Luis Gonzales is a communications consultant, coach, and trainer with more than 25 years of experience helping improve business outcomes for organizations. He has successfully driven learning initiatives by incorporating effective communication, cross-cultural communication, customer satisfaction and soft-skills training. Luis works closely with CEOs, leaders, and individuals to positively impact business outcomes through effective communication in global, multicultural, and rem...

Donna Smith Bellinger is an internationally known speaker, author and award-winning business coach whose corporate experience in sales, leadership and business development enables her to create and implement strategies that ELEVATE her clients' revenues. Known for her professional and experience-based insights, Donna is a master at communications and helping her clients create sustainable revenue. She takes pride in helping them become the leaders in their businesses and achieve success in t...

The Catherine Johns 5P Approach to Magnetic Introductions Have you ever walked away from a networking group knowing you didn't make the connections you'd hoped for? Do you ever wonder if people know - or care - what you can do for them? Have you ever wished you knew what to say in a real or virtual networking event? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this podcast's episode if for you. Catherine Johns, communication consultant and speaker, shows executives and entrepr...

Steve Bellinger's first novel, The Chronocar: An Urban Adventure in Time, won the 2018 Best Indie Book Award for Science Fiction; the 2019 Independent Author Network's Outstanding Science Fiction Award; and the 2019 Reader's Favorite Gold Medal Award for Young Adult Science Fiction. It was the Black Science Fiction Society's Book of the Month, The Black Authors Association Pick of the Week, and is part of the University Archives of Steve's Alma Mater, the Illinois Institute of Technolog...

Bob Mobley, a senior executive coach, and a mentor, has been described as having a razor-sharp mind and a deep curiosity about people. His highly successful one-on-one and group coaching programs are based upon his thirty years of mentorship and coaching with Senior Executives around the world. Raised and educated on the east coast, Bob found wonderful mentors and teachers at Deerfield, Yale, and Columbia; people who inspired him to be himself and encouraged his love of learning. His fa...

Mike Whisman is a business executive with 40+ years of progressive experience in Fortune 500 manufacturing operations and quality leadership in military, medical device, and pharmaceutical industries. Mike has held high levels of responsibilities in multi-functional, multi-plant, and multi-divisional arenas. He offers an extensive background in device and biologic manufacturing, Total Quality Management, operational excellence, supplier performance improvement, and assessment using the Malcol...

Greg Hohner is an Executive Black Belt with more than 35 years of experience working in business and quality, including lean six sigma. His role has been to drive the programs and projects necessary to integrate continuous improvement strategies, tools, techniques, and methodologies throughout the business. As the voice of quality improvement for many organizations, Greg has been at the forefront of building cultures of excellence. His experience includes more than seven years in the benefits...

Nicole Wolter is the president and CEO of HM Manufacturing, a U.S. based company that manufactures gears, timing belt pulleys, splines, shafts, chain sprockets, sheaves, and related parts for power transmission and precision mechanical components. The company offers custom assembly services and engineering support from its 10,000 square foot facility located in Wauconda, Illinois. Industries served include pharmaceutical, aerospace, marine, medical, packaging, food and beverage processing, an...

Igniting Creativity from Within Matthew Ferraro has composed, arranged and orchestrated music for everything from Academy Award-winning films The Insider, The Incredibles, Emmy Winning TV shows Futurama, Dune, Olive the Other Reindeer, The Muppets and video game titles including Spiderman, X-Men, Medal of Honor, You Don’t Know Jack, to BBC and ITV television and radio productions, as well as hundreds of commercials including Gatorade, VISA, and McDonald’s among others. His music is licensed w...

Character Development and the Role It Plays in Leadership Bob Mobley has coached thousands of individuals over the years and has helped them build trust with their teams, and to excel on their own personal and professional leadership journey. Bob has developed, tested, and perfected several successful methodologies for working with people. Your Character Counts helps clients increase situational awareness and clearly project through behaviors, attitudes, and communication skills the charact...

Kristin Atlas, Senior Director of Sales for Live Nation Special Events, is based out of the House of Blues in Chicago and also oversees events at Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom. Interviewed by podcast host, Debbie Fliehman, Kristin talks about Responsible Events. Live Nation Special Events has 150+ venues nationwide. Health and safety is the top priority with extra precautions and protocols put into place to create a safe environment. There are 5 new event types available to host meetings...

Mike Whisman is a business executive with 40+ years of progressive experience in Fortune 500 manufacturing operations and quality leadership in the military, medical device, and pharmaceutical industries. Mike has held high levels of responsibilities in multi-functional, multi-plant, and multi-divisional arenas. He offers an extensive background in manufacturing, Total Quality Management, operational excellence, supplier performance improvement, and assessment using the Malcolm Baldrige Natio...

Donna Ritson, President of DDR Communications, founded the company over 30 years ago. DDR's business is based on a direct response methodology that delivers market research, business development, strategic alliance, and actionable market intelligence for companies in virtually every B2B industry. DDR has been a business partner with hundreds of companies over the years reporting on the trends that give decision makers a deeper insight into key market trends. DDR's experience is backed by over...

Ryan Ripley is a lifelong manufacturing executive with a history of driving results. He has served in multiple capacities since beginning his manufacturing career as an engineering intern in 1995. In early 2020, he founded his own firm, TMR Consulting, LLC. Work in engineering, production, operations management and innovation paved the way to Ryan's most recent executive role, Vice President of Business Transformation at the MacLean-Fogg Company. With roots in the Midwest and an international...

Summer Thomson is the Manager of Business Process and Senior Project Manager for E&M Design Solutions. She is a business consultant, technical writer, industrial services compliance expert, trainer, speaker and operations startup manager. In 2019, Summer was invited to join the NSBA economic development and small business technology counsels. She comes from a business management and production planning background and has been with EMDS for over seven years. E&M Design Solutions is th...

Debbie Fliehman, host of Thought Leaders Talk Business, speaks on proven steps to communicate with intention. Debbie is the president of Creative Technical Resources, Inc. a marketing communication, advertising and sales promotion agency. For over 30 years, her agency has worked on thousands of projects with hundreds of clients ranging from small to large divisions of Fortune 100 corporations. She is the author of Make Success Happen - Seven Steps to Developing a Marketing Plan. This book was...

Steve Garchow is President at Foresight Business Consulting, a Chicago-based marketing firm. Steve is obsessed with making a difference in the way companies market their products and services. He believes any company can improve financial performance by implementing impactful marketing programs. Steve started as a market researcher, eventually building his career to assume the role of Vice President, Global Marketing for a $700 million division of a Fortune 300 company. After stints as...

Karen Morgan, President of Morgan Search International, is a thought-leader in talent acquisition and development across the United States and globally. Morgan Search specializes in the placement of marketing insights talent, working closely with companies to build successful, long-term teams. Their expertise spans qualitative and quantitative research, marketing sciences, strategy, planning and innovation, partnering closely with industry leaders such as American Express, Coca-Cola, Ford, Ed...

Welcome to the first episode of Thought Leaders Talk Business where we tap into the creative minds of successful business professionals and consultants to help you gain a competitive advantage. Your host is Debbie Fliehman, the president of Creative Technical Resources, a marketing communications, advertising, and sales promotion agency. For over 30+ years, Creative Technical Resources has worked on thousands of projects with hundreds of clients ranging from small to large divisions of Fort...