This Episode Brought To You By
Managing Partner (Warren); Principal (Michael)/Symmetrics Group
Warren Shiver and Michael Perla are the authors of 7 STEPS TO SALES FORCE TRANSFORMATION: Driving Sustainable Change in Your Organization (Palgrave MacMillan). Warren Shiver is the Founder and Managing Partner of Symmetrics Group (www.symmetricsgroup.com)and has more than 20 years of sales, management and consulting experience. Michael Perla is a Principal with Symmetrics Group, and has more than 20 years of sales effectiveness consulting and strategic marketing experience.
Gwen Garrison/LifePlan Financial Advisors
Now with 16 years experience in financial planning and investments, Gwen Garrison enjoys being a guide for the journey to her clients. She helps them move towards the life they want to create with their current assets and income. She helps them identify and work towards their financial goals, and take steps to help protect their wealth from taxes and risks. She helps people faced with the problems and opportunities of sudden wealth from receiving retirement plan assets, life insurance benefits, lottery winnings, lawsuit settlements or divorce.
Gwen has been involved with helping people reach their goals for most of her working life. Gwen graduated magna cum laude from University of Georgia with a degree in communications, then focused on marketing communications for the next 18 years. She worked primarily for advertising and public relations firms, and then became a business owner in 1987. To adapt to the needs of her young children, she then shifted from healthcare and technology marketing into direct sales of medical products, then to medical and life insurance. Before transitioning to financial services, Gwen was a divisional manager for National Health Insurance, where she consistently placed in the top 10% of representatives in the country.
Gwen lives in Newnan, GA with her husband, Nick. She has raised three adult daughters, primarily as a single parent. Her community involvement includes serving as worship assistant for Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran Church, and a ministry for families affected by alcoholism. Gwen is a member of the Newnan Coweta Chamber of Commerce. She also has served her community through the Rotary Club of Peachtree City, American Business Womens Association, Peachtree City United Methodist Church, McIntosh High School, and Booth Middle School. She volunteered with the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce and has been Chair of the Board of Trustees for Providence United Methodist Church, where she also has taught adult Sunday school. Gwen has three beautiful grandchildren and will brag on them at any opportunity.
Phone(s) Office, Cell, etc.:
Office 678-364-9677. Cell 770-853-8456
Mark Goldman & Cheryl Maher/SCOUT
President/Sr. VP Director of Client Services
Mark is the President of SCOUTs Consumer and B2B Division and former CMO of Viking Range Corporation. In 1994, he
co-founded an integrated marketing services firm called 360, earning the distinction of Inc Magazines Top 200 fastest growing US companies in 1996. In 2002, he sold the 8 year old agency to Grey Global Group and became the president of Grey/Atlanta, before moving to SCOUT.
He is passionate about the arts and served 6 years on the board of The Metro Atlanta Arts Fund. Today he serves on the boards of The Atlanta Ballet, Arts ATL and Atlanta Celebrates Photography. He was, for three years, intimately involved with the TJ Martell Foundation dedicated to eradicating childhood leukemia.
As SVP, Director of Client Services at Scout, Cheryls responsibilities include leading the client management department as well as development of innovative products/services and partnerships. Passionate about professional development, Cheryl also heads up the Leadership Development program for SCOUTs Consumer Division.
Most recently Cheryl has led initiatives to bring new innovative services to SCOUTs clients, from a proprietary research panel to a content studio, she continues to focus on innovation and improve the way we arrive at meaningful consumer insights. Prior to SCOUT, Cheryl held senior positions in Atlanta and New York.
Outside of Scout, Cheryl lives with her husband, two kids and her dog Ivy in Peachtree Hills. She is a yogi and a health food nut.
