David turns reputations into revenue by taking the mess out of messaging and putting the art in articulation. A veteran expert in value-based communication, he brings a thirty year career with companies and individuals across the country and around the world. Since 1990, after 12 years in advertising and marketing with The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and IDG Communications, David has consulted and trained thousands of sales professionals in articulating their value propositions for competitive advantage. He has an uncanny ability to uncover and convey in engaging and compelling terms the essential value in people, products and companies.

In his own words:

“Most people and companies are good at what they do, but when it comes to promoting what they do, they tend to under-sell themselves. There is a value component to everyone and everything, whether it’s in what they do or how they do it. The key is to identify what that is and articulate it in ways that are most relevant to their audience. I’ve been doing this for my entire career, and there’s nothing I enjoy more. It’s both a career and a mission.”

Diane loves all things related to helping people showcase their unique skills and traits, especially through social media. She was an early adopter of social media and leverages her subject matter expertise to help people achieve a competitive advantage in their marketplaces. She has been an educator, recruiter, and senior consultant with an international human resources consulting group. In this role she has coached hundreds of professionals from all levels and industry backgrounds, including Fortune 500 firms. She is the co-author of several books including “Seven Days to Online Networking,” (JIST 2008) and “Find a Job Through Social Networking” (JIST 2010).

Diane holds a B.S. degree in Education from Springfield College, combined with graduate studies in Instructional Design. She is a member of ACPI and ASTD. She has been a keynote presenter at, corporate and academic events and has presented live and web based sessions to organizations throughout the country. She is a frequent contributor to media on this topic.

Sam specializes in positioning executives and key employees through engaging, compelling content. She has worked with numerous executives over the years across a wide spectrum of careers, functions and industries. Her creativity, combined with her analytical background enables her to emphasize the most essential components of an individual to position the essence of their brand and value proposition. In addition, she is an expert collaborator with a natural ability to enable clients to discover their value proposition “DNA” - a key element in the development process.

Prior to working with Topus, Sam had an extensive consulting career with McKinsey, Accenture, Watson Wyatt and as an independent business advisor. She holds an undergrad degree from DePaul University and an MBA from Northwestern.

Walt has been in corporate and personal branding for more than thirty years, having worked with clients such as The New York Times, Wyeth Corporation and Citic Securities International Partners, as well as high-profile individual business executives. He specializes in designing marketing, branding, and public relations programs that leverage an individual’s unique strengths, and delivering them through innovative media strategies. A pioneer in “book-driven branding”. Walt was a founder of Winans Kuenstler Publishing, a personal branding initiative.

As a member of the Topus team, Jennifer provides organizational leadership, talent and development expertise. With her early operational background and her passion for delivering insights and strategies that drive results, she enables organizations to achieve their business goals quickly and efficiently.

Jennifer is a former partner with Cambridge Leadership Group, a vice-president of leadership development & learning for Bank of America and has held other similar roles at AutoZone and Coca-Cola Enterprises. She has designed and executed numerous successful large-scale initiatives in mergers, restructuring, talent management, performance-management and team development. She has also coached leaders at all levels of large, complex organizations.

John brings a distinctive combination of marketing, sales and content expertise spanning diverse Fortune 500 firms. His client relations experience and his sales leadership skills enable him to provide highly effective go-to-market strategies for both companies, sales teams and individuals.

John holds a B.A. degree in English from Fairfield University; an MBA in Marketing from the University of Hartford; and has completed Intensive Russian Language Studies at Syracuse University.