Community & Guest List
Aliza Sherman is a web pioneer who founded the first woman-owned Internet company, Cybergrrl, Inc., and the first organization for women to learn about the Internet in the 90s, Webgrrls International. She is the author of 12 books including Cannabis and CBD for Health and Wellness: An Essential Guide for Using Nature’s Medicine to Relieve Stress, Anxiety, Chronic Pain, Inflammation, and More, The Happy, Healthy Nonprofit and Social Media Engagement for Dummies. Her work has been featured in USA Today, Newsweek, Time, CNN, CNBC and MSNBC, and she has presented at the BlogHer Annual Conference, SXSW Interactive and SXSW Cannabusiness Tracks, Women Grow Leadership Summit, and The Women's Economic Forum.
Together Anne & Mark Lackey own and operate several businesses. In 2015, they determined they were working harder and not smarter, so they embarked on their newest business - HireSmart Virtual Assistants which helps business owners scale by providing top-notch virtual employees. Anne & Mark wrote seven books (3 became best sellers in hours) and developed multiple training modules in the area of Real Estate Investing, Property Management, and Business Ownership to help other entrepreneurs grow their businesses.
Andrew Bartlow has 25 years of Human Resources and Talent Management experience at organizations across a wide spectrum of sizes, maturity stages, and industries.
He is the co-author of “Scaling for Success: People Priorities for High Growth Organizations,” has a master’s degree from the top program in his field, and has been CECP, SPHR, Six Sigma, and executive coaching certified.
Andrew leads Series B Consulting, which helps businesses to articulate their people strategy and accelerate their growth while navigating rapid change. He also founded the People Leader Accelerator, which is the preeminent development program for startup HR leaders.
He is the co-author of “Scaling for Success: People Priorities for High Growth Organizations,” has a master’s degree from the top program in his field, and has been CECP, SPHR, Six Sigma, and executive coaching certified.
Andrew leads Series B Consulting, which helps businesses to articulate their people strategy and accelerate their growth while navigating rapid change. He also founded the People Leader Accelerator, which is the preeminent development program for startup HR leaders.
Graduating from Georgia Tech in 1991 with Highest Honors in Electrical Engineering, Angela Fox has often been asked how she moved from such a technical education with early roles in corporate systems and strategy into a life where she is transforming companies and communities, building cultural facilities, and serving as a catalyst for change and role model for impact and meaning in every area she touches. The answer is simple. At engineering school, she learned to solve problems – the more complex the issue, the more elegant the solution. She walked away with a Co-Op student’s awareness that there are many areas where a creative mind is key, that molds are meant to be broken, and that there is no situation that cannot be made better. As the CEO of the Crystal City Business Improvement District (BID), she was asked to create an organization that would change the way people see, perceive, and experience Crystal City. In a very short time and at a nationally-recognized level, she did just that. From a long-standing belief that the area was a “concrete canyon” that no one would visit without an appointment to the shortlist for Amazon’s HQ2, as well as winner of the International Downtown Association’s Pinnacle “best of the best” award because of her strategic implementation of competitive programs, as well as her ability to engage and infuse energy into the community as a whole. People are the heart of any company, campus, culture and community, and the only way to bring about real, active, and repeatable transformation is to enlist their energy as stakeholders in the process, the progress, and the ultimate success. As a 32-year, Tesla-driving vegetarian who runs 5Ks, cycles thousands of miles every year, and practices all forms of yoga, all while being committed to her community by serving and chairing local arts boards, and she inspires people to embody the changes they seek to achieve. She is an dynamic speaker, dedicated mother, friend, and proud promoter of the philosophies and processes that she learned on the ground throughout her career. She has traveled all over the world (6 continents, 72 countries, and 47 states), worked with a Japanese Security Software firm as a C-level coach and interim Marketing VP, and run her own consulting firm providing business strategy, marketing and executive coaching services to individuals, corporations, and non-profits. She has re-introduced many people to the personal and business value of building lives that matter, to them, helping them become active contributors, board members, citizens and participants. Whether launching Verizon.net, introducing new programs at Cultural Tourism DC, or building an award-winning new theater in downtown DC, she is dedicated to her community and is honored to forever be a Ramblin’ Wreck from Georgia Tech!
Amir Shiekh is the Founder and CEO of 4b, a social platform bringing together original controversial news and topics from both sides. The unique concept came from years of frustration listening to divisive and bias content from all media sources. Amir is committed to bringing people together through respectful and productive fact based content in an intuitive social platform.
Amira Irfan is a business lawyer, six-figure blogger, and coach who teaches you how to make money blogging while protecting your online business legally. She started her blog with her full-time job as a lawyer and took it from 0 to $60,000 a month in less than 2 years, and now she teaches you how to do the same! She has had the honor of helping over 10,000 entrepreneurs with her affordable legal templates and services in the last 10 years.
Amy Lee is a Dream Design coach and mindset expert who works predominantly with sensitive and emotionally intelligent entrepreneurs. Through her signature programs and coaching she has assisted in the transformation of thousands of business owners from anxious and unaware to empowered and abundant.
Her unique law of attraction-centric approach marries gratitude and personal value. She strives to leave her clients with an affinity for the finer things in life and a deep belief in their worthiness for those experiences.
Her unique law of attraction-centric approach marries gratitude and personal value. She strives to leave her clients with an affinity for the finer things in life and a deep belief in their worthiness for those experiences.
Angelina Singer is a young adult/new adult author with a romantic comedy, Just Like a Pill, books 1-3 of a dystopian science fiction trilogy The Upperworld Series, and both books of The Rewind Duology available for purchase on Amazon now. In addition to her writing career, Singer graduated Magna Cum Laude from Stonehill College in 2019, where she studied English, Music, and Creative Writing. Angelina is also a board member of the Association of Rhode Island Authors, managing their Young Adult initiative. Her day job is freelance editing and content writing, helping clients bring their literary visions to life.
Adriana L. Cowdin is a 4-time entrepreneur and “retired” Corporate America C-level marketing executive who led social media marketing for a $40B retailer overseeing 150 brands and was the CDMO for a $1B home security company. In 2016, Cowdin founded Dekaf Digital, a social media marketing agency that takes the pain and uncertainty out of social media for high-growth start ups across the globe. She has been featured in media outlets worldwide including ABC, NY Times, Inc. 500, Hoovers, and Reuters to name a few.
ANGELA MINARDI FOUNDER, FIT CITY ADVENTURES As a marketing and digital consultant with more than 15 years in corporate marketing and digital health, Angela has traveled the world working for some of the biggest companies and truly understands what it means to provide high-class service in a personalized way. She founded Fit City Adventures in 2018 to cultivate and inspire meaningful human connections why giving back to the community through corporate team building and wellness. She is passionate about sharing these unique experiences with an active twist to connect teams in a healthy way.
