Authors

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.