Authors

Cleola Davis is a U.S. Army veteran and author of Forged in Battle: African American Officers Serving in the United States Army.

Her work documents the stories of African American officers whose leadership and sacrifice shaped military history.

Payton Lynch is a Product leader at Disney, where she builds digital experiences rooted in storytelling and guest advocacy.

By day, she helps power one of the most iconic storytelling brands in the world.

By night, she became an author.

Arnobio Morelix is the co-founder and CEO of Sirius, a pioneering Brazilian higher education institution focused on the professions of the future.

Jamie Russo is the founder of Tweetjoy and runs a boutique content agency serving startups.

he operates at the intersection of:

• Writing
• Brand building
• Community
• Multi-format content creation

Angela Chanowsky is the founder of Unique Genius, where she helps business owners reclaim focus, freedom, and growth by building elite virtual teams.

Katie Joy Duke is a mindset coach, retreat leader, and former disability attorney.

Her memoir, Still Breathing, chronicles love, loss, Stage IV breast cancer, and reinvention.

A USC Marshall graduate and operations leader at Sherwin-Williams, Jack blends business strategy with art, philosophy, and cultural storytelling.

Madeline Pasimio is a practicing dentist in the San Francisco Bay Area and the author of Contrary to Conception — a deep dive into the history, science, and lived experiences behind birth control.

Sam Perez is a weekend morning anchor, traffic anchor, and multi-skilled journalist at WBIR 10News in Knoxville, Tennessee.

She was named the 2024 South Carolina Reporter of the Year after covering major statewide stories including the Alex Murdaugh trial, legislative updates, and high-profile sporting events.

Jeanie Duncan is an executive and team coach who works with Fortune 100 and 500 companies, higher education institutions, and nonprofit organizations navigating complex change.

Michael Biarnes works at the forefront of healthcare strategy, focused on improving patient outcomes and advancing meaningful innovation.

But beyond healthcare, he’s become known for something deeper:

Helping people redefine success.

Carlo Mahfouz operates at the frontier of AI and human potential.

As VP of Strategic Technology Partnerships at Laerdal Medical, he works at the intersection of:

• Advanced technology
• Healthcare transformation
• Leadership ecosystems
• Human-centered innovation

Amnoni Myers is a social impact founder, speaker, and #1 Bestselling author of You Are the Prize: Seeing Yourself Beyond the Imperfections of Your Trauma.

Yogesh K. Soni is an AI-native product leader who has launched and scaled multiple 0→1 deep tech products across B2B and B2C markets.

Lisa M. Randolph is the creator of The Wildlife Divas — a children’s action-adventure series featuring five African American girls who use science, technology, engineering, arts, and math to save endangered species around the world.

Alisha Wielfaert is a best-selling author, transformational coach, speaker, podcaster, and artist who empowers creatives, entrepreneurs, and seekers to align with their inner wisdom and build flourishing lives and businesses.

Dr. Jennie Byrne is a physician and neuroscientist who built her career on evidence, precision, and expertise. Accustomed to academic writing and clinical rigor, she entered the book process believing the challenge would be intellectual.

Victor Barnes is a CPA and MBA with a career grounded in financial rigor, analysis, and professional standards. He approached authorship with skepticism, not sentiment, and evaluated the book process the same way he would any serious professional undertaking.

Marcelo DeSantis is a global technology and business leader with more than 25 years of executive experience across consumer goods, automotive, professional services, and technology consulting. He has served as CIO and Chief Digital Officer for multinational organizations, leading large-scale transformation efforts across the US, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.

John Thompson has been a senior executive at GE and Northwestern Mutual, leadership coach, and team builder with more than two decades of experience across operations, sales, and leadership roles in corporate America. Known for his practical, no-excuses approach, John focuses on helping individuals and teams take ownership of their choices and outcomes.

Steve Tang is a CEO and leadership speaker who came to authorship through lived responsibility, not aspiration. During the COVID pandemic, he found himself navigating high-stakes decisions, cultural strain, and leadership ambiguity with no existing playbook.

Dr. Miriam “Dr. Z” Zylberglait Lisigurski is a physician and wellbeing expert who has spent her career inside the systems that reward endurance, perfection, and self-sacrifice. Like many physicians, she was trained to prioritize competence over connection and performance over presence.

Lori Mazer is a strategist and leader whose work centers on helping individuals and organizations clarify their voice, sharpen their reputation, and expand their impact.

Dr. Ardeshir Mehran is a psychiatrist and public thinker whose work sits at the intersection of mental health, identity, and personal agency. Trained to diagnose and treat, he increasingly felt constrained by systems that prioritize comfort over truth.

Bob Jones is a veteran entrepreneur, executive, and innovation leader with decades of experience building consumer products, scaling businesses, and turning around underperforming public companies. His work spans early-stage ideation, customer discovery, product-market fit, and retail distribution, long before “Lean Startup” became a movement.

Henna Pryor is an award-winning author, keynote speaker, and executive coach who helps leaders navigate moments of social risk, visibility, and uncertainty.

Michael Dumlao is an award-winning Vice President of Marketing & Communications with 15+ years of experience leading brand transformations across Fortune 500, federal, academic, and nonprofit organizations.

Former corporate leader turned executive coach who spent 25 years inside the systems that reward stoicism, status, and self-sacrifice. Despite professional success, Jim experienced severe burnout driven not by workload alone, but by the isolation and emotional suppression baked into traditional definitions of masculinity and leadership.

Technology and business strategist with a 20+ year career leading transformation across Fortune 500 telecom, ecommerce, and retail organizations, most recently as Vice President of Strategy at a $12B North American retailer.

Commercial fisherman, charter captain, and safety professional whose life was permanently altered after surviving a catastrophic accident at sea in 1998. With decades of experience fishing the U.S. East Coast, the Bahamas, Mexico, and Bermuda, John’s life has always existed at the intersection of risk, responsibility, and faith.

Multi-passionate writer, performer, composer, and executive coach who has spent years operating at the intersection of creativity and leadership. Trained in musical theater, with professional performance credits and a thriving executive coaching practice, Allyson had already built multiple careers before writing Ballad of Dreams.

Matt Poepsel is a leadership scholar, executive practitioner, and former U.S. Marine Corps officer whose career spans military service, software product leadership, organizational psychology, and executive education. He holds a PhD in Psychology, an MBA, and has taught leadership and human flourishing at Boston College.

Multi-passionate writer, performer, composer, and executive coach who has spent years operating at the intersection of creativity and leadership. Trained in musical theater, with professional performance credits and a thriving executive coaching practice, Allyson had already built multiple careers before writing Ballad of Dreams.

Founder of GoPositiv and a long-time talent development leader who spent decades inside organizations designing learning experiences that actually worked. A dynamic presenter with a sharp sense of humor, Don became deeply interested in how the brain learns and what enables people to bring their best selves to work.

Senior global business executive and award-winning public speaker who has scaled partner ecosystems from seed-stage startups to Fortune 500 companies, generating over $200M in revenue. Parallel to his business career, Satish completed full marathons on all seven continents, including Antarctica.

Senior marketing and strategy executive with decades of experience at companies like AWS, Intel, and Honeywell, known among peers as an “idea machine,” who had long been fascinated by how decisions actually get made, but had never consolidated that thinking into a single framework.

Former Marine Corps officer, executive coach, and leadership development professional with 25+ years of experience working inside organizations, helping leaders build trust, connection, and performance.

Senior renewable energy marketing leader with nearly two decades inside the clean energy transition, deeply embedded in the industry but seeking a more reflective, lasting contribution beyond day-to-day deal flow.

Clinical psychologist, trauma expert, educator, and speaker with decades of experience working across counseling, forensic psychology, and higher education, who had accumulated immense insight but lacked a structured way to transmit it at scale.

Technology executive, investor, and board member of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship who felt a growing responsibility to prepare young people for the future of work. The book emerged at a personal inflection point, driven by fatherhood, loss, and a desire to leave something meaningful behind.

Early-stage entrepreneur and digital creator who used Her Big Idea to process failure, clarify her message, and articulate a mission centered on empowering women to pursue bold ideas. The book became the foundation for a speaking career, community, and long-term platform.

Reinvention expert, educator, and entrepreneur who had already lived multiple career transitions but needed a cohesive framework to connect his experiences into a teachable, repeatable model. The book became the backbone of his work at The School of Reinvention.

Veteran hostage negotiator and leadership trainer with nearly three decades in law enforcement who needed a way to translate high-stakes field experience into a durable leadership philosophy. The book became the vehicle to capture lessons learned under real pressure and make them usable outside crisis situations.

Debut fantasy novelist with a Stanford English background who approached publishing as a full creative ecosystem. Rather than treating the book as a one-time release, Aparna positioned The Boy with Fire as the nucleus of her identity, content, and community.

Former retail executive and economist who transitioned into entrepreneurship, Morgan entered the process believing a book should package her existing presentations. Instead, she confronted a deeper question: was she willing to step beyond service delivery and articulate a defensible point of view about identity, worth, and executive presence?

Former Wall Street executive who rebuilt her life from childhood poverty in Brazil, climbed to senior leadership at top financial institutions, and ultimately faced a pivotal question: could her value exist beyond the career she spent decades building?

Emmy Award–winning journalist and media professional who translated decades of interviewing leaders, politicians, and public figures into a conversational, action-oriented book focused on communication, courage, and showing up fully.

Attorney and long-time policy advocate who turned a personal experience with dismissive medical treatment into a broader examination of systemic failures in U.S. health care, particularly for Black women and other marginalized communities.

Senior fintech product leader and VP of Product at high-growth payments companies who had accumulated years of internal writing, diagrams, and explanations, but lacked a single, durable way to codify his thinking for investors, operators, and the broader fintech ecosystem.

Founder and CEO of Level Up For Life Coach, a professional coach working with women leaders to overcome self-doubt, who had long believed she was meant to write a book but lacked a clear path to turn that identity into a finished, usable asset.

The book became the centerpiece of Nicole’s leadership platform. Organizations began using it as the foundation for workshops, executive programs, and multi-touch engagements. Instead of one-off speaking, the book created demand for deeper, longer-term work, including bulk orders tied directly to leadership development initiatives.

Dean of The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine and nationally respected veterinary leader who had spent decades studying and living the human–animal bond, but had never formalized that work into a single, accessible body of thought.

Executive coach and former corporate marketing leader who wanted to turn years of experience helping high achievers into a clear, portable framework she could use across coaching, speaking, and media.

Cardiologist with 25 years in practice who experienced burnout before it even had a mainstream name, then rebuilt his work around a bigger mission: improving clinician wellbeing and helping healthcare systems function in a more human, sustainable way.

Steve Fredlund spent more than two decades as an actuary, doing what he was “supposed” to do, building a stable career, and checking all the boxes of a successful life. Despite outward success, he felt constrained by people-pleasing, safety, and a quiet loss of agency.

Daniel Wakefield is the founder of Top Tier Headshots and a business strategist helping entrepreneurs and creatives grow through genuine connection, not empty algorithms or shallow tactics. With a background in photography, branding, and community building, Daniel turned early coaching conversations into a broader playbook for business growth.

Founder of the Women’s Nonprofit Network (6,000+ members nationwide)
Nonprofit Growth Strategist at Collective Results
National nonprofit leader recognized for innovation and impact

Leadership consultant and advocate focused on closing the leadership and wealth gap for Latinas who wanted to turn a deeply researched point of view into a credible, visible body of work.

Founder and CEO of a behavioral science and product design firm who wanted a clearer way to communicate how his team thinks and works to higher-stakes, enterprise buyers.

Linda Morris is a lifelong storyteller—novelist, screenwriter, and editorial consultant—who spent decades helping others shape stories before fully claiming her own as an author.

Ian Lemke is a real estate investor and entrepreneur who built his business by prioritizing trust, transparency, and long-term relationships over transactional wins. His book, People Over Property, documents not just how he invests, but why—positioning ethical decision-making and partnership as competitive advantages in real estate.

Former federal prosecutor and one of the leading appellate lawyers in the United States, who has argued before the Supreme Court, clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and won numerous appeals resulting in exonerations of wrongfully convicted defendants.

Award-winning broadcast journalist, Bloomberg host and reporter, and adjunct professor of journalism at Georgetown University, with a master’s degree from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism. Deeply experienced in reporting, storytelling, and teaching others how to write clearly under pressure.

Andrea Goulet is a founder and UX leader who understands how trust and positioning are built.

She entered the Manuscripts process not to “become an author someday,” but to turn her expertise into a clear public framework, one that could create authority, demand, and opportunity in real time.

Jim Camp Jr. is a retired U.S. Air Force Major General, leadership advisor, and co-owner of Camp Negotiation Systems. After years commanding under pressure and coaching executives on high-stakes negotiation, Jim recognized a deeper pattern: leaders weren’t struggling to negotiate deals, they were struggling to lead decisively.

Ashlee Berghoff is the founder of Smooth Operator, America’s go-to process and systems specialists for event-based businesses. She helps entrepreneurs replace 7-figure chaos with 7-figure profits by building operational engines that scale without burnout.

Jaime Jay is a systems-minded entrepreneur, former 82nd Airborne paratrooper, and the founder of Bottleneck Distant Assistants—a company that helps business owners reclaim 20–40 hours a week through smarter delegation.

Before the book, Gregory was doing strong work inside organizations.

After the book, decision-makers could:
• Understand his philosophy quickly
• Share his framework internally
• Justify bringing him in at scale

Kathleen Muglia, DNP, APRN, CPNP-PC, is a Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, Clinical Professor at Marquette University, and leader in behavioral health, pediatric nursing, and therapeutic innovation.

James Wang is a General Partner at Creative Ventures, investing in healthcare, agriculture, and industrial technologies. He previously worked at Bridgewater Associates and Google X’s Makani project and is a co-founder of Lioness Health.

Danny Lehr is a sought-after speaker, entrepreneur, and former competitive athlete obsessed with helping people accomplish their biggest goals—one hour at a time.

Andrew Mangan started writing his book while still in high school.

At 17.

He wasn’t majoring in neuroscience.
He wasn’t working in biotech.

Edwige Robinson is a global technology executive leading digital transformation across Fortune 500 organizations. Recognized as the #3 leader in Telco & Innovation by Mobile Magazine, she is a Forbes Technology Council member, Crain’s Chicago Notable Woman in STEM, 30 Black Stars Pinnacle Award recipient, and finalist for the 2026 Women in Tech Global Awards.

Ty Pinkins is a 21-year U.S. Army veteran, former White House staffer, Georgetown Law graduate, TEDx speaker, and U.S. Senate nominee from Mississippi. His book 23 Miles in Running chronicles his journey from chopping cotton in the Mississippi Delta to serving in the White House.

Stefaan van Hooydonk is one of the world’s leading voices on workplace curiosity.

After three decades in global executive roles across Asia, Europe, and the U.S., he founded the Global Curiosity Institute to measure and operationalize curiosity as a performance advantage.

Zachary Green is a US Marine Corps veteran, former firefighter, and award-winning entrepreneur who built a $30 million company after starting from the trunk of his car.

Douglas Scherer, Ed.D., is a keynote speaker, consultant, and lecturer at Columbia University.

Before writing F.O.R.G.E.D., Doug had already published multiple books with major publishers and sold over 50,000 copies of his work in technical leadership and information systems.

Author, Unlocked: How Empowered Women Empower Women
Founder, The Coaching Fellowship
Former Senior Leader at Mozilla, eBay & Sotheby’s

Peter Parnegg is a sales strategist, instructor, and the author of Why Bother Asking?: Unexpected Keys to the Kingdom of Connection, a book that turned conventional sales wisdom on its head and redefined what leadership and connection look like in today’s world.

Cheri Mason is the former Chairman of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, where she led one of the largest federal adjudicatory bodies in the country.

Amy Dong is a coach, facilitator, and author of Twenty-One Years Young, praised by The New York Times as “honest, refreshing and, at times, gut-wrenching.

Lawyer. Computer scientist. Policy architect.

Neil has advised the Federal Trade Commission, guided national debates on digital regulation, and now leads AI policy strategy at the Abundance Institute.

Corrie Napier is a conflict resolution consultant, mediator, and speaker who helps leaders turn destructive conflict into constructive conversations using her B.U.I.L.D. framework.

Catherine Connelly is a veteran tech entrepreneur who spent two decades building and scaling companies in the online dating and social discovery space. In 2020, she sold her company, The Meet Group, in a $500M acquisition.

Joe Heitzeberg is the co-founder of Crowd Cow, a direct-to-consumer marketplace connecting customers with independent farmers producing high-quality, ethically sourced beef.

Ricardo Rosselló is a former Governor of Puerto Rico who led during one of the most complex crisis periods in the island’s modern history. His tenure intersected with Hurricane Maria, U.S. federal response failures, and extreme political polarization.

Yen Verhoef is an educator and thought leader building a new model for how schools evolve inside outdated systems. Through Rebel Teaching, she challenges the inherited machinery of American education and offers a practical framework for repurposing it from within.

Randi Braun is the Founder and CEO of Something Major, a coaching and training organization helping women leaders navigate power, performance, and progression at work.

Chris Mader is an EOS Implementer and executive coach who has spent more than 30 years leading, coaching, and developing high-performing teams.

Speaker, trainer, and coach with a decade-long idea around relationships and connection who had built a solid practice but hadn’t yet turned his core philosophy into a defining, market-anchoring asset.

Alyce Dailey is an entrepreneur, leadership coach, and mother of four who spent nearly two decades building a successful referral-based real estate business while mentoring women in leadership and personal growth.

Senior global HR executive preparing for a major career transition who had deep experience and research but lacked a structured way to turn it into a defining body of work.

Yale Child Study Center professor and psychologist who wanted to take rigorous learning and development science out of academic journals and turn it into a practical, widely accessible book that helps families and educators challenge broken systems and create better outcomes for kids.

Crisis response leader, trainer, and former corporate executive who wanted to turn years of frontline experience and care-based work into a credible, teachable framework she could scale through training, speaking, and programs.

CEO and Chairman of a public real estate company who had spent decades building businesses, teams, and results, but wanted a meaningful way to share his philosophy on happiness, purpose, and living fully beyond quarterly outcomes.

Raven Jemison is the President of the Kansas City Current (NWSL) and the first Black president in league history.

Former Executive Vice President of the Milwaukee Bucks, she helped lead one of the most respected franchises in professional sports.

David Olivencia is the founder and CEO of Angeles Investors, which has invested more than $11M into high-growth startups. A senior technology executive and investor with deep experience scaling companies and supporting early-stage startups, including multiple unicorns. His career spans leadership, innovation, and capital allocation in high-stakes environments where execution matters.

Physician and nonprofit leader carrying a deeply personal story that required care, structure, and emotional safety to translate into a finished memoir rather than remaining an unwritten burden.

Founder, entrepreneur, and advisor with deep Silicon Valley experience who had built and exited multiple businesses but hadn’t yet formalized her core philosophy into a single, shareable point of view.