Community & Guest List
Michael is a lawyer at Wakefield Law, PLLC, a family-owned law firm located in Leesburg, Virginia. Michael specializes in estate planning law and contract law including collection of debts. He lives in Purcellville, Virginia with his wife, Paige and daughter, Eloise.
Maribeth Decker is the founder of Sacred Grove, where people and pets heal and connect. Maribeth is an intuitive animal communicator and energy healer.
Michael H. Drobnis is the CEO of OptfinITy, LLC, , a technology solutions firm which has received numerous industry awards including a ranking of the top 250 small technology businesses worldwide. Mr. Drobnis has over 22 years of technology experience across many different industries and disciplines, including but not limited to records management, disaster recovery and business continuance planning, system security, web design and development, project management, technology and infrastructure design. As an accomplished technology executive and project manager, his vision and expertise have helped hundred's of organizations work smarter and more efficiently through the use and development of proper technology solutions and collaboration tools. Mr. Drobnis received his MBA with a concentration in technology from the McCallum Graduate School of Business at Bentley University in Massachusetts. He has served on the Fairfax County Information Technology Policy Advisory Committee, the ITT Technical Institute Curriculum Advisory Board, as the President and on the board of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce and on the board of the Central Fairfax Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Drobnis is an alumni of Leadership Fairfax and The FBI Citizens Academy and is the proud father of 3 girls in West Springfield.
Mark Mascia is the Founder and CEO of Mascia Development. His company assists professionals and entrepreneurs to make wise investments in high-end commercial real estate, the type of stuff that normally only the country's wealthiest families are able to get involved in. Mark has also had great success in leading a location independent team and has a lot of valuable experience to share in that regard. His entrepreneurial process has brought on enormous challenges that he's had to overcome, and these have served to make him extremely knowledgeable about what it takes to be a successful CEO.
Matt Bacon is a consultant, A&R man, and journalist specializing in the world of heavy metal. Having worked with everyone from glam rock icon Phil Collen of Def Leppard to black metal titans Enslaved by way of legendary thrashers Exhorder as well as labels including Prophecy Productions and Ripple Music he has dedicated his life to helping young bands develop. Having started his own blog at the age of 14 he views his career in artist development as 'a hobby that got out of hand'. In 2015 he formed Dropout Media in order to better support the artists he loves. We sit here now, years later with countless tours booked, records released and deals signed, and loving every minute of it.
Marissa Ferguson is a 24 years-young entrepreneur who began her business just under 2 years ago with a vision and her iPhone. What started as a side gig turned into a full time job in 4 short months, all thanks to shampoo... yup, shampoo. Since then, she's been able to travel freely, pick up her dream car, build fruitful savings + investments, give back more than ever and most importantly, impact thousands of lives. This is just the beginning for Marissa as she continues to live out her god-given purpose!
By the age of 25 Marcus Taylor Founded and is CEO of Venture Harbour, a digital innovation studio that has built a multi-million dollar portfolio of highly-automated online businesses with ZERO outside funding. Marcus also developed the World's first scientifically-valid method of measuring human comfort zones and has been featured in the Forbes 30 Under 30. Marcus wants to show budding entrepreneurs how they too can build a profitable business without taking investment!
Mali Phonpadith is the CEO of SOAR Community Network and CoFounder of SCN Nebula. She is a TEDx Speaker, #1 International Bestselling Author, Certified Talent Optimization Leader, C3 Community Architect and Builder of Compassionate, Cohesive & Collaborative Communities within growing companies and mission-driven organizations. Her team helps to build C3 innovative and collaborative teams using proven science, technology and ongoing training. Mali was chosen as a Belief Team Partner through Values Partnership and the Oprah Winfrey Network and has been nominated for Heroines of Washington D.C. Award by the March of Dimes among many other awards throughout her career.
Michael Wang is a United States Veteran turned registered nurse/nurse practitioner. He has vast clinical experience in cardiothoracic surgery and direct patient care at the bedside. In addition, he holds numerous patents on innovate technologies in both the healthcare and hospitality industry and has founded numerous successful companies. While obtaining a degree in nursing at Columbia, he met fellow nurse Paul Coyne, and together, they invented iN, the world's first cognitive patient care assistant. Mike now serves as CEO & Founder of Inspiren, an award winning healthcare technology company.
Melane Mullings is a successful entrepreneur, Founder of Aere Management Consulting and author. A self-described ‘Venture Catalyst’, Melane catalyzes the reaction that turns seemingly simple, esoteric business ideas - born out of passion and purpose - into ventures that experience combustible success. Thirteen years after establishing and operating her first entrepreneurial venture in the healthcare recruiting space, Melane successfully sold the business, and is now sharing her unconventional strategies to success in her book: 'Lemonade! Squeeze Your Challenging Life Experiences Into a Successful Business', and through her consulting practice, Aere Management Consulting. Her book and consultancy grant her the opportunity to help struggling entrepreneurs and business owners build a solid foundation for their ventures, and achieve purpose-driven, impactful, sustainable success.
