Excellent Executive Coaching: Growing Your Business and Enhancing Your Craft.

Andres Lares is the Managing Partner at Shapiro Negotiations Institute and co-author of Persuade: The 4-Step Process to Influence People and Decisions.

• What is your four-step process to persuade others?
• Why do people focus on logic rather than emotion?
• How can you build credibility quickly?
• When is the right time to go first in negotiations?
• What are the five main aspects of emotional intelligence?

Andres Lares is the Managing Partner at Shapiro Negotiations Institute and co-author of Persuade: The 4-Step Process to Influence People and Decisions. His expertise ranges from coaching live negotiations for sports clients, including the Cleveland Browns and Brooklyn Nets, to developing online content for facilitating programs in real estate, advisory, media, banking, and pharmaceutical sectors. He is a guest lecturer on negotiation at universities like Johns Hopkins University, has been a contributor to numerous national media outlets, including Forbes, Entrepreneur, Selling Power, and many more.

Norman Wolfe is the Founder and CEO of Quantum Leaders, Inc., a strategy execution consulting firm focused on transforming businesses to unlock the power of the human spirit.

• The Living Organization® System emphasizes treating organizations as dynamic, living entities. How does this approach differ from traditional business paradigms, and how does it impact strategy execution?
• How can leaders create a culture where employees feel both valued and aligned with the company's mission?
• Leadership can often feel lonely at the top. Why?
• What strategies do you recommend for organizations trying to embrace change and innovate while maintaining alignment with their core values?
• What is your next book?

Norman Wolfe is the Founder and CEO of Quantum Leaders, Inc., a strategy execution consulting firm focused on transforming businesses to unlock the power of the human spirit. With over 30 years of experience, Norman is a pioneer in leadership and organizational performance, known for guiding companies through significant transitions to achieve extraordinary results. A former executive at Hewlett-Packard and board member of multiple organizations, Norman is also the author of The Living Organization, a groundbreaking book on creating high-performing companies. He is passionate about shifting business paradigms and helping leaders foster dynamic, living organizations.

Loren Greiff is an executive career coach and strategist. She is the founder and president of PortfolioRocket, a career coaching business she started in 2020 to help executives over 40 advance their careers, overcome ageism, and land jobs faster while earning more.

• Many executives over 40 hear the word "overqualified" in job searches. What does that term really mean?
• You've said that experience is no longer currency - relevance is! What strategies can senior executives use to package 20+ years of experience so it resonates in today's market?
• Traditional networking only has a 2% success rate, and you have developed methods that are much more successful. What are your methods?
• What role does age bias play in leadership opportunities, and how can executive coaches help their clients navigate that bias?
• For leaders who feel invisible despite their accomplishments, what practical steps do you recommend to reignite confidence?

Loren Greiff is an executive career coach and strategist. She is the founder and president of PortfolioRocket, a career coaching business she started in 2020 to help executives over 40 advance their careers, overcome ageism, and land jobs faster while earning more. Loren has extensive experience working in executive search and corporate roles, and she focuses on helping clients develop actionable strategies for job search, interviewing, salary negotiation, and personal brand articulation.

She also hosts a podcast called Career Blast In A Half and is active as an executive board member for Fast Company. Her coaching emphasizes turning clients into opportunity magnets by mastering the hidden job market and overcoming limiting beliefs related to ageism and hiring biases.

Steff Vanhaverbeke is a Lecturer and AI Adoption Coach at Syntra, where she empowers professionals and entrepreneurs to navigate the fast-changing landscape of artificial intelligence.

• How can professionals develop "cognitive agility" to thrive alongside AI rather than fear being replaced?
• What are the five human skills that AI can't automate, and why are they crucial for career security?
• What is an AI Agent?
• What is the "Superworker" methodology and how does it deliver 3x productivity gains?

Steff Vanhaverbeke is a Lecturer and AI Adoption Coach at Syntra, where she empowers professionals and entrepreneurs to navigate the fast-changing landscape of artificial intelligence. With a sharp eye for both human potential and technological innovation, she guides learners in understanding, integrating, and confidently using AI tools to enhance their work without losing their human edge.

Steff brings over 28 years of experience in coaching, facilitation, and training to the classroom, blending cognitive agility, systems thinking, and practical tech know-how into every session. Her teaching goes beyond tooltips and trends, she creates safe, interactive learning environments where participants develop critical thinking, creative resilience, and a clear vision of their role in an AI-augmented world.

Her mission: help people become not just users of technology, but adaptive thinkers and ethical decision-makers in a world shaped by it.

A parallel entrepreneur, Timothy Totten, runs his legacy family business in the funeral product manufacturing industry, and creates escape games and other team-building activities with his FunVenture partner.

• Why did you get involved with TEDx?
• What are the biggest mistakes you've seen hopeful TEDx speakers make?
• How has landing a TEDx talk changed over the years, and how should people approach the stage today?
• Besides memorizing a talk, what are the most important steps to having a successful TEDx experience?
• How do you help those aspiring to the world's most influential stage, and can you guarantee they will get onto that red dot?

A parallel entrepreneur, Timothy Totten runs his legacy family business in the funeral product manufacturing industry, creates escape games and other team-building activities with his FunVenture partner, shares his expert knowledge of famed American Architect Frank Lloyd Wright in storytelling sessions across the country, and volunteers as a curator and coach for TEDxEustis, the event which he created and led from 2018-2025.

Today, Totten shares his storytelling expertise and behind-the-scenes TEDx knowledge with hopeful speakers through social media videos and his newsletter, along with both group and one-on-one coaching.