For 20 years, Matt was an executive in the radio industry, before becoming an investor and the founding CEO for the School of Rock. In five years, Matt grew that franchise from five locations to 55 schools – the largest of music schools in the world. In 2012, he opened the first One River School of Art + Design in Englewood, NJ. He franchised the concept in 2017 and currently has 12 locations, with up to five more expected to open this year. For more information go to http://oneriverschool.com/franchise
Maryann Remsburg is an adventurer in every area of life and as an ICF certified coach, inspires her clients to look at their lives as an adventurous journey ready to explore. Maryann is co-author of Your Adventurous Life Awaits; 7 Coordinates for Living a Purposeful Life of Adventure and co-founder of Adventurous Life with her husband Brian. With her four kids and husband, she loves to hike, bike, and have daily time to thank God for his many gifts.
Maddie Watkins is the owner and founder of 202strong, a local fitness studio in the DMV that specializes in making strength training, specifically with the barbell accessible to those who might feel they "can't" lift or aren't strong enough to lift a barbell. Maddie left her background in genetics and microbiology to pursue a personal training certification after she graduated college in early 2010 after discovering the barbell herself and how feeling strong completely changed herself and her life. 202strong opened in 2015 and today there are 2 locations plus a newly added virtual program, StrongLine.
Marcia Maxwell left the corporate world to pursue her passion of fashion and design. She founded her brand in her namesake, but it is also known as MBM Swim. Her first swimwear collection was in January of 2019 and has already gotten the attention of Victoria’s Secret, Sports Illustrated, Forbes, and many others. Through faith and grit, Maxwell is working to grow her brand to be the next big name in swim and resort wear.
Mark has two degrees in chemistry and currently works as the Director of Training and Development at Anderson Investigative Associates. Prior to that he served as a Program Manager and Instructor for the Inspector General Criminal Investigator Academy and at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in the Behavioral Science Division. He has served as a Senior Special Agent for the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Office of Investigations, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations. Additionally, he served as a Deputy Inspector General and Director of Internal Audit for the New York State Office of the Inspector General and as a forensic chemist for the New York State Police.
Michelle Nipko is the Chief Marketing Officer for the Austin Theatre Alliance (ATA), the organization the runs the Paramount and Stateside Theatres in Austin, Texas. She brings over 20 years of experience to this role leveraging her deep knowledge in the science of marketing analytics. In her previous roles she has served as a Senior Economist for American Express, a Product Manager for Financial Optimization Solutions for SAP, and a Vice President for Marketing Analytics at Bank of America. In addition to this varied industry experience, Michelle is also an entrepreneur at heart. Shortly after moving to Austin, she leveraged her expertise in social media and digital marketing optimization to form a company focused on lead generation in real estate. Most recently, she founded the podcast she hosts: ‘That One Big Decision’.
Monique Melton is a relationship coach, published author, and international speaker. The heart of her work is to support married couples in building happy and healthy marriages. She travels the world speaking at conferences and events on topics related to personal growth, marriage, and relationships. She’s been published in magazines, featured in blogs and podcasts and has touched the lives of people all over the world. She is a natural big-bold dreamer and a deeply rooted woman of faith. She is a proud Navy wife to her high-school sweetheart and she is a loving mother to two little ones.
Dr. Melissa Briggs-Phillips is a Clinical Psychologist with a non traditional career path. After completing her PhD she spent years serving as Project Director, Executive Director and Chief-of-Staff in various settings. She never stopped teaching as an adjunct professor, and maintained a part time commitment to clinical work. In 2014 she decided to blend her diverse background (managing people, teams, budgets with her therapist self) and launched Next Generation Behavioral Health. She is an Executive Therapist that works with leaders on their internal worlds to they can show up as their best selves in their professional roles. Her teaching these days is speaking and presenting at conferences, with the hopes that people leave thinking about something from a new angle, and action items to use immediately in their lives.
As someone with interest in fitness, helping as many people as possible improve their health, and seeing the benefits of his own weight loss transformation, Matthew Bible started his fitness company, CASS Fitness in September of 2013. The company started out with Matthew and his two partners Stephen Sengstacke and Ramon Thomas. Matthew is an in-home personal trainer, traveling to homes, apartment gyms, parks, offices, and more in Montgomery County, MD, Arlington, VA, and Washington, DC. Over the next few years, Matthew helped to recruit several talented personal trainers in the DC area as independent contractors. In 2017, CASS Fitness began teaching outdoor classes for the Parks at Walter Reed in DC and also gained their first trainer in Pittsburgh, PA.
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.
