Emily Ward is a partner with Alpine Link and founder of Higher Key Consulting. Since 2011 Emily has been working for and with companies to shape their strategies that move teams confidently toward their vision.

She helps leaders and professionals design clear blueprints for success in both their careers and their personal lives. Her work is about more than just strategy—it’s about building a roadmap that removes barriers, unlocks confidence, and creates lasting growth.

At the core, Emily believes success isn’t accidental—it’s engineered. Her role is to help clients design the framework that makes their next level not only possible, but sustainable.

Emily has held several positions in Fortune 500 companies including marketing, supply chain, channel enablement, product management, product development, and business intelligence.

When not working, Emily enjoys being a mother, spending time outdoors, and traveling.

MIKE HAWKINS is president of Alpine Link Corporation. Mike speaks, consults, trains, and coaches organizations and individuals to higher levels of performance. He is considered an industry thought leader on leadership, consultative selling, self-development, and business improvement.  Video interview.

Over Mike’s management career, he held several senior leadership positions. He held the position of executive vice president and general manager for a global consulting company. He held the position of general manager of a global systems integration company. He held several executive sales and marketing positions for a global manufacturing and IT services company. Prior to management, Mike was a successful salesman and engineer. He uniquely works at a detailed technical level, in the realm of business and strategy, and in the human behavior domain.

Mike’s senior leadership experience, successful track record in turning around underperforming businesses, willingness to tackle tough assignments, and cross-domain thought leadership give him a practical perspective that makes him a sought after authority. He truly understands not just what to do and why to do it, but how to do it. Over his career he has coached hundreds of executives and trained thousands of people. He has a talent for overcoming complex issues and is credited with developing numerous frameworks that advance understanding of management coaching, self-directed development, leadership development, business operations, strategic planning, consultative selling, team collaboration, and interpersonal communications.

Mike advises mid-size and Fortune 100 clients in a variety of industries including information technology, construction, engineering, manufacturing, and financial services. He coaches CxO level executives as well as mid-level managers.

Mike has a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington and completed a one year advanced management program in conjunction with the Harvard Business School.

Mike is Chairman of Comprobe LLC and Owner of the Alpine Villa Retreat.

When not working, Mike spends time snow skiing, biking, hiking, motorcycle riding, fitness training, golfing, traveling, wine tasting, and wood & metalworking.

DR. IAN KRISTIC is an executive coach, leadership trainer, and leadership consultant. He has over 20 years of experience in working with some of the world’s leading consulting firms in designing and delivering leadership development programs. His work includes high-potential assessments, personality assessments, organizational assessments, interpersonal skill assessments, succession planning, and leading-edge human capital management research. He utilizes a human-centered approach that incorporates a deep knowledge of behavioral science with psychological practice.

Ian worked at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) where he oversaw leadership development, organizational culture diagnosis and transformation, succession planning, performance management, and organization development advisory services. Prior NREL, he led the Psychometric Assessment and Consulting Services business at The Myers-Briggs Company delivering hundreds of personality assessment programs, team and leadership development programs, and executive coaching to many Fortune 500 companies.

Ian has held leadership and consultant positions in Interaction Associates, PA Consulting Group, Korn Ferry, SHRM, Executive Development Associates, Devon Energy, and H&R Block. His customers included Microsoft, UBS, Amazon, Exelon, Gilead Sciences, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, the United Nations, McDonald’s, Hewlett Packard, Macy’s, Colgate-Palmolive, Devon Energy, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Campbell Soup, and the American Red Cross.

Currently, Ian is on the American Psychological Association’s Editorial Board for Division 13 the Society of Consulting Psychology.

Based in Colorado, Ian is living the dream – skiing, mountaineering, hiking, and camping among the many 14ers. When not in the Colorado mountains, he and his wife are globetrotting trekking the Alps or Andes mountains.

Ian earned a PhD in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Alliant International University, a Master of Arts degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from the University of Tulsa, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Baylor University.

DAVID ROBERTS, an Alpine Link Corporation Partner, is President of Clear Fork Group, a consulting firm specializing in sales strategy, sales processes, sales operations, and channel operations. He drives organizations to higher levels of performance. He combines skills at the strategic, operational, and technical levels to identify business needs and deliver improved processes that have a tangible impact on operations in established and start-up environments.

Over David’s career, he has gained senior management experience with top-caliber companies including Microsoft, Websense and McAfee. He provides vision and facilitates organizational change, process redesign, and best practices to increase revenues and improve bottom-line margins across diverse business landscapes, including fast growth and turnaround situations. David has been an executive-level participant in multiple acquisition and investment transactions.

David has extensive experience managing worldwide teams in an ever-changing environment with a high level of success. His background includes complex software/solution sales experience both through direct and indirect channels; to both SMB and large size enterprises. David effectively recruits, hires, trains, manages, retains and motivates high performance teams to meet business and financial objectives; establishes goals and monitors performance to ensure continued success.

Professional affiliations include the Advisory Board to the College of Business at the University of Texas at Arlington and board member of the K-Life Chapter based in Fort Worth, Texas. He holds a B.A. in business administration from the University of Texas, Arlington and completed coursework in the Mid-level Management program at Southern Methodist University. When not working, David and his wife Carolyn spend time raising three sons. David also enjoys fitness training, snow skiing, golf, and traveling.

PAUL HOLLRAH, an Alpine Link partner, is founder and owner of Holton Systems, specializing in leadership development through customized 360 feedback processing for organizations and individuals in North America. Paul provides all of the 360 reports for Alpine Link clients.

RANDY EMELO, a partner with Alpine Link Corporation, has responsibility for developing and delivering management consulting, training, and coaching for Alpine Link clients.

Randy is an author, inspirational speaker, and thought leader on collaboration, coaching, mentoring, innovation, and leadership development. He specializes in creating more connected and productive organizations.

Randy’s career has ranged across the military, non-profit, and for-profit arenas. He started his career off as an engineer and then moved into the field of organizational development. As a Navy veteran with ten years of service, he participated in the Navy nuclear program. Upon leaving the Navy, Randy engaged in non-profit work serving the leadership and organizational development efforts of community-based organizations throughout the Americas.  He then went on to co-found a leadership development consulting firm specializing in creating high-performance cultures. While there, Randy designed and developed an award-winning enterprise collaboration platform, and became recognized as a thought leader having authored over fifty feature articles on various leadership development topics.

Randy has consulted over 350 of the Fortune 2000 on how to create more effective business cultures. Randy specializes in individual and team development, changing corporate culture, and adopting accountability mindsets. Notable clients include McDonald’s, FedEx, AT&T, Wells Fargo, Xerox, Sodexo, J&J, Humana, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Corning, Baxter Healthcare, HP, Dow Chemical, US Air force, US Navy, GM, Chrysler, Nissan, Pepsi, Eli Lilly, and many more.

Randy holds a Master’s degree in Organizational Effectiveness from Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, CA. Randy’s book, Modern Mentoring, is available now from ATD Press and Amazon.

When not working, Randy enjoys running, biking, hiking trails, motorcycle riding, traveling, and snow skiing.

DAVE TEAR, an Alpine Link Corporation partner, is owner and Head Coach of Sales Coaches’ Corner, a sales training company.  He has been in the sales, sales management and sales training for 29+ years.  His passion for selling and helping others understand the sales process is unmatched.

Dave brings energy to the sales training environment that is contagious.  He captures people’s attention – and keeps it for the entire session.  Paying attention and “staying awake” are not issues when Dave is facilitating a training session.  He believes that if you aren’t laughing you aren’t learning.

Dave’s real-life experiences make him credible.  He has been selling for the past 22 years – in a number of different industries from Industrial Chemicals to Online Sweepstakes to Promotional Merchandise.  Hundreds of companies from dozens of industries have benefited from Dave’s programs including financial, commercial real estate, manufacturing and many service industries.   His true love is selling Sales Training which leads to facilitating the Training and Coaching of his clients.

Whether a client company has a 3 person sales team or a 300-person national sales department Dave coaches and trains them to be the best in their industry.  He does it by helping clients understand how their buyer’s buy their products or services.  “If you don’t understand the strategy the buyer uses when deciding to purchase your products or services you will never be able to grow sales consistently.”  Dave says.  He spends a great deal of time in his training helping clients recreate the buyer’s strategy.  The “Game Plan” which he teaches his clients is in defense of the buyer’s strategy.

PAUL STANLEY, an Alpine Link Corporation partner, is a partner in Black Diamond Capital, an investment and consulting firm. Paul specializes in construction industry management consulting and executive coaching. He takes an active role in the development of companies in the critical areas of creating vision and mission, strategy, sales and marketing, increasing revenue and efficiencies, capital and debt funding as well as succession planning and implementation. He leads and influences with a developmental bias and equips, develops, and encourages other leaders to do the same.

Paul has owned his own construction company and worked as a trainer, coach, and consultant with a leading construction industry consulting firm. He is a partner with a capital advisory and consulting firm and serves as a teacher and coach with the Leader Development Network, an educational 501(3)c where he helps train and develop both seasoned and emerging leaders on values-based leadership. He is an experienced project manager and project manager trainer.

In addition to his business experience, Paul spent 7 years as an infantry officer. He led and developed troops in Germany, Desert Storm, and in the Honor Guard in Washington, D.C. Paul is a graduate of Wheaton College. He has been married to his best friend Kristin for 26 years, and they are blessed with two sons and a daughter.

Paul’s specialties include consulting, coaching, and complex problem solving. He is adept at finding, developing and funding companies, advising on investment and capital, leadership development, and executive coaching. He helps companies of all sizes with strategy formulation, business planning, and business development. He has worked in several industries including high tech, medical, and construction.

MATT MARTIN, an Alpine Link Corporation partner, has spent his career assisting leaders in achieving exceptional personal performance results. Since 1985, Matt has focused on coaching and counseling entrepreneurial leaders. His clients span many different industries and organizations. He was on the founding team of the Fellowship Focus Forum for the Young President’s Organization (YPO) and has worked with numerous YPOers over the last ten years. In 1990 he co-authored The Halftime Journey, a life transition curriculum designed for people in mid-life. He is also the co-founder and president of Legacy Forums, an executive coaching organization that helps men and women develop a personal strategic life mission that leads to a legacy of greater fulfillment and contribution. He currently serves as Consultative Services Director for the Global Enterprise Network, an international outreach of The Navigators, an international Christian non-profit organization.

Matt is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania where he obtained a BA in Political Science in 1969. After serving four years as a Naval Supply Officer, he spent six years coaching and developing military leaders in Europe. Upon returning to the states in 1980, he completed his master’s degree from Dallas Theological Seminary. He has trained and worked as a counselor and is certified as an executive coach.

LESLIE MARTIN, an Alpine Link Corporation partner, is president of The Highlands Consulting Group, a career and leadership development company in the metro Washington DC area. She is recognized as an expert in career development using state of the art assessments that measure work-related strengths to maximize effectiveness. She is credentialed in the analysis of The Highlands Ability Battery, the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and 360-degree feedback. She also developed The Highlands Potential Indicator™ for use with senior executives. Leslie is a popular speaker and an executive coach certified through Corporate Coach University. She consults widely in both the public and private sectors, for non-profit organizations, schools and churches. She is the co-author of Highlands: The Right Choice, Matching Your Abilities with College and Career.

Leslie has been on several pioneering teams in the area of developing leadership excellence. As well as starting her own company, she was also on the founding team of The Leadership Institute, a corporate leadership learning experience in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She is co-founder of The Leadership Awakening Experience™, a leadership development curriculum for senior leaders. She is adjunct faculty to The Federal Executive Institute, graduate school for the Senior Executive Service of the U.S. Government.

SUE KENFIELD, an Alpine Link partner, is president of See It Thrive, a performance improvement consulting company that specializes in connecting people to their best performance through leadership development, executive coaching, sales training, and business development consulting.

Sue has over twenty years of experience in corporate sales, management, training, strategic planning, business development, and coaching. She has worked with start-ups as well as Fortune 500 companies.  She is a skilled trainer, coach, and facilitator. Prior to starting See It Thrive, Sue was responsible for training and development at Stryker Corporation, and was a significant contributor during the start-up of a medical device company.

Sue has been a student of human behavior for twenty-five years. She has worked with sales and leadership teams to achieve their best performance by removing the obstacles holding them back. Sue’s clients benefit from her real world knowledge, experience, and unique insight. She has a significant talent for connecting with people and seeing their potential. Her clients reach their objectives by taking bold steps through professional and personal development, and collaborative partnership. Sue has a Masters Degree in Counseling from the University of San Francisco. She is certified in the use of the BarOn EQ-i® Emotional Intelligence assessment and completed her coaching training at The Coaches Training Institute and College of Executive Coaching.

MERIT KHAN, an Alpine Link Corporation partner, is creator of the Sales Mindset Mastery Program at Merit-Based Development, Inc. Corporations as large as Microsoft, as well as small businesses and entrepreneurs, have benefited from Merit’s training, consulting, and coaching.

Merit brings years of study and real world experience to her clients.  Among her many accomplishments are being the youngest General Sales Manager in the Chicago radio market and backpacking around the world for one full year on her own.  Merit’s extensive leadership training included focusing on behaviors, attitudes and techniques to elicit the best in others so they can overcome self-limiting beliefs and achieve their professional and personal goals.

As a member of the National Speakers Association, professional organizations across the country have benefited from Merit’s personal blend of humor, storytelling and interactive talks and training workshops.  Merit is regularly featured in Selling Power Magazine as an expert advisor.  She has taught hundreds of salespeople and who have created millions of dollars in sales because of her coaching.

A true adventurer, Merit pulls business lessons from her experiences backpacking around the world, bungee jumping, sky diving, ice climbing, scuba diving, paragliding and walking on hot coals.  She’s likely the only person on the planet who’s broken a left foot in Israel and a right leg in Croatia, but somehow she’s walked away from both with inspiring messages to share that allow people an opportunity to find their own personal strength.  She helps people crack the code of their earning potential with her 5-step process called The M.E.R.I.T. Method.

LINDA DAVIS, an Alpine Link Corporation partner, has 20+ years experience in technology and business development leadership. Linda began her career at Ernst and Young specializing in high net worth individual and corporate taxation. She left EY to join GTE serving in product, operations, and sales management roles. While at GTE, Linda played an integral role leading sales teams in bringing innovative technology solutions to market. She also managed multiple engagements integrating technology into existing business architectures for Fortune 500 clients. Linda went on to become a Regional Director at Genuity where she oversaw a team of project managers and lead engineers in launching Genuity’s web solutions practice. Linda works with leaders and emerging leaders to meet and exceed their personal business development goals. She enjoys delivering strategic process change solutions in sales, marketing, and client relationship management for her clients.

RICK DAVIS, an Alpine Link Corporation partner, is growth acceleration leader for The Athens Team.  He has 25+ years of experience in professional services designing and implementing innovative sales and marketing approaches. The bulk of his career has been spent with Ernst & Young where he played a key role in leading the culture change that enabled E&Y to strengthen relationships, grow revenues and dominate competing firms. Since leaving E&Y, Rick has achieved recognition as a thought leader in growth strategy development, sales process innovation, and pursuit team coaching. He has teamed with leading professional services firms around the world to enhance their competitive strengths.

Rick is continually called upon by industry leaders to bring his professional experience and high energy style to help them grow their businesses. He works with teams and individuals, fully investing in their professional success. His key accomplishments include facilitating hundreds of workshops with account leaders around the world, delivering numerous keynote addresses, facilitating retreats at a number of large law firms and professional services firms, developing an innovative, multi-stage process for coaching and training associates in business development, coaching winning pursuit teams to multi-million dollar deals and developing proven sales approaches for growing client engagements.

CHIP TOTH, an Alpine Link Corporation partner, is president of Leaders Inspire, a leadership development company. Chip is committed to helping leaders and emerging leaders become peak performers in their firms. He is passionate about motivating leaders to reach their full potential in their personal and professional roles. Chip has a background in business development with several fast-growing companies in the Northeast. He has received numerous awards for sales as well as led a large branch office for his company. He has also worked for a firm that invested heavily in commercial remodeling — providing a “turn key” service to their clients.

Prior to Leaders Inspire, Chip was with FMI where he was a leadership consultant and coach to the construction industry. Prior to FMI, Chip founded and led a not-for-profit organization, growing its membership base significantly. His leadership involved recruiting, training, teambuilding, motivating, planning, and presenting. The success that this organization achieved under Chip’s leadership was largely through the efforts of a group of volunteers who were committed to making a difference, without any financial rewards for their contribution. He believes in the worth of the individual and is passionate for every leader to leave an enduring legacy. Chip received a bachelor’s degree from The State University of New York at Oswego.

COLLEEN STANLEY, an Alpine Link Corporation partner, is president of SalesLeadership, Inc., a sales strategy firm. SalesLeadership (SLI) specializes in integrating emotional intelligence with consultative sales training. SLI also works with organizations in hiring top sales producers, leadership training, reward and recognition programs, and presentation skills.

Colleen is a President of Colorado National Speaker’s Association, a monthly columnist for the Business Journal’s across the country and a speaker for Vistage International. She serves on the board for Tennyson Center for Children, Intuitive Captive Insurance and Association for Corporate Growth. She is the author of Growing Great Sales Teams and co-author of Motivational Selling. She was the featured speaker on sales at the 2006 New York Times Small Business Summit and was chosen from over 3,000 speakers to present at the National Speakers Association Conference in August, 2008.

Prior to starting SalesLeadership, Colleen was vice president of sales and marketing for Varsity Spirit Corporation, where she built and directed a national sales team. During her 10 years at Varsity, sales grew from $25M to $90M, and was named by Forbes Magazine as one of the 200 fastest growing companies in the United States.

Colleen’s unique combination of knowledge, credibility, humor, and energy leave audiences with a renewed commitment to change, act, and get results.

COLLEEN FRANCIS, an Alpine Link partner is president of Engage Selling Solutions, a sales training firm.  Colleen is driven by a passion for sales – and results. A successful sales leader for over 20 years, she understands the challenges of selling in today’s market and that business leaders can no longer rely on approaches to sales based on techniques from decades ago.

Colleen works with business and sales leaders to design, implement and hone their sales teams to seize market opportunities. Whether designing strategy to target a new market or working with a team to improve their productivity, Colleen’s results have attracted clients such as Merck, Abbott, Merrill Lynch, Royal Bank of Canada, Dow AgroSciences, Adecco, Trend Micro, UBM, and over 1,000 other leading organizations.

Time and time again, clients who work with Colleen note her frank, no-nonsense approach to solving problems and addressing opportunities. Always with an eye to results, Colleen has become renowned for her practical strategies and use of measurement and accountability to inspire sales team performance.

Colleen has been distinguished as a Certified Sales Professional (C.S.P.), is a past President of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers and is a member of the Canadian Speaking Hall of Fame. Sales and Marketing Magazine has called Colleen and Engage Selling: One of the top 5 most effective sales training organizations in the market today.

MIKE DANCHAK, an Alpine Link Corporation partner, is president of Helping Services. He partners with clients from the relational and developmental sides of leadership to successfully create and implement behavioral change. Through skill building and practice, he works side by side with leaders to unleash their peak career potential. Coaching in the critical aspects of relational and developmental leadership provides the insights to maximize an excellent marketing and business plan.

Mike has a B.S. from Abilene Christian University, Cum Laude; History, English, Religion and a M.Ed. Abilene Christian University, Counseling/Guidance. He has participated in post graduate studies at Texas Tech University, University of Arizona School of Medicine, University of North Texas, Texas Women’s University and the College of Executive Coaching. He is a licensed Professional Counselor, State of Texas (LPC) and a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, State of Texas (LMFT). He is currently completing graduate training as a Certified Professional Coach (CPC). He is past president of the Frio Hospital Association, on the Board of Directors for The Daily Minute, a speaker for The Daily Minute (Internet and Video Book presentations on Parenting, Marriage and Motivation) and founder of the Tighter Knot marriage enrichment program.

MIKE ARMOUR, an Alpine Link Corporation partner, is president of Strategic Leadership International. When he speaks on leadership, communication, and building a Trust-Bonded Organization™, he draws on a lifetime of firsthand experience. At 33 he founded a highly successful private school. By 37 he was one of America’s youngest college presidents. At 38, he was a naval reserve commander in the field of intelligence. Mike eventually retired from the Navy as a captain after five years of directing systems security and information technology for a nationwide intelligence command. Along the way he has led a variety of faith-based institutions, managed major political campaigns, and headed multi-million dollar fundraising drives.

Through his entire career Mike has been the “go-to” man for organizations needing to turn around or get back on track. For the past decade he has worked with educators in Russia and Ukraine to bring character training into their schools and universities. Mike’s firm serves executives who want to enhance their effectiveness. Mike earned his Ph.D. from UCLA, and holds additional degrees from four other colleges and universities.

TRACY WEST-GRUBB, a partner with Alpine Link Corporation, has responsibility for developing and delivering management consulting, training, and coaching for Alpine Link clients.

Tracy is an innovative and effective leader with a passion for transforming organizations. She has a balance of soft and technical skills that effectively drive change. She has a talent for creating high-performance cultures that operate with excellence. She excels at implementing enterprise initiatives that drive change, achieve organizational objectives, and improve employee engagement. She is high in emotional intelligence.

In her career, Tracy worked in the healthcare industry overseeing area operations for Johns Hopkins and providing internal consulting for Arkansas Children’s Hospital. She has held the position of Chief of Staff Area Vice President of Operations, Quality Manager, and staff manager. She has had responsibility for strategy, marketing, public relations, program design, quality, leadership development, operational excellence, change management, training, and providing client services.

Tracy has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, a Master of Science in Education Counseling, a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Studies in Public Relations, a Master of Strategic Leadership, a Master Trainer Certification in Management, a Six-Sigma Black Belt Certification, and a PMP Certification from the Project Management Academy. She has won numerous industry awards related to innovation and team collaboration.