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Sarah Hathorn, AICI CIP, CPBS is an internationally distinguished leadership development mentor, executive presence coach, image and branding consultant, public speaker and presenter, and the founding CEO of her own successful company, Illustra Consulting.

A career acceleration expert, she created the innovative Predictable Promotion System, a 10-step proprietary process she uses to coach managers aspiring to be directors, directors seeking vice presidential promotions, and VP’s eager to ascend to the C-suite.

In response to the devastating personal experience of being turned down for a prized promotion early in her career, Sarah developed her own system for enhancing her marketable value and executive leadership presence. She designed a step-by-step process for quickly acquiring practical value-adding performance skills, and then developed efficient strategies to gain the positive recognition of influential decision makers. Meanwhile she creatively enhanced a variety of priceless intangible qualities that companies specifically look for in high potentials ready to rise to the top of the succession planning list.

A few years ago Sarah left her prestigious Fortune 100 position to follow what she considers her true professional calling and personal passion. She launched her own consulting company which now offers the Predictable Promotion System through intensive one-on-one executive coaching of private clients, developmental workshops for large corporations, and various customized consulting programs and interactive speaking engagements.

For the past 30 years Sarah has used her vision and insight to help promote leaders at all levels, and many of her clients and former protégés now occupy the highest positions within Fortune 500 companies. Her client list is a virtual “Who’s Who” of elite companies and top executives.

Holland R. “Dutch” Earle is the Managing Director of Executive Strategies, Inc., a national general management, retained executive search firm that he founded in 1994.  Prior to forming ESI, Dutch had over twenty years’ experience in corporate human resources management. Additionally, Dutch is a partner at Career Synergies, a resume and career coaching business established by his wife, Kathleen.

His last corporate position was Vice President, Human Resources for ADP National Accounts Division. He started his career at NCR Corporation in human resources and then joined RCA Corporation where he worked in a series of management positions in labor relations, compensation and employment.  Immediately prior to ADP, he worked for the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company where he was responsible for corporate staffing and established a temporary service business.

Dutch is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University and holds a Master’s degree in Industrial Relations from Saint Francis College.  He is active in numerous community and professional organizations, and volunteers considerable time to help individuals in career transition.

 Since 1992 Georgia Sales Development, a Sandler Training affiliate has been helping companies increase their sales, management and customer service effectiveness by focusing on the people and the processes.  Our approach centers around using a systematic sales process throughout a company.  To increase sales and sales management effectiveness, we focus on the whole person – attitude, behavior and techniques. 

Prior to acquiring her Sandler Training franchise, Georgia Sales Development, Inc., Lissa had 19 years of sales and management experience in corporate America.  Her experience ranges from direct sales at a local then national level, to sales management of a $40 million Region for a national managed care company. Today Lissa works with Presidents, CEOs and Business Owners helping them acquire and retain sales teams with consistently superior performance.  This is done through a combination of evaluation tools, trained sales and management methodology based on a reinforcement model, and accountability based coaching.  Her Psychology degree from the University of Georgia coupled with her leadership experience makes her uniquely qualified to help companies increase sales and management effectiveness using the Sandler System.

Lissa currently is involved in several networking and philanthropic groups in the Atlanta area and serves on the Board for Georgia Executive Women’s Network.  She and husband Ron are blessed with a beautiful 10 year old son, Garrett.

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Building upon his decade of “big law” experience with the reputable firms of Fisher & Phillips and Bryan Cave (formerly Powell Goldstein), and demonstrating the same entrepreneurial drive he admires in his clients, Todd founded Stanton Law LLC in Atlanta, Georgia. Seeking to combine the quality of large firm representation with the flexibility, responsiveness, and cost-effectiveness of a nimbler shop, Todd’s practice remains dedicated to the employer side of the employer-employee relationship. From on-boarding new talent and assisting with the development of workable job descriptions, personnel policies, and compensation plans, to guiding clients through sticky disciplinary, performance, and leave issues, to executing respectful and amicable separations, Todd provides practical bottom line-oriented legal advice to small and medium-sized employers.

When not working to represent the needs of employers, Todd enjoys hiking, landscaping, photography, and coaching youth baseball. He played NCAA baseball while at Washington & Lee University and his love of the game inspired him to coach the next generation of ball players. He’s active in the Georgia Bar Association’s Lawyers Assistance Program, serves as secretary for the board of directors of Buckhead Baseball, Inc. and president of the board of directors of Haygood United Methodist Church Weekday Children’s Ministries, and is a member of the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Sports Network board.

Todd lives in the Atlanta neighborhood of Morningside with his wife, Ashley, their two sons, Parker and Griffin, and their rescue setter-collie mix, Hattie.

Brand New You: Austin Thompson

What is your value-added proposition? If asked to name three personal stand-out qualities, would you know how to identify them? What is your BRAND value? Are you aware of how people view you as an individual, or what impression you are leaving with them? What do people like Sir Richard Branson, Warren Buffet, Dr. Ian Smith, and Donald Trump have in common? They are all successful brands, who have their respective loyal following resulting from their knowledge and ability to connect with a base, and also for their aggressive entrepreneurial reputation. People build loyalty with those who they consider having vibrant personalities, a strong character, are responsible, and have something valuable with which they can connect. Whether you are an entrepreneur, corporate professional, college student, retiree, or unemployed, a strong personal BRAND is built on what makes you valuable, and the image you project with those in your everyday life.

Austin E. Thompson, Jr. was born in the village of Lodge, Georgetown, Republic of Guyana, South America, and migrated to the United States in 1977. He spent 15 years in Brooklyn, New York, before relocating to Atlanta, Georgia in 1992. Austin has been in the electronics engineering industry for the past 14 years in a dual role as Project Manager and EMC Compliance Engineer, and now works for Intertek Testing Services in Duluth as a Project Engineer.

Austin is a member of several organizations such as the Guyana Association of Georgia (GAOG), the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Project Management Institute of Atlanta (PMI), and the National Black MBA Association. In his spare time, Austin volunteers actively with the Latin America Association, organizes an annual Youth Symposium and Family Fun Day for the GAOG, serves as a facilitator for the annual 100 Black Men of DeKalb’s Youth Conference, and assists with various political campaigns.

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James C. Anderson

Lieutenant Colonel James C. Anderson was born in Shelbyville, Tennessee, on April 12, 1968.  He graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree in Human Resource Management from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee in 1990.  He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant from the Reserve Officer Training Corps, as a Distinguished Military Graduate, on 12 May 1989.

 Lieutenant Colonel Anderson most recently served as the Chief of Training Operations for US Army Forces Command at Fort McPherson, Georgia.  His previous assignments span holding key leadership and staff positions at all ranks from Second Lieutenant to Lieutenant Colonel including Battery Commander of Alpha Battery, 4^th Battalion, 5^th Air Defense Artillery, 1^st Cavalry Division and Battalion Executive Officer of 2^nd Battalion, 44^th Air Defense Artillery, 101^st Airborne Division (Air Assault).  He has served in various positions within the 24^th Infantry Division, 1^st Cavalry Division, US Central Command, 5^th US Army, and the 101^st Airborne Division (Air Assault) where he deployed three times to Iraq.  His travels include numerous locations within the United States, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

Lieutenant Colonel Anderson is happily married to married to Dee Zukow and has two children, Michael and Katie.

Marvin Austin

Marvin Austin is a Senior Operations Leader recognized for transforming strategy into profitable reality for consumer service and retail solutions companies.  Marvin led multiple national service companies as General Manager, EVP and Chief Operating Officer.  He currently leads an IT Security Firm as Managing Director.  He holds a BBA and MBA from Oglethorpe University and is a veteran of the United States Navy.  Marvin enjoys volunteering and consequently serves as Co-Chairman of the Veterans Employment Taskforce, a non-profit agency established to help veterans who possess executive leadership potential, transition in to corporate America.

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Proshred Security: Greg Galvez

Greg Gálvez is an entrepreneur with nearly three decades of success building brands and leading sales and marketing organizations around the world. He has held leadership roles of increasing responsibility at American Hospital Supply, Baxter International and The Coca-Cola Company.

At Coke, after two decades of cross-cultural operating success engaging consumers, customers and business partners in the U.S. Asia, Latin America and Canada, he led the key U.S. Southwest Region and established a best-in-class Multi-Cultural Sales & Marketing capability to implement culturally relevant consumer programs.

Greg now runs The Galvez Group, a private management company, through which he partners with a small number of brand-driven entrepreneurs in three segments, Healthy, Environmentally friendly products, image-driven Lifestyle brands, and convenience-driven Technology (tools that simplify everyday life) A native of Chicago, Greg received a B.S. in Psychology and a B.A. in Political Science from Loyola University of Chicago and an M.B.A. in Marketing from the J.L. Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He is a frequent guest lecturer and keynote speaker on “The New BrandBuilding Model” at business schools, conferences and industry associations. During the Fall of 2011, he will launch his blog at www.culturalcurrents.com

New Century Dynamics: Jim Weber

Prior to forming New Century Dynamics in 1999, Jim Weber spent 25 years with Fortune 500 companies in the Food Retailing Industry where he developed a broad-based portfolio of “hands-on” line and staff experience in growth and turnaround situations.   A proven Executive with exceptional Leadership skills, Jim has a strong financial background and heavy operations experience in specialty retail stores, quick service restaurants, manufacturing and distribution.

During his career Jim’s background in Strategic Market Planning and his strong Profit Orientation has supported successful New Business Development Projects, Same Store Increases, Expense Control Systems, and Labor Productivity.

Through his leadership and the ability to build strong teams, he has developed Organizations that consistently delivered the Profit Plan, year in and year out.

The Atlanta Chiefs: Stan Gay

The Atlanta Chiefs, a minor professional football team, play in the Gridiron Developmental Football League (GDFL), and are based in the Sandy Springs/Buckhead area of Atlanta.

The team is owned by Stan Gay, a graduate of the University of Alabama. As a defensive back for the Crimson Tide, Stan played football for the legendary Coach, Paul “Bear” Bryant. He earned a scholarship from Coach Bryant as a walk-on and he later went on to become a three-year letterman and two year starter for the ‘Tide’. Stan also played on a SEC Championship team. 

After college, Stan had a brief stint with the Atlanta Falcons during the 1984-1985 seasons.  Upon making the Falcons team, Stan suffered a knee injury and spent the majority of his time with the Falcons on the injury reserved practice squad, but that never stopped his drive or love for the game. Professionally, Stan worked in the Health Care industry for more than 20 years in Sales Management. He holds a BS degree and a MBA and is also a Sports Agent Advisor for Sports Management World Wide. Being a walk-on player on both the collegiate and professional level, Stan understands the importance of developing yourself and your self-esteem in order to advance your career. Through the Atlanta Chiefs football team, Stan’s vision is to offer players who may have been overlooked the opportunity for exposure and personal development.

Stan and his wife now live in Atlanta with their two daughters.