Skip to content
Rodney Brenneman

Rodney Brenneman

Name: Rodney Brenneman Where were you born and raised? Born: Orrville, Ohio. Lived in Orrville and Columbus, OH 9 yrs, then 9 yrs in Memphis, TN through high school and 1st yr college at Univ. Tennessee Knoxville, moved to California, attended San Diego State, grad 1983 BS Mechanical Engineering, So Cal ever since. What’s a… Read more »

Rich Diviney

Rich Diviney

Name: Rich Diviney Where were you born and raised? Westport CT What’s a short story around the biggest transition you’ve faced in life? Transitioning from the Navy after 20 years was absolutely the biggest transition that I have experienced.  As a THF fellow I will say that the program makes that entire process much less… Read more »

Chris Heivly

Chris Heivly

Name: Chris Heivly Where were you born and raised? Newtown Square, PA What’s a short story around the biggest transition you’ve faced in life? Biggest? How about 3-4 total life pivots from geographer to founder to venture capitalist to CEO/COO of existing companies to founder again.  My life is one constant transition as that is how… Read more »

Pam Reyes

Pam Reyes

Name: Pam Reyes Where were you born and raised? I was born in Sayre, Pennsylvania and raised in Manchester, NH or “ManchVegas” as locals call it. What’s a short story around the biggest transition you’ve faced in life? At 23, I sold everything I had that didn’t fit into my Subaru hatchback and moved to… Read more »

Michael Crystal

Michael Crystal

Name: Michael Crystal Where were you born and raised? Born and raised in Long Beach, New York. What’s a short story around the biggest transition you’ve faced in life? The biggest transition I’ve faced in my life occurred when I stepped away from a highly successful career in the corporate realm 21 years ago and… Read more »

Randall D. Chase

Randall D. Chase

Name: Randall D. Chase Where were you born and raised? Born in McPherson Kansas. Grew up outside Chicago Illinois (Roselle). Graduated from NIU, DeKalb, IL and then joined Army What’s a short story around the biggest transition you’ve faced in life? My biggest transition was from 25 years of active military service with moving every… Read more »

Brage Garofalo

Brage Garofalo

Name: Brage Garofalo Where were you born and raised? Born in Caracas, Venezuela, but raised in Chicago. What’s a short story around the biggest transition you’ve faced in life? I thought I wanted to be a Marine Biologist, so after many twists and turns, I decided to move to San Francisco and attend the Marine… Read more »

Jordan Goldrich

Jordan Goldrich

Name: Jordan Goldrich Where were you born and raised? New York City (Manhattan) What’s a short story around the biggest transition you’ve faced in life? I was fired from an executive position for mismanaging my budget. Later, my consultant from the Finance Department apologized for withholding critical information I had requested because my boss had… Read more »

Stephen Axel

Stephen Axel

Name: Stephen Axel Where were you born and raised? I was born in Riverside, California, about 60 miles east of LA. What’s a short story around the biggest transition you’ve faced in life?  My first job out of college was the biggest challenge of my career.  I joined American Hospital Supply as a Territory Manager… Read more »

Kristin Behfar

Kristin Behfar

Name: Kristin Behfar Where were you born and raised? Born at Westpoint, NY and raised in Long Beach, CA What’s a short story around the biggest transition you’ve faced in life? I’ve had several and they have all involved “hard stops”— injury, moves, motherhood—events that require stopping one way of life and making new decisions… Read more »

Miguel A. de Jesus

Miguel A. de Jesus

Name: Miguel A. de Jesus Where were you born and raised? New York City, NY What’s the once piece of advice you’d give a younger you? Be bold, ask for help, surround yourself with experts and professionals that can raise the level of your game, invest and work with more people. Your Personal Why? My… Read more »

Ted Haase

Ted Haase

Name: Ted Haase Where were you born and raised? St. Louis, Missouri What’s a short story around the biggest transition you’ve faced in life? Four years ago I was asked to start a sales division at Paychex Inc in our Retirement Services group.  We created a salesforce that went after Large 401(k) plans in the… Read more »

Kate Paine

Kate Paine

Name: Kate Paine Where were you born and raised? Stowe, Vermont What’s a short story around the biggest transition you’ve faced in life? Not only did I choose to become a solo entrepreneur once but I did so three times. Each iteration of my entrepreneurial endeavor was always around my communications expertise but I went… Read more »

Nick Horney, Ph.D.

Nick Horney, Ph.D.

Name: Nick Horney, Ph.D. Where were you born and raised? Born – Columbus, GA; Raised – Charlotte, NC What’s a short story around the biggest transition you’ve faced in life? Entrepreneurship – In 2001, leaving a role as a Vice President on the Executive Team of The Center for Creative Leadership to start up a… Read more »

Ernie Mendes

Ernie Mendes

Name: Ernest (Ernie) Mendes Where were you born and raised? San Diego, CA What’s a short story around the biggest transition you’ve faced in life? My life has been unusually on a straight course. Biggest transition professionally was leaving steady employment to become an independent contractor, which turned out to be the best professional decision of… Read more »

Scott Schimmel

Scott Schimmel

Where were you born and raised? Orange County, CA (before it got weird) What’s a short story around the biggest transition you’ve faced in life? When I took on the leadership of a team, I remember a deep sense of responsibility that I was no longer responsible for my own actions and outcomes, but every… Read more »

Jeff Pottinger

Jeff Pottinger

Where were you born and raised? I was born in Portsmouth, VA but traveled the country, first as a Navy brat, then later as a career Naval Officer.  I have lived in Virginia, Massachusetts, Alaska, Minnesota, California, Ohio, Georgia, Florida, Texas, and Pennsylvania. What’s a short story around the biggest transition you’ve faced in life?… Read more »