General Session

Tucker Carlson is the anchor of Fox and Friends Weekend and the editor-in-chief of The Daily Caller, one of the largest and fastest growing news sites in the country. Carlson joined FOX from MSNBC, where he hosted several nightly programs. Previously, he was the co-host of Crossfire on CNN, as well the host of a weekly public affairs program on PBS.

A longtime newspaper and magazine writer, Carlson has reported from around the world, including dispatches from Iraq, Pakistan, Lebanon and Vietnam. He has been a columnist for New York magazine and Reader's Digest. Carlson began his journalism career at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper in Little Rock. His most recent book is entitled, Politicians, Partisans and Parasites: My Adventures in Cable News. He appeared on the third season of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.

Mike Aitken has worked at SHRM since 2003 and currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Government Affairs. Prior to joining SHRM, he served for 14 years as associate director for Governmental and External Relations at the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR). Previously, Aitken worked on state public policy issues at Bonner & Associates, a public affairs firm in Washington, DC. Currently, he is based in Alexandria, VA.

Jim Knight is not your average keynote speaker. As the former Senior Director of Training & Development at Hard Rock International, Knight brings his high energy, interactive and entertaining approach to deliver insights on organizational culture, customer service, employee branding, performance management, philanthropy, facilitation training, personal development, and leadership skills.

Knight has a degree in Vocal Performance & Education and taught in the Florida public school system for 6 years, before embarking on his hospitality training career.

The acclaimed author of Culture That Rocks, Jim Knight began his 30+-year career in hospitality training as a restaurant staff-level employee for Olive Garden and Hard Rock Cafe, before serving as the head of the School of Hard Rocks, running point on all global training and development functions for Hard Rock International. In this role, Knight managed and contributed to all facets of organizational training, including staff and management training materials and programs, the corporate university, management training locations, company e-Learning initiatives, leadership transitions, and on-site training and assessment.

During his time with the Hard Rock brand, his team won multiple Telly Awards, as well as a Gold Best in Class Award from Brandon Hall's Excellence in Learning. Knight was also recognized by Training Magazine, as representing one of the Top 125 training companies in the world, out of all industries and businesses. Since 2012, Jim Knight has been featured in Forbes Magazine, Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, Business News Daily and Fox Business News and was highlighted in 2015 as one of the “Top 5 Speakers to Watch.”  
 

A portion of Knight’s book and speaking proceeds goes to No Kid Hungry, a campaign to eliminate childhood hunger in the U.S.

With thought-provoking content and a refreshing, edgy delivery style, Jim Knight shares his unique, seasoned outlook on company culture, guest service, building teams, employee engagement, training and philanthropy to help organizations achieve rock star status.

Susan Ershler tours the world speaking about her life journey and sharing with others her secrets for success, determination, and achieving seemingly impossible goals. Ershler’s record would be remarkable enough if it only detailed her business achievements. During her 23-year corporate career, she has held a series of increasingly responsible executive positions in the sales divisions of Fortune 500 companies. She led teams to sales records, beating quotas from $1 million to $600 million. Ending as a vice president of sales for a multi-national telecommunications corporation, she was responsible for their fast-growing Internet division. She also worked at US WEST, United Technologies, FedEx Kinko's and GTE (Verizon). During her business career, she earned 11 annual President's Club sales awards—the top honors awarded to the sales people in these companies. But as she was marking these achievements, she and her husband Phil, a professional mountain guide, were climbing the Seven Summits—the highest mountain on each of the world's seven continents.
“A go-getter by nature, Ershler knew big success meant dreaming big.” —Selling Power Magazine

That remarkable journey culminated at the top of Mount Everest on May 16, 2002. With that climb, she and Phil became the first couple in history to climb the Seven Summits together. They've written a book on their adventure, Together on Top of the World: A True Story of Love and Courage, published by Warner Books. That feat earned them world-wide media attention, including Good Morning America, CNN, The New York Times and many others. As Alex Ward of the The New York Times put it, "Surmounting Everest's 29,035 feet remains one of the great mythic achievements, an undisputable display of skill and courage against ice and rock, bottomless chasms, bodynumbing temperatures and tent-shredding winds, all in an oxygen-deprived danger zone. Ms. Ershler worked hard to get there."

”Susan Ershler had climbed to the top of her sales profession before she ever strapped on crampons. She approaches climbing goals and sales goals the same way: setting them high and keeping them constantly in mind.” —Seattle Woman Magazine

Accomplishments:
• Honored with eleven annual President's Club sales awards including the exclusive national award: "Regional Sales Manager of the Year"
• Climbed to the summit of Mt. Everest on May 16, 2002 with her husband Phil becoming, "The first couple to climb the Seven Summits together" (the highest peak on each of the world's seven continents.)
• Ershler became the 12th American woman to climb Mt. Everest and the fourth American woman to complete the Seven Summits.

Not a professional mountain climber, Ershler trained by climbing the 35 stories in her high-rise office building on her lunch hour for a year—with a 40-pound pack on her back. Ershler tells her electrifying story to audiences with clarity and passion. She lifts her audience's ambitions by showing them how hard work, dedication, perseverance and a total commitment to excellence can pay off in reaching seemingly impossible goals. Her leadership message begins with visualizing a goal, no matter how difficult or out of reach. She continues with techniques to improve focus and discipline and shows how essential teamwork is to achievement. And she concludes with a passionate affirmation of the value of life and the thrill of celebrating your success from the top of the world.

Ershler’s message stands apart for its credibility and power. Having climbed the mountain—in work, and in the world, Ershler is the real deal.

A charismatic and versatile actor, Blair Underwood has found success acting in television, on stage and on the big screen. His success has been driven by the underlying belief that, in order to achieve longevity in the acting business, you must diversify yourself and become as flexible as possible.

A gifted and sought-after film actor, Underwood can most recently be seen lighting up the big screen in starring roles in Madea’s Family Reunion, the smash sequel to Tyler Perry’s hit Diary of a Mad Black Woman, and Something New, a romantic comedy co-starring Sanaa Lathan. He has also co-starred in Malibu’s Most Wanted; opposite Julia Roberts in Full Frontal; and as a Marine Captain in Rules of Engagement, for which he won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Film. That same year he won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series for his starring role in Steven Bochco’s City of Angels. Underwood's other film credits include his portrayals of a space shuttle flight navigator in the hit Deep Impact; a death row inmate in Just Cause; a geneticist in Gattaca; a sheriff in Posse; and a corporate banker in Set It Off, for which he received yet another NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture.

Underwood has received 12 industry nods from the Golden Globes and the NAACP Image Awards, with five wins from the NAACP Image Awards, for his roles in film and television on City of Angels, Rules of Engagement, L.A. Law, Mama Flora’s Family, and Murder in Mississippi. In 2000, People magazine named him one of its "50 Most Beautiful People," and in 2004 named him one of the "Sexiest Men Alive."

Involved in numerous charitable organizations, Underwood’s dedicated support of the Muscular Dystrophy Association won him the 1993 Humanitarian Award. He is also co-founder of Artists for a New South Africa (ANSA, ansafrica.org). Founded in 1989 with Alfre Woodard, Danny Glover, Mary Steenburgen and other friends in the arts and entertainment community, ANSA supports a democratic South Africa with equal rights and opportunities for all citizens.

As the first female president of a professional sports franchise, Susan O’Malley is a pioneer in two fields: sports and business. She knows what it takes to be a leader in a tough business environment and how to create an organization from the ground up. Her ground-breaking business ideas and proactive approach to customer service brought her – and Washington Sports and Entertainment – to the top of the sports business world.