Michelle Young
As an educator, television personality, speaker, and activist, Michelle Young inspires many. Her persona exudes charisma and positivity, and her message is strong and passionate.
After receiving her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Bradley University in 2015, Michelle began her career. As a 5th-grade teacher, she delivered engaging educational content and also spread her message of self-love and acceptance to the young minds she was molding.
Prior to teaching, Michelle’s success was measured in the classroom and on the court. She showed her prowess in balancing the demands of her studies while making a name for herself as a Division I basketball player.
In 2021, Michelle charmed audiences of The Bachelor and became a nationwide sensation reaching the runner-up spot during season 25. She returned to captivate viewers as the star of season 18 of The Bachelorette.
Each of these endeavors have built the foundation for her influence as a brand ambassador, nonprofit supporter, and public speaker. Michelle is linked with companies like Lancôme and Coca Cola and also advocates for nonprofits such as The Fashion Foundation and Be The Match. Michelle strives to use her expertise in the field of education and her love of health, wellness, and fashion to reach a wide variety of audiences, helping them realize their full potential.
Through empathy and experience, Michelle speaks on mental health, overcoming anxiety, identity, and practicing self-love. She is also a passionate advocate for children and youth, striving to be a positive influence.
Through her triumphs and struggles, Michelle has the knowledge and experience combined with the positivity and strength to empower others through the message she is eager to share.
Invite me to create an engaging and relatable experience with your audience! I am available for keynote speaking engagements, guest appearances, hosting, and more.
Vineeta Sawkar
Vineeta Sawkar is a five time Emmy award-winning television anchor who is now the Director of Public Relations at the University of St. Thomas. Vineeta spent twenty-three years in the television news business. She is best known for her eighteen years at KSTP-TV in Minneapolis. She left KSTP in 2013 and pioneered a new role at the Minneapolis Star Tribune as a video host. She and her family are proud St. Paul residents. Vineeta is a former Friends of the St. Paul Public Library board member and Children’s Hospital Association board member. She is now volunteering with the Minnesota Wild to recruit more kids of color to play the sport of hockey.
Amy S. Tolbert
Amy S. Tolbert, Ph.D., CSP develops multicultural organizations and individuals by bringing you cutting-edge topics, such as, multicultural and diversity initiatives, leadership competency development, managing to style, and creating breakthrough teams. She is principal of ECCO (Energizing Cultural Change in Organizations) International, which specializes in increasing individuals’ productivity and organizations’ profitability through virtual and facilitated learning.
She is well authored with 4 books, many articles, validated assessment tools, asynchronous course offerings, active blogs and author of a video based global communications training to develop intercultural communication skills called Open Mind, Open World. Her offerings include actionable tools, processes and practice – a paradigm shifter with her stories and examples.
She earned her Certified Speaking Professional designation with the National Speakers Association. The CSP is the speaking profession’s international measure of speaking experience and skill. Fewer than 10 percent of the speakers who belong to the International Federation for Professional Speakers hold this professional designation. She was awarded the Mark LeBlanc Award for excellence in the speaking industry and was inducted into the MN Speakers Hall of Fame. Dr. Tolbert earned her doctorate in Human Resource Development, focusing on international/cross-cultural and diversity education/training, from the University of Minnesota. As an esteemed part of the Carlson Executive Faculty, Carlson Executive Education Center, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, Dr. Tolbert earned her doctorate in Human Resource Development, focusing on international/cross-cultural and diversity education/training, from the University of Minnesota. She continues to support her alma mater by serving as adjunct faculty for several annual programs at Carlson Executive Education.
Amy Hockert
Amy Hockert is a television news anchor in the Twin Cities. She’s spent nearly 20 years as a news anchor, reporter and Senior VP with news organizations such as KARE-11, BringMeTheNews.com, and FOX9.
Amy’s personal and professional journeys are incredibly rich and diverse.
She’s spent several years volunteering at orphanages in China and helping those living in poverty in Ecuador. She is passionate about philanthropy, whether it’s overseas or in her own backyard.
Amy also knows how to re-define success when life doesn’t go according to plan. At the height of her television news career, Amy’s priorities shifted. She got married and started a family. By thinking outside the box, she successfully re-shaped various, smaller roles around her primary role as a mother of young children.
Three years ago, Amy re-entered the workforce full-time. She became Senior VP of a digital news organization where she managed the delivery/distribution of news content and assembled and oversaw the news team. And even more recently, Amy’s professional journey came full circle when she joined FOX9 as an anchor and special projects reporter.
Petra Marquart
Petra Marquart is an inspirational speaker who has received rave reviews at conventions and conferences around the globe. She is currently principal in the global speaking and training firm, Petra Marquart and Associates and president of See ME, Inc., which provides customer-service training for long-term care communities. She is listed in Who’s Who of American Women and the author of the best-seller, The Power of Service: Keeping Customers for Life.
Petra has written customer-service training programs for Mall of America, US Bank, Fairview Health Services, Honeywell Space Systems, Minnesota Department of Administration, US Department of Veteran Affairs, US Department of Homeland Security, The MENTOR Network, Senior Linkage Line, and the Wisconsin Department of Child Protective Services.
Whether speaking on customer service, leadership, personal power, or performance, Petra’s skilled stage presence comes, in part, from her experience working as a performer in Las Vegas with such stars as Elvis Presley, Tina Turner,and some of the most recognized names in the world.
James Robilotta
James is an author, professional speaker, personal coach, and trained improv comedian. After nearly 15 years of building, training, supervising, and evaluating teams, James followed an entrepreneurial dream and built two successful businesses. The first is an organization that incorporates freestyle rapping into improv comedy (a success story for another day). And the second is his speaking and coaching business (a success story for today).
James has been speaking professionally to willing and unwilling audiences for years and has found that quality humor — not your lame, laugh-track, dad-joke humor — is the secret to hosting powerful conversations that make a genuine impact. His attendees leave feeling recharged, introspective, and ready to get out of their own way. With years of research (and a few too many real-life case studies within his work), James learned everything he could about authenticity in the workplace and uses this insight to host conversations about communication, rapport building, engagement, feedback, retention, promoting memorability, life balance, increased productivity, and more.
James’ cornerstone concept is that we as humans can’t learn from people who are perfect, we can only learn from people who are imperfect. And companies like American Express, GE, and Afterpay have gravitated toward this message and found the insights to be invaluable in shifting the way their teams communicate. Simply put, James is working to bring humanity back into the workplace and is on a mission to ensure that in their personal and work life, every human realizes they are enough.
Rene Rodriguez
Born amongst the palm trees and percussion of Miami, René began splitting his time in frosty Minnesota as a teen. This continuum of climates and cultures introduced him to the breadth of the human condition at a young age. He then attended the University of St. Thomas where he began to see the power of applying neuroscience to create personal and professional change.
For over two decades, René has been researching and applying behavioral neuroscience as a dynamic keynote speaker, leadership advisor, world-class sales expert, and renowned speaker coach. He has also trained more than 100,000 people in applying behavioral psychology and neurology methodologies to solve some of the toughest challenges in leadership, sales, and change.
As an entrepreneur and CEO of multiple companies, Rene integrates a practical business approach that inspires his audiences to take action. Through his keynote, boot camps, workshops, and proprietary AMPLIFII™ course, he helps us own our backstory to build the
frame for our unique and beautiful picture of life.
The result: greater influence, personal transformation, and immediate results in business and life by engaging with courage and grace.
He has authored dozens of articles and is currently in the process of writing his first book
– Amplify Your Influence.
Janel Anderson
Dr. Janel Anderson has always been passionate about the intersection of technology, communication, and workplace dynamics. Part futurist, part professor, part executive coach, Dr. Anderson brings fresh insights and practical strategies that can be implemented immediately, all while making you see the world differently.
From her early days where she was employee #23 at a tech start-up to university classrooms where she was an award winning professor to her intrepreneurial years leading a rogue tech team in a large corporation, she has not only studied, but also lived and breathed the evolution of the workplace. She blends research and action as she delivers keynotes that invigorate, empower, and transform participants.
Dr. Anderson has appeared in Fast Company, Inc, Entrepreneur, and The Atlantic, as well as on several television networks. In addition to being a popular business keynote speaker and corporate trainer, she is also the author of “Head On: How to Approach Difficult Conversations Directly.” In her spare time, she reverse engineers recipes for dishes from her favorite restaurants in her kitchen at home.
David Harris
David Harris is a nationally touring, Midwest Emmy Award Winning comedian, magician, actor, and host. Starting at the ripe age of 15, Harris has entertained North American audiences for over 25 years with over thousands of live performances to date. Harris regularly appears at clubs, colleges, corporate events, theaters, alternative rooms, and other top venues across the U.S. and Canada. Most notably, Harris has performed at the New York Comedy Club in New York, Rick Bronson’s House of Comedy at the Mall of America in Minneapolis, the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Goodnight’s Comedy Club in Raleigh, and at the Hollywood Improv Lab in Los Angeles.
Harris has been lucky to share the stage with some of the best in the business. He’s worked with the legendary Louie Anderson, Bobby Slayton, Mary Lynn Rajskub, and Ben Bailey, to name a few. Based in his hometown of Minneapolis, Harris recently won Minnesota’s Funniest Person Contest. He was also asked by his peers to participate in Minnesota’s own highly competitive 10,000 Laughs Festival two years in a row. Harris received resounding praise from audiences and press alike. His personal and person-driven approach to the topics of work, family, relationships, and anxiety make his act relatable to virtually anyone. Harris is fun, relatable, creative, interactive, and most of all – hilarious. Audiences will benefit from David’s program because he creates a rejuvenating teambuilding experience tailored specifically to your group.
On screen, Harris has scored rave reviews from local ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC TV affiliates. He’s even won two regional Emmys for his sketch television show, “Nate on Drums,” back in 2006, which aired on Minneapolis’ ABC sister station, KSTC. Harris has since starred in several online award-winning videos and TV commercials, including recent spots for Robert Half and Panchero’s Mexican Grill. He also recently produced and hosted a cutting-edge variety and talk show entitled, “Vaudeville Remix” for three seasons. That show featured some of the best acts in the region and its final season took place at the Brave New Workshop ETC Theatre in downtown Minneapolis. The Twin Cities alt newspaper, CityPages, called it “Consistently Entertaining.” In short, Harris is born entertainer who is sure to please.
Diane Amundson
As a CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) I deliver live and virtual presentations for organizations that want to communicate more effectively with their employees to improve productivity. My expertise is in leadership, team building, conflict resolution and strategic planning. I speak locally & internationally in these areas and am known for my ability to make complex subjects simple to understand and apply. I have worked for General Mills and Pepsi Cola in sales and have taught at Winona State University as an Adjunct Professor of Organizational Behavior. My background also includes working as a General Manager with Express Employment Professionals. I have additional expertise in human resources, sales and training. I work with teams, managers and executives that want to improve their communication skills. I have published a chapter titled “Humility Leads the Way” in a book titled “Success Strategies: A High Achievers Guide to Success”. I believe being humble is one of the key components of a successful leader.