Sara Shinneman is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources, with 17 years of experience in human resources, including working at Hewitt Associates (now Aon Hewitt) and Frito-Lay. Sara is a graduate of Leadership Plano, Texas and Leadership Pipeline, Texas. In 2008, she was awarded the President's Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing over 4,000 volunteer service hours. Sara was recently nominated for the Great Women of Texas Award for her professional and civic leadership. Sara holds a Bachelor in Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin.

Rick Tiemann started The Executive Group in 1991 and works with companies in the areas of organizational and business development. His expertise is on developing organizational effectiveness through employee selection and development with a targeted focus on sales and leadership. His experience in mergers and acquisitions including turnarounds and employee integration make him a sought after consultant to organizations preparing for or in the midst of implementing change.

With over 40 years of business experience including having owned three businesses, Rick has worked in both national and international arenas and has held positions of Director of Sales and Marketing, VP of Sales, Asian Business Development Manager, and President of a 75 million dollar company in the fire and security industry.

He brings a unique mix of sales and business expertise along with a deep understanding of personality and performance potential to his practice. Over the past 24 years he has interpreted more than 12,000 16PF assessments.

Rick is also an accomplished Executive and Behavioral Coach and uses his insight into behavior to assist CEO’s, Sales and Operations Managers, and business owners in their professional development.

Drew was born and raised in New York City on January 20, 1955. He was the only child of Rhoda Palestine and Drew "Bundini" Brown, Jr.

Drew's father Bundini was the trainer and motivational force behind three-time world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali. His famous slogan "Float like a Butterfly and Sting like a Bee" is timeless and world renown. Brown graduated from Southern University at New Orleans with a major in business administration and minor in economics.

Drew joined the United States Navy where he earned Wings of Gold. He was then assigned to Attack Squadron 35 "The Black Panthers"—the oldest Attack Squadron in Naval Aviation history. At one time, he was the only black Naval jet pilot flying attack aircrafts (A-6 Intruder). Drew flew missions from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-69)

Drew has been awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by the President of the United States, The Freedom Foundation Medal by the US Supreme Court, and the Congressional Black Caucus Male Achievement Award. Among Drew's other numerous awards is the United States Chamber of Commerce's Special Salute for outstanding leadership.

Millions of people have seen and heard Commander Drew Brown in person or via his appearances on NBC's Today Show, NBC Nightly News, CBS This Morning Show, and hundreds of local TV and national radio broadcast. He has been featured in the New York Times, The Washington Post, and Fortune Magazine among other publications.

His autobiography "You Gotta Believe" reached the bestseller list and is in its seventh printing and continues to receive rave reviews.

Cathy Fyock, CSP, SPHR, SHRM-SCP is The Business Book Strategist and works with professionals and thought leaders who want to write a book as a business development strategy.  She is the author of eleven books, including—On Your Mark: From First Word to First Draft in Six Weeks, Blog2Book: Repurposing Content to Discover the Book You’ve Already Written, and with coauthor Lois Creamer, The Speaker Author: Sell More Books and Book More Speeches. Her book, Authority, is an anthology about the power of authorship and was a Wall Street Journal bestseller. Her newest book is My New Book: The Upcoming Message that will Change the World.

Since beginning her business in 2014, she has helped over 200 professionals become published authors. She believes that we all have a purpose, and that our stories are the way in which we share our truth with others. She is certain that authors can and do change the world, one word at a time.

John O’Leary lived through worse than most can imagine. At age nine, a fire exploded and burned 100% of his body. Given a one-percent chance to live, he fought extraordinary odds.

John spent five months in the hospital, underwent dozens of surgeries, lost all of his fingers to amputation and had to relearn to walk, write, and feed himself. He endured, persevered, and survived – largely because others emerged, served and inspired. John now lives to share the life-giving lessons from his story in hopes that he can Spark! the extraordinary possibility of your story.

He shares these lessons as a tribute to those who leapt into the flames to save him. Who worked tirelessly to restore him. Who pushed him to write though he no longer had fingers. Who held him close when the days were dark and the nights scary. He shares these lessons as an invitation for you to choose to wake up to the fullness of your life, to embrace the amazing gift of each moment, and to celebrate the joy of your inspired life!

As he shares these lessons, sparks will leap.

Sparks that can renew you with hope, purpose, perspective, faith and love. Sparks that remind you that one person, one action, one word, does indeed make a difference. Sparks that liberate you from excuses, destructive cynicism, limiting beliefs, broken relationships, and lousy results. And sparks that, when united, ignite us together toward an extraordinary future!

What John knows for certain is this: You can’t always choose the path you walk in life, but you can always choose the manner in which you walk.