As People Practice Leader, I focus on connecting people, process and strategy.  I often serve in the role of fractional Chief Human Resources Officer, helping clients to improve their ability to recruit top talent, develop emerging leaders, and improve team effectiveness.

I understand leadership systems and how to cascade them throughout the organization and get departments talking to each other. I understand the difference between senior leaders and senior managers and help transition managers into leaders.

When clients need training programs on specific topics, or need hands-on implementation in a people function, I lead our team to execute the initiatives. Some relevant examples include:

• Creating an emerging leaders development program for OBMI, where the next generation of architects build leadership and management skills.
• Coaching high-potential leaders individually to accelerate their promotion.
• Creating role and responsibility clarity at a midsized company and maintaining management meeting cadence using the One Page Business Plan system.

I worked at Ernst and Young (EY) for many years where I focused on business process reengineering, change management and learning system development for large multinational companies, as well as EY’s own employees.

Prior to my career in management consulting, I volunteered for the Peace Corps in Nepal. I received a Bachelor of Arts from Kenyon College, and an MBA in Strategy from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University.

As a strong believer that mastery is a process of continuous learning, I take classes on a variety of subjects including operational strategy, people development and leadership systems.

I help leaders explore, grow, expand and develop themselves professionally and personally. I do not take things at face value. I listen carefully to understand their view of their business and their environment so I can foster their growth.

I have served as President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of a variety of businesses, including DPR Construction Inc. and the international law firms of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pitman and Morrison Foerster. 

I’ve personally experienced the challenges of working in complex organizations. My experience in the C-Suite gives me a unique and valuable view of individuals, teams and organizations and allows me to contribute a strategic perspective to the operational issues organizations face.

Some recent client engagements include:

• Analyzing the challenges surrounding leadership succession at an engineering firm.
• Promoting strategic thinking and facilitating an annual, 5-month long-term strategic ideation and planning process for a 1,000 person professional services firm.
• Executive coaching with numerous senior leaders.

I earned my Certified Professional Coach (CPC) credential from the World Coach Institute (WCI) and take pride in following the guidelines and ethics of International Coach Federation (ICF).

I have an MBA from Binghamton University, a BA in Psychology from the University of Buffalo and am involved with several nonprofit organizations.

As a former Founder, President and CEO for over 30 years, I understand how to achieve profitability and growth. I have a strong track record of aligning and engaging organizations to the next level of performance, developing and coaching leaders and optimizing strategies for new and existing products and services.  

Most recently, I was the Founder and CEO of Freeslate, Inc., a $25M instrumentation business that I formed by taking a division of Symyx Technologies, Inc. private by leading a management buyout (MBO).  At Freeslate, I restructured, pivoted and repositioned the business for growth, culminating in sale to a venture-backed company with >25x return to shareholders.

Instead of running businesses, I now focus as a strategic advisor and business coach, leveraging my “lived it” expertise to help CEOs of midsized companies accelerate business success.

My early career roles provide me with a unique perspective, having successfully delivered business results while holding leadership positions in diverse functions (engineering, marketing, business development, R&D, manufacturing) at Becton Dickinson and General Electric. Such experiences provide me with a combination of both the strategic skills to develop comprehensive growth strategies and the tactical knowledge how to drive operational results.

My areas of expertise include:

• Leadership & Organizational Execution
• Strategic Planning
• Coaching
• New Product Development & Technology Strategies for successful growth and profitability

I have an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, an MS in Electronics Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and a BS in Engineering from Trinity College in Hartford, CT.

In my spare time, I volunteer for several non-profit organizations focused on social causes, providing strategy consulting through the HBS Community Partners program in San Francisco.  I also love to ski and sail.  I live in the San Francisco Bay Area with my wife Julie, and our two daughters.

As a certified Professional Business Coach, I focus in three key areas to drive the growth of the companies I work with: people, process, and performance.

• People: I use assessments to help business owners and direct reports understand each other and improve their communication, problem solving and teamwork.
• Process: I help the team implement a sustainable planning framework that helps them find and keep their focus.
• Performance: I help the company create systems for measurement and accountability that ensure the plan gets implemented.

I recently worked with:

• A $65 million, third generation, 100-year-old family business in distribution: implemented One Page Business Plan Performance Management process, using personal assessments for new hire evaluation & team building, and coaching to the daughter of the CEO who recently took over as President.
• A $10 million software company: implemented One Page Business Plan Performance Management process, using personnel assessments for new hire evaluation & team building, and coaching to COO and business owner. 

I have advocated for small and midsized businesses my entire career:

• I am currently Chairman of the board for the venture development organization Jumpstart Inc.
• I served as Chairman of the Board for the Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE).
• I served on the board for the National Small Business Association in Washington DC.

My book, the Rise of Women Entrepreneurs, People, Process and Global Trends, was recognized as the Featured Book Recommendation from the Harvard Working Knowledge Group.

I am a certified Professional Business Coach, Certified Professional Behavior Analyst, certified Stages of Growth Strategist, certified facilitator of Peter Drucker’s The Five Most Important Questions and a One Page Business Plan® implementer.

I serve as the Chapter Chair of the Women Presidents Organization, a peer advisory group serving second-stage, women-led, multimillion-dollar companies, and was selected as a “Women of Note” and a “Notable Women in Entrepreneurship” by Crain’s Cleveland Business. I earned my Bachelor of Science Degree in Business from Bowling Green State University. I live in the Cleveland area with my husband Kevin and have two grown daughters.

My 30 years’ experience has given me a deep understanding of how to focus high-performance sales and customer teams on bringing solutions to customers. 

Some examples of my client engagements include:

• Overseeing software implementations to ensure that all stakeholder requirements are met.
• Evolving sales organizations by adding new teams, improving sales processes and implementing training plans.
• Executive coaching to support negotiations, role and responsibility clarity and growth and profitability strategy.

I founded Give Something Back Workplace Solutions (GSB) in 1991 and grew the company to $30 million in sales, making it one of the largest independent office products companies in the country.  Before selling the company in 2018, it had more than 40 customer service and salespeople, 5,000 active customers, 5 locations, 5 sales managers and processed 13,000 transactions a month. 

I understand the intricacies of running a midsized business.  Over 27 years, I led GSB through dozens of technology upgrades and implementations including 3 ERP, 4 CRM and 6 websites. The last ERP conversion to Microsoft Dynamics ERP required 8,000 hours over 4 months and was the most successful in the history of the VAR.

I’ve been honored with numerous awards, including Bay Area Most Admired CEO (2011, San Francisco Business Times), California Small Business of the Year (Small Business Association, 2005) and Top Bay Area Forty Under Forty (San Francisco Business Times, 2001).

I am passionate about giving back to the community. GSB’s success at serving allowed us to donate millions to hundreds of community-based organizations that work tirelessly to improve the quality of life in their communities. I was recognized as Corporate Philanthropist of the Year (Association of Fundraising Professionals, 2005) and GSB was awarded Most Generous Company in America (George Magazine, 1999).

I grew up in Cambridge, MA and have lived in the Bay Area since I graduated from Occidental College in 1988. I have two adult children, Spencer and Haley, who live and work in Boston and San Diego.

I am a workout junky that loves the gym, running, skiing and yoga. I played college football and lacrosse and continued playing lacrosse until 36. I am a foodie and music lover. 

I have been an owner of my accounting firm Montecino & Ciaccia, P.A. since 2014 and help my clients not only as a CPA, but as a business coach and advisor.

As a licensed One Page Business Plan consultant, I work with clients to assure plans and goals created at the beginning of the year are actually implemented and achieved at every level in business. At Mastering Midsized, I’m the go to person for training teams on financial acumen and using financial data to inform decisions and take action to improve growth and profitability.

As a Certified Tax Resolution Specialist, I help clients who have received a letter from the IRS, who owe back taxes, or who need to file delinquent taxes. I am a licensed CPA in New Jersey and a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA). I provide these licensed accounting services through Montecino & Ciaccia only but provide consulting through Mastering Midsized.

I am the current President of the South Jersey NAWBO chapter, an advocacy organization for women business owners. I also sit on the Board of Directors as Treasurer for Women of the Dream, a nonprofit providing program services to girls and young women ages 12-18 in underserved communities. I live in National Park, NJ with my husband John and my sons. When I’m not working, I enjoy stand up paddle boarding, reading and exercising in her garage gym. I love cheering for my older son, Joe, while he plays soccer and cooking with my younger son, Logan.

As an Executive Coach since 2011, I act as a confidante and activator for executives, overcoming internal and external obstacles that impede them reaching their pinnacle career dreams.

In my career I have recruited and developed hundreds of top performers and leaders while holding senior management, VP, and executive roles at Salesforce.com, Oracle, Hyperion Solutions, Portal Software, Openwave Systems, and several startups.

I speak frequently and blog on Executive Leadership topics and continue to serve as an executive mentor for Monte Jade Science and Technology Association, a high-tech business network with over 20,000 members worldwide.

For over 20 years, I have been putting in place the foundation for startups to become a billion-dollar organizations and others to sell 100Ks of products. I make data-driven decisions to drive growth and ensure product operations are prepared to scale. My unique background in intellectual property, both personally and professionally, creates a rare talent to identify, develop, and monetize intellectual property (“IP”) assets. 

My experience includes:

• Developing computer/gaming peripherals.
• Running and selling a midsized business in the garage door and gate industry.
• Launching new products in the consumer medical space.
• Developing a cellular technology to address a $460B social issue.
• Advising small to midsized businesses.

In less than two years, acting in both a leadership role and in an advisory capacity, I doubled EBITDA at several 30+ year-old businesses by identifying and correcting operational inefficiencies. I also led family businesses and closely help corporations through conflicts resulting from poor succession/estate planning.

I earned a B.S. in Business and Administration, concentrating in finance and information systems, from the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business and a J.D. and an LL.M. in Intellectual Property, Commerce and Technology from the UNH School of Law.

In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my family, going scuba diving, hiking, skiing, travelling, and taking photos (on land and underwater).

I connect company leaders with solutions that lead to the success of their people and company.  I enjoy facilitating the ideal fit between prospect needs, initial engagements and ongoing client support.

Some recent client engagements include:

• Our client needed to elevate the skill set of future leaders and ensure their ability to support company growth. I found the ideal Principal on our team to implement an Emerging Leaders program to ensure succession for the leadership team and improve morale company-wide.
• A business owner wanted to increase the value of their company and create a profitable exit strategy. I pulled our team together to step in with expertise in scaling the operation, recruiting talent and setting up a strategic planning initiative to hit growth targets.
• A company needed a key note speaker for an event. I facilitated discovery of their needs, brought in the right talent from our team, and we successfully delivered content that aligned, inspired and excited their team to step up their business planning processes.

My 18-year career with Xerox taught me to utilize a strategic sales approach, client advocate focus and innovative strategies to achieve outstanding performance.  I managed a wide spectrum of accounts from small to global companies in multiple industries including healthcare, legal, entertainment and resellers.

I hold a BS in Marketing from Arizona State University.  I live with my husband and two children in Manhattan Beach, CA, where I am an active leader supporting youth and local education. I serve on the Manhattan Beach Education Foundation Board, and previously served as President of the PTA and President of the National Charity League Manhattan Hermosa Chapter.

I thrive on challenges, particularly those that expand the company’s reach and allow me to engage the community.

For more than 12 years, I have worked as a marketing professional to deliver the content and events that help facilitate the education and growth of our clients and prospects.  This includes:

• Marketing programs
• Thought leadership
• Social media engagement
• Email communications
• Webinars and other events

I approach all aspects of my job with a positive, hard-working mindset, and am passionate about helping find solutions to any challenges.

I have an MBA from University of Phoenix and a BA in English from Mills College in Oakland, CA.  I live in the Bay Area with my husband and two young children and enjoy time with my family, reading and my newest hobby – gardening.

My enthusiasm as engagement manager is fueled by my love for challenge and growth.

I began my career in the medical field, running a start-up Urgent Care facility and playing a key role in growing the business into a thriving midsized company. My experience also extends into property management, overseeing and managing multiple residential and commercial properties. 

I enjoy life in the wine country, Newcastle CA, with my husband and two daughters.  When I’m not working, you’ll catch me on the sidelines of my kids’ sporting events, sipping wine at a winery, or enjoying the outdoors and good company.  

As the Executive Assistant for all the Principals at Mastering Midsized, I work closely with Principals and clients to provide administrative assistance, including coordination of various activities and confirmations of meetings and projects.

I joined Mastering Midsized in 2017.  Prior to joining Mastering Midsized, I was the proprietor of S is for Science for 10 years. 

After graduating San Jose State College with a degree in Molecular Biology and Chemistry, I joined Collagen corporation as a chemist, then worked at Oral B for a number of years in quality assurance.

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area with my husband, Robert Sher, and have two grown children, Ben and Jessica Sher.  I am an avid knitter and enjoy traveling.