Dr. August Leming is an internationally recognized speaker, consultant, author, and coach. As a consultant, Dr. Leming has worked with the Qatar Gas company in Doha, Qatar, Guidehouse consulting in London, England, and City Fitness limited in Wellington, New Zealand. Nationally, Dr. Leming currently consults with Navigant Consulting, Independence Blue Cross, and a host of Universities including the University of Washington and the University of Virginia. As a business owner, Dr. Leming is the Founder and President for Ivy League Health and Fitness for over 20 years. As such, August has owned and operated over a dozen of fitness facilities throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania. As perhaps the only fitness professional in the world who currently holds a Ph D in counseling Psychology, has successfully lost 160 lbs on his own fitness journey and has personally delivered well over 20,000 hours of individual coaching. August has many meaningful stories to share.
DeDee Cai is the first generation immigrant who have paved her own way in getting an education, and finding meaningful work. She is the founder and CEO of FIT TO PROFIT. Her company utilizes her expertise in psychology, cognitive science, holistic wellness, physical training, and business to help executive leaders and entrepreneurs attain peak performance.
She has been in the health and wellness industry for over a decade learning how to train herself to be, not only physically fit, but mentally as well. This journey was personal for her as she knows what it’s like to go from feeling stuck, miserable and unfulfilled to feeling energized, happy and successful. She has taught thousands of students, and trained hundreds of yoga instructors whom are now changing lives every single day through their instructions. She believes that this is just the beginning, and that everyone deserves a second chance to life. Her vision through FIT TO PROFIT is to empower everyone to realize his or her true potential by making life mentorship and coaching accessible to everyone, everywhere in the world.
She has been in the health and wellness industry for over a decade learning how to train herself to be, not only physically fit, but mentally as well. This journey was personal for her as she knows what it’s like to go from feeling stuck, miserable and unfulfilled to feeling energized, happy and successful. She has taught thousands of students, and trained hundreds of yoga instructors whom are now changing lives every single day through their instructions. She believes that this is just the beginning, and that everyone deserves a second chance to life. Her vision through FIT TO PROFIT is to empower everyone to realize his or her true potential by making life mentorship and coaching accessible to everyone, everywhere in the world.
David Hamilton was a first generation college grad and started his career in Corporate Finance for Fortune 150 company. In his twenties, he became CFO for the company’s clinical trial organization and got his MBA from Harvard Business School. After his MBA he became CFO for his company’s two largest products and helped grow revenue by $1B in one year. This work helped ignite a passion for marketing and media and led to the founding of Oppilo, a digital marketing agency, focused on Small to Medium sized businesses and start-ups.
Dan Smolen is an author, podcaster, and advocate for people who want to do meaningful work. He is founder and executive producer of The Dan Smolen Experience, LLC, and, host of The Tightrope with Dan Smolen, a podcast that speaks to the hopes and dreams—but also the fears and anxieties—of workforce professionals. The Tightrope Podcast just finished its Fall 2019 season.
Daniel Blue is a Forbes contributor and owner of Quest Education. His company helps people access their retirement accounts penalty and tax free to help them accomplish their financials goals such as growing their business or paying off debt. After having a daughter at 19 years old and overcoming Oxycontin addiction, Daniel was able to make the transition from being an employee to an employer.
David Karandish is Founder & CEO of Capacity – an enterprise artificial intelligence SaaS company headquartered in St. Louis, MO. Capacity’s secure, AI-native support automation platform helps teams do their best work. Prior to starting Capacity, David was the CEO of Answers Corp. He and his business partner Chris Sims started the parent company of Answers in 2006 and sold it to a private equity firm in 2014 for north of $900m. David sits on the boards of Varsity Tutors (an on-demand, real-time learning platform in the ed tech space), Create a Loop (a computer science education non-profit tackling the digital divide by teaching kids to code), and Prepare.ai (a non-profit providing educational resources and strategic guidance about Artificial Intelligence to individuals, communities, and companies). David lives in St. Louis with his wife, Erin and four kids. When not working, he enjoys spending time with his family and playing ukulele.
Dan Rochon is an Associate Broker in VA, Broker in MD; Operating Principal/ Owner of the Keller Williams Realty office in Alexandria – Kingstowne, VA; Owner of Rochon Investments, LLC; Owner and Co-founder of www.GreetingsVirginia.com and Owner of other Joint Ventures as well as a real estate principles instructor at Moseley Real Estate Schools. As a real estate sales agent, Dan and his team are consistently top producers in their marketplace and provide solutions for their clients. Through their investment company, Dan and Traci Rochon have been investing in residential and commercial real estate ventures for more than the past decade.
Deborah Pretty a.k.a. (P.Y.) is the lady behind PYTalkBiz.com. Deborah has been a business owner for 40 years. She'd founded and started 5 businesses in 5 different industries.
Currently, she's running a property preservation business with their son Tae, which is what sparked her new business endeavor. Although Deborah ran a successful business, she found herself working 24/7. One day she worked all night; processing and invoicing work orders. She realized something had to change.
After a few simple changes, she increased their average bid invoice amount by 35%, reduced her working hours by more than 50%, hired a vendor manager and processor, and incorporated ACH services. Those simple cost-efficient changes dramatically improved productivity and profits.
Her goal now is to help other small business owners to work less and earn more! She hopes to reach the masses via her online resource. Deborah built a website designed specifically to help other small business owners learn from her many years of costly mistakes.
Currently, she's running a property preservation business with their son Tae, which is what sparked her new business endeavor. Although Deborah ran a successful business, she found herself working 24/7. One day she worked all night; processing and invoicing work orders. She realized something had to change.
After a few simple changes, she increased their average bid invoice amount by 35%, reduced her working hours by more than 50%, hired a vendor manager and processor, and incorporated ACH services. Those simple cost-efficient changes dramatically improved productivity and profits.
Her goal now is to help other small business owners to work less and earn more! She hopes to reach the masses via her online resource. Deborah built a website designed specifically to help other small business owners learn from her many years of costly mistakes.
Inspirational DJ – Teacher – Big DREAM Jockey
“I believe we have the power to remodel our planet at our fingertips”-DJVBL
When she’s not spinning records for thousands of dancers on the Nile in Egypt, Burningman, or a Beach in Hawaii, she’s making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for her kiddos before recording another episode of the Big DREAM School podcast. DJ Valerie is an Inspirational DJ – “Dream Jockey” and Big DREAM Coach who believes Music is the Medicine and the DJ is the Doctor.
Valerie fuses art, science, and soul to teach and inspire creative, bad@ss, change-makers how to get out of their funk, get their groove back, and rock their Big DREAMS.
She is a co-founder of 2 multi-million dollar real estate companies, USCG Charter Boat Captain, Kundalini Yoga and Meditation Teacher, and of course the most blessed Mama of 2 Earth Angels. DJ Valerie is on a mission to smash the shame and stigma around mental health so that we can SNAP! Back to rocking our Big DREAMS and co-create a planet where all life co-thrives in delicious harmony!
“I believe we have the power to remodel our planet at our fingertips”-DJVBL
When she’s not spinning records for thousands of dancers on the Nile in Egypt, Burningman, or a Beach in Hawaii, she’s making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for her kiddos before recording another episode of the Big DREAM School podcast. DJ Valerie is an Inspirational DJ – “Dream Jockey” and Big DREAM Coach who believes Music is the Medicine and the DJ is the Doctor.
Valerie fuses art, science, and soul to teach and inspire creative, bad@ss, change-makers how to get out of their funk, get their groove back, and rock their Big DREAMS.
She is a co-founder of 2 multi-million dollar real estate companies, USCG Charter Boat Captain, Kundalini Yoga and Meditation Teacher, and of course the most blessed Mama of 2 Earth Angels. DJ Valerie is on a mission to smash the shame and stigma around mental health so that we can SNAP! Back to rocking our Big DREAMS and co-create a planet where all life co-thrives in delicious harmony!
Danielle Kristine Toussaint, founder, and CEO of She Thinks Purple, is a storyteller, strategist, and social enterprise brand architect on a journey to help mission-driven start-ups make money and make a difference. She has been the writing pen behind op-eds and speeches for Huffington Post, Forbes.com, and TEDx. Danielle holds a B.A. in Political Science and African American Studies from Yale University and an M.S. Ed. from the University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education.
