2018 Conference

Kevin Brown

Kevin’s unconventional path to business and personal success has taught him that winning in business and in life requires anything but conventional thinking.
He grew up in Muskegon, Michigan where his blue collar roots taught him the value of hard work and determination. His resume includes working in a funeral home, washing oil drums, selling household appliances door to door and buying a franchise at the age of seventeen.
With a street-wise aptitude and a never quit attitude, he worked his way from the front lines in business to the executive boardroom of a company that is ranked in the top ten of all franchisors and #1 in their industry. For the past seventeen years he has been part of an extraordinary team that has grown a little known brand into an industry giant with annual revenues exceeding one billion dollars.
Kevin has overcome personal tragedy, self sabotage and a lack of resources to create a life that not only makes him proud, but inspires him to want to help others. He is passionate about helping people expand their vision, develop their potential and grow their results. And, as the father of an autistic child he knows firsthand how the principles of true success reach beyond the boardroom and into the lives of real people facing the challenges of everyday life.
Kevin is the Assistant Vice President of Marketing for SERVPRO, an international franchise system with nearly 1700 franchise locations specializing in fire and water cleanup and restoration. In addition to his corporate responsibilities, Kevin is also a highly sought after keynote speaker. He has had the privilege of speaking to a wide variety of organizations including Siemens, State Farm, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Delta Airlines and The Boy Scouts of America to name just a few.
Kevin entertains, inspires and challenges people to show up every day and make a positive difference at work and in life!

Jeff Rendel

Jeff Rendel, Certified Speaking Professional, knows the financial services marketplace. With experience as a federal banking regulator, financial services executive, and Congressional lobbyist; he understands the balancing act of safety, soundness, sales, and strategy.
As President of Rising Above Enterprises, Jeff works with financial services providers that want elite results in leadership, sales, and strategy. Each year, he addresses and facilitates for nearly 100 financial institutions and their business partners.

Jay Minnucci

Jay Minnucci is the President and Founder of Service Agility, a consulting company dedicated to improving customer service and call center operations. In this role, he provides strategic and tactical guidance across all industries for enterprises that seek to optimize customer interactions. His client list ranges from small start-up operations to large Fortune 500 corporations, and he has completed assignments in call centers around the globe.

In addition to consulting work, Jay is on the editorial board and writes a monthly article for the Contact Center Pipeline. He has contributed to a variety of other journals, studies, and books, including the most recent edition of Call Center Management on Fast Forward. He has taught a number of classes on call center management, and is a featured speaker at many industry conferences.

Before becoming a consultant, Jay spent 17 years running mission-critical award winning call center operations.

Dr. Samuel Jones

Dr. Samuel Jones is a professional speaker, author, and educator from the heart of the Mississippi Delta. He’s the owner of Life Changing Presentations, a company that conducts seminars, workshops, leadership training, and presentations that focus on transformational leadership development. He is also the Vice President of Student Affairs at Jones County Junior College and the leadership facilitator for the Mississippi Economic Council’s Leadership Mississippi program.
Dr. Jones holds a Bachelor’s degree in Advertising, a Master’s degree in Public Relations and a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership. As a former college and professional athlete with years of executive management experience, Dr. Jones uses personal experiences to highlight personal and professional know-hows that will truly make a difference. He is passionate about the success and significance of individuals and organizations.
Dr. Jones is a certified instructor for Jack Canfield’s Success Principles program, a member of the National Speakers Association and a member of the Alumni Hall of Fame at the University of Southern Mississippi.
He is the author of “The Man I Never Knew: How Leadership Can be Developed by Faith, Family, and Friends,” “Live Life on Purpose: From Discovery to Practice” and his new book “Winning Before & Beyond the Finish Line: From Survival to Success to Significance” is forthcoming (2017).

Celeste Cook

Celeste Cook is founder and President/CEO of cuStrategies LLC. As a credit union industry strategist, Celeste provides strategic planning services, experienced consulting services, and expert training programs to the credit union industry. In addition to being a consultant and trainer, she is a keynote and motivational speaker with a dynamic and engaging style that have made her highly sought after within the credit union industry. Celeste has also served as an industry expert as well as a motivational and keynote speaker for credit union associations and leagues nationwide.
Along with being CEO of cuStrategies LLC, she has been involved in the credit union industry for more than 20 years and a professional speaker and trainer for 15 of those years – also working for a $1.6 billion credit union in Atlanta, Georgia, and working as a consultant and trainer with Rex Johnson of Lending Solutions Consulting.
Celeste’s expert training programs/schools in lending, marketing/business development, leadership, and sales and service for credit unions have helped credit unions with assets ranging from $20 million to $2 billion. She brings her credit union expertise, experience, and proven strategies, which have fostered her credit union clients’ increases in loan growth and profitability. For instance, one credit union experienced 33% loan growth in 12 months using cuStrategies’ lending strategies. Celeste also increased loans by 215% in nine months through SEGs during her tenure in Business Development at MAX Credit Union in Montgomery, Alabama.
Celeste has a degree in business management and a Certification in Sales Leadership Strategies through the Credit Union National Association. She has been a contributor to industry publications such as CUinsight, Credit Union Executive Society, Credit Union Times, and Credit Union Journal as well as Branch Managers Letter, a national publication. Celeste is also writing a book on leadership and service.

Sue Hoatson

Sue Hoatson is Regional Manager for Adapt Telephony Services. She works with more than 125 credit union clients of Adapt as well as prospective clients. Adapt provides advanced communication and contact center solutions that specifically address credit unions’ business problems. Sue has worked primarily with credit unions since early 2000. She has 23 years of experience in the communication industry, starting first for PacTel Business systems then AT&T/Lucent Technologies/Avaya for six years, followed by Interactive Intelligence for more than five years and now with Adapt for over 10 years. Sue’s passion is working with credit unions to help each one move and grow with ever-evolving technologies to meet and exceed their members’ expectations.

Rich Fox

Rich Fox has an extensive background that includes 25 years of operations and technology roles that span product management, application development, contact center leadership, technology infrastructure, and voice communications.

Rich has led enterprise-wide technology transformation projects, implemented workforce management systems, and served as the strategist for a contact center that handled 15M outbound and 22M inbound calls annually across 2,500 agents including multiple outsourced partners around the world.

Rich has been on both sides of the fence –leading contact centers and also being responsible for the enabling technology. His passion is helping organizations to leverage new technologies that generate significant business value.

Julie Schippers

Julie Schippers brings more than 25 years of customer service expertise to her role as assistant vice president at Altra Federal Credit Union, a Wisconsin-based institution with $1B in assets. Julie actively manages the credit union’s full service, multi-channel contact center, leading and equipping a team of 31 agents to not only meet member expectations with every interaction (more than 260,000 annually), but also delight them with personalized service.

Julie began her 12-year career in the financial services industry at Wells Fargo Bank. Prior to that time, she owned and operated an eating establishment for 11 years. Julie earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin and an MBA from Viterbo University.

Frank Kovach

Frank Kovach is a leading expert in Contact Center and Operations consulting, with over 30 years of experience helping credit unions to identify cost savings, improve operational efficiencies, and implement incentive plans to enhance performance and sales.

Frank is a Director at Advisors Plus, an independent consulting unit of PSCU, where his team has worked with dozens of credit unions to create and implement strategies to improve contact center excellence and profitability.

Frank is a frequent and engaging speaker who also publishes extensively on contact centers and operations. Frank’s ability to communicate about technically complex subjects in an accessible way puts his work on the “must-see” list for operations and general managers alike.

Lori Bocklund

Lori Bocklund is President of Strategic Contact, an independent consulting firm that helps companies optimize the value of their customer contact technology and operations. Strategic Contact helps companies develop and execute plans tied to business goals, conduct assessments and build roadmaps, develop requirements and select appropriate solutions, and manage projects to successful implementation.

Lori is a recognized industry leader in contact center strategy, technology, and operations. With over 25 years in the industry, she has acquired an understanding of a broad spectrum of systems, applications, and operational environments. She shares her knowledge and experience through speaking engagements, seminars, articles, and the book she co-authored. Attendees of Lori’s seminars and courses appreciate her enthusiasm, energy, and humor, and her ability to make today’s complex contact center environment more readily understood.

Lori has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from South Dakota State University and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from The George Washington University. She is also certified in Change Management with Prosci.

R