CEOs Speak

Cole spent two decades working in Silicon Valley and on Wall Street, solving complex sales and strategy puzzles for some of the world’s largest companies. Her success during that period came from merging smart business strategy with her own long-standing mindfulness practices. Her approach to work created higher levels of trust, connection, engagement, focus, and understanding and changed the experience her teams and clients had as they worked together. She built Cool Audrey™ so she could enable other people to do the same.

As Founder and Kindness Director of Cool Audrey™, Cole understands that everything good and lasting in business begins with people. She partners with companies to make EQ actionable by cultivating kindness-first cultures and seeding practices that elevate mindfulness to a strategic, must-have business imperative. She’s unconventional in her language, in her approach to business, and in the way she sees the world. ---Authority Magazine

Colin House is an entrepreneur at heart and a highly seasoned professional in the sleep space. He entered the sleep market in an unusual way — through a friend who had assembled a team of brain scientists that developed a sleep program using the healing benefits of sound, founded on research to help NASA get astronauts to sleep in space. After acquiring the technology, Colin developed an app called Sleep Genius and took it to market. Sleep Genius provided something the industry had never seen before — it focuses on treating sleep problems, not just tracking them.

Recruited to Intellibed as CEO in 2014, he contributed his leadership and high-tech experience with disruptive technology to the company., which differentiates itself in the sleep category with its disruptive Gel Matrix®. He is responsible for leading the overall company strategy, overseeing the sales team, establishing strategic retail partnerships, guiding organizational initiatives, and determining unique POS retail activities. Over the last five years with the company, Colin has expanded distribution of their high-end luxury products at retailers from coast to coast, introduced Sleep Genius to the mattress and bedding industry, and championed the launch of the unparalleled Sleep Genius Smart Base. Over the last three years, Intellibed has doubled its business each year, making it the fastest-growing luxury mattress brand.

As founder and CEO of Thrive Senior Living, Jeramy Ragsdale is a man on a mission to nurture a business with people right at the heart. He is the founder behind Thrive, responsible for business development, strategic management and supporting the company’s leadership team. He’s a frequent speaker and panelist at industry conferences and events across the U.S., Asia, and Europe.

Prior to founding Thrive Senior Living in 2007, Jeramy worked in homebuilding, creating infill developments throughout metro Atlanta. Jeramy has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Samford University and is a member of, and active participant in leading industry organizations, such as ASHA, Argentum and NIC. An Atlanta native, he is a father of four daughters, a private pilot, and a marathon man.

Henry S. Givray is the current Chairman and former President & CEO of SmithBucklin Corporation, an association management and services company. During Henry’s 13 years as CEO between 2002 and 2015, SmithBucklin achieved unprecedented success since its founding in 1949, including client satisfaction and retention, employee engagement, company growth, and financial performance.

Two companies Henry served as CEO faced three high-stakes external crises — the dot-com crash, 9/11, and the 2008/2009 Great Recession. Henry confronted and successfully navigated these crises while delivering his best for his colleagues, clients, boards, and shareholders by consciously applying and continuously honing certain practices underlying key principles drawn from his many years of continuous leadership learning and personal growth.

Michael Stausholm is the founder of Sprout — the company behind the first pencil in the world that can be planted and grown into herbs, vegetables, and flowers.

Michael Stausholm began his career in the shipping industry, working for A.P. Møller/Mærsk. With interests including green entrepreneurship and sustainability, he worked for companies such as Nike and Walmart, helping them establish more sustainable and responsible textile production processes from 1996–2006. In 2013, he founded Sprout as a company and launched the Sprout pencil. Today, he owns all the patents to the company’s products and is a principal shareholder and chairman of the board.

Michael Stausholm is an experienced public speaker who has spoken on behalf of the United Nations, at the Sustainable Brands Conference and at a number of public and private events. He has provided commentary to CNN Money, Forbes, Fortune, Huffington Post, the Daily Mail, and Business Insider, and a wide range of other international outlets. He also contributes to the Huffington Post.

With 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur, Stephan launched 30 startups including an app for celebrity wines and spirits (GrapeStars), a magazine (Ocean Drive Canada), a fashion line of custom sandals (Tuccia Di Capri), a modeling and talent agency (Talent), and 21 restaurants/clubs from NYC, Miami, LA, Montreal & NE. His latest project, GrapeStars, is a revolutionary app and marketplace offering wines and spirits of over 200 celebrities, including Angelina Jolie, David Beckham, George Clooney, Mila Kunis, John Bon Jovi, Conor McGregor, The Rock, Jay Z, Sarah-Jessica Parker, and Robert De Niro among others.

Mark Testoni is the CEO of SAP National Security Services (SAP NS2). We provide SAP solutions to the US National Security community under a special arrangement with the US government. Over the last 25 years, we have watched the national security space evolve and become much more asymmetric. Throughout much of the world’s history, national security involved protecting the homeland and critical trade lanes — often sea and land to include eventually air. Today, perhaps the most critical ‘lanes’ are the digital ones, that transcend any traditional borders. As a result, today’s national security is broader and includes protecting critical institutions like financial services, and vital infrastructure, like utilities.

Haresh Mirpuri is the Founder and Creative Director of Aranyani, the luxury Indian handbag company. He began his career in the manufacturing industry in Indonesia and worked in numerous positions throughout Southeast Asia. In 1996 Haresh founded a spinning mill and soon became the most renowned producer of open-end yarn in all of Asia. After 20 years working in manufacturing and mastering textiles, Haresh launched Aranyani to revitalize and redefine the luxury industry in India, as well as to spread Indian artistry and the message of sustainability to the world. Aranyani is the only luxury goods company in the world that owns and operates its own atelier and also trains, educates, and houses all staff members their families. Mirpuri received his MBA in 1993 from the Sri Satya Sai Institute of Higher Learning in Anantapur, India.

As part of my series about the “How Business Leaders Plan To Rebuild In The Post COVID Economy,” I had the pleasure of interviewing Paul McKeon, CEO of Team Building with Taste. Paul has merged his love of cooking with his previous business experience building and running high-performance sales and marketing teams. Paul has seen the benefits of teamwork from the trenches. Before entering the culinary world, Paul founded and sold two successful marketing and creative firms where he learned that teamwork and collaboration where keys to success. He went on to run a global marketing practice for Ketchum, one of the world’s largest public relations agencies. Since 2013, Team Building with Taste has used kitchens, and its unique culinary team building curriculum, to bring teammates together and enhance the performance of more than 2,000 organizations.

Clark is the President of Twiddy & Company, a family firm based along North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Specializing in the vacation rental market, Twiddy & Company manages more than 1,000 privately owned vacation homes and employs more than 125 full-time staff. A combat veteran of the U.S. Navy, Clark’s leadership experience also includes service on the boards of public, private, non-profit, and government organizations.