Latter-day Profiles

Levi Heperi is the director of intercultural strategy at Deseret Book, where he oversees the company’s DEI initiatives and develops the strategy to take Deseret Book to international markets. He studied communications at BYU and earned a master’s degree in adult learning and higher education from the University of Oklahoma (OU). He has worked as an inner-city elementary school teacher in Oklahoma, at OU’s school of social work, and at BYU in admissions and as the assistant director of multicultural student services. Levi is Mohawk Native American and Māori.

Amanda Taylor is a lover of all things story, whether it be books, movies, theater - musical and otherwise - art, music, or people. She earned her bachelor's degree in English literature from the University of Utah, which only fueled her passion for classical literature.

She also loves to travel and explore new places with her husband and four teenagers. Though a self-proclaimed city girl, Amanda loves to spend time in nature, preferably the mountains or the ocean - or anywhere that sparks her imagination. Most days, she can be found driving carpool and singing her heart out to her favorite tunes.

Steven Sharp Nelson is widely considered one of the most watched musicians in the world and a pioneer of “classicool music” via his twelve years of cello work with The Piano Guys. His content is listened to or watched 3 million times every day. Steven has performed or spoken to over 2 million people from Tooele to Tokyo, including appearances on Today, Good Morning America, and The Tonight Show. He draws his inspiration from his soulmate Julie, his “superpower” ADHD, the great composers in history, and most of all from his best friend, Jesus. His favorite thing in the world is that all four of his children, ages 10–17, still call him “Daddy.” Sometimes even out of love.

Cydni Tetro, CEO of Brandless, is an innovator of experience, a growth leader, technologist, STEM advocate, author, and speaker.

Cydni recently raised $118M, the largest fundraiser led by a woman in Silicon Slopes.

She has built her career on a foundation of building experiences through technology storytelling and product innovation. She grew companies, marketing & product teams, developed customer experience strategies and go-to-market programs that ensure market leadership, customer relationships and growth strategies across large enterprises and venture-backed startups.

Cydni is CEO of Brandless, a mission-driven omnichannel commerce platform that is growing through technology and the acquisition of mission-driven brands. The art of storytelling and how to apply it for business growth and market leadership is woven through her career. From building a product experience platform and services with Fortune 100 companies, to a 3D printing platform working with Marvel, NFL and Target to help fans become part of their favorite stories, to leading technology commercialization at Disney, to building the largest family network on the Facebook API of more than 100 M users, to building a peer-to-peer document compliance system. Her deep experience in using stories, experience, technology and relationships has helped her lead companies and teams that expand customer acquisition and grow companies.

She is founder and President of the Women Tech Council. As a woman in tech she was compelled to create a non-profit, the Women Tech Council, to amplify the economic impact of women in tech and expand the talent pipeline and she gives back to small businesses through the Goldman Sachs 10K Small Business Program. She spends time working with women in tech, on boards and in her community to accelerate opportunity, inclusion, and growth.

She has been recognized as CEO of the Year, Women of the Year, Contributor of the Year, Top 10 Coolest Entrepreneurs, received Stevie Awards for Entrepreneur of the Year and Innovator of the Year and been recognized as a Most Successful Businesswoman to Watch. Cydni sits on the board of SelectHealth, Intermountain Healthcare, Swire Coca-Cola and the Governor’s Economic Forum. She holds a master’s degree in business administration and a bachelor’s in computer science.

Chad Lewis played football for Brigham Young University and professionally for the Philadelphia Eagles. In 2005 caught the game-clinching touchdown pass in the NFC Championship game. However, during this reception, Lewis suffered a Lisfranc injury to his left foot that kept him out of the Super Bowl XXXIX loss to the New England Patriots.

In 2009, Lewis released a memoir, Surround Yourself With Greatness, and in 2010, he returned to BYU as an Associate Athletic Director.

Chad’s wife Michele is a former All-American volleyball player at Brigham Young University. Michele is a mother of seven and a grandmother who just completed her executive MBA at BYU.

Jenifer Greenwood has worked for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for 27 years—writing, editing, strategizing, and, most important, listening, learning, and being grateful to see closeup the building up of the kingdom of God.

She started her career as an editorial intern and then spent 16 years as an editor, copyeditor, and assistant managing editor of the Liahona. Her current assignment is as the director of policy and General Officer support in the Priesthood and Family Department, where she works to publish general conference every six months and has been privileged to work on the rewrite of the Church’s General Handbook. She recently accepted an appointment as the executive secretary to the Priesthood and Family Executive Council.

Jenifer graduated from BYU with a bachelor’s degree in English and immediately began work on an MA. Before she wrote a thesis, however, she started working for the Church. Twenty-six years later, she graduated from BYU with a master’s degree in public administration.

She’s a self-taught amateur in anything she does but particularly enjoys tasks that involve neatly ordered squares: especially the New York Times crossword puzzle, patchwork quilts, Wordle, and family history.

Daniel and Kathryn Blomberg are the co-founders of Blomberg Music Productions, a full-service music production company helping Christian musicians reach their potential.

Daniel is a music producer, arranger, songwriter, keyboardist, and vocalist from Sweden who met his wife, Kathryn, the love of his life, and many of his favorite music colleagues while at Brigham Young University. Kathryn is a vocalist, entrepreneur, and homeschooling mother.

After many international moves, The Blomberg family has now settled in Provo, Utah

John Pearce is a Co-Founder of Bloom. Pearce, along with Bloom co-founder Eric Engebretsen, has a  mission to improve people’s standard of living in emerging markets through remote work. Bloom’s goal is to create 10,000 jobs abroad while providing easy access to diverse and qualified candidates for US businesses.

Bloom’s talent network includes more than ten thousand college-educated English speakers who have studied at accredited American universities. The company currently has thousands of team members actively working for clients in over 65 countries globally.

Jennifer A. Nielsen is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 15 books for young readers. Her titles have been published in 21 languages, two have been optioned for film, and several have been the recipients of multiple awards and notable lists.

Nielsen was born and raised in northern Utah, where she still lives today with her family, a dog that won’t play fetch, and a cat that hallucinates. She is the author of The Ascendance series, beginning with THE FALSE PRINCE; the TRAITOR’S GAME series, the historical novels, RESISTANCE, A NIGHT DIVIDED,  WORDS ON FIRE, RESCUE, and several other titles. She loves chocolate, old books, and lazy days in the mountains.

http://jennielsen.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Nielsenwriter

https://www.instagram.com/nielsenwriter/

Dan Davis is the founder of the video story company, Stiry. Stiry produces raw and authentic short films and documentaries about regular people doing extraordinary things for network tv, digital streaming services, and web-based video platforms. Stiry’s mission is to inspire people to discover their divine potential by changing the way they see their story.