The Larsen Group

Al Glann believes art is an investment in our lives.  His career began in commercial graphic design and illustration, including teaching at a college level for over 25 years, before taking a leap in 1990 to forge a successful career as a sculptor.  His award-winning work has been related to that of architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Frank Gehry in line and movement, most notably his horses.  Al believes art is what speaks to us and visually enriches our lives in some way – something we can look at and perhaps touch and experience that every day that nudges our souls.

Kyle Rockwood is an account manager with Maxim Healthcare Services involved in staffing solutions for medical professionals.  Kyle studied mechanical engineering in college and in his early career managed a fishing store in San Diego.  He moved to Tucson and simultaneously shifted from technology problem solving to the people solutions industry to support healthcare clients.  Kyle truly believes in the power of identifying strengths and weaknesses for candidates, allowing them to navigate career decisions plus help hospitals and medical practices select the best fit long term employees.

www.maximhealthcare.com                   March 23, 2013                    20 minutes

Phoebe Baker Hyde of Boston embarked upon a one year journey of significant personal change while on expat assignment in Hong Kong with her husband and newborn baby.  Her thought-provoking and stirring memoir is The Beauty Experiment: How I skipped lipstick, ditched fashion, faced the world without concealer, and learned to love the real me. Questioning the equation of her life, Phoebe had been at a crossroad of self-doubt, one of those periods in life we all encounter when everything gets tossed in the air and we do not know where we are going to land.  She created her own path by walking it to find a new middle ground.

Bill Welter is a consulting educator with over 45 years of experience spanning four separate careers:  military, engineering, consulting and education.  As president of Adaptive Strategies, he specializes in the application of critical and strategic thinking for business leaders and professionals through writing, speeches, workshops, team facilitation, and one-on-one coaching.  Author of four books (the most recent being 30,000 words written in 30 days), Bill believes in the prepared mind for leaders, living by a reflective, mental process to address change flexibly and take action dynamically.

Barbara Eiswerth and Diza Sauers represent the Iskashitaa Refugee Network, celebrating its tenth year of enabling Tucson-based refugees and volunteers to work together cooperatively. The nationally-recognized program has evolved into an annual harvest of over 75,000 pounds of fruit and vegetables from local backyards and farms for sustenance, and integrating the marketing of culinary goods and sustainable crafts from the refugee’s native lands.  Iskashitaa is also dedicated to educating the community about the local food system and food waste, and has created a partnership with University of Arizona student groups.  

www.iskashitaa.org                               March 23, 2013                      20 minutes

Mary Pat Lucas is the Co-Founder and national president of National League of Young Men, a non-profit for young men in grades 9-12 that offers a structured program for mothers and their sons.  They strive to promote the development of young men into community leaders through leadership involvement, charitable and community service, cultural experiences, and protocol education.  A career-long philanthropic leader and volunteer, Mary Pat led the first Newport Mesa chapter in California, now expanding nationally from an organization of 80 people to four chapters with a current membership of over 700.

Tamara McKinney and Carmen Marriott are members of the Literacy Connects leadership team, program director for Reading Seed Children’s Literacy and Chairman of the Board, respectively.  Literacy Connects is dedicated to literacy to enhance learning, creativity and opportunities for all ages in our community, and was formed in 2011 from four non-profits and one coalition.  Accomplishments in 2011-12 included over 1,900 adult learners being assisted by 380 volunteers, and over 3,000 youth grades 1-3 with 85% of the students increasing their abilities one grade level. Literacy Connects is one of the primary beneficiaries of proceeds from the Tucson Festival of Books.

www.literacyconnects.org                   March 9, 2013                          20 minutes

Harry Winters is an international mining, geology and exploration expert who at age 16 was befriended by Tohono ‘O’odham families who patiently taught him their language, culture and view of the Arizona desert landscape.  Over 750 pages including photographs, Harry’s new book, ‘O’ odham Place Names: Meanings, Origins and Histories Arizona and Sonora, was a monumental undertaking and offers a bedrock to understand a way of life.  Harry came to realize over the years how the ‘O’ odham intellectual perception of the geometry of landforms resulted in a rich vocabulary describing them, knowledge to revitalize a critical language on the cusp of becoming extinct with the passing of the elders.

www.dianesturner.com                        March 9, 2013                        20 minutes

www.svreeland.com                             March 9, 2013                         20 minutes  

Diane Portnoy is the founder of the Immigrant Learning Center in Massachusetts. In over 20 years the center has grown to be nationally recognized for providing free English classes to over 900 immigrant and refugee adults annually. Diane’s concern grew out of her own immigrant experience as the daughter of Polish Holocaust survivors.  She is one of the co-editors of the new book Immigrant Struggles, Immigrant Gifts which richly chronicles the historic journeys of eleven immigrant groups to become assimilated into and change the fabric of American.

Jeannette Mare is the founder and Executive Director of the Ben’s Bells Project.  The most simple kindnesses of strangers and friends sustained her and her family after her son, Ben, died unexpectedly just before his third birthday. Inspired by these gestures, she created Ben’s Bells, a community art project that encourages, celebrates and teaches kindness through the painting and assembling of tiered bell chimes, outside art murals, and “belling” people who are peer nominated for extending kindness to others.  Jean was formerly a university instructor and in partnership with the University of Arizona, is also involved in kindness research.

www.bensbells.org                                 March 2, 2013                       20 minutes

Sari Factor is the CEO of Edgenuity, a provider of engaging online education solutions that has driven outcomes for more than 1 million students in schools across the country. Sari’s career includes over 30 years in educational publishing and services, always with an eye on technology, technology now which is bearing fruit to accelerate Edgenuity’s over 185 semester-long courses for blended or online learning. Their mission is to change the face of learning and propel success for every student, empower every teacher to deliver more effective instruction, and enable schools and districts to meet their academic goals.

www.edgenuity.com                             March 2, 2013                        20 minutes

Debbie Rich is CEO of the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona, dedicated to leading the movement to broaden how over 2,500 volunteers engage with 14,000 girls ages 5-17. They are on a mission to enable women courage, confidence and character, in addition to teaching entrepreneurship, financial literacy and team building through another “c”, cookies.  Debbie’s team has expanded their footprint to effect change by creating a special social service delivery model with college women as troop leaders. This year is the Girls Scouts of USA’s 100^th anniversary.  When girls succeed, so does society.

www.gsaaz.org                              February 23, 2013                          20 minutes

Nate Thise is Tucson’s only certified Muscle Activation Techniques (MAT) therapist, following a career as an USAF aircraft technician then a personal trainer. Nate discovered this integrative approach to pain management after trying for years to overcome his own sports injuries and chronic pain at the ripe old age of 23.  A MAT session involves the client’s muscles being actively used on request from a precisely controlled position, in a specific direction, and against the practitioner’s counterforce.  Nate’s goal is to help clients recover naturally from decreased range of body motion and pain.

www.tucsonmat.com                    February 23, 2013                          20 minutes

Tom Fitzgerald spent nine years researching and writing Poor Richard’s Lament: A Timely Tale, a story within a story featuring Benjamin Franklin. Partly written in the language of the times, Ben returns 225 years after his passing to be tried (and tormented) at the Celestial Court for the shortcomings of his life.  He then visits modern times to witness the unsavory actions of a Franklin-esque advisor to a US President seeking reelection.  Tom relied upon his diverse experiences as a salesman, counselor, US Navy Seal, lobbyist, and corporate manager to tackle the process of creating and promoting this historical fiction, or is it a non-fiction leadership with a twist of self-help book?

Laura Vanderkam is a prolific freelance writer and journalist on time management, careers, and specialty research topics with books, magazine articles, and Internet columns to her credit.  She recently launched a What the Most Successful People Do book series following a popular blogpost, the most recent book being What the Most Successful People Do on the Weekends.  It is time for us to take control of our weekends to get necessary rest while also using our downtime as a springboard to a productive week.  Rest time is too precious to be totally leisurely about leisure, with weekends deserving more not less care than you bestow on working days.

www.lauravanderkam.com                February 9, 2013                           20 minutes

Janis Ian has been nominated for a ninth Grammy Award for the audio version of her 2008 book Society’s Child: My Autobiography.  Recorded live, no edits, no dubs (much like her life) this artistic work is framed by Janis playing the guitar and singing many of her iconic songs, including the highly controversial song that sparked her career at age 15 in the 1960’s, “Society’s Child.”  Janis continues to perform and is writing for children and youth, in addition to leading a non-profit in her mother’s name, The Pearl Foundation, which has funded over $700,000 in scholarships for women to return to college later in life.   From success to significance!

www.janisian.com                              February 9, 2013                          20 minutes

Mark Fidelman is CEO of Evolve and a contemporary thought leader, consultant and author in the social and mobile space.  His new book is Socialized! How the Most Successful Businesses Harness the Power of Social, going beyond the tools of social media, in fact beginning with a company culture and leadership mindset aligned with transparency and inclusion to maximize employees’ and all stakeholders participation in the organization’s mission.  Mark argues that you have to be social on the inside, before you can be successfully social on the outside.

www.markfidelman.com                     February 2, 2013                            20 minutes

Theresa Christy is an Elevatoring and Dispatching Technical Fellow at Otis Elevator Company, and enjoys using mathematics, statistics, and computer simulations to solve technical problems related to traffic flow in large buildings around the world.  Theresa is also an ethnographer, as through observation she tracks and predicts consumer behavior, and so advises building owners and architects on how to configure buildings to best manage rider expectations. Curiosity and answering “what if” questions have been hallmarks for her career success.

Dr. Jean Baruch is the 2003 founder and Executive Director of Beads of Courage, a non-profit dedicated to helping children coping with cancer.  Currently implemented as a standard of care in more than 150 hospitals in six countries, the process of stringing specialized beads on a lanyard after each treatment step supports the psychosocial adjustment of children, while honoring their stories of courge.  Based on research to advance the science of caring, Beads of Courage continues to expand innovate arts-in-nursing programs to affect the full community of support, clinicians experiencing compassion fatigue, as well as families and other caregivers.

Special Show Spotlighting

Live Smart After 50!:

The Experts’ Guide to Life Planning for Uncertain Times

Carleen MacKay is Director of Mature Workforce Initiatives for Career Partners International, a talent management firm with a global footprint. Carleen wrote Plan “B” for Boomers: The 50,000 Mile Checkup and is fluent in overcoming employment bias and is as an active and respected voice of the changing American workplace.  www.agelessinamercia.com

Aaron McDaniel is a corporate manager, entrepreneur, public speaker and community leader. Still in his 20’s, he has held leadership roles at AT&T, in addition to being a serial and social entrepreneur.  Aaron founded Young Professional’s Edge, a company focused on empowering young professionals to succeed in their careers, and a micro-giving foundation that was a 75^th birthday gift to his godmother to support her lifelong quest for equality for all people. Aaron’s new book is The Young Professional’s Guide to the Working World: Savvy Strategies to Get In, Get Ahead, and Rise to the Top.

www.ypedge.com                                    January 5, 2012                      20 minutes

Firuzeh Mehrabani is the founder of the Acupuncture and Allergy Clinic in Tucson. It was her own mid-90’s journey to overcome disabilities related to Lyme disease that closed her first career door in family counseling, and opened a new door to integrative medicine. Today Firuzeh helps people detox safely with minimal stress or healing crises, applying Oriental medical principles with an electro-dermal bio-feedback system to guide prescription of homeopathic and herbal remedies. New doors, literally and figuratively, have opened for Firuzeh’s expanding practice, moving to a new location from the clinic’s founding space of 15 years ago.  

www.acupunctureandallergyclinic.com     January 5, 2013                      20 minutes

Veronica Boone is the Director of Social Services for the Tucson Indian Center, a non-profit founded after WWII dedicated to serving Tucson’s 43,000 off reservation Native Americans from over 550 US tribes. With the goal of supporting a prosperous, healthy, unified and politically strong urban community, TIC’s mission is to lead, serve, empower and advocate through youth and elderly programs, job services, cultural activities and emergency services.  They continue to expand an extensive portfolio of health, housing, education, counseling and recreation services.

www.ticenter.org                                     January 5, 2013                         20 minutes

Jeannie Coleman and Carol Zupancic from Quilt for a Cause lead an organization truly based on soul, love and compassion – a community which stays true to its mission, loves quilting, and offers compassion for families, friends and future generations of women who hopefully someday will not need to face cancer in their lives.  Jeannie also works for National Bank of Arizona and Carol is a retired teacher, and as not-so-accidental social entrepreneurs, they have raised over $500,000 in three years through auctions of handmade quilts donated from across the US and several foreign countries, quilts that tell many stories.

www.quiltforacause.org                           January 5, 2013                        20 minutes