Community & Guest List
Sara Abate Rez is the Branding and Commucations Director at Ambience Design Group and the Founder of My Personal Brand and the Work/Life Balance project. Sara is passionate about design, communication, laughter and people. Her Bachelor of Design degree and 15 years working as a brand strategist and designer for various brands has led her to where she is today. She currently runs an interior design blog and creates DIY design solutions through AmbienceExpress.com. She writes for her personal blog on branding and work/life balance and works with entrepreneurs who wish to build their personal brands online so they can create a business and life they love.
Sharon Sobel is the owner of Picture This Video, a video production company in the metro DC area, which has been in business for over 20 years. Picture This Video develops creative video products and strategy to businesses and organizations by listening to their clients’ goals and respecting their budgets. With a background in all aspects of video production, they can not only see the big picture, but consider all the brushstrokes required to get there. They help their customers create authentic, engaging and targeted videos that get seen and deliver results.
Stephen Deason is Founder and CEO of The OPARasa Group, a Social Enterprise building worth in Recovery. Mr. Deason was previously CEO of GRYYT, a Socially Conscious MarTech firm, and has held C-level positions in three other technology companies. Stephen is an active volunteer who serves as a director on three nonprofit boards and on the advisory boards of two startup technology firms. Mr. Deason holds both an MBA and an MSc. in Accounting from Emory University, a BSc. in Mathematics from UAB, and is ABD-PhD in Business, also from Emory University’s Laney Graduate School.
Sam Fulton is the Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors at Boats Group, which operates the world’s largest and most popular recreational boating online marketplaces – Boat Trader, YachtWorld, boats.com and CosasDeBarcos. As CEO at Boats Group, Sam leads the company towards its vision of creating a world-class shopping experience for boats. With his global perspective, the technology-minded Fulton has a passion for driving industry-leading value for consumers and industry partners each and every day.
Suzy and Michael are the Founders of Adventurous Real Estate Investors. They specialize in Return on Impact. Through real estate investing they create immeasurable impacts; in their family, with their friends, in their community, with the families (residents) they serve.
Susie Hadeed is a branding photographer for small business in the DC Metro Area. She excels and finding the superpower in your business and showing that off through photos that make you look stunning, feel authentic, and connect with your target audience.
Sara is the host of The Unemployment Podcast which she started back in 2020 a few months into quarantine. She is passionate about womxn and LGBTQ+ owned businesses and loves writing, playing lacrosse, going to concerts, and traveling.
Dr. Shaquinta Richardson is a Life Coach for high-achieving Black women who are ready to break free of working twice as hard to get half as much. She helps Black women balance the priorities in their lives through strategic time management, radical self-care, and boundary setting so they can actually enjoy the life they have created. She has a Ph.D. in Human Development & Family Science and is a couple and family therapist by training. She also has a private therapy practice where she specializes in issues relating to identity-related stress, intergenerational trauma, and LGBTQ+ individual and relationship issues.
Stacey Burke is a 20-year attorney who provides consulting services to law firms. She has worked with over 300 law firms in a wide range of practice areas across the United States. She litigated in the field of consumer advocacy before transitioning to a consulting career over eight years ago. She has won legal industry accolades including the President’s Award from the Houston Bar Association and has been selected as a Texas Super Lawyers Rising Star. Her work has also been published in the Texas Bar Journal, Trial magazine, Forbes, and Legal Business World. Her consulting company has won the American Marketing Association Crystal Awards for Online Marketing in Google Analytics and for Print Collateral or Direct Marketing: Company or Organization Brochure. She lives in Houston, Texas with her husband, two teenage daughters, and two French bulldogs and eats a lot of popcorn.
Samantha Spittle is the host of the podcast Flushing It Out. Her passion for storytelling and making people laugh, often at her own expense, reinforced the deep need she sees that all people long to connect on a deeper, more authentic and vulnerable level. We live in a world that is so fast paced where people are busier than ever yet also lonelier than ever. As the introvert's extrovert, Samantha talks to people, so you don't have to...for now. Her hope is that as people take time to slow down, listen in on conversations, they will not only gain some new insight, but be inspired to grab a cup of coffee with people in their own life and truly connect.
