Jodie Beatty

As the District Manager and a Financial Advisor at Waddell & Reed, Jodie Beatty is a guide, a guardian, and a friend.  She has been in the financial services industry for ten years and has worked at Waddell & Reed for a total of five years.  She will work with you to put a plan in place for today and the future to find a way to retire the way you want, when you want.  She is a resource and a sounding board.  Her mission is to empower and inspire women to get their assets working in a better capacity. 

Jodie is the co-founder and past principal of the Whatcom Young Professionals, is a member of the Bellingham Chamber of Commerce, and previously served on the WPN advisory board in 2005/2006.   

Joy Gilfilen

Joy Gilfilen, speaker, founder of UnitingCreatives.com and inventor of the Joy Triangle Model. Joy has just produced a movie titled Flipping the Joy Switch, due to be released the 3rd week of June!   Joy has been an entrepreneur and coach virtually all her life in one form or another.  She was a top producer network marketer for years, before becoming a consultant fascinated by quantum change and living systems management.  Flipping the Joy Switch highlights Joy's emotions management model for building mental, creative and physical success.  It includes interviews with other local people such as Doug Banner, Bonnie Dean, Nola Ayres, and Chuck Robinson.  Joy can be reached at 360-647-2831 or  at her websites UnitingCreatives.com, and JoyThinks.com.   Coming soon: JoyGilfilen.com and FlippingTheJoySwitch.com

Kathy Cheldelin

Kathy graduated from the University of Wyoming (the real U.W.) in 1985 with a bachelor’s of Science degree in Psychology.  With an umbrella in her car, and a student loan payment lurking, she ventured to the Northwest in 1986 where she quickly landed temporary employment while figuring out what to do with her degree. It was the temporary placement as a receptionist in a national vocational rehabilitation company that became a pivotal point in establishing a lifelong career.  Within 2 years she promoted from receptionist to a job developer, from job developer to vocational counselor, from vocational counselor to Branch Manager. After 10 years of vocational rehabilitation counseling, Kathy began Cheldelin Vocational Services, Inc. in 1996.  She prides herself on developing competent staff through immediate access supervision and always keeping sensitive to the rehabilitation challenges faced by counselors by maintaining a caseload.  She took Master’s level coursework and became a Certified Disability Management Specialist in April of 2005.  She has participated in the Pursuit of Excellence and The Wall series of self improvement training seminars, which focus on accountability in life’s direction. When not attending and/or coordinating the social and athletic events of her three teenagers, she is engaging in community events through Bellingham Bay Rotary, such as the Dollars for Scholars-youth scholarship interviews; Salvation Army bell ringing at Christmas time, committee member for Grape and Gourmet charity event raising funds for the local food bank

Patrice Valentine

Patrice has over 10 years experience in sales, marketing, business development, and project management. Coupled with excellent interpersonal development and creative problem solving skills Patrice manages the Bellingham office and oversees all local sales. From working with start-ups, to well established national franchise chains Patrice has helped launch over 300 websites. Prior to starting Net Solutions, Patrice worked with a specialized marketing consulting firm where she gained experience in relationship marketing, print media, and project management skills. Patrice holds a degree in Psychology from Western Washington University.

Tracee Economy

As one of Washington's leading Regional Vice Presidents with Arbonne International, Tracee Economy of Blaine left the corporate world to build a successful home based business, finding a priceless gift of time and an opportunity to chart her own course.  Tracee's passion for Arbonne's result-oriented health and beauty products takes her on an ongoing journey to encourage and coach others toward their goals of financial freedom. Working along side Tracee for the past three years is a professional team of men and women who together achieved over $1.5 million in product sales as well as accomplishing some pretty awesome personal and financial goals.

Dr. Julie Miller, founder of Business Writing That Counts!, is a business writing expert, author, speaker, and trainer. Over the past thirty years, Dr. Miller has helped more than 600,000 professionals achieve their personal and professional goals by reducing writing time while increasing productivity. Her "lean” writing philosophy challenges you to think about writing and writing production in a completely new way.
Her goal remains to increase her clients’ bottom line by eliminating bad writing. The company specializes in working with corporations, organizations, and educational institutions to improve the quality of written communication. Passionate about improving the quality of writing so that reputations, contracts, and relationships are saved and enhanced, Dr. Miller delivers her powerful messages through webinars, seminars, and online writing courses.  Dr. Miller is a dynamic keynote speaker and results-oriented consultant and trainer. She also regularly speaks to MBA and Executive MBA students as part of the Distinguished Speaker Series.

A popular columnist for numerous print publications and Web sites, Dr. Miller was recently featured in The Seattle Times. Her national best-selling book, Business Writing That Counts!—sold in over twenty countries—details a numbering system that she has taught to over half a million people. Geared toward busy people who need to produce a polished product quickly, the book is full of practical tools, an e-biz section, apropos quotes, and some very funny writing.

Gail is an international speaker who teaches powerful Email marketing, and networking strategies to motivate change today. She specializes in breaking down complex ideas into terms that anyone can follow and understand.   It’s all about less talk and more do.

As the President of the Professional Email Marketing firm, eXtra Contact, Gail has trained companies in innovative techniques to improve bottom line results. She has helped diverse clientele from Hollywood top wage earners , to restaurant owners, and software companies, to international seminar leaders, nonprofit organizations, products, entertainment professionals, businesses of various sizes, and authors.
Gail has been featured in The Globe and Mail, National Post, Financial Post, CanWest Global across Canada, ABC radio affiliates  and Mark Victor Hansen’s , Cracking the Millionaire Code.

Julie Clarke, Professional Organizer and owner  of Organized at Last, is a dynamic speaker and teacher with over 20 years of  experience.  She is a wife and mother of three sons.
She has a BA in  Home Economics from Western Washington University and is a member of the  National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), Faithful Organizers,  and is an active community member.

Julie believes that organized people  lead less complicated and more satisfying lives.  The stories she shares  will inspire you to make positive life changes inside your home and heart.  Julie has spoken at numerous gatherings throughout the Pacific Northwest.   She also teaches classes and seminars in Whatcom County and in the  greater Seattle area.

During her 26 years working for the Social Security Administration Marcia Brixey met thousands of women who experienced financial difficulties resulting from a personal crisis – husband’s death, divorce, illness or loss of a job. In August 2002 she founded Money Wise Women Educational Services to ensure every woman be financially articulate, confident, secure and independent. Today she hosts and speaks at Money Wi$e Women Conferences throughout the Western United States. Ms. Brixey is the author of The Money Therapist: A Woman’s Guide to Creating a Healthy Financial Life (Seal Press).

Ms. Brixey’s been the featured speaker at numerous conferences including the Prudential Financial Stepping Out Conference in Santa Clara, CA and Chicago IL; Choice Hotels Convention in Orlando, FL; Oklahoma Society of CPAs Invest in Herself: Journey to Financial Freedom Conference in Oklahoma City, OK; Washington State Interagency Committee of State Employed Women in Vancouver, WA; Today’s Woman Expo in Boise, ID; Invest in Yourself Strategies for Women Conference in Costa Mesa, CA; Northwest Women’s Show, Seattle WA and Portland OR; and Clemson University Professional Women’s Conference, Seattle WA, Portland OR and Phoenix AZ. Ms. Brixey is a member of the National Speaker’s Association.

Marcia is a regular columnist for The Glow Project Magazine. She’s a former columnist for The Kitsap Sun newspaper, which serves the Kitsap Peninsula in Western Washington. Marcia has been a guest on Northwest Afternoon (Seattle, KOMO TV), View from the Bay (San Francisco, ABC affiliate), Good Day Sacramento, About the Money (Seattle, PBS affiliate) and Sonoran Living Live (Phoenix, ABC15 TV). She’s a regular guest on KING TV Morning News (Seattle, NBC affiliate). Marcia’s been interviewed on numerous radio shows and featured on CBS Report of the Week with Brian Banmiller. Ms. Brixey hosted a weekly talk radio show "Let’s Talk About Money” for several months in 2004. Marcia’s print media appearances include Quick and Simple, Redbook, Reader’s Digest, NFCU HomePort Magazine, Puget Sound Business Journal Seattle Woman Magazine, NW Women’s Magazine, South Sound Woman Magazine, National Networker, and US News and World Report. She’s a mentor for the Department of Labor Women's Bureau Wi$e Up Women program. Ms. Brixey received the 2006 YWCA Woman of Achievement award in Kitsap County.

Marcia was inspired to take early retirement from her public relations job with the Social Security Administration in August 2002 after reading the quote "Our purpose in life is to find our gift, perfect it and give it back to others”. Ms. Brixey’s experience with the Social Security Administration includes District Manager, Supervisor, and Public Relations Specialist. She graduated from California State University, East Bay with a B.S. degree in Business Administration.

Lorraine Howell started Media Skills Training in 1998 after 12 years as a television news and talk show producer in the San Francisco Bay Area. She coaches top executives and professionals on how to be more effective when speaking to the media or making public presentations. Lorraine is a specialist in message development, presentation skills, media interview skills, and crisis communications. In October, 2007 she coached the five finalists in the Forbes.com national Boost Your Business Contest in New York City.

Her book Give Your Elevator Speech a Lift! (Book Publishers Network, June 2006) is a step-by-step guide through her proven process for creating a winning elevator speech. Lorraine’s method helps eliminate the verbal clutter when answering the question "What do you do?”

As the Senior Segment Producer on the top rated news show "Mornings on 2" at KTVU, the Fox affiliate in Oakland, she specialized in booking exclusive, live interviews with top names in the news, public figures and celebrities. She produced live broadcasts from the White House and from the Capitol in Washington, D.C., from the 1996 Republican & Democratic National Conventions, and from "Camp O.J.” during the Simpson murder trial in Los Angeles.

At KPIX, the CBS affiliate, she produced live, hour long programs featuring breaking news stories, controversial issues and emerging trends, and a long list of celebrities on the number one morning talk show "People Are Talking.”

She speaks on media relations and presentation skills at conferences and seminars. Her clients include Starbucks Coffee Company, Microsoft WIO & EIO, REI, Group Health Cooperative, Children’s Hospital & Regional Medical Center, The Mountaineers Books, Vulcan, Inc., ZymoGenetics, Attenex, Avvo, Kibble & Prentice, People To People Ambassador Programs, Edelman Public Relations Worldwide.

She is a Cum Laude graduate from the University of Washington, Phi Beta Kappa. Lorraine is also a member of Women in Communications, Women Business Owners, eWomen Network, Public Relations Society of America, the National Speakers Association, and the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce.

In 2008 Lorraine received the Georgina Davis Founders Award from Seattle AWC and the Member of the Year Award from NSA Northwest.

Cheryl is the President of Synthesis at Work Inc. and an internationally renowned keynote speaker. She provides practical tools and creative strategies for individuals to take their current level of success and boldly grow it to the next level. The companies that Cheryl works with are top performing organizations with a strong focus on becoming a workplace of choice. The leaders of these organizations recognize the value of investing in the growth of their employees for overall company success. Cheryl is a bold growth seeker herself and continually challenges herself to grow, learn and expand as much as she challenges others to do the same.

Topic: Bold Leaders Rock! Lead to Attract Them Lead So They’ll Stay
This is the keynote for leaders, those who want to be leaders and even those who think they are not leaders.
This keynote is fun, vibrant and puts the hot sauce on the topic of leadership. Whether you are a leader or not, we all have to demonstrate personal leadership and this keynote puts a humorous spin on what we need to do to create greater success in our work and in our life.

Stacy Karacostas

When you can’t be there to sell your product or service in person, you have to rely on written words to do the job instead. That’s why creating the right content for your marketing materials is such an important part of promoting your business. There is more to copywriting, or "writing to sell” than just telling people about you, your business, and what you do.

Learn how to use the power of your pen (or keyboard) to… Connect with your ideal customer and show them why they should buy what you are selling, Make your business, products or services stand out from the crowd, Inspire potential customers to take action and buy from you.

Stacy Karacostas brings more than 12 years of experience as a successful marketing consultant and copywriter to her lectures and presentations. Stacy began her career in public speaking providing entertaining and engaging talks as a U.S.F.S Naturalist. A talented speaker, Stacy’s style is always sure to be dynamic and inspiring no matter who the audience is. By constantly challenging herself throughout her life, looking fear in the face, and being successful at those challenges, Stacy has developed a simple system to help us achieve her goals.

September, 2008

Topic: "Ask And You Shall Receive: Fearless Negotiating For Women."

Jeanette Nyden brings more than a decade of experience as an attorney, mediator, and negotiation strategist to all of her client engagements.

As a Seattle business attorney, Jeanette leverages more than 14 years’ experience negotiating a variety of deals to help small and mid-sized businesses achieve outstanding results at the bargaining table. As founder and president of J. Nyden & Co., Jeanette has provided negotiation planning and strategy services in addition to training programs and seminars. Her trainings help level the playing field for companies selling to very large corporations, and emphasize practical and relevant negotiation skills to achieve great outcomes

Before starting her own company, Jeanette handled litigation for a boutique Bankruptcy firm. This experience developed Jeanette’s ability to identify and implement strategies (not just tactics) when dealing with hidden motives that can often hinder the negotiation process. Earlier in her career, she served as an Assistant Public Defender in Chicago, Illinois, the largest criminal justice system in the United States.

Jeanette earned her B.A. and Juris Doctorate from the Southern Illinois University. Jeanette donated hundreds of hours mediating disputes for the Pierce County Center for Dispute Resolution, a non-profit organization. Jeanette was an adjunct professor at Pacific Lutheran University MBA Program, where she taught future business leaders how to become master negotiators. Jeanette and her husband have lived in Seattle since 2002.