PAST SPEAKERS

Founder of The HUGG Collective, an organization that invests in young men aging out of orphan care so that we can break the cycle of orphanhood in Haiti. She is also a former foster parent, adoptive mom, mother of 5 and a fierce advocate for treating orphans the way we want our own children to be treated.

She has been an entrepreneur for 17 years, starting out with her own image consulting company, Impressions, and now for the last 5 years, as a franchise owner with Network in Action (NIA). NIA is a professional, membership based, networking group organization. Stacy owns 5 NIA franchises in The Woodlands, TX. She describes herself as a professional matchmaker of business owners. It is her greatest joy to see her members succeed in their businesses and grow and support one another.

After 30+ years in corporate finance, sitting in board meetings, making the tough decisions, Jeff decided to strike out on his own and started Understandable Solutions in November 2019. He coaches business owners and individuals seeking growth and improvement in financial performance, as well as leadership.

While financial performance is incredibly important, Jeff believes that there is always a story behind the numbers. He works closely with his clients to understand their story.

Charles Newnam is a trusted adviser, recognized leader, and a passionate learner. Charles is a Senior Principal with Accenture Strategy Talent & Organization out of the Houston, TX office and is a leader in the Global Leadership & Culture practice.

A fearless leader, motivational speaker, and cannabis expert. And she isn’t afraid to dose you mid-sentence. Her passion, enthusiasm, community impact and thirst for knowledge makes us proud to call her “The CannaBoss” Marlies is a member of the Society of Cannabis Clinicians and has over 1000 practicing hours in cannabis advisement and guidance.

Founded the Reveille Networking Group in 2016. Beyond current activities, Phillip owned a consulting business for 4 years and spent 20 + years in corporate roles developing people into leaders while increasing revenue and profitability.

Laura was born and raised in New Jersey. She is a first generation American and the first in her family to attend college and go on to earn a master’s degree. Laura has come to realize that life doesn’t always go the way we plan. However, it can turn out better than we could have ever imagined. After overcoming some unexpected challenges in her personal life, Laura had to shift her mindset and rebuild her life.

After 20 years as an elementary school teacher, Laura decided that she wanted to become an entrepreneur. Excited for a new adventure both personally and professionally, she moved to Texas with dreams of having a better life. Because of her own life experiences, she recognizes the importance of caring for our mental and emotional health. With this in mind, she started a coaching business.

She is the owner of Inspiring Essential Wellness and coaches people on how to build resilience, manage stress, and self-regulate emotions. She also offers small group coaching to both children and adults. Laura understands the importance of teaching children about emotional wellness and believes that children need more support.

Laura hopes to inspire others to find their balance in order to create a more coherent peaceful world.

Daryl Jones had a promising career as a professional baseball player for the St. Louis Cardinals. Unfortunately, injuries ended his career short and he was left to find something else. He took up coaching young athletes and discovered his passion for motivating and inspiring people by sharing stories of his own struggles and using the valuable life lessons his mother taught him at an early age.

Daryl is the author of "God Cares About Sports", a personal trainer for young athletes and motivational speaker. He works to help you transform your potential into power. Whether you're a young kid playing baseball or an adult entrepreneur, you can learn something from Daryl Jones.

Teddy Noev grew up in communist Bulgaria. Her childhood was difficult. She came to the United States in 1992 with less than 20 dollars in her pocket. She enjoyed a rewarding career in education for over 20 years as a teacher, coach, mentor and administrator.

Teddy’s struggles with weight management and poor self image due to ongoing abuse and trauma in her childhood took her on a journey of becoming a personal trainer and nutritionist. That same year, she took a leap of faith in pursuing her dreams and passions and left her career in education. Teddy uses her own story to inspire and empower others as a coach, author and speaker.

Teddy guides her clients to healing from past trauma, owning their story and living life aligned to their Human Design. Teddy is the coach for those who are ready for the challenge and calling of our reality - living and experiencing life through self-reflected consciousness.

Syed Zafar was born and raised in Pakistan. Before coming to the U.S. in 1982, he worked in Saudi Arabia for four years. Syed completed his undergraduate Computer Science degree from University of North Texas in late 1985 and joined ExxonMobil in early 1986. After joining ExxonMobil, Syed began taking evening classes and completed his MBA in 1989 from university of St. Thomas. Syed retired from ExxonMobil in 2020 after 35 years of service. However, Syed’s passion has been about helping people understand other cultures. He has been teaching intercultural communication via keynotes and workshops for over 25 years. He has presented over 600 programs on Intercultural Communication at corporations, universities and not-for-profit organizations in USA, Canada, UK, Norway, Brazil, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Pakistan, Spain and UAE. Last year, Syed published a book titled Crossing Cultures with Grace and Humor which helps Americans understand other cultures via Syed’s personal experiences and stories.

Elizabeth graduated from Appalachian State in the summer of 2008 and within a few short months she met Andy, her now husband, on a flight back home from Houston to Charlotte, NC.

In 2010 she moved to Houston upon getting into graduate school at Texas A&M and earned her Masters in Special Education in 2012. Elizabeth taught special education for 6 years but decided to switch paths in May 2016.

With the support of her husband, they started EverSan Cooper Partners, a real estate investment company based out of The Woodlands.

She is an Ambassador with the VEL Institute, providing leadership and personal development opportunities for local Veterans, Entrepreneurs, and Leaders.