The Action Catalyst

Don Yaeger is a nationally acclaimed inspirational speaker, longtime Associate Editor of Sports Illustrated, and author of over 30 books, eleven of which have become New York Times best-sellers. He began his career at the San Antonio Light in Texas, and also worked at the Dallas Morning News and the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville before going to work for Sports Illustrated.

As an author, Don has written books with, among others, Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton, UCLA basketball Coach John Wooden, baseball legends John Smoltz and Tug McGraw, and football stars Warrick Dunn and Michael Oher (featured in the movie The Blind Side). He teamed up with Fox News anchor Brian Kilmeade to pen the 2013 best-seller George Washington’s Secret Six, a look at the citizen spy ring that helped win the Revolutionary War and then again in 2015 for Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates: The Forgotten War that Changed American History, and in 2017 for Andrew Jackson and the Miracle of New Orleans:  The Battle that Shaped America’s Destiny.

Don left SI in 2008 to pursue a public speaking career that has allowed him to share stories learned from the greatest winners of our generation with audiences as diverse as Fortune 10 companies to cancer survivor groups, where he shares his personal story. More than a quarter-million people have heard his talks on “What Makes the Great Ones Great.” He collaborated with the Florida State University School of Business’s Continuing Education Program to build a corporate webinar program focusing on lessons that build a culture of success within an organization. This naturally led to another keynote speech on “What Makes the Great Teams Great.”  The release of his tenth New York Times best-seller, Teammate, was the inspiration for his newest keynote on “What Makes a Great Teammate: Becoming Invaluable Without Being Most Valuable.”

Learn more at www.donyaeger.com

More with Moore is Action Catalyst host Dan Moore's reflections and commentary on discussions with each of his esteemed and accomplished guests.

In this segment, Dan dissects Episode 276, with Dr. Gloria Mayfield Banks, internationally renowned motivational success strategist and sales trainer.

Dr. Gloria Mayfield Banks is an internationally renowned motivational success strategist and sales trainer who has consistently beaten the odds to achieve extraordinary success. Dr. Banks holds a bachelor's degree from Howard University, an MBA from Harvard University, and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. She has built a multi-million dollar enterprise as an author, a founding partner of Charisma Factor, Inc. (a corporate event planning company), and an Elite Executive National Sales Director with Mary Kay, Inc. In 2016, Gloria became the first African American in the history of the company to be ranked #1 in North America.  These accomplishments provided the foundation for her recently published book, Quantum Leaps, with ten specific steps to help you soar.

With her high energy and inspirational teaching style, Dr. Banks is best described as "Energy in Motion!" Dr. Banks has trained professionals on six continents to achieve new levels of success. She is expressly passionate about working with winners to actualize their full potential. Dr. Banks was featured as one of the world's top entrepreneurs at Grant Cardone's 10XGrowth business conference. In addition, Dr. Banks has shared the stage twice with Oprah Winfrey speaking on Empowering Women and Girls for Leadership and at the N Street Village foundation fundraiser to help homeless women.

Dr. Banks shared her secrets of success with national media audiences, appearing on CNN with Soledad O'Brien, ABC-TV, and CNBC with Donny Deutsch on "The Big Idea." She has been featured in Fortune, Black Enterprise, Glamour, and Ebony magazines. Dr. Banks has received numerous awards and national recognition. Harvard Business School documented Gloria's success in a case study titled, "Gloria Hilliard Mayfield at Mary Kay Cosmetics." She resides in Baltimore, Maryland with her husband, Ken Banks.  They share four adult children.

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This episode is brought to you by Southwestern Speakers.

Southwestern Speakers

More with Moore is Action Catalyst host Dan Moore's reflections and commentary on discussions with each of his esteemed and accomplished guests.

In this segment, Dan dissects Episode 275, with Michael McMillan, designer, best-selling author, public speaker, and business consultant.

Michael McMillan is a designer, best-selling author, public speaker, and business consultant.

Throughout his career, Michael’s client roster has read like the Who’s Who of Business. Fortune 100 corporations, startups, nonprofits, and sports and music legends have all sought Michael’s leadership with award-winning results. While Michael’s work has been recognized by major design, marketing, and advertising organizations around the world, his bottom-line results have been recognized by clients, partners, and stakeholders.

Michael’s creative direction on Michael Jordan’s New York Times best-selling pictorial autobiography, Rare Air, established a new niche in retail publishing. This success was followed by several more award-winning publishing initiatives including Mario Andretti and The NBA at 50. Michael’s leadership on Genuine Value: The John Deere Journey established a cultural framework and value catalyst for Deere’s future.

After 20 consecutive years of growth, Michael sold his firm and began sharing his unique insights on creative thinking, innovation and making positive change.

Michael has spoken to audiences throughout the US, Canada, Central America, Europe, and Asia. When the United Arab Emirates launched its national innovation initiative, Michael was invited to Dubai to address this subject with UAE leaders, international investors, and entrepreneurs.

A best-selling author, Michael’s current books include Paper Airplane: A Lesson for Flying Outside the Box, The Power of Teamwork (co-authored with the Blue Angels’ Scott Beare), and Pink Bat: Turning Problems Into Solutions.

In 2013, Michael was recruited by the founder and CEO of a Fortune 1000 financial firm to serve as Chief Marketing/Branding Officer. Charged with driving growth and elevating the brand, Michael established a new department, and developed and deployed a fully integrated digital marketing strategy including the underlying technologies, business processes, and demand generation tactics. Michael's leadership and contributions helped move the stock price from $46 a share to $100+ within three years. The company was acquired in 2016 for $4.3 billion.

More with Moore is Action Catalyst host Dan Moore's reflections and commentary on discussions with each of his esteemed and accomplished guests.

In this segment, Dan dissects Episode 274, with Steve Siebold, author, speaker, and mental toughness trainer.

Steve Siebold, CSP trains sales and management teams on how to increase sales through his unique blend of mental toughness training. Salespeople learn how to control their thoughts, feelings, and attitudes before, during, and after the sales presentation. Managers learn how to become mentally tough coaches and leaders with their sales representatives.

Steve speaks from real-world experience as a former professional athlete, national coach, and international businessman. He began studying mental toughness training as a world-class junior tennis player in the 1970s.

Steve’s clients include Fortune 500 companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Toyota, Procter & Gamble, GlaxoSmithKline—to name a few—as well as thousands of direct salespeople in ten countries worldwide.

Steve has been featured on The Today Show, Good Morning America, BBC Television Europe, NBC Australia, CBS, FOX, and dozens of other television shows, radio programs, newspapers, and magazines around the globe. His books, videos, and audio programs have been sold in 30 countries around the world. Two of his four books on mental toughness are international best-sellers and are considered by many experts to be the gold standard in the field of psychological performance training for sales teams.

As a professional speaker, Steve has been awarded the Certified Professional Speaker designation from the National Speakers Association. Steve ranks among the top 1% of income earners in the professional speaking industry worldwide.