Discover Your Talent–Do What You Love

Samuel P. N. Cook is the founder and creative director of James Cook media, a documentary filmmaking marketing agency. He's also the creator of the story funnel software, which helps business owners tell their story online. A graduate of West Point, he served two tours of duty in Iraq and has taught history at West Point and New York University.

Silja Litvin was born in Germany, but moved to California as a child. Exposed to many diverse cultures, she developed an insatiable curiosity for psychology. In 17 years of international modeling, she also pursued a master's and PhD in clinical psychology. Now she’s venturing into artificial intelligence, gamification, and chatbots to find ways to help people help themselves, including launching EQ: The Emotional Fitness game.

Kim Ades is the President and Founder of Frame of Mind Coaching™ and JournalEngine™ Software. Author, speaker, entrepreneur, coach, and mother of five, Kim is recognized as one of North America's foremost experts on performance through thought mastery. Using her unique philosophy and quirky coaching style, she helps her clients shift their thinking in order to yield extraordinary results and personal transformation.

758: Army Officer Turned Entrepreneur

Natasha McCreesh is a joy bringer, cultural explorer, and humanitarian. She walked away from a 20-year corporate career with no plan other than to only do work that brings her joy. Four years later, her life is more satisfying than she imagined. Collaborating with people of passion and purpose, she coaches and mentors leaders and teams to get the most out of their life and work. She takes groups to Liberia, west Africa, to demonstrate the connection between powerful service and transformational leaders.

Bernie Taylor is an independent naturalist and author. He researches the mythological and biological knowledge among prehistoric, indigenous and ancient peoples. His works in these areas include "Biological Time" (2004) and "Before Orion: Finding the Face of the Hero" (2017). Taylor says that some cave paintings are fundamental pieces in the our journey to self-realization, a record of biological knowledge that impacted some of the artistic styles and religious practices still with us today.  

Will Little grew up in the inner city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in a broken home. Growing up poor and fatherless he ventured out onto the streets as a teenager—robbing, stealing, selling drugs and carrying guns until he killed a young man in a shootout. Now 19, Will was charged and sentenced to 20 years in prison. During his incarceration, he made a conscious choice to change his life around. After 10 years, he was released to the same Philly community where he became a community activist and mentor.

Paulette Gaines Wood has been known as a teller of stories all her life. She was seventy when she had her “now or never” moment and despite being dyslexic, decided to write and publish her first book. "The Noble Anthony and His Lady Cleopatra" became a #1 International Best Seller on Amazon. With the completion of her second book, “The Noble Anthony and His Lady Cleopatra Return Home,” she reminds people that its never too late to follow your dreams and experience the excitement that comes from it.

Terri Mays is an Advanced Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) practitioner. She loves teaching students and educators how to raise their emotional tone—mind state—utilizing EFT tapping. It allows you to master your fears and experience new freedom and possibilities. She has been a healer and intuitive for over 30 years and is the founder and CEO of the HOPEnUp Foundation, helping students in all areas of life challenges realize their full potential, self-acceptance and self-esteem with EFT tapping.

Kaia Alexander is an award-winning author and filmmaker. Her novel, “Written in the Ashes,” is the untold story about the burning of the Great Library of Alexandria, Egypt, and the life of Hypatia, the world’s first female mathematician/philosopher. Kaia’s new documentary feature film, “Chalice: Women Leaders Rise,” explores how and why women were written out of history, how this has influenced the treatment of women globally, and the exciting rise of women leaders today. 

Carey Gillam is a veteran investigative journalist with more than 25 years of experience covering corporate news, including 17 years as a senior correspondent for Reuters international news service. She is the author of “Whitewash—The Story of a Weed Killer, Cancer and the Corruption of Science,” an expose of corporate corruption in agriculture. The book won the coveted Rachel Carson Book Award. Gillam works now as Research Director for the non-profit U.S. Right to Know.

Ross Wehner is an internationally featured career performance coach who changed careers to live his purpose and improve his own well-being. He is a former engineer and Fortune 100 recruiter who now fulfills his purpose by empowering individuals to accelerate their career growth, magnify their impact, and discover meaningful work that they love. Ross brings out the best in his clients by relighting their fires, aligning their work with their values, and equipping each of them to reach their full potential.

Colonel Christopher D. Kolenda is an internationally renowned combat leader, strategist, author, and entrepreneur, having spent a career in the military, including being a professor at West Point, before launching his consulting business. As the founder of the Strategic Leaders Academy, he helps nonprofits and small businesses to grow sustainably by working with them to get the big things right—Leadership, culture and strategy.

Laura Sandefer had no plans to start a school, much less turn education on its head. But as she looks back, she has vivid memories of a pre-dawn chat with her father on the morning she left for college. His advice, “Be curious,” has become a consistent thread in her life’s journey. As co-founder of Acton Academy, her school has sparked a global awakening in education. Her book, "Courage to Grow,” documents the journey to pursue the big questions around learning and unleashing human potential.

Joel Solomon believes that although financial success and power can have great value, it is most important to learn to be successful as human beings. Solomon chairs Renewal Funds, a $98 million mission venture capital firm, delivering above market returns while catalyzing positive social and environmental change. He is also the author of the book, “The Clean Money Revolution: Reinventing Power, Purpose, and Capitalism.”