The Larsen Group

Paul Bailo is the founder of Phone Interview Pro and author of the recently released book The Essential Digital Interview Handbook.  It is not enough for job seekers to be telephone interview savvy these days, with the digital world bringing Skype, Google Hangout and GoToMeeting invitations in the mix.  His book covers topics such as proper camera angles, microphones, lighting and cameras, how to establish a professional presence by using the correct background and chair, and tricks and tips to posting a clock and cue-cards on the wall behind the camera. Paul guides clients to prepare, conduct and conclude successful virtual face-to-face interviews.

www.phoneinterviewpro.com        December 28, 2013                 20 minutes

Cheryl Lambert is president of Joe Dolce Communications. She honed her skills and talents for over 30 years working on Wall Street and globally at the largest clearinghouse in the US financial industry.  Today Cheryl is focused on helping leaders find the most creative and sustainable ways to develop talent, thus fostering growth and propelling careers to contribute to culture change, increasing productivity and revenue for organizations.  She is also the Vice Chairman of Boys Town New York, assisting the culturally diverse population of trouble youth and families in the five boroughs of New York City through an integrated continuum of care.

www.joedolcecommunications.com   December 21, 2103                 20 minutes 

Annika Laale is an organization development consultant and a practitioner of change based in Canada. Several years ago out of necessity she realized she needed to move from being an independent consultant, doing the work she loved with great clients, to enable change as an inside member of an organization.  Hers is a story of needing to put into practice what she knew about change and how she had guided others through it, a journey that has given her an even deeper respect for the complex and difficult experiences of her clients, plus a completely new understanding of change and effective ways to approach it.  Success comes with being congruent, being who you are everywhere and with practice, daily aligning action to intention.

annikalaale AT gmail.com                  December 21, 2013                    20 minutes 

John Shattuck spent over 30 years with IBM, relocating 12 times to mange hardware and software computer service and support organizations throughout the US.  He also taught business process re-engineering for IBM and the American Academy of Management. Today John is very active supporting and participating in programs for white collar job seekers. His definable, repeatable, predictable job search process is based on proven techniques that improve each candidate’s efficiency and effectiveness to find the job of their choice, even when no one appears to be hiring.  He conducts free workshops through several non-profit and community groups.

Facebook: Tucson Job Seekers          December 21, 2013                    20 minutes

Bonnie Kampa leads Interfaith Community Services, a 28-year strong non-profit dedicated to helping seniors, disabled individuals, and families in financial crisis achieve stable and independent lives.  Pulling from diverse sources of funding and over 70 faith communities in Tucson, ICS is known for putting the professional volunteer first, offering personal growth and affiliation opportunities that build a collective capability, loyalty and highly relevant programs of service.  In addition to meal services, emergency bridging funds, and “adopt a family” connections, ICS operates three centers that offer training to secure viable employment to sustain their independent lives.

www.icstucson.org                       December 14, 2013                  20 minutes

Margy Dehlin came to the US from Brazil following an early career in pharmaceutical sales to become a nanny, ultimately serving three families and realizing that her passion for and love of healthy cooking was pointing to a dream of starting a business.  Margy’s Jams sold its first jars of strawberry and orange marmalade jam at farmers’ markets in 2009, starting with $100 and to date assuming no debt.  Renamed Margy’s Kitchen, the Dehlin’s have distributed over 32,000 jars of products through nine stores in Arizona and California –15 varieties of high quality jams, fruit salsas, pickled beets, asparagus, beans and garlics, as well as Brazilian chocolates.  A proud US citizen since 2011, Margy is a woman of tremendous faith with a goal of building her business to help those less fortunate with their living conditions and well-being.

www.margyskitchen.com              December 14, 2013                 20 minutes

 Alex Rodriguez is the Director of the Arizona Technology Council in Southern Arizona, a trade association of over 750 science and technology companies connecting through educational forums, business conferences and public policy advocacy.  Established in 2002, the community involves visionaries, leaders, managers and employees determined to make an impact and grow their businesses and thus accelerate the growth to the Arizona economy.  Originally from Nogales and son of an immigrant working class family, Alex’s career is rich in service – on tour with the US Army in Bosnia and Herzegovina, working for the Arizona State Senate, the United Nations Association in New York, and the US State Department at the embassy in El Salvador.

www.aztechcouncil.org           December 14, 2013               20 minutes

Richard Paul Evans is an internationally recognized author known for his ability to read our very souls and heal broken hearts. The Christmas Box and over 20 other novels have been on the New York Times bestseller list, translated into 24 languages, with over 17 million books sold.  Richard’s newest book, The Four Doors, evolved from an inspirational talk he has given hundreds of times to diverse audiences around the world.   It is a nonfiction book of stories shared by his readers, stories about great achievers who overcame handicaps, and his own life struggles.  It is a guide to joy, freedom and a meaning life.

Gabriel Ayala is a member of the Yaqui Nation and one of Tucson’s remarkable composers and versatile performing musicians, at the forefront of a new generation of Native Americans making a career performing classical music.  Gabriel is known for his innovative blend of classical music with the vibrant flamenco genre, resulting in “Jazzmenco.”  His ninth CD is entitled Shades of Blue, named after a painting done by a financially struggling artist in thanks for the inspiration Gabriel’s compositions offered him.  Gabriel performs and travels throughout the US and abroad serving as an advocate for education for all youth while instilling values of living a traditional lifestyle and abstaining from substance abuse.

Laszlo Retfalvi is the principal of Retfalvi & Associates, a management consulting firm based in Ottowa, Canada, focused on dramatically improving clients’ ability to successfully lead projects, regardless of complexity. His upcoming book is The Power of Project Management Leadership: Your Guide on How to Achieve Outstanding Results. An electrical engineer by academic training, Laszlo is a former VP of Programs and Risk Management who has honed planning models, pragmatic tips, and recovery techniques based on personal experience to ensure leaders can help guide their teams to successful and timely outcomes.

Maggie Stuckey is out to influence and correct our social dynamics by recreating community in a very creative way, one table at a time. Happiest when tending her vegetable gardens in the Pacific Northwest, Maggie’s latest of nine books is Soup Night: Recipes for Creating Community around a Pot of Soup.  She believes the places we live become real, cohesive and engaged neighborhoods through shared values and common experiences.  Creating and sharing a pot of soup is an easy way to foster a sense of community and purpose across all generations.  Could soup nights in cities, towns, churches and community centers change the world? She believes so!

Annie Hyman Pratt is from Shared Vision Partners, a consulting practice that helps clients become outcome focused and get results fast, no matter how messy or challenging the situation.  Being a member of the founding family of The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, from her early 20’s Annie helped lead a mom and pop culture of seven stores through rapid global expansion – crazy fast business growth where the stakes were high, everything broke, and chaos was the norm. Today she has expanded her leadership impact by teaching her uniquely effective organizational change management methods centered on collective empowerment and accountability.

Suzanne McFarlin is a leadership coach and the Executive Director of Greater Leadership Tucson, a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to providing leadership education, community development and civic engagement for the overall care of and commitment to Tucson. Once again in partnership with the Tucson Metro Chamber of Commerce, GTL has hosted an annual multi-month leadership class sequence for over 30 years.  Selected and sponsored participants expand knowledge of the changing region and its critical issues to become stronger, informed and active community leaders.

Bena Kallick is a private consultant and serial entrepreneur serving school districts, state departments of education, professional organizations, and public agencies throughout the United States and abroad.  As co-founder of the Institute for Habits of Mind, Bena works to transform schools into places where thinking and Habits of Mind are taught, practiced, valued and have become infused into the culture of the school and its community. Bena recently completed an online course for EduPlanet.org for the professional development for educators using the most contemporary tools and thinking to successfully engage students as 21^st century learners.

  www.instituteforhabitsofmind.com   November 23, 2013       20 minutes

Jared McKinley is a botanist, horticulturist, urban homesteader and now co-founder and associate publisher of Edible Baja Arizona magazine, celebrating the foodways of Tucson and the borderlands. A resident of Arizona for over 20 years, Jared has been a ranch manager, leader of a pop culture art collaborative, massage therapist, and owner of a plant nursery.  It was a journey through bankruptcy that led him to raise his own food out of need, blogging the experience, and connecting with the right people to start the colorful magazine that portrays the rich food heritages of Baja Arizona, and advocates relocalizing our foodshed.

Diane Dale is a fine art painter whose diverse watercolor work span botanicals, circus scenes and characters, pet pals, birds’ nests, and a new series on Black Angus cattle from the iconic Big Bend area of the Wild West.  A native of Texas, Diane’s art studies took her from Austin to Italy where she accidentally fell into a career within the fast-paced European and New York high fashion industry – always with her sketch books and watercolors nearby.  Following several years then in print advertising and television commercials, seven years ago Diane transitioned to purse her painting passion full time based from Tucson.

Dale Lotter is the founder of Adio Life Center, a wellness weight loss practice in Tucson dedicated to helping others reclaim their health through balanced weight management and overall wellness.  Through the use of whole foods, whole food concentrates, uncontaminated water, and education Dale guides his clients towards clean living, the end result of which is invariably optimum health and sustainable weight loss. A native of South Africa and an active chiropractor for over 25 years, Dale can identify with his clients with empathy given his own journey of self-healing.  Ten years ago, he shifted to educate clients through alternative body, mind and spirit modalities. 

www.adiolifecenter.com                  November 2, 2013               20 minutes

Kristen Cumming is an organizational development consultant who specializes in demography.  She helps clients predict and address how the shifts in the workforce and labor market are affecting their ability to build and retain top performing talent.  Data shows how people are essentially a reflection of their socio-economic conditions, experiencing change and then become the agents of the change.  Kristen leverages how what people want out of their work today – security – has not changed as a fundamental value; however, skills-based and passion-based security vs. company-based security have.  Intellectual mobility and a desire for a longer, personally architected working lifetime are reshaping the meaning of career.

www.cantosperformancemanagement.com    November 2, 2013         20 minutes   

John Murphy is author of the new book Zentrepreneur: Create a Culture of Innovation and Fearlessness. John is from Venture Management Consultants and blends principles of leadership with personal understanding through zen – adopting a daily practice of thinking positively, of wellbeing, and profound personal presence in NOW.  He helps clients get out of their own way to lead more effectively and live a fuller life, which accelerates innovation and enables fearlessness inside their organizations.  Being born on a Friday the 13^th and surviving several near childhood tragedies, John grew up doubtful and superstitious yet turned ultimately to taking life with a full sense of adventure, asking “why not?” and “what if?”

Althea Bilodeau is a third-generation fiber artist who expresses her love of fashion and color through textile creation and fashion design. Each of her one-of-a-kind felt garments and accessories is sculpted from her own hand-dyed materials including fine merino wool, silk, and other Vermont local and exotic natural fibers. A young student of sewing and weaving, Althea pursued her interest in fashion through studies in costume design, construction, and modeling. For last three years she has been commissioned by Chris Benz, the internationally known American fashion designer, to contribute to his collections showcased in New York City.

Ed Adams is a 25-year practicing psychologist, fine artist, and founder of Men Mentoring Men, a non-profit with 4 chapters and 90 members dedicated to providing a safe, shame-free environment for men to expand and enhance their lives.  Ed is an accomplished speaker, life and business coach focused on empowering men to pursue the “best of masculinity.” A true Renaissance man, he has manifested AND integrated his professional and personal passions, with a painting featured on the cover of a national psychology magazine, and a sculpture commissioned by Holocaust survivors to gift to Steven Spielberg for the movie Schindler’s List.

www.menmentoringmen.org       October 26, 2013                     20 minutes

Kelli Soetaert Pratt of One Source Staging wrote the book Stage to Sell as a user-friendly guide on how to stage your home to sell quickly at a price you feel you deserve, despite the current topsy-turvy real estate market.  With a lifelong interest in interior design and décor, Kelli has a natural eye for visual appeal and formerly led Beautiful Walls, a faux finish and mural residential service business.  The methods in Stage to Sell came from her own harried yet successful experience selling her family’s home in record time due to a sudden out-of-state career relocation.  Necessity can be the Mother of Invention!

Kandy Hirsch is a licensed professional counselor, mediator and business coach specializing in employee relationships and teambuilding.  Formerly an entrepreneur in the massage therapy and wellness sector, she is now dedicated to organizing and facilitating peer leader-to-peer leader advisory groups.  She has two Women’s President Organization chapters in Tucson, and is involved with Vistage International, one of the oldest networks leaders of its kind in the US.  These organizations bring leaders from diverse industries and non-profits together and enable a confidential environment for support and collaboration on common challenges.

Lisa Bowden is a poet, playwright, editor and co-founder of Kore Press.  For 20 years Kore Press has been dedicated to creating a progressive forum for the contemporary voice of women writers and girls. Each year they publish specialty books and assist authors from concept through distribution, plus offer  social activism workshops for young girls leveraging the interrelationship of literature and poetry, visual and broadcasting arts. Lisa is the editor of Autumnal: A Collection of Contemporary Elegies, co-editor of Powder: Writing by Women in Ranks, from Vietnam to Iraq, and director of Coming in Hot (a play based on Powder).

Kip Marlow is the author of the new book The Entrepreneurs: Success and Sacrifice, which gathers the success stories of small business owners who have transformed their businesses into highly lucrative enterprises through vision, persistence, and plenty of sweat. Kip’s perspective as an entrepreneur goes beyond that of a casual observer, having founded his own company, Marlow Surgical Technologies, which developed and marketed minimally invasive surgical and disposable products for reproductive medicine. As part of his mission to mentor other entrepreneurs, Kip hosts the weekly Entrepreneurs Club Radio Show based in Ohio.

Roger Dery and Orin Mazzoni have been friends for over 25 years from the gemstone and jewelry industry, and have partnered to lead an independent documentary film project that takes place in East Africa.  Sharing the Rough is a gift to the global gemological community, a means of education and awareness for social good to help developing nations expand their economies.  The film includes subtle humor and heartwarming heroism, and focuses on the miners and families that work to bring these precious gems to the surface, to the gem cutters who create the final unique piece that is set into a stunning piece of jewelry.

Terri Taylor leads Design Biz Blueprints, an organization dedicated to helping interior designers to grow their businesses in a profitable and personally rewarding way by attracting the right clients.  Her mantra – Better Your Business + Life + Money. A practicing designer for over 30 years in interior design and construction business, Terri’s own practice serves clients in high end residential design, hospitality, medical and professional offices.  Originally in the real estate business, a personal/family life change prompted Terri to step forward into furniture sales and follow a passion and pull for creativity into the design world.

www.designbizblueprints.com     October 5, 2013                       20 minutes