Meet Our Facilitators
Joseph Bowers | Jennifer Herold | Anna Birch | Kim Bolourtchi | SOUL COLE | Hilani Ellis | Matthew Homann | Sonia Hunt | Whitney Kenter | Naeem Mahmood | Jennifer Oertli | Rod Reed | Asha Hornaday
JOSEPH BOWERS
Founding Partner and CEO, Stone Cottage | Co-Founder, CREATiON Companies
Joseph Bowers is known for his engaging and holistic approach, connecting the parallel nuances of musicianship and musical collaboration with the tasks at hand, designed to facilitate purpose, balance, productivity, focus and human connection.
He combines 25 years as an entrepreneur and global corporate executive to help individuals and teams transform their leadership capabilities. Focused on outcome-based learning, business management, leadership development and executive coaching, Joseph leverages holistic strategies designed to facilitate purpose, productivity and human connection. He co-founded CREATiON Companies in 2017, creating essential space, place and experiences for business leaders and teams to collaborate and grow.
Throughout his career, Joseph has partnered with high-profile business leaders and held senior leadership roles with global, corporate and non-profit organizations. His passion for building robust teams and cultures and delivering innovative strategy-focused learning experiences results in world-class retreats and destinations with renowned thought leaders and subject-matter experts.
Joseph has founded and led start-up ventures, large-scale corporations and government projects in the United States and Asia, spanning multiple industries: real estate, education, retail, wholesale, manufacturing, media, supply chain and leadership organizations. Previously, he co-founded and served as President and Chief Operating Officer of the learning and virtual experience platform Geniecast, and was the Chief Networking Officer for YPO, the world’s largest network of chief executives focused on better business leadership through peer learning.
JENNIFER HEROLD
Founder & CEO, Vaughan Herold LLC | Leadership Coach
Jennifer Herold is the founder of Vaughan Herold, a professional coaching and leadership development practice. She focusses on implementing skills and practices that draw forth courageous leadership to transform teams and cultures. Through challenging currently held mental models to unlock options and build competencies for growth, Jennifer enables clients to access and institute sustainable change, live a braver life, and elevate their organizations.
Prior to her shift to coaching, Jennifer spent almost 15 years in marketing for several Fortune 500 organizations. She brings a proficiency in leadership experience and organizational savvy to her work with clients. Jennifer also possesses a natural ability to connect and has built a robust set of proven tools and practices for leadership development.
She is a PCC, certified by the International Coaching Federation, and is proud to be a Certified Dare to Lead™ Facilitator, which is based on the ground-breaking research of Dr. Brené Brown on what the future of successful, resilient leadership will require. She is also trained and certified in industry-leading assessments that help clients better understand how their personality and tendencies contribute to and inhibit their leadership effectiveness.
ANNA BIRCH
Certified Growth Coach, Bloom Growth System | Entrepreneur | Executive Facilitator | Experiential Trainer
Anna Birch is a Certified Growth Coach at Bloom Growth Systems. Bloom Growth is an execution and communication system that works through simplification and prioritization. This system will allow you to leverage your highest priority opportunities and remove your biggest obstacles while growing individually and organizationally. Companies best suited for Bloom Growth System are:
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Growing at a rapid pace and finding pain points in operations, culture, or execution
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Hitting a ceiling on growth and feel like they need to get unstuck and thrive again
Anna is an entrepreneur, gifted executive facilitator, and experiential trainer. She has founded and led several businesses all rooted in organizational dynamics and human change. One of the most recent, Polaris Institute, engages the truth of neuroscience to activate sustainable human change in top performers and their teams.
Anna’s superpower is gaining immediate rapport and command of a room, creating outcome-based experiences that connect, inspire, and invite leaders into action. Each year, Anna impacts 1,000’s of leaders as a sought-after global facilitator and speaker for executive planning retreats, forum retreats, executive coaching, management workshops, and international learning events. She propels the transfer of real-world learning with humor, insight, targeted program design, and professionalism. She has worked with founders and executive teams at Sony, Voyager Space, World Bank, Fannie Mae, CACI, Allstate Insurance, NAVAIR, Discovery, and countless other organizations over her 30 years of professional facilitation.
Anna lives for the legacy she inspires in her two daughters, Audrey and Autumn. She happily resides atop the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with her family.
KIM BOLOURTCHI
Chief Synergy Officer | Organizational Culture and Communication Expert
Kim is an organizational culture and communication expert known for her bold, straightforward approach to helping leaders unlock transformative growth by committing to clarity.
As a Chief Synergy Officer at Glowe Connective, Kim helps CEOs create thriving cultures where people love to work. She has also served as Founder, CEO, and Managing Member for several highly successful organizations and has guided multiple startups to multi-million dollar revenue streams.
Kim loves to help others maximize their potential and achieve more than they ever thought possible. Her career is a testament to the transformative power of leaning into your superpowers: She has managed a thriving law practice, served as the Director of Leadership and Professional Development for a Top 20 law school, and created life-changing courses that empower rising and seasoned professionals to align with their gifts and move past obstacles to success.
She is a top-rated professor at Maryville University and the founder of the nonprofit UNMUTED. She hosts the weekly podcast “Boldly Stated,” and her book “Truly Inspired: Secrets for Finding Extraordinary Success at Work,” is being used as a roadmap for professionals in all stages of life and career transition. And, she is a national champion Latin dancer who continues to host workshops that leverage the incredible power of physical movement to unleash confidence and success.
SOUL COLE
Retired NFL player | Health and Wellness Consultant |
Mental Performance Coach
Brandon Coleman, or as he is more commonly referred to as SOUL COLE, is a retired NFL player who was a wide receiver for the New Orleans Saints. After suffering career-ending injuries in 2018, he transitioned into the health and wellness space becoming respected and sought-after wellness consultant, breathing coach and sound healing practitioner.
Known for his determination and drive, Coleman defied odds to earn a spot on the Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2014. He played for the Saints from 2014-2017 but was plagued by a series of injuries. He left the team in 2018 and announced his NFL retirement the following year.
Dealing with intense physical pain, depression and anxiety, Coleman found his way back to himself through therapy, meditation, yoga, breathwork and sound healing. Through this work, SOUL COLE emerged, and Coleman discovered a new calling to help others achieve physical, mental and emotional health. Today, he works with individuals and group to help them refine and redefine their lives by giving them the tools to attain balance, intention and wellness.
HILANI ELLIS
Capacity Architect | Entrepreneur | Keynote Speaker
Hilani Ellis is renowned as a capacity architect, facilitating transformations that evolve and optimize individuals and teams. Hilani has spent more than 25 years building out a library of knowledge and believes that true progress requires disruption, strategy, and energy. Her business success as an entrepreneur and facilitator has transformed more than 400 teams, ranging from start-ups to large enterprises.
Working with Hilani, you will learn secrets and non-traditional strategies that boost productivity and create a competitive advantage.
Hilani offers strategies to help teams evolve from a status quo work style to creative disruption; from focusing on short-term gains to long-term advantage and from managing time to increasing energy.
MATTHEW HOMANN
Founder, Filament | Inventor of Thinksgiving | Lifelong Entrepreneur
Matt Homann has suffered from “Idea Surplus Disorder” as long as he can remember. He has a natural knack for helping smart people think, meet and learn together better.
An accomplished keynote speaker and creative facilitator, Matt has worked with legal, accounting, financial services, nonprofit, and healthcare professionals around the world, as well as with executives from companies like McDonald’s, HP, IBM, British Petroleum, Nokia, DuPont and the US Military.
In his previous life as a lawyer, Matt earned a reputation as a tireless advocate for legal innovation, alternative fees, and client-focused service. He was named one of the 50 most innovative people in law by Fastcase, a “Legal Rebel” by the American Bar Association and is a fellow of the College of Law Practice Management.
Matt is also the founder and former CEO of Invisible Girlfriend and Invisible Boyfriend, a startup that pioneered virtual companionship and that was featured on The Today Show.
SONIA HUNT
Chief Marketing Officer | Best-Selling Author | Global Speaker on Health and Wellness
WHITNEY KENTER
CEO & Founder Glowe Connective | Speaker | Thought Leader
Whitney Kenter has unbounded visionary creativity, an audacity to dream big, and can corral energy to unlock value and potential in people and businesses. With more than two decades of experience in business advisory, financial services and executive leadership, Whitney has led highly successful entrepreneurial businesses and organizations in the roles of CEO, managing member and board member.
Currently, she is founder and CEO of Glowe Connective, an innovative advisory firm to businesses and executives that helps visionary leaders foster creativity and collaboration as key elements of the energy needed to shift and grow their businesses.
Most recently, Whitney was a founding managing member of Matter Family Office, an industry-leading national wealth management firm that advises highly successful families. Whitney was responsible for the leadership of the firm’s culture, people, branding, communication and strategic initiatives.
Whitney has also brought her passion to inspire, create and connect to her roles as a board member of House of Genius, Venture Café St. Louis, St. Louis Children’s Hospital, and the St. Louis United Way, an advisor to NEXUS Global Summit, a member of Summit, and as a U.S. Fringe Diplomacy Partnership Opportunity Delegate to Cuba
NAEEM MAHMOOD
Founder, Mood Ventures | Peak Performance Strategist | Partner, Performance Coach University
Naeem Mahmood is a world-renowned peak performance coach in the areas of leadership, organizational behavior, psychology of achievement, and sales mastery.
He has advised some of the world’s top organizations including the US Army, Salesforce, Google, Equinox, Berkshire Hathaway, Groupon and JP Morgan. Naeem was one of Tony Robbins’ top national speakers where he delivered 3,000+ talks, introducing more than 100,000 people to the psychology of peak performance. He has mastered the skills that create immediate and lasting change.
Through keynotes and business performance coaching Naeem helps businesses, brands and individuals achieve rapid, measurable improvements in work and life. He serves entrepreneurs and professionals all the way up to Fortune 500 company executives.
With more than 15 years of professional speaking and coaching experience, Naeem’s clients, audiences, and readers see results every single day, reaching their highest potential with purpose and passion.
JENNIFER OERTLI
Change Management & Leadership Lead | Centric Consulting
Jennifer Oertli is the Change Management Lead with Centric Consulting, a business and technology consulting firm with 14 US offices in the U.S. She is currently the Account Manager and Change Management Consultant for one of Centric’s largest client in the technology services industry.
Before joining Centric Consulting, Jennifer spent eight years as Vice President and Director, Human Resources, at DDB St. Louis Advertising, working to create strategies and programs in organizational design, performance, recognition, and communication. During her tenure, the agency was twice recognized as the top DDB office for employee satisfaction in a network of over 200 offices.
Jennifer served as Director of Client Success at Bonfyre, a mid-stage startup technology application in the employee engagement and communications space. She developed a custom program to build the firm’s leadership team and align around goals for fundraising, business development, and client engagement as a high-performing team.
In Jennifer’s independent consulting practice, she maintains a client list of women entrepreneurs and business leaders, helping them decode non-productive thinking, rebuild high-performance behavior patterns, and increase Emotional Intelligence through skill-building resulting in exceptional leadership and business growth.
Jennifer is a trusted business ally for women in senior positions facing real challenges. She loves learning and implementing new technologies through her consulting work, especially those that enable more meaningful, genuine communication.
Jennifer lives in Atlanta, Georgia, close to her grown daughter and continues to support women not only through consulting but also through volunteerism.
ROD REED
Vice-President, The CEO Forum | Executive Coach and Consultant
With nearly 30 years’ experience in higher education, strategic consulting, and executive coaching, Rod Reed has become a guiding force in helping leaders understand and make the most of generational differences in the workplace. This work helps organizations elevate productivity, increase employee engagement, and foster healthy team environments.
Throughout his extensive career in higher education, Rod has been a catalyst for transformative change, helping universities around the world leverage their values for student impact, missional faithfulness, and financial thriving.
For more than two decades, Rod has helped corporate and non-profit organizations translate aspirational values into sustainable operational systems. He helps leaders create workplaces that seamlessly blend bottom line success and employee growth.
Over the last decade Rod has served high-capacity executives through individualized coaching relationships. His expertise lies in helping these leaders optimize their professional contributions while staying true to their core values. His approach extends beyond the boardroom, aiming to create a positive ripple effect that blesses not only the leaders themselves but also their families, colleagues, and employees.
As a thought leader, consultant, and coach, Rod helps leaders leave a legacy of empowered individuals, thriving teams, and workplaces imbued with a sense of purpose and joy.
ASHA HORNADAY
Founder and Etiquette Consultant, The Modern School of Manners
Asha Hornaday is a distinguished etiquette consultant and founder of The Modern School of Manners. Having received her formal training in England, a country renowned for its rich traditions in social graces and manners, Asha brings a refined yet approachable touch to her teachings.
With a passion for fostering respect, kindness, and proper conduct in every aspect of life, Asha specializes in conducting comprehensive etiquette workshops and private bookings, offering interactive and engaging sessions tailored to a diverse clientele.
Asha's expertise spans multiple domains, including children's etiquette, where she engages young minds with fun and interactive lessons on politeness and good behavior; adult etiquette, providing guidance on social interactions and personal presentation; corporate etiquette, equipping professionals with the skills to navigate the business world with confidence and poise; and dating etiquette, helping individuals make positive and lasting impressions in their romantic pursuits.
“Etiquette is not just about following rules; it's a tool for improving interactions and creating a respectful and harmonious environment for yourself and those around you,” Asha says.
Known for her personable approach and attention to detail, Asha creates customized programs that resonate with participants, ensuring they walk away with practical knowledge and newfound confidence. Whether through group workshops or one-to-one sessions, she is dedicated to enhancing her clients' social skills, enabling them to handle any situation with grace and elegance.
Asha's mission is to make the world a more courteous and considerate place, one interaction at a time. Through her expertise and passion, she continues to inspire individuals to embrace the art of etiquette in their daily lives.
A St. Louis native, Asha proudly holds a Level 2 Sommelier Certification from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust and is currently pursuing her Level 3 Certification, just one level away from the highest wine level offered by the esteemed institution. This advanced training underscores her comprehensive knowledge and expertise in wine, enhancing her ability to guide clients through sophisticated social and professional dining experiences.
Asha's dedication to excellence in etiquette and her commitment to mastering the intricacies of wine education make her a distinguished consultant in her field.
