Gisele grew up in Caracas, Venezuela, and advocates for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She serves on the Board of Directors for Girls on the Run, a non-profit organization created to inspire girls, build confidence, and teach important life skills through interactive lessons and physical activity.

Gisele began her career in Tampa as a software developer and programmer in the IBM Global Network since she has always stood out as a strategic problem solver and innovator. Gisele held various roles at IBM (Sales, Solution Executive, Product, etc.) until the merger and acquisition with AT&T. Thereafter, she held leadership positions within AT&T’s Network Services. Before her retirement in 2018, Gisele was an Associate Director of Technology, where she managed teams of Product Owners, Scrum Masters, Business Analysts, and Developers.

For Gisele, Sales was always her favorite role, Shortly following her retirement, Gisele returned to IBM as a Client Solutions Executive. Now, she has accepted a new role with Accenture as Technology Sales Director supporting customers in the Industrial market.

This content is published by FingerPuppetManagementTV. 

Originally from Brazil, Stênio has spent 15 years living in the US and is currently based in Austin, TX.

Though Stênio began his career as a software developer, he took a quick detour into marketing and management, which led him along the path to technical pre-sales.

Now, Stênio found his place working for Google in their cloud division. This allows him to keep abreast of the latest tech developments while engaging with business stakeholders and helping corporate accounts benefit from the latest virtualization products.

In Stênio's spare time, he enjoys practicing the guitar and playing beach volleyball.

This content is published by FingerPuppetManagementTV. 

Riley is a University of South Florida graduate and earned his MBA from the USFSP campus. He has 10 years of experience in commercial real estate, and some of his previous job titles include Senior Leasing Director, Leasing Manager, and even District Director for Westfield mall.

Over the last two years, Riley has worked as a Senior Solution Engineer and Team Lead for Salesforce.

Riley answers the infamous question--what is a Solution Engineer?

He replies, "We support the pre-sales process by working alongside the sales representative to identify the customer’s needs and generate customized business software solutions. Our role is to be the technical expert while demonstrating and articulating the value of the software solutions best suited for the customer." 

This content is published by FingerPuppetManagementTV. 

Laura began her career as an archaeologist and digital heritage expert, with over 10 years of experience working on projects throughout the US and Europe. Utilizing 3D virtualization tools, she digitally reconstructed an endangered archaeological site in Turkey. For the last three years, Laura has served as the USF Access 3D Lab Director.

Combining her passion for archeology and technology, Laura employs her educational outreach for community service. She has been involved in multiple digital storytelling projects, including an augmented reality public art tour that virtualizes Egmont Key, FL's disappearing historical sites.

Above all, Laura is an advocate of open access and interdisciplinary approaches in the sciences and humanities. Her mission is to support the development of transformative research in the digital realm.

This content has been published by FingerPuppetManagementTV.

Last Tuesday, we spoke with our newest guest speaker, Mike Harting. Mike is the CEO and Owner of 3 Daughters Brewing in St. Pete, which is one of Florida's largest independent and family-owned breweries.  

Since its opening, 3 Daughters Brewing has made news on several occasions. Such as being the first American craft hard Selzer distributed in France, crafting a menu for Epcot, and innovating a Tampa Bay Buccaneers Brew--inspired by Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski!  

This content has been published by FingerPuppetManagementTV.

Last Tuesday, we spoke with Mike Mohr, who is an international supply chain professional and business consultant for Fortune 1000 companies. He was also an Account Director responsible for leading a team of 40+ to build and manage an $800 million program. The global account responsibilities included Europe, the Middle East, Africa, North America, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific. 

Mike's Words of Wisdom:

Nobody was ever successful without hard work. Be sure to work hard, prioritize and get your 10,000 hours in. Mike says, "I remember when I was first starting my career and working at Accenture, I felt so small being a “B” student from a small college. I was now in the big leagues working with people from Princeton, University of Michigan, Duke - Fuqua School of Business, etc." He continues, "While just about every one of these folks would crush me in the smarts category, they couldn’t outwork me."

This content has been published by FingerPuppetManagementTV

Today, we spoke with Dr. Wanda V. Chaves who is a Clinical Associate Professor of Management at the University of South Carolina. She has a Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and is the founder of Project Be: Your Journal, Your Journey.  

Dr. Chaves worked over the span of ten years in several departments within the Walt Disney World Company: Training & Development; Organization Development; Executive Development; and the Disney Institute.  

She has also developed creative projects with organizations such as Cirque du Soleil, Microsoft Games, Hasbro Toys, Converse, Sesame Street, The Dali Museum, Moonbot Studios, Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, The Jim Henson Co, Shelter Box, and Clean the World.   

This content has been published by FingerPuppetManagementTV. 

Today, we spoke with Ken Wrede, who is a business executive, veteran, and entrepreneur. Ken has a wide-ranging background in the worlds of international business, international security, consulting, and startup businesses. He has 27 years of experience living and working around the world: South Korea, The Netherlands, Spain, and France.  

Ken started his career as a telecom officer in the US Army. Shortly after his service, Ken was living in Europe when the government began deregulating the Telecom industry. Thus, allowing new businesses to the market to disrupt the monopolistic marketplace.  

Ken and four others, came together as a team to create a start-up Telecom venture in The Netherlands. The business was booming. Soon, the venture grew from a team of five to employing over 200 people. By the time Ken was 41 years old, he became a multimillionaire.... Listen to the interview to learn what happens next!  

This content has been published by FingerPuppetManagementTV.

Kevin is the owner and founder of Lonzo Law, a firm specializing in assisting entrepreneurs to navigate the legal side of owning a small business. After years of working in large law firms, Kevin saw what was missing in the legal industry today: a trusted legal partner for small businesses.     

Kevin explains, "I believe that the legal field has lost a valuable term to describe those who practice in it: Counselor." Although most in the practice of law go by attorney or lawyer, Kevin will always prefer to go by Counselor. This preference has everything to do with his values and what he believes the practice of law really is.     

Kevin says, "I see the practice of law as an opportunity to counsel my clients through their time of need, and take interest in their future success in years to come."    

The Open Educator has published this content.

Check our live interview with Kevin on YouTube, which has been published by FingerPuppetManagementTV. 

Last Tuesday, we spoke with the Owner and Chief Curator of Ethnic Origin Company, Petra Gurin.

Petra transformed her love for anthropology and indigenous cultures into an import and export business. Petra explains that her goal is to connect communities, she says, "we are all the same people, though we share different stories." Thus, Petra works with artisans to share their tribal arts, antiques, and other artifacts to share their stories with people globally.

Petra explains part of being an entrepreneur is being a storyteller. One of her popular pieces is a Zimbabwe mortar. One side of the artifact is used for grinding wheat, although once flipped over, it becomes a beautiful nightstand. Now, the artifact is home to a couple across the world, in Alaska.

This content has been published by FingerPuppetManagementTV.