Meet our speakers
Industry leaders and inspirational speakers to inspire and educate you on what you need to know. Even before you get to Philadelphia, ABA offers virtual learning opportunities with professional speakers. From human resources to technology and professional development, don’t miss out on these business-building strategies.
These webinars are sponsored by Experience Sioux Falls.
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Lois Barth
Marketplace Speaker
Lois Barth a Human Development Expert, Keynote Speaker, ICF Certified Executive and Life Coach, and author of the book, Courage to SPARKLE. Lois works with heart-centered leaders who crave greater fulfillment, impact and success in their lives and within their teams. Lois helps them to clarify their goals, communicate more powerfully, foster well-being and be more effective leaders. A term she refers to as Behavioral Wellness Meets professional development. She has been the makeover life coach for SELF Magazine; Fitness Magazine and Fit Blog (Sears) which to date 3 million people registered for. Lois has been quoted and published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, SELF Magazine, to name a few. Her speaking clients include Capital One Bank, L'Oreal, Women in Banking, Entrepreneurial Organization, NYU Langone, Women in Trucking, and the American Heart Association to name a few.
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Lisa Braithwaite
Marketplace Speaker
Lisa Braithwaite is on a mission to help leaders and changemakers build visibility, credibility, and awareness for their work through engaging presentations, a mindset of service, and authentic connection. Her background as an advocate and trainer in the nonprofit sector and degrees in theater and education have influenced her upbeat and accessible approach to presentation skills training and coaching. She’s the author of "Presenting for Humans: Insights for Speakers on Ditching Perfection and Creating Connection." Lisa models authentic, aligned, collaborative and FUN presentations using relevant, practical, and useful content that activates the audience's emotional engagement and moves them into action.
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Dave Brown
Marketplace Speaker
As a Founding Partner and executive-level Sales and Leadership Coach for Southwestern Consulting, Dave Brown has trained and spoken to hundreds of thousands of sales professionals across the globe. Dave is a “servant salesperson” known for his boundless enthusiasm for sales and for leading his team by example. As a sought-after keynote speaker and certified trainer, Dave strives to help individuals and organizations reach peak performance in business and in life. More than just a motivational speaker, Dave has a passion for empowering salespeople everywhere with key principles to make selling more emotionally and financially rewarding. Dave brings a rich history of accolades and accomplishment to his work, having excelled in the trenches of sales, business and life as a true competitor. He is a nine-time Texas state champion in cross-country, swimming, track, and basketball, and a two-time national champion in cross country and basketball. Following a record-breaking season, he was awarded “Athlete of the Year” for the entire state of Texas. At Trinity University in Chicago, Dave was an All-American volleyball player who took his team to their first-ever national championship. Dave began his sales career with the Southwestern Advantage college program, finishing first out of 4,000 salespeople year after year. He knocked on more than 50,000 cold doors by the time he was twenty-five. Dave continues to hold the record for the most customers ever sold by an individual in a selling season for Southwestern Advantage, out of more than 250,000 salespeople who have worked in the program. Since then he has made over 200,000 cold calls into companies worldwide—a number that grows daily. His infectious excitement for helping people achieve their goals in life continuously encourages his team members to embrace their roles with passion, blow through their belief barriers, and achieve unprecedented success. In addition to being a consistent top producer in personal sales, Dave co-leads the highest producing organization within Southwestern Coaching. He also serves as Vice President of Recruiting for Southwestern Coaching, leading efforts to bring in new certified sales and leadership coaches and playing an integral role in the continued growth of the company. Dave is a guest lecturer at Vanderbilt University and has had articles published in Speaker Magazine, Sold Magazine, and on several nationally recognized blogs. Through his audiobook Painless Prospecting, the inspiring video series 42 Days of Prospecting Power, and his new book Servant Selling, Dave helps even more people learn how to get over themselves and genuinely serve their team members and customers. Dave has lived in at least 15 different states while building his company’s brand. He now permanently resides in Nashville, Tennessee, with his wife Emmie, two sons, Dawson and Dylan, and daughter, Cadence.
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Christina Butler
Marketplace Speaker
Christina Butler is an expert in Clear, Concise, and Confident Communication. Her unique approach to presentation skills has helped hundreds of individuals become better communicators.
Having spent two decades working as an Emmy-nominated television anchor and reporter, she knows how to connect with her audience and brings the same level of energy to her programs as she did to breaking news.
Christina offers a fresh and innovative perspective on a well-known fact: those who communicate effectively are more successful.
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Chris Cheetham-West
Marketplace Speaker
Chris Cheetham-West, MBA is an international speaker, author, and Founder of Level Growth SEO. Global brands, Fortune 500 companies, and travel brands seek out Chris and his company for their events and trainings. In his former position at Google, he managed marketing programs and strategies for key products that helped business owners. Experienced and driven, Chris’s career has allowed him to present in 48 states and to teams in various countries including Serbia, Germany, and Canada. Chris and his team take the time to understand the needs of each new customer. In 2020 Chris was voted one of the top 50 Black Entrepreneurs. Chris has worked with teams at brands such as: The Government of Canada, Lamar Advertising, Pattern Beauty by Tracee Ellis Ross, and more. Chris helps teams save time and focus on what truly matters with online tools. He is the author of Digital Marketing For Results.
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Lawrence D. Eichen, Esq.
Marketplace Speaker
Lawrence D. Eichen, Esq. is an attorney, speaker, and consultant. As an attorney, Mr. Eichen’s experience includes litigating and negotiating a wide variety of civil and criminal matters. Additionally, he has served for over 20 years as a mediator for the Dispute Resolution Program in Morris County, NJ. He has negotiated well over 1,000 cases during his 30-year career.
He is also the owner of FirstClassCLE.com, an approved provider of Continuing Legal Education courses by the NJ Supreme Court Board on Continuing Legal Education. He provides CLE courses to attorneys on negotiation and other areas of the law.As a speaker, Mr. Eichen delivers engaging presentations to organizations, associations, and educational institutions on Mastering the Art of Negotiation; Defeating Imposter Syndrome; and Mastering the Art of Powerful Presentations.
As a consultant, he provides advanced negotiation training to organizations and institutions and provides private coaching to professionals, executives, small business owners, and entrepreneurs. Mr. Eichen is a certified Rethinking Impostor Syndrome™ coach.Mr. Eichen is a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association, New Jersey Association of Professional Mediators, National Speakers Association, and Association of Continuing Legal Education. He earned his J.D. from Rutgers Law School in Newark, NJ and B.S. in Computer Science from SUNY Albany, NY.
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Deb Gabor
Marketplace Speaker
“Leading Expert” doesn’t come close to describing Deb Gabor’s passion for brands. More accurate? Brand Guru. Brand Impresario. Brand Evangelist. She’s written the book on branding (twice!) with bestsellers Branding is Sex and Irrational Loyalty. She’s the founder and CEO of Sol Marketing, a strategy-led marketing firm obsessed with solving major business and branding problems for clients in every industry. Companies throughout the world use Deb’s Brand Values Pyramid, Ideal Customer Archetype, and “Brand Swagger Questions” to align their teams and articulate their brands to audiences.
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John Iannarelli
Marketplace Speaker
John Iannarelli served as an FBI Special Agent for 20 years, during which he was a SWAT team member and participated in the investigations of the Oklahoma City bombing, the 9/11 attack, the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and the Sony hack. Among his many FBI assignments, John served as the FBI’s National Spokesperson, on the Cyber Division Executive staff, and was as an Assistant Special Agent in Charge overseeing all Criminal, Cyber and Counterintelligence investigations. He was recognized with the FBI’s Director Award for Distinguished Service.
A former San Diego Police Officer and attorney with international studies at Oxford England, John is admitted to the practice of law in California, Maryland, and Washington DC. In addition, he is the recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Computer Science in recognition of his contributions to the field of cyber investigations. John was also an NFL Security Representative responsible for ensuring public safety throughout the football season and the Super Bowl.
John is the author of five books, including Why Teens Fail and What to Fix, a parents’ guide to protecting their children on the Internet and other dangers, and How to Spot a Terrorist Before It’s Too Late. His just released 5th book, Disorderly Conduct, examines the lighter side of law enforcement and the humorous moments during his FBI career.John is a frequent on-air contributor for the national news media and has been profiled in Forbes. He provided live on-scene coverage from Las Vegas of the Mandalay Bay mass shooting attack as it occurred. An engaging and entertaining keynote speaker, John is a National Speakers Association Certified Speaking Professional ® known for sharing his intriguing insights combined with his superb sense of humor. He has presented to Fortune 500 companies, domestic and international audiences, the United Nations, and the Vatican, where he has personally met on several occasions with Pope Francis.
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Annie Meehan
Marketplace Speaker
Annie Meehan is no stranger to storms; as a dynamic speaker, author, and entrepreneur, she’s weathered challenges in the boardroom and in business. Annie credits the storms for the unshakeable optimism, drive, and resiliency that she employs as a speaker. When you hire Annie, she will teach your team how the storms of life can lead to the biggest breakthroughs, renewed innovation and vision, and unbreakable collaboration your business is looking for. Author of over seven books and counting, Annie’s keynotes and professional workshops are not only inspiring, but practical. Every person in the room leaves with a new vision and concrete steps to grow into their potential. Whether she is leading an all-day corporate workshop at 3M, keynoting a Women’s Leadership Conference, or consulting with a business team at Target, Annie authentically connects with the audience.
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Catharine O’Leary
Marketplace Speaker
Catharine O’Leary is an expert in business growth, client intelligence, and actionable strategies for sustainable success. With over three decades of experience in market research and consumer insights, she helps businesses unlock their potential by aligning their services with the needs of their ideal clients. As the founder of the Client Intelligence Agency, Catharine specializes in developing data-driven strategies that increase client lifetime value, enhance customer retention, and create meaningful client relationships. Known for her practical, no-nonsense approach, Catharine empowers organizations to turn feedback into opportunity and insights into action.
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Laura Patterson
Marketplace Speaker
Laura Patterson is the #1 Amazon Best-Selling author of Fast-Track Your Business: A Customer-Centric Approach to Accelerate Market Growth. If you're looking for a practical, no-nonsense proven approach to accelerate growth, create value, and improve performance; you've connected with the right person. Laura is a recognized and trusted authority for enabling companies to take a customer-centric outcome-based approach to organic growth by enabling them to use analytics, accountability, alignment, and operational excellence to attract, retain and grow the value of customers. Laura began her 20+ year corporate career in sales and had the great fortune of working across functions spanning customer relationship management, strategic and product marketing, analytics, and marketing operations. Today she is at the helm of VisionEdge Marketing, founded in 1999. Laura is frequently asked to speak and facilitate workshops for educational institutions, associations, and company meetings. Laura has been recognized for her thought leadership and has won numerous awards, including Engati’s Top 30 Marketing Influencers and Top 200 Thought Leaders, Piktale’s Top 100 Influencers, and 20 Women to Watch in Business by the Sales Lead Management Association. She has also served on the University of Texas McCombs School of Business Masters of Marketing Science Advisory Board and the is the Program Chair for the Executive Women’s Forum in Austin.
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Julian Placino
Marketplace Speaker
Julian Placino is a recruiting consultant who helps organizations create a culture of recruitment where people thrive. As a recruiting practitioner for over 17 years, he’s led talent acquisition at world-class companies and has hired and coached thousands of top performers throughout his career. For 7 years, Julian led recruitment at Bottle Rocket, one of the world’s top mobile development firms. Through speaking and consulting, he teaches recruitment strategy, personal branding, and leadership development. As Host of Pathways to Success on YouTube, iTunes, and Spotify, he interviews inspiring leaders about their business and keys to personal success.
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Jonathan Stanley
Marketplace Speaker
Jonathan Stanley is a renowned entrepreneur and business strategist with a rich background in global business development, particularly in immersive storytelling. As a founder and CEO, he grew his start-up into an international brand, earning accolades like Small Business of the Year. His leadership philosophy emphasizes purpose-driven strategies and authentic leadership. Based in Duryea, Pennsylvania, Jonathan continues to influence through consulting, coaching, public speaking, and volunteering, where he shares insights to help small businesses and start-ups achieve growth and influential results.