record in the industry and is well positioned to help his clients successfully navigate the current real estate market.

Katie Belew/Harry Norman, Realtors

Katie Belew joined Harry Norman in 2004. Prior to working in real estate, Katie worked for 15 years in corporate and commercial banking. She has received several awards over her real estate career. These include, Rookie of the Year in 2004, Top Agent Perimeter Office 2005 – 2011, # 6 Agent Company Wide 2011, and # 6 Team Atlanta Board of Realtors 2011. She attributes her success to serving her clients in a consultant role with a long-term perspective for their real estate investments and focusing on a referral based business.

Eydie Koonin/Harry Norman, Realtors

Eydie Koonin entered the Real Estate Sales arena in April 2008 during what we now know was one of the worst real estate years in recent history. During the previous 20 years, Eydie was a professional volunteer for many non-profit agencies around Atlanta. Having a strong referral base in place enabled Eydie to become a top agent in a few short years.

Last year she grossed over $6M in sales and has already surpassed the $10M mark this year. Eydie has been married for 27 years and has two grown children.

The Georgia Society of CPAs and Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk’s Panel of Tax Experts Including: Carlye W. Buchanan, Marc Schwartz, Colin E. Blalock, and Denise W. Grove

August 6, 2012 by carlykoffman

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Today’s High Velocity Radio featured a panel of Tax Experts assembled by Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk and theÂ Georgia Society of CPAs. Bonnie co-hosted the show today with regular host Stone Payton.

Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk is the president and founder of BBR Marketing, a firm that provides marketing strategy and services to professional services firms.

Check Out The GSCPA’s Upcoming Event Here:

Southeastern Accounting Show (8/29 & 8/30)

And Here’s A Little Background Info On Our Panel Members . . .

Carlye W. Buchanan/ Windham Brannon, PC

Carlye W. Buchanan is a principal withÂ Windham Brannonâ€™s tax division. Carlye specializes in complex multi-state service businesses, large not for profit organizations, and high net worth individual income tax planning and preparation. She performs and enjoys extensive projects on various accounting topics that require significant interpretation of tax law.

Carlye’s specializations include Large Not-for-Profit Organizations, Complex Multi-State Tax Services, and High Net Worth Individuals with Multi-State Returns.

Marc Schwartz/Schwartz International

Marc Schwartz is a partner with Schwartz International, a firm that takes pride in providing an alternative forÂ companies and individuals looking for top-tier international tax consulting expertise with the flexibility,Â responsiveness and personal touch only a smaller firm can provide. Marc has lived and worked in the US andÂ abroad in both governmental and private sector roles. His diversified experience has allowed him to bring a globalÂ perspective to the business. He holds a B.A. from Colgate University, a Masterâ€™s in International Affairs fromÂ Columbia University, and a law degree from Emory University. He is also a CPA.

Colin E. Blalock/Jones and Kolb, CPA

Colin E. Blalock, CPA, PFS, CFP, was admitted to the firm Jones and Kolb as a shareholder in 1986. Prior to joining Jones and Kolb, he was with the Internal Revenue Service in Atlanta and later became a partner with a regional CPA firm. Since 1971, Colin’s practice has been concentrated in the areas of nonprofit organizations, corporate and individual taxation, and representation in IRS tax controversies.

Colin received the Personal Financial Specialist designation from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Certified Financial Planner designation from the College for Financial Planning. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants (GSCPA), The Georgia Society of Association Executives, the Financial Planning Association and the Atlanta Alumni of Revenue Agents.

Colin is the Immediate Past Chair of the Georgia Society of CPAs. He is the past President and a Trustee of Georgia Federal Tax Conference. Colin is a member and past Chair of the Gulf Coast TaxÂ Exempt/Governmental Entities IRS Advisory Council. He is a member and past chair of the Taxation Forum Conference task force, Nonprofit Conference and the Taxation Section of the GSCPA. Colin is a prolific speaker on tax topics and facilitates several discussion groups. In 2002, he received the â€œDistinguished Service Awardâ€ from the GSCPA Continuing Education Committee. Colin was selected the 2006-2007 “Executive-in-Residence” for the School of Accountancy of Georgia Southern University. Colin was recognized by Atlanta Business Chronicle in its selection of Who’s Who In Accounting 2011.

*** Colin talked about this site during the show — Fantastic Resource ! ***

TotalTaxInsights.org

Total Tax Insights is the first tax calculator to offer a comprehensive view of how taxes affect us. Itâ€™s brought to you by the American Institute of CPAs, a longtime advocate for sound tax policy, tax simplification and taxpayer education.

Denise W. Grove/CFO Support, Inc. – CEO & Founder/ Georgia Society of CPAs – State Treasurer and Board of Directors Member

Denise W. Grove, a CPA with over 30 years of experience, foundedÂ CFO Support, Inc. in 1998 to provide customized finance and accounting consulting services to organizations requiring in-house expertise on a part-time basis or with needs beyond their staff resources. Deniseâ€™s vast experience in public, private and start-up organizations assists owners and management in developing key performance measures to grow their companies and establishing cost-effective finance and accountingÂ models to achieve overall entity improved financial performance. Her background is an outstanding combination of experience in large to small and public or privately held companies to offer broad based accounting and business advice.

Denise is active in her profession serving in national, state and local volunteer positions with theÂ American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and the Georgia Society of CPAs (GSCPA). On a national level, Denise served for seven years on the editorial board for theÂ Journal of Accountancy.

Allyson Eman with Venture Atlanta, Bill Ramsey with China Business Consulting, and Michael Mogill with Crisp Media Group

August 2, 2012 by carlykoffman

Allyson Eman/Venture Atlanta

Allyson Eman has 20 years of marketing, sales and communications experience. In 2007, Allyson took on the role of Executive Director for the newly created Venture Atlanta annual conference. Allyson has worked with key business leaders from Metro Atlanta Chamber, Atlanta CEO Council and Technology Association of Georgia to build the premier venture capital conference in Georgia. The conference is now in its fifth year. Prior to joining Venture Atlanta, Allyson was the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications for SouthStar Funding, a wholesale mortgage lender headquartered in Atlanta. During her 9 year tenure with the firm, she helped the company grow from 8 employees to 800 with 30 nationwide offices. SouthStar Funding grew to be one of the most reputable, respected and trusted wholesale mortgage lenders in the country under Allyson’s leadership. SouthStar received many accolades including A+ Employer, Fastest Growing Privately Held Company in Georgia and was included on Inc. 500’s list of fastest growing privately held companies. Prior to joining SouthStar, Allyson worked for SouthTrust Bank as a branch marketing manager overseeing the marketing platform for 100 branches across Georgia. Allyson received a BS from the University of Florida and resides in Marietta with her husband and two children.

Bill Ramsey/ China Business Consulting, LLC

Bill Ramsey, CEO of China Business Consulting, is a respected and valued senior operations executive providing global experience with an emphasis on China and Hong Kong markets. During his 31 years in the legal industry and 8 years in healthcare, he has contributed to operational success through his expertise in general business management, mergers and acquisitions, global operations, national and international office start-ups, and project management. He has also successfully led finance, human resources, marketing, technology, facilities, leasing and construction.

During his 21 year career with Troutman Sanders, he performed due diligence and planning that led to establishing offices in Hong Kong (1997), London (2001), Shanghai (2006), Washington, D.C. and Portland. Mergers and acquisitions added offices in North Carolina, Virginia, New York City, Chicago and California.

Ironically, Bill lived in Japan in the early seventies and also traveled to Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand. Those early experiences would prove to be beneficial later in his career when he returned to Hong Kong in 1997 to open Troutman Sanders’ first international office. He has been active in the Hong Kong Association of Atlanta since 1997 and became its president in 2007. He is also active in the Federation of Hong Kong Business Associations Worldwide and served on its Executive Committee since 2007.

In June of 2011, Mr. Ramsey retired from Troutman Sanders and founded China Business Consulting, LLC. CBC has focused on assisting small businesses determine whether a China strategy makes sense for them. They also work with their clients to implement their plan in an efficient and cost effective manner.

Michael Mogill/Crisp Media Group

Michael Mogill is the President and Founder of Crisp Media Group. Crisp Media Group creates media that sizzles on the screen, igniting your brand’s potential. Simply put, their team produces slick video solutions that clients love and customers share. Whether it’s a corporate video, small business video, or start-up demo, Crisp Media Group’s video production services are flexible for your needs, and they’ve been fortunate to work with a variety of industry-leading clients. From corporate videos to dental video, Crisp Media Group tailors their concept and execution to the needs of each project, taking into account timeline, audience, budget and distribution.

Michael Mogill is also the Owner & Founder of Atlanta’s leading multimedia marketing company, ATL Nightlife. He also founded Reboot Music, Atlanta’s leading electronic music brand, and has served as the Vice President of FIT Radio, an online (and mobile) streaming music service. He is firm believer in establishing rock-solid company culture — one that values loyalty and diligence, and is execution-focused, with a strong ability to take initiative over ideas to create tangible deliverables.

Agents from Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate Brokerage say, “The American Dream of Owning a Home is Still Alive!”

August 2, 2012 by carlykoffman

President Charlotte Sears of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate Brokerage and Top Agents from the Coldwell Intown office came on Real Estate Atlanta to give us the good news that the American Dream of owning a home is still alive!

Coldwell Banker recently worked with well known psychotherapist Dr. Robby Ludwig to understand why homeownership is in our DNA and she explained it is because Americans want to own, have a desire to put down roots and become a viable part of a community. The media is constantly giving negative perceptions of the Atlanta housing market. We need to remember that real estate is local, and Atlanta is too large and diverse to be able to generalize when it comes to the overall housing market. We need to look at each individual sub-market to accurately paint a picture.

Thankfully we have Charlotte and her agents at the Coldwell Banker Intown office to help paint that picture for us.

Charlotte Sears/Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage/Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Intown Office

Charlotte Sears brings over 30 years of real estate experience to her position as President of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate Brokerage in Atlanta. As president, she oversees the operations of 13 branch offices and over 800 Coldwell Banker sales associates throughout the metro Atlanta area. Sears believes in empowering her brokers and agents, and is a strong proponent of the expansive professional training platform that Coldwell Banker provides. Through training, career development workshops and seminars, Coldwell Banker agents are armed with the resources they need to be successful, professional agents and provide outstanding service to their clients. And, with innovative technology for agents and consumers, Coldwell Banker is on the leading edge of the market with such tools as the Coldwell Banker iPhone app, the Coldwell Banker YouTube channel, the use of QR codes, and their powerful relationship with Realtor.com,Trulia, Zillow and Yahoo! Real Estate – to name a few. Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage is a leader in the greater Atlanta real estate community and successfully negotiates and closes over $1 billion in sales volume annually.

Kathleen Sickeler

Kathleen Sickeler is an Associate Broker at Coldwell Banker Intown. She has been with them since she started her career back in 1998.

Bradford Smith

Bradford Smith is an agent at Coldwell Banker Intown.

Sally Westmoreland

Sally Westmoreland is an experienced Buyer Broker and Listing Agent at Coldwell Banker Intown.

Marc Castillo

Marc Castillo is a Sales Associate at Coldwell Banker Intown and has over 11 years of experience.

Debbie Fuse: Dunwoody Chamber of Commerce, Danny Rinaldi and Dr. Russell Rosenberg: Harmonix, Al Loise: Vayu Media

July 31, 2012 by carlykoffman

Debbie Fuse/Â Dunwoody Chamber of Commerce

Debbie Fuse is the Executive Director of the Dunwoody Chamber of Commerce. Debbie’s background was in sales management, and sales to the construction industry. Prior to that, she held positions in management in the hotel and restaurant industry. She led highly successful sales teams in the Southeast â€“ from 11-28 sales reps with each position â€“ and requirements of traveling up to 80% of her time. After two downsizings, she decided to redirect her focus locally and work within the community where she lives. She’sÂ been in Dunwoody for 14 years after moving from the Baltimore area.

Danny Rinaldi/ Harmonix

A multi-million dollar sales executive and entrepreneur, Danny Rinaldi, Founder and CEO of Harmonix, had been traveling back and forth to China for business and his body clock was struggling with the constant change.Â It was tough and it took time to make the adjustment to changing time zones. Add to that the burden that most Americans feel every day â€“ stress from work.Â In Dannyâ€™s case, his anxiety came from the pressure of selling the toys he made to some of the biggest retail chains in the world.

It was the search for his own natural sleep solution that led Danny to develop Sleep Formula 39â„¢Â and launch Harmonix, LLC in 2011.

Throughout his career Danny has developed brands and managed fast-paced, high-growth, public and private businesses. Â He has generated revenues of more than $100 million in technology and consumer-packaged goods for Texas Instruments, Atari and Telxon Corporation.Â As the founder and partner of his own companies, he has established a network of 18 sales representatives who call on all major retailers including Costco, Wal-Mart, Target, CVS Pharmacy, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Samâ€™s Club and BJâ€™s Wholesale Club.

Russell Rosenberg,Ph.D./Â NeuroTrials and Atlanta School of Sleep Medicine

Dr. Rosenberg is a Scientific Advisor to Harmonix, LLC. He assists the company with the design, implementation and interpretation of clinical research.

Dr. Rosenberg has 25 years experience in clinical sleep medicine and research. He is a Board Certified Sleep Specialist and Fellow of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. He has made presentations on sleep disorders around the United States as well as in Asia and Europe. He has authored several book chapters and numerous peer-reviewed journal articles on sleep disorders. His current research interests include treatments for insomnia and circadian rhythm disorders as well as treatments for disorders that cause excessive sleepiness.

Dr. Rosenberg is Chairman of the National Sleep Foundation (NSF). He obtained his Doctorate in Clinical and Research Psychology from Ohio State University and received specialized training in sleep disorders medicine and research at Rush Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago. Dr. Rosenberg also serves as CEO of NeuroTrials Research and the Atlanta School of Sleep Medicine and Technology.

Al Loise/Â Vayu Media

Al Loise is the Director of Market Development for Vayu Media, an Atlanta-based search engine optimization and online marketing firm. Vayu Media caters to the marketing needs of all size companies by strategizing, developing and implementing interactive marketing strategies that fit the unique needs and budget of each client. Vayu Media leverages their extensive experience in different facets of marketing to develop a measurable return on investment for their clients.

Al consults with businesses of all sizes on developing a successful marketing strategy that delivers a positive ROI. His client base consists of both B2B and B2C businesses, as well as both e-Commerce companies and traditional brick and mortar-type businesses. He has been a featured speaker and presented on SEO and online marketing strategies at the Small Business Technology Tour, the Georgian Club, as well as the upcoming ICE Ecommerce Summit this October here in Atlanta.

Prior to joining Vayu Media, Al had gained extensive experience in marketing and business development in a variety of different organizations, where he was responsible for managing and developing employees and implementing different initiatives to help increase revenue and market share. Al also has extensive experience in managing operations and profit and loss responsibility.