Meet our Experts
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Hilary Blair is a professional voice-over artist and actor with over 30 years experience teaching and coaching. She teaches voice, public speaking and voice-over with HB Voice/ARTiculate and is on faculty at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and National Theatre Conservatory. She is a highly regarded private coach working extensively across the US at a variety of schools, universities, arts centers, theatres and in corporate settings. She holds an MFA from the National Theatre Conservatory and a BA from Yale University. She is a member of Toastmasters and VASTA – the voice and speech trainers association. Hilary is honored to have worked with finalists and awardees of the Make Mine a Million $ Business program since its inception.
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Bill Dueease
Bill is the President of The Coach Connection (TCC), which he co-founded in May 2001. Over 96.5 % of TCC’s approximately 1,500 clients have achieved their initial life and career goals by connecting with their personally matched TCC Member Coach. In addition, Bill has successfully bought, started, and sold more than six businesses on two continents during the past 30 years and has helped others do the same as both a business broker and coach. Business Coach
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Alicia Marie Fruin
Alicia Marie Fruin, a Member Coach with The Coach Connection, brings a wide range of experience to training, consulting and coaching. Alicia has designed over 80 training programs and led custom programs for hundreds of business owners in a variety of industries across the country. She has successfully trained owners, managers, presidents and sales people on how to build a business truly worth having!
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Libby is Program Advisor to Count Me In, and the founder of Right Brain Ventures, featuring creative programs for small businesses. Libby owned and managed the largest messaging center in New York City, and as an investment banker with two large European banks, she assisted large and small, public and private companies raise capital and execute mergers & acquisitions. She holds a Masters Degree in Community Economic Development and an MBA in Finance.
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Ellen is president and founder of Bare Bones Biz, a business training and consulting company. Her passion for business literacy began when she nearly sank her own family’s business. Then she learned how to keep track of the money...and make more of it. Now she has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs start, fix and grow their companies. Ellen was President of Benjamin Franklin Plumbing which, on her watch, grew from zero to $40 million in sales, one of the fastest growing franchises in 2003. She is the author of three books, including her latest, The Bare Bones Biz Fitness Plan.
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Mary Beth Shewan, M.S., MCC
Mary Beth Shewan, M.S., MCC, is a Member Coach of The Coach Connection, and has been a business/career coach for 11 years. Mary Beth holds degrees in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and Career Development Counseling. Her professional experience includes organizational developer, career counselor, manager, speaker, and trainer for business. She’s worked with an international client base, both one-on-one and in organizations, helping professionals accomplish their goals and transforming work environments to improve performance, business value and overall success.
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Jeff Newelt
Jeff Newelt is Social Networking/PR consultant for an eclectic mix of clients including Count Me In, best-selling author Jean Chatzky, DKNY Jeans, American Splendor’s Harvey Pekar, multi-media artist DJ Spooky, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, the online collective ACT-I-VATE, and numerous graphic novelists. Formerly the PR account supervisor for MWW Group’s primary client, Samsung, he also currently serves as an editor of SMITH magazine and HEEB magazine. Jeff, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, regularly performs freestyle dancehall reggae with numerous superheroes of dub, jazz, klezmer and blues.
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Simon O. Sinek
Simon teaches leaders and companies to inspire people. He created a simple model, The Golden Circle™ that codifies what makes the most inspiring people and organizations so successful. Simon has been invited to talk about The Golden Circle across the United States and around the world. From Members of Congress to foreign ambassadors, from small businesses to major corporations, from Hollywood to the Pentagon, more and more people are learning to become more effective, more efficient and more inspiring by discovering the power of Why.
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Nancy Michaels
Nancy Michaels is a nationally-known business development coach, author, speaker and consultant to women and minority business owners, as well as to companies that target women business owners. Her specialty is helping her clients — both small business owners and large corporations — to land and maintain long-term client relationships through creative, innovative and strategic sales and marketing strategies that distinguish them from their competitors and increase and develop their businesses. Nancy is the author of several popular business books including; Off the Wall Marketing Ideas, which she co-authored with Debbie Karpowicz Kickham (Adams Media, 2000); and Perfecting Your Pitch (Career Press, 2005). She has also written articles for numerous business publications such as, Entrepreneur Magazine, US News & World Report, Franchise Times, New York Post, Business Week, Fortune Small Business, Area Developer, and The Costco Connection. In addition, she is often invited to speak to business groups throughout the country. Nancy began her career in public relations and marketing as publicist for Matt Lauer, current co-host of the Today Show, when he hosted a daily television show in Boston. She can be reached at .
