MABC Blog

MABC Live!

Finding Your Voice - Becoming a Public Speaker 

With Ross Larson 

This is an overview of steps that you can take to find your own voice and take the steps to feel more comfortable becoming a public speaker.

Everyone has unique interests, perspectives, and experience. This session will give you strategies to find your voice and become a speaker, if that is something that would interest you.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

Ross Larson became a software developer through the nontraditional path of obtaining a double major in Psychology and French from Luther College. He later obtained a software development degree from Fox Valley Technical College. He works as a Software Developer for Paradigm in Middleton, WI. He currently serves on the board of the Forward Festival.

Ross enjoys indie and retro video games, board games, the NFL Draft, creating obscure fantasy leagues, and making charts. Ross has previously spoken at meetups and conferences like That Conference and DevFest WI.

REGISTER TODAY FOR THIS FREE EVENT!

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What: MABC Live! Event |  Finding Your Voice - Becoming a Public Speaker

Date:  Thursday, July 10

Time:  5:00 pm - 6:30 pm 

Location:   Aubergine: a Willy Street Co-op Community Space, 1226 Williamson Street, Madison, WI 53703.

Please note: Aubergine is across the street from the Co-op and right next door to Cafe Coda. Street parking only.

Message from our MABC President:
Please Bring a Guest Colleague or Client!

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Founded in 1987, we provide members opportunities for education, networking, and collaboration to aid in providing high-quality consulting services to clients.

MABC New Member Profile - Dawn Mullarney
Unique Connector

Hi, I’m Dawn—Your Strategic Growth Partner.
I help high-achieving CEOs & executives scale smarter by aligning teams, strengthening networks, and unlocking growth—without burnout.

https://www.uniqueconnector.com/contact

How I Help:
Strategic Growth & Leadership Support – Helping leaders step out of the daily grind to focus on high-impact decisions.
Team Alignment & Performance – Turning misaligned teams into high-performing, engaged leaders.
Networking & Business Development – Transforming connections into revenue-driving opportunities.
Work-Life Balance & Sustainable Success – Helping leaders reduce stress, delegate effectively, and reclaim their time so they can focus on what truly matters.

Why Work With Me?
With nearly two decades of experience in sales, business development, leadership, marketing, branding, events, and operations, I don’t just give advice—I help leaders execute real growth strategies.

Who I Work With:
✔ 7-figure + businesses ready to scale without the overwhelm.
✔ CEOs & executives looking for a trusted thought partner to challenge their thinking.
✔ Leaders who need clarity, structure, and a high-impact network to fuel growth.

Let’s Connect!
Ready to stop spinning your wheels and start scaling with confidence?
Visit uniqueconnector.com or send me a message!

Services provided

• Executive Coaching
• Event Planning
• Leadership Development
• Business Consulting
• Marketing Consulting
• Brand Consulting
• Marketing Strategy
• Strategic Planning
• Life Coaching
• Public Speaking

2025 SUMMER MINI-SERIES

MABC Consultant Toolbox - 

A Cohort Discussion Group on Establishing Boundaries in Business 

Join us for a special SUMMER MINI-SERIES!

This summer, we'll be hosting a three-part mini-series intended to be a Book Club discussion cohort.

Each month we will review a resource (a short article, podcast, etc.) and discuss our thoughts, tips, tricks and takeaways to support each other in our businesses.

These three summer sessions will be held virtually via Zoom and will focus on Establishing Boundaries in our Business Habits.

SESSION DATES:
Monday, June 23, 3-4pm (via Zoom)

Here's the article we'll be discussing at the June 23 session.

Monday, July 14, 3-4pm (via Zoom)
Monday, August 11, 3-4pm (via Zoom)

These sessions are open to MABC members only, and registration is required for each session.

Register for the JUNE 23 session today!
You can also pre-register for the July 14 session and the August 11 session.

Thank you to our MABC Member Facilitators for this Mini-Series:
Angie Addison, Janel Kalish and Heather Dean

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Program Logistics

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Who. For all B2B consultants craving collegiality, collaboration, and real conversation. Guests welcome!

What. Monthly program providing networking, relevant education, and personal and professional growth opportunities. 

When. Monday, June 23 • 3:00 PM–4:00 PM CST

Where. Zoom Meeting ID will be in your registration confirmation email

Cost. Free for Members

RSVP. Register Today!

June 12th Program Presentation

Cultivating Connections 

with Karen Cross Durham, Big Picture Consulting

Networking in this day and age has become increasingly daunting as we connect with one another in myriad ways—online, in-person, via phone, and through texting and messaging.

Join Karen Cross Durham as she discusses the value of fostering connections and why they’re essential as entrepreneurs.

Karen is a Communications Consultant, Certified DreamBuilder Coach, and Life Mastery Consultant.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

Karen Cross Durham

Dedicated to personal development and a spiritually principled life for over 20 years, Karen Cross Durham is a Certified DreamBuilder Coach who works with individuals to help them realize their dreams and create richer, more fulfilling lives.

Karen is also an experienced communications professional having worked in the arts for more than 25 years, including for a variety of film organizations for over 20 years.

Hope to see you there!

June 12, 2025      8:00am - 10:00am CST

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Agenda

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8:00-8:30 a.m. CST  - Open Zoom Networking

8:30-9:00 a.m. CST - Meeting opening remarks

9:00-9:45 a.m. CST - Program

9:45-10:00 a.m. CST - Questions & Answers

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Program Logistics

____________________________________________________________

Who. For all B2B consultants craving collegiality, collaboration, and real conversation. Guests welcome!

What. Monthly program providing networking, relevant education, and personal and professional growth opportunities. 

When. Thursday, June 12 • 8:00 AM–10:00 AM CST

Where. Zoom Meeting ID will be in your registration confirmation email

Cost. Free for Members & Guests

RSVP. Register Today!

Guests always welcome!

Membership Statement: Guests are welcome to attend up to 3 events in any format for free. Membership is then required to access programming, networking, and special projects or events.

It’s here! My TEDx Talk, The text message that changed my understanding of DEI, is officially live.

Check out Deborah's TEDx Talk here

This moment means more than I can fully explain. For years, I’ve spoken, trained, and coached leaders on how to build cultures of belonging. But one late-night message from my son—just a few simple words—completely changed how I understand inclusion.

In that moment, everything I thought I knew became personal.

This talk is the most vulnerable I’ve ever been on a stage. And it’s also the clearest I’ve ever been about what real inclusion actually looks like—beyond policies, beyond programs, beyond checkboxes.

If you’ve ever struggled to lead with heart, to include with intention, or to belong in a world that wasn’t built with you in mind… I hope this message speaks to you.


Watch my TEDx Talk here:https://zurl.co/cCNJl

I help organizations move beyond performative DEI by embedding it into leadership, strategy, and operations. My approach shifts DEI from being merely a checkbox to a strategic business advantage—driving innovation, engagement, and long-lasting impact.

As a DEI strategist, speaker, and executive coach, I work with leaders who are ready to transition from superficial initiatives to genuine, measurable change. I challenge outdated frameworks and help organizations reimagine DEI as a leadership-driven, cross-functional strategy that enhances decision-making, talent retention, and business performance.

I don’t just teach DEI—I help leaders integrate it into their leadership, hiring, and growth. Through executive coaching, organizational assessments, and leadership development, I equip companies with the tools to create inclusive cultures where employees thrive, trust is built, and impact is sustained.

In today’s politically charged climate, organizations that deprioritize or dilute DEI risk disengaged employees, misaligned leadership, and reputational damage. Conversely, those who commit to meaningful action create stronger teams, foster greater innovation, and establish a workplace where belonging enhances performance.

If you're prepared to advance from initiatives to infrastructure, let’s connect.
hashtag# TEDxhashtag #DEILeadershiphashtag #Belonging

Looking forward to listen to Roberto Munoz this Thursday morning at 8, when MABC presents another high level program presentation.

Roberto Muñoz
https://robertomunoz.focalpointcoaching.com/

Sales and Business Coach

Roberto Muñoz is a sales and business coach specializing on business growth through market strategy and organizational structure. For 25+ years he led sales teams in telecom companies like Televisa, Motorola, and CommScope, generating $160M in annual revenue. In his senior leadership roles, he defined and executed long-term growth strategies which captured key accounts, reorganized sales teams, and secured sustained revenue growth. In his coaching practice, Roberto has helped tens of CEOs to define a clear vision of the desired future of their business and a roadmap that works for them.

FocalPoint Business Leadership Coaching

Unlocking Potential. Unleashing Greatness.

Our Why

To enable help those around us to build and multiply their talents so they can improve their lives and the ones of those around them.

Mission

To empower business owners with strategy and wisdom so that they can achieve growth and positively impact their community.

Our values

Improvement - Find a better way

Growth - Don't settle for the easy

Collaboration - We need each other

Ethics - Do what's right, the right way

Legacy - Make this world better

Are your sales calls plagued with terms that only engineers can understand?

Can non-tech decision makers connect with the value you add?

Every sales training talks about the "value proposition" and most salespeople have a well-rehearsed pitch that describes their product at length.  Then they repeat this message to all decision makers, without distinction of their role, technical understanding, or even the stage of the sales process.  It is hard to tell if the non-techies understood what you can do for them. 

Selling complex technology requires a unique skill not taught in Engineering School: “translation.” Your customers need your technology to reach a business goal. Learn to translate your features into the success metric of the desired goal. Gaining clarity on that outcome and the role each player has on the decision table will allow the creation of a strategy focused on the success of the project, not just having the right feature set.

May Program Presentation - May 8th 8am

Cross-Cultural Communications

with Roberto Muñoz , Focal Point Coaching

You are invited to attend via Zoom!

Do you do international business or plan to interact with clients from another country?

A successful dialogue depends on understanding the subtle cultural differences between diverse nationalities.

Based on Erin Meyer's The Culture Map, this presentation explores how communication, leadership, and trust vary across cultures.

Learn strategies that you can put into practice in your next meeting so you can identify where perspectives differ, enhance collaboration, and work more effectively in a multi-national setting.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

Roberto Muñoz

Roberto is a Business Coach certified on DISC and Emotional Intelligence. He is an expert in leadership team interactions and sales strategy design. He has lived in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and now the USA. He is fluent in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Having worked for French, Mexican, Canadian, and American companies, he has been exposed to a wide variety of leadership styles. His curiosity and appreciation for history, current events, local cuisine, and making deep personal connections has led him to develop great respect and understanding of diverse cultural backgrounds.

John Hogan – Principal   On the Floor Consulting

Introduction

On the Floor Consulting helps businesses break through growth barriers by crafting a 10-year vision, setting annual and quarterly objectives, and systematizing operations through our North Star Operating Model. As your Interim COO, I don’t just build the plan—I mobilize it, working on the floor with employees closest to the work to uncover unseen risks, issues, and opportunities. This hands-on approach ensures root causes are fixed, operations are streamlined, and teams are aligned. The result? Lower costs, completed initiatives, and scalable growth that frees leaders to focus ON the business—not just IN it.

Services

Small Business Scale-Up.
Growth Barrier Breakthrough.
Interim COO.

Step 1: On-the-Floor Discovery
We dive into your operations at every level—from leadership to the front lines—uncovering hidden risks, issues, and growth opportunities. With 20+ years of operational leadership, we assess your vision, people, processes, and systems to identify what’s holding your business back.

Step 2: North Star Alignment
We craft a 10-year vision, 1-year plan, and quarterly objectives to align your entire organization. This includes reviewing talent structures, recruitment needs, system maturity, and vendor relationships—ensuring your people, processes, and technology are ready to scale.

Step 3: Mobilization & Execution
As your Interim COO, I roll up my sleeves to lead execution. From recruiting key talent and onboarding technology solutions to optimizing processes, vendor management, and leadership development—I fill the operational leadership gap so you can focus on growth.

Fractional/Interim COO Services
When you need a strategic operator but aren’t ready for a full-time executive, I step in to lead. Whether improving processes, launching new initiatives, managing key vendors, or developing your leadership team, I ensure your business is aligned and accelerating toward its goals.

Background Info

With over 20 years of leading many successful initiatives as a Chief Operating Officer, Chief Administrative Officer, Chief of Staff, Executive Director, and Executive Business Operations Advisor, John is uniquely experienced to identify your company’s desired state and reality “on the floor”, create a plan to bridge the gaps, and deliver change initiatives so you can achieve your goals.

John works with your teams by providing change leadership services for your strategic and optimization initiatives so that your leadership team can focus on day-to-day operations. Clients will realize bottom-line savings, improved team performance, and profitability by realizing the benefits of a successful change implementation.

Prior to consulting, John worked in the health insurance, government contractor, financial, and government sectors where he specialized in guiding and executing multimillion-dollar business initiatives. Through his ability to quickly learn a business and diagnose areas of opportunity, he has successfully rehabilitated and executed strategic initiatives – saving millions and creating conditions for growth.

Consulting Specialties

• ·       Strategic Planning
• ·       Operations
• ·       Leadership
• ·       Performance Improvement
• ·       Growth Management

Angie Addison -  MABC Member Profile

Milestones HR, LLC is a business-minded, people-focused Human Resources consulting service offering HR expertise to small and medium companies at various milestones in their progression including start up, growth, constriction, and transition. We offer outsourced Human Resources and/or Human Resources project based solutions.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/angie-addison-02b31310/

Services

Since 2014 Milestones HR has been serving small businesses in Human Resources related services including:

Build or Refine HR Infrastructure & Strategy: Is Human Resources your necessary evil? Let’s make it a functional and vital need in your business! Align the Human Resource function to work towards your company’s short and long term goals Create efficiency to reduce administrative costs.

Candidate Profiling, Recruiting, Selection, Background & Reference Checking, and Orientation/Onboarding: Who is in your corner? Secure the top talent that best complements your company. Acclimate the new hire to your culture so that they can contribute sooner.

Employee Relations, Conflict Resolution, and Internal Investigation Support: Let’s make sure your employees look forward to Mondays! Solve employee dissatisfaction to increase employee contributions.

Performance Management, Key Results Area Performance Assessments, & Employee Coaching: Are you getting 5+ years of experience or the same experience for 5+ years in a row? Link employee contributions to your company’s success while growing employee knowledge, skills and abilities.

HR Audits, Employee Handbook Policy & Procedure Writing & Review, and Legal compliance: What keeps you awake at night or always on edge? Identify and address liability areas to mitigate legal costs.

Outsourced Human Resources: We offer on-site and remote HR services to your employees so they have a consistent person to go to with HR related questions or concerns.

Background Info

We are results-focused consultants who enjoy all aspects of Human Resources and the value that solid practices can bring to both individuals and companies collectively. We offer outsourced Human Resources Generalist services to companies who need Human Resources expertise but do not require a full-time Human Resources presence.

We enjoy working with small to medium-sized professional service businesses. We have been fortunate to work in both a Human Resources and an Operations capacity allowing us to become familiar with the inner workings of a company. We use this knowledge to partner with business leaders on how to best integrate Human Resources as a contributing function of the business.

We offer various solutions including serving as an on-site or off-site human resources generalist in a short or long term capacity, complementing existing Human Resources teams with project work, and/or setting up an HR function and then training existing employees to maintain it.

We have led the Human Resources function from setting up a Human Resources department from scratch to improving an existing function. The results of my work have included:

- Creating highly functional, mission-focused Human Resources systems & processes.

- Managing organizational structure through rapid growth or constriction for various disciplines.

- Partnering with company leaders to implement recruitment strategies reducing the hire time for needed talent and building a future candidate pool.

- Securing the right hires by identifying candidate profiles, recruiting, conducting behavioral interviewing, candidate selection, background & reference checking.

- Creating and onboarding new hires to increase the new employee’s ability to acclimate and contribute to the company’s goals.

- Designing and implementing real time, results focused performance appraisal and development programs.

- Creating and updating policies including Employee Handbooks.

-Serving as your employee's HR team, including surveying for employee engagement and being a resource for employees.

- Securing and aligning benefit offerings (health, dental, life, disability, 401(k), Vacation/PTO, etc.) with demographic needs of employees, company size, industry and budget.

Consulting Specialties

• ·       Human Resources
• ·       Performance Improvement
• ·       Business Strategy
• ·       Conflict Management
• ·       Employee Relations