TEDxOconomowoc

Speakers

Speakers may not be confirmed. Check the event website for the latest lineup.

• Brian Dorow

  President & CEO — Secure Resources Unlimited · Former Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

  Brian Dorow is a security executive, entrepreneur, and former senior national security official whose career spans local law enforcement to the federal government. He spent a decade with the City of Waukesha Police Department and nearly 14 years as Dean of Criminal Justice, Homeland Security, and Counter Terrorism at Waukesha County Technical College. In 2018, Brian was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and later served as Chief Homeland Security Enterprise Advisor at The MITRE Corporation. Today, he is President and CEO of Secure Resources Unlimited, the security company he founded in 2015. His TEDx talk, Look at Me: The Free Cheese President, explores how humble beginnings, hard work, and refusing to accept limitations can transform the trajectory of a life.

• Carl Gould

  Best selling Author

  Carl Gould is a worldwide leading authority on business and entrepreneurship, a keynote speaker, and best-selling author. He built three multi-million dollar businesses by age 40, and his company, 7 Stage Advisors, has mentored the launch of more than five thousand businesses — including work with Allstate, American Idol, USA Olympic Track, IBM, McGraw-Hill, and the US Army. He created the farthest-reaching business mentoring organization in the world, with methodologies practiced in 35 countries, and has trained, certified, or accredited over 7,000 business coaches and mentors since 2002. Carl co-authored Blueprint for Success with Stephen R. Covey and Ken Blanchard, and his best-selling books The 7 Stages of Small Business Success and Biz Dev Done Right lay out his formula for HyperGrowth. A four-time Entrepreneur of the Year and a fixture across 100+ news and media appearances, he brings original, battle-tested content and high-energy delivery to every stage.

• Cindy Howard

  Board-Certified Chiropractic Internist,

  Dr. Cindy Howard is a Board Certified Chiropractic Internist and Nutritionist, author, and leader in wellness and resilience. She is the author of the award-winning Positively Altered: Finding Happiness at the Bottom of a Chemo Bag, which shares her journey of navigating life’s greatest challenges with humor and an unwavering commitment to growth. She owns Innovative Health & Wellness Center and serves on the boards of Inguardia Health and Fullscript. A longtime American Chiropractic Association delegate for Illinois, she was named Illinois ACA Chiropractor of the Year in 2020. As founder of the Positively Altered Project, she brings together thought leaders and practitioners to reimagine wellness at work and in life through science-backed strategies for mental, physical, and emotional health.

• Dom LeRoux

  Award-Winning Author, E-Commerce Growth Executive

  Dom LeRoux is an award-winning author, e-commerce growth executive, and speaker who has helped scale eight- and nine-figure businesses and served as a Panel Advisor to USF’s Muma College of Business. His philosophy, “create value first,” guides how he approaches business and relationships: give people a reason to trust you before asking for anything in return. His book, The Corporate Gifting Playbook, explores how thoughtful giving can create value, deepen relationships, and open doors. In his TEDx talk, We Have Opportunity Backwards, Dom challenges the belief that opportunity must come first, proposing instead that we create value first, build trust and relationships, and allow opportunity to follow.

• Erica Flores

  Board-Certified Music Therapist

  Erica Flores, MMT, MT-BC, is a board-certified music therapist, healthcare advocate, and Founder & CEO of Healing Harmonies. With over 20 years of clinical experience, she leads a multidisciplinary team providing music and art therapy across southeastern Wisconsin. Her work supports individuals throughout the lifespan, including those with neurological and neurodevelopmental conditions, mental health and substance use challenges, memory care needs, and hospice care. A past President of the Wisconsin Chapter for Music Therapy and current Task Force Co-Chair advocating for state licensure, Erica is committed to expanding access to creative arts therapies and developing the next generation of clinicians. Outside of work, she enjoys making music with her family, live concerts, card games, and cheering on the Packers and Brewers.

• Jamie Lynn Tatera

  Certified Mindful Self-Compassion Teacher

  Jamie Lynn Tatera is an educator, certified Mindful Self-Compassion teacher, and creator of a parent-child self-compassion program studied by researchers at UW-Madison, UNC Chapel Hill, and UC Irvine. She is also the author of the award-winning two-volume Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Workbook for Kids. Both grew out of her own experience discovering that self-compassion could heal her family, and her wish for others to have the same. A mom of two, Jamie Lynn has taught in Milwaukee Public Schools classrooms for fourteen years. She has also taught in the School of Education at UW-Milwaukee, and writes for Greater Good Magazine, published by UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center. Her program has been endorsed by the founders of the Mindful Self-Compassion program, Kristin Neff at UT Austin and Christopher Germer at Harvard Medical School. She is on a mission to help children and caregivers stop trying to get it all right, and start lovingly holding the mess.

• John Holcombe

  Innovation and Commercialization Expert

  John Holcombe is an innovation and commercialization expert, executive coach, and Founder and CEO of JH Leadership & Strategy, Inc. With more than 30 years of experience across biotech, pharmaceuticals, advanced materials, and high-growth technology sectors, he helps leaders turn complex ideas into measurable business value. Drawing on his Innovation-to-Market Canvas™ and real-world experience, John helps organizations identify meaningful customer needs, uncover market opportunities, reduce risk, and translate ideas into scalable, profitable outcomes. His best-selling book, Creating Value Faster, captures the core frameworks behind his work and offers leaders a disciplined approach to transforming customer insight into sustainable growth.

• Lisa Werner

  Music Educator

  Lisa Werner is a music educator whose commitment goes beyond the conventional, constantly seeking inventive ways to intertwine music with STEM education, such as orchestrating students' experiments on sound and music during a Space for Teachers zero gravity flight while playing her trombone, making connections between music, bathymetry, and autonomous underwater vehicles on a NOAA Teacher at Sea mission to the Pacific Ocean, traveling on a National Geographic/Lindblad Expedition Grosvenor Fellowship to connect climate change data to music in Antarctica, or using STEAM education to transcend borders in a Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms fellowship in Senegal. Lisa's goal is to encourage students to dream big and leverage the skills acquired in music class to achieve their ambitions. When not inspiring students to love music, she plays in jazz bands, musical pit ensembles, and travels around the world with her husband and two daughters.

• Matt Moroney

  CEO of Wangard Partners

  Matt Moroney is CEO of Wangard Partners, bringing leadership experience from both the public and private sectors. His career spans real estate, economic development, government, and business leadership. He previously served as Executive Director of the Metropolitan Builders Association and held several senior roles for the State of Wisconsin, including Deputy Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources, Deputy Chief of Staff, and Strategic Economic Initiatives Director. Matt has been recognized among Milwaukee Business Journal’s Top 55 Business Executives and BizTimes’ top 275 Executives in Wisconsin. He is also active on numerous business and community boards, including the Waukesha Business Alliance, where he serves as Board Chair.

• Megan Kuiper

  Keynote Speaker, Leadership Coach, and Corporate Culture Consultant

  Megan Kuiper is a keynote speaker, leadership coach, and corporate culture consultant who helps professionals and organizations build energized leaders and thriving teams. With more than 21 years of corporate leadership experience, including serving as a Director at Target Corporation, she combines real-world experience with a human-centered approach to leadership. After experiencing burnout at the height of her corporate career, Megan redefined her path and now helps high-achieving professionals reconnect with fulfillment, purpose, and intention. Through keynotes, consulting, and coaching, she helps leaders elevate their energy, strengthen communication, develop stronger teams, and create cultures where people take ownership and thrive.

• Pat Miller

  Founder of the Small Business Owners Community

  Pat Miller is the founder of the Small Business Owners Community. He spent 22 years behind a microphone in professional broadcasting before turning that voice toward small business owners. Today, he hosts Businessing with Pat Miller, his daily live show where he walks owners through the news, the noise, and what actually matters to their bottom line. He speaks and trains on AI showing small business owners how to use Claude as a team member instead of a chatbot, so they can hand off busy work and get their time back. And, he hosts live events and meet ups for entrepreneurs to live out his mission: "It's Your Dream, Don't Grow It Alone®."

• Sue Kirchner

  Sue Kirchner is a brand strategist, Founder of Brand Strong Marketing, and host of the Turbo Branding Show

  Sue Kirchner is a brand strategist, Founder of Brand Strong Marketing, and host of the Turbo Branding Show. For over 25 years, she has guided CEOs and Founders through turbulent market transitions using her proven Brand Strong Methodology—helping companies turn their core identity and brand positioning into a magnet for the right customers and top talent. Through her consulting, coaching, and podcast, Sue empowers Founders and CEOs to ignite sustainable growth by making the brand their strongest sales lever. In her talk, she reveals that the secret to breaking past the $1 million ceiling isn't hiring more salespeople or running more ads — it's treating brand as the core operating system of the C-suite, a business discipline rather than a marketing task, and the single most critical commitment a leader can make to build a company that grows and outlasts its creator.