Over The Middle

Susie Orman Schnall is the author of The Balance Project, a novel about work-life balance and On Grace, an enchanting and thought-provoking debut about turning 40. She is also the Founder of The Balance Project, a popular interview series about the tragically glorified “doing it all” craze. In addition to writing fiction, she also writes for magazines and websites, mostly about family life, health, and wellness. Her writings have been published by The New York Times, The Huffington Post, The Times of India, Writer’s Digest, The Nest, Glamour, Mind Body Green, Westchester Magazine, Serendipity and others.

Dr. Gayle Carson is known as the S.O.B. Spunky Old Broad. She is President of the SOB Clubs for women 50+ and is the leading expert on women boomers and seniors. A business owner for over five decades, she is a Certified Speaking Professional and a Certified Management Consultant and conducts Mastermind Sessions on Marketing and Business Development. She hosts the "Women in Business" and "Living Regret Free" radio shows, the #1 and #3 on the REN network.

Catherine Morgan is a professional speaker, career transition expert and business consultant through her company Point A to Point B Transitions. She works with executive-level professionals, helping them through career, business and life transitions, using strategy development and accountability coaching. She is the author of Re-Launch You: Discovering Your Point B and Embracing Possibility. (This eBook is available as a free download from her website PointAtoPointBTransitions.com.)

Make-up artist turned super model at age 49, Cindy Joseph, now 64, is the creator and CEO of BOOM by Cindy Joseph, the first Pro-Age cosmetic and skin care line. Spearheading the Pro-Age Revolution, she speaks about a pro-age mindset in her recent TedxTalk St. George. Cindy also speaks on a myriad of subjects pertaining to women, self-esteem, and aging on her video blog, Saturday’s with Cindy.

Andre C. Hatchett is a nationally acclaimed entrepreneur and philanthropist. Andre is the owner of Priority Notary, Inc. and co-founder of BuyBlackNYC.com. Known as “Mr. Buy Black,” Andre is the driving force behind the national Black Business Challenge social media campaign that encourages African-Americans to patronize Black-owned businesses, record feedback about their experience via their cell phone and then post the footage online using #BlackBusinessChallenge. The campaign, which was initially planned for 30 days but has increased to 395 days, garnered the attention of media outlets and sparked mass appeal in Black economics. Andre acknowledges the value of a formal education despite managing to attain success without a college degree. As a result he went back to college and will be graduating from Lehman College in the spring of 2016 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in African American studies and a minor in Business Practice.

Michael Schein is the CEO of MicroFame Media, a digital content marketing and strategy company that implements systems and processes that turn businesses into recognized authorities in their fields for the purpose of driving new business online. He has created or facilitated the production of content for companies including eBay, Linkedin, Avectra, TESLA, Inc., Interiors by Steven G., SEER Interactive, Interneer, Arise Virtual Solutions and Citrix. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with Honors and got his start at Spin the Bottle, Inc., the production company behind VH1 hit show Pop Up Video. He is a weekly columnist for Inc. and a contributor to Huffington Post and Fortune.

Mimi Peters-Davis spent most of her career working in not-for-profit management. Today she spends her days delighting people with flowers. She is co-owner of Fly Me To The Moon Florists, a unique florist located in the Yonkers Downtown Waterfront District of New York. Born and raised in the Bronx, she is happily married to her husband, Kevin, and mother of three incredible kids.

Darrell Gurney, author, executive & career coach, media personality and 25-year recruiting veteran, supports people at all levels to make awesome and fulfilling career and life transitions. His first book, Headhunters Revealed! Career Secrets for Choosing and Using Professional Recruiters, was winner of the Clarion Award for Best Book by the Association for Women in Communications and was reviewed in Publishers Weekly. His most recent book, Never Apply for a Job Again: Break the Rules, Cut the Line, Beat the Rest, has been endorsed by bestselling thought leaders such as Harvey Mackay, Keith Ferrazzi and Dr. Ivan Misner. His upcoming book and workshops focus on The Back Forty: 7 Critical Embraces for Life’s Radical Second Half, promising a second half/best half of play, passion and purpose.

Terrie M. Williams is one of the country's most highly sought-after speakers, and has shared her unique brand of success and personal development strategies with numerous Fortune 500 companies and countless organizations. She has also provided her valued insights in the academic arena at prestigious institutions. Terrie is a frequent online contributor to numerous publications including CNN.com, Ebony.com, theGrio.com and a clinical therapist on WE TV’s SWV Reunited. In 2005, Terrie wrote the critically acclaimed book, Black Pain: It Just Looks Like We’re Not Hurting; her work is credited with starting an unprecedented national dialogue that recounts her own personal struggle depression and the impact the stigma of mental illness has particularly on the African-American community. She launched The Terrie Williams Agency in 1988 with multi-talented entertainer Eddie Murphy and the late jazz legend Miles Davis as her first clients. Terrie continues to represent some of the biggest personalities and businesses in entertainment, business and politics and sports. 

Lisa Lockwood is a motivational speaker, author and reinvention expert. With charisma, drive and eternal optimism, Lisa has dedicated her life to reinvention. Recently, she has been enjoying the success of her published memoir, Undercover Angel: From Beauty Queen to SWAT Team. Her memoir serves as a reminder to readers that they too can get past a life destined for failure by remaining upbeat and optimistic. Lisa’s enigmatic path serves as an inspirational example of how she successfully combined optimism and reinvention to reach unparalleled heights. Lisa is now dedicating her life to teaching people how they can reinvent themselves with the power of determination and perseverance.

John Corcoran is an attorney, writer, father, a former Clinton White House Writer and Speechwriter to the Governor of California. Throughout his career, he has worked in Hollywood, the heart of Silicon Valley and owns his own boutique law firm in the San Francisco Bay Area catering to small business owners and entrepreneurs. He is the creator of Smart Business Revolution and the Smart Business Revolution podcast. His writings have appeared in Forbes, Huffington Post, Art of Manliness, Lifehacker, Business Insider, Get Rich Slowly, Dumb Little Man and numerous other publications, blogs and websites.

Shawn Patterson is a devoted wife and mother, as well as a passionate women's ministry leader, mentor, author and motivational speaker. She has devoted over 25 years of her life encouraging, teaching and training diverse women of all ages to live life to the full through knowing God and His dream for their lives. She has enjoyed speaking to women's groups in the US and abroad. She is the author of Women Who Dare to Dream.

Mark Malkoff is a comedian and filmmaker. He was doing comedy videos and showing them in black box theaters. Within a few months one of his video projects started making national news. He has been featured on the Today Show, Good Morning America and CNN. Mark achieved worldwide media attention for his web series, “Mark Lives in IKEA,” in which he lived and slept in an IKEA store in Paramus, New Jersey for an entire week.

Susan RoAne is an author, who’s an in-demand international keynote speaker. She has shared her message of connection and communication with audiences worldwide and in diverse publications including the New York Times, Sydney Telegraph, Financial Times, Globe and Mail, USA Today, forbes.com, Men's Health, Cosmo, the San Francisco Chronicle, Huffington Post and The Wall Street Journal, as well as on TV, radio and podcasts worldwide. Her clients include Coca Cola, Kaiser Permanente, The US Air Force, UnitedHealth Group, Yale University, Apple Computer, Procter and Gamble, authors@google, Intel, Stanford University, LinkedIn, The National Football League, — and, her personal favorite ... Hershey Chocolate. 

Marcia Pledger is a business journalist and author who specializes in covering stories of reinvention with both companies and careers. Her book, My Biggest Mistake ... And How I Fixed It: Lessons from the Entrepreneurial Frontlines, features some of the more than 450 small business owners she’s featured. While she’s spent her career covering topics as diverse as public companies, marketing, technology, workplace trends and business etiquette, her preference is sharing the human experience in business. A constant learner from leaders of small and large companies, she enjoys sharing transformative business strategies with business groups, women's organizations, colleges and universities. As a 2014 Knight Wallace Fellow and 2013 Kiplinger Fellow, she’s fascinated with the correlation between business etiquette and business success.

Steve Olsher is known as the world’s foremost reinvention expert. Famous for helping individuals and corporations become exceptionally clear on their WHAT – that is, the ONE thing they were created to do – his practical, no-holds-barred approach to life and business propels his clients towards achieving massive profitability while also cultivating a life of purpose, conviction, and contribution. He is the New York Times bestselling author of What Is Your WHAT? Discover The ONE Amazing Thing You Were Born To Do, international keynote speaker, and in-demand media guest who has appeared on CNN, Fox Business and other national outlets.

Dr. Wendy Lyon is a psychologist, master certified relationship and life coach, author and speaker who has guided hundreds of people to personal and professional success. In her book, Roadmap to Success, co-authored with Deepak Chopra and Ken Blanchard, she provides a detailed roadmap to relationship success. As a relationship expert, Dr. Wendy contributes to radio, magazines, and television, and has been featured on ABC TV’s View from the Bay. Wendy holds a doctorate in Psychology from the University of California, and has been helping individuals and couples to transform their lives and create loving partnerships since 1999. Dr. Wendy followed her own ‘True Love Path’ and has been happily married to her devoted husband for ten years, and they are raising their adorable four-year-old son in beautiful Marin County, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Kevin Kermes is an entrepreneur, author and speaker. He served as an Infantry Officer in the United States Army and later worked as a headhunter where he directed more than 1,000 searches. Kevin writes weekly for 280,000+ subscribers at Career Attraction and Every Veteran Hired with the simple mission of providing smart, actionable advice that gets results. Kevin is a frequent presenter at executive career-focused groups in organizations such as Citibank and the Project Management Institute. He is also published in a variety of media, including The Wall Street Journal, The Military Times, Forbes, LinkedIn and several books on career and the job search.

Having gone from high school English teacher to Broadway producer in less than two years, Michael Roderick has spent a good deal of time studying how to effectively leverage a network. He is the founder of The Connecting Connectors Conference (ConnectorCon) and runs a relationship strategy consulting practice through his company Small Pond Enterprises. He is also the founder of PLAE - The Program for Launching Artistic Entrepreneurs and continues to mentor young producers and artists. Michael is on a mission to bring emotional intelligence back to the world of sales and business development. He believes that all the keys to the doors you need to open are in other people's pockets and loves teaching others how to build relationships to get those keys. 

Mike Patterson graduated from Florida State University and moved from Florida to New York in 1987. He started as a teacher in the New York City school system. A few years after becoming a Christian he became a full-time minister serving in the Bronx and Harlem. In 2003 he moved back to Florida and received his Master’s degree in American History at his alma mater, Florida State University, in 2004. That year he was called back to serve in the ministry in Atlanta, where he currently serves an elder in the Greater Atlanta Church of Christ with his wife, Shawn. He also serves as an adjunct professor at Morehouse College and is the author of Running With Lions: Mentoring Leaders for the Millenial Generation.