Craig Paxson, Author of The Goal Discussion Guide and co-author of Unstuck: 10 Proven Strategies for Breaking Through the Barriers to Small Business Growth, Mentor for SCORE and the Nashville Entrepreneur Center and a Certified Executive Coach.

Craig is a consultant who partners with small law firm owners and executives to help them create and execute a plan that increases profits, reduces stress, and achieves their desired results. As a former small business CEO, Craig implemented his proprietary Visionary Results System, which drives strategic planning and execution throughout the organization. He is the founder of Visionary Results, LLC, a consulting firm specializing in small business owner and executive coaching.

He holds an MBA from Belmont University.

Chris Seifert, author of Enabling Empowerment: A Leadership Playbook for Ending Micromanagement and Empowering Decision-Makers, is the founder of Enabling Empowerment. His vision is to equip leaders with transformative strategies and decision-making training to build a culture of Principled Entrepreneurship. Drawing from his diverse experiences as a U.S. Navy Submarine Officer, Manufacturing Plant Manager, Vice President of Operations, and consulting firm Partner, Chris provides practical solutions to foster engaged, invested, and empowered teams.

Chris’s notable achievements include leading a renewable energy company through significant growth, expanding revenue from $450 million to $1 billion, increasing plant production by over 200%, and delivering over $300 million in EBITDA improvements. He also founded a successful Operational Excellence Practice at Wilson Perumal and Company serving clients across North America and Europe. His extensive background as a decorated Naval Officer further underscores his strategic expertise and commitment to excellence.

Celi Arias, Expert Scale Strategist, is the CEO and Founder of The Grown Ass Business, where she guides entrepreneurs through her proprietary methodology, Key Growth Systems, to build strong foundations for their businesses.

Recognized as a top coach by The Upside in 2024, Celi helps her clients break free from revenue plateaus and burnout by teaching them to view and manage their ventures as true businesses. Her approach addresses the common issue of entrepreneurs hitting a ceiling due to limited knowledge or skills, emphasizing the importance of understanding core business principles over quick fixes like funnel building or social media tricks.

Celi's clients often come to her feeling stuck, confused, and exhausted, unsure of how to move forward. She provides clarity and control, helping them identify and optimize the essential business departments necessary for growth. The Grown Ass Business Method incorporates five key systems that every business needs to succeed, allowing entrepreneurs to wear multiple hats effectively until they can hire specialized roles. By focusing on these fundamental pillars, Celi ensures that her clients' businesses are built on solid foundations, ready to scale up to seven figures and beyond.

With an impressive educational background including two bachelor's degrees, an MBA, a Master of Divinity, and two additional certificates, Celi brings a wealth of knowledge to her coaching practice. Her journey in entrepreneurship is both a professional and spiritual quest, constantly pushing her to question, grow, and find innovative solutions. From her early experiences as a professional tango dancer and fashion industry professional, Celi has always embraced challenges and sought out unique ways to overcome them.

As an immigrant from Argentina who arrived in the US at the age of six, Celi's upbringing in a family of doctors and scientists instilled in her a strong work ethic and dedication, while also inspiring her to question traditional paths and forge her own. Her diverse background and relentless pursuit of excellence have shaped her into a dynamic and passionate coach, dedicated to helping others achieve their business goals and realize their fullest potential.

Anita Anello, Expert in rescuing troubled ERP projects by helping 7-9 figure businesses overcome budget overruns, project delays, & partner conflicts.

With 20+ years of enterprise-level escalation and change management experience, she help 7-8-figure mid-market SAP implementation projects solve conflicts, overruns & delays by assisting parties in negotiations to get projects back on track and avoid lawsuits while helping clients build profitable businesses.

Kelli is Co-founder and Partner of Onyx Rising, a change management consulting firm that specializes in individual, team, and organizational behavior change. Kelli has over two decades of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) experience. Her professional skills include, but are not limited to, DEI Leadership Development and Coaching, Change Management, Strategic Consulting, Strategy Development, Problem Solving, Employee Engagement and Organizational Effectiveness. She has spent nearly a decade as a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) consultant for The Kaleidoscope Group, and years working in corporate America creating the foundation for organizational success in the DEI area. Kelli has a proven record in defining vision, developing strategy and executing action plans that produce sustainable results.

Kelli has held a variety of roles in Media, Public and Community Affairs. Kelli was formerly the Director of Diversity & Staffing at Emmis Communications (a multi-media organization) where she managed staffing, compliance and led diversity initiatives.

Kelli was also a partner of Infinite, Inc., a multi-service marketing firm specializing in reaching minority populations. Kelli holds a bachelor’s degree in Speech Communications from Ball State University. She was named as one of 30 Young Leaders of the Future, featured in EBONY.

Kelli is an entrepreneur, corporate manager, equal opportunity activist, community leader and ambassador to local and national populations.

Thomas Krause, Advisor to Senior Executives and Safety Leaders Author of 7 Insights into Safety Leadership and If Your Culture Could Talk

Thomas R. Krause, Ph.D. is a world-renowned thought leader focused on decision making, leadership, and behavior in the creation of positive organizational culture. He has designed culture change interventions in the service of the prevention of catastrophic events, fatalities, and disasters.

He founded Behavioral Science Technology, Inc., and is presently Chairman of Krause Bell Group. He has authored five books on leadership, safety, and culture change, and his articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, USA TODAY, and more.

His new book is If Your Culture Could Talk – A Story About Culture Change. Learn more at krausebellgroup.com.

Pull the Chute podcast features Diana McLain Smith, Former Partner at Monitor Group Consulting, former Chair of Monitor University, and former Chief Executive Partner at New Profit, and the author of Divide Or Conquer, The Elephant in the Room, Remaking the Space Between Us.

Diana has spent the past 35+ years helping organizations transform intergroup conflict into a powerful force for change. She has led change initiatives in a wide range of contexts – from Fortune 500 companies to cutting edge nonprofits – and her groundbreaking Leading Through Relationships (LTR) approach has been used by thousands of teams and organizations around the world to break free of intractable conflict and co-create powerful change.

She's also the co-author of Action Science with Chris Argyris and Robert Putnam.

She has served as an advisor to the Harvard Negotiation Project and the Rebuild Congress Initiative. She holds Masters and Doctorate degrees from Harvard University.

Loreta Tarozaite, Fixing marketing & communications chaos for growing B2B companies & startups so they can unlock visibility, trust & authority, Executive & Company Presence Strategist, Fractional CMO, On-Camera Coach.

She help companies and their leaders UNLOCK what they want the most: visibility, authority, and impact.

She THRIVE in chaos! She see this as an opportunity for lasting transformation and impact through improved PRESENCE.

As a brand and executive Presence strategist, she help companies achieve their business goals through cohesive and effective marketing strategies that combine the power of storytelling, video marketing, branding, digital marketing, public relations, and more.

With over two decades of expertise that started in broadcast journalism that transformed into founding her own company, and then led to working with and inside the Fortune 500 corporations, She's your strategic partner in navigating complex world of authoritative presence. She help building marketing and communications functions that drive positive change through measurable results.