Advisors

Few organizations have the experience and firepower of the Trusted Advisors Guild. As you peruse our backgrounds, we are confident you will be impressed with our depth and breadth of our in-the-field knowledge and expertise.

David Rippe, Founder and President

David is the founder and president of the Trusted Advisors Guild and Celestia International, a strategic marketing communications and creative services firm. David has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in increased sales for his clients. Some of these clients include IBM, Wendy's, Microsoft, Sony, Navigant, Xerox, Kendle International, Ingram, 3Com, Cisco, the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, Break the Cycle, Inner-City Teaching Corps, and many more.

In addition to being a Gazelles certified coach, David offers extensive expertise in executive coaching and consulting, developing strategic marketing communications plans and business plans having helped numerous organizations grow rapidly—and intelligently

Before founding his own company David was head of marketing for a national computer reseller and was the chief architect and implementer of a fast growth strategy that took the organization from 3 to 30 locations, and grew sales from $17 million to $650 million in four years. It was during his tenure here that David graduated from the prestigious IBM President's Circle, an executive MBA course.

James Alexander, Senior Advisor

Dr. James Alexander, founder of Alexander Consulting, is a services thought leader and the premier researcher, writer, and speaker on the topic of professional services strategy. He has authored or co-authored dozens of articles, white papers, research reports, and books.

Jim is a renowned expert on identifying critical service trends and issues, defining benchmarks and best practices, and clearly articulating this information to the business world. He is a trusted advisor and executive coach to many senior executives of leading services organizations, helping them navigate the journey from business-as-usual to business-as-exceptional—high-performance, professional services businesses.

Jim has taught at major universities in the U.S., Europe, and Mexico, and was selected as the services pundit for IBM Global Services 2003 Headlights Program. In addition, he was the U.S. Department of Commerce's e-business subject-matter expert for their Latin American e-business Fellowship Program from 2001 through 2004.

Sandy Blaha, Senior Advisor

Sandy Blaha, president of Denver-based Sandy Blaha Performance Consulting, is a Gazelles certified coach and exit planning expert. 

Sandy is a sought after consultant, author, presenter, trainer, facilitator and coach who builds organization capacity with a focus on strategy, organizational structure, leader development, talent assessment and execution discipline. She works with owners and senior executives nationwide to help them leverage their roles to their highest and best uses, develop effective management teams, and to develop exit strategies, plan for retirement, increase wealth and insure their companies' legacies. 

Sandy is the author of Passing the Torch: A Toolkit for Leadership Development and Transition, Stepping Stones: 5 Essential Steps for Transition Success, Exit Planning:  The Leadership Succession Challenge and The Leadership Mindset™.
 
Sandy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in education from Ohio University, and a Master of Arts degree in communication and leadership from the University of Northern Colorado. Sandy's certifications include, a variety of certifications in leadership, culture and organizational effectiveness assessment, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, Crucial Conversations, ilovefeedback, Speed of Trust, Topgrading and Emotional Intelligence,

Dave Lima, Senior Advisor

As an Entrepreneur-in-Residence with HolacracyOne LLC, Dave Lima provides business leaders with the resources and support to increase the agility, resilience and heath of their organization. A recipient of the University of Cincinnati's Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence, he has facilitated the development of small and mid-sized organizations for more than 15 years. Dave has acquired broad perspective and deep experience with organizational issues as a co-founder, director, chairman and member of several CEO advisory associations in addition to building and running his own business.

He is the founder and former CEO/Chairman of Best Upon Request Corporate, Inc., one of the nation's leading concierge firms. Dave developed a resilient culture and management team that navigated the complexities of rapid growth, an industry retrenchment and a successful turnaround. After 10 years at the helm, he transitioned control to existing leadership who has rapidly grown the company to the next level.
 
Dave has a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Cincinnati, graduated from MIT's "Birthing of Giants" entrepreneurial executive leadership program, has earned certification in organizational change and executive assessment technologies and is a Gazelles International Coaching Associate. He is a guest lecturer at the University of Cincinnati's College of Business, is actively involved in regional entrepreneurial support programs and serves on the boards of private and non-profit organizations.

Social Spectrum (A Service of Celestia International)

Social Spectrum offers best business practices for non-profits and socially responsible firms.

No doubt you are fighting the good fight, doing your best with the resources you have to make a difference. But to succeed, to truly make a difference, organizations must utilize proven business principles, be equipped with leadership skills, and take advantage of state-of-the-art marketing tools to ensure a results-oriented approach and solid return-on-investment.

Typically, the volunteers and employees directing non-profit organizations and socially responsible firms (for convenience we call them SROs) are highly committed to the cause, but are not necessarily trained or skilled in sound principles of business and management. They quite admirably run on energy and enthusiasm but face realities that keep their organization from reaching its full potential. These realities include:

• lack of fundamental business leadership skills and strategy
• overworked and underpaid staff
• in need of more resources
• burnout and frequent turnover of employees and volunteers
• competition with other non-profits for a shrinking donor base
• ineffective solicitation campaigns without a plan or measurement tools
• high administration fees as a percentage of donations
• a continual hand-to-mouth existence