Meet Our Team
Our greatest resource is the shared wisdom of our team and partners. Collectively, for over 25 years, we have helped organizations create a culture of improved conversations, elevated performance levels and better business outcomes.
Jill Miller
CEO
Jill Miller, CEO
As an accomplished executive coach and facilitator and the founder of Velocity, LLC, The Conversation Company™, Jill has spearheaded innovative programs for employees from corporations such as American Express, The Walt Disney Company, Elizabeth Arden, L’Oreal, Mary Kay, Donna Karan, Reebok International and Turner Broadcasting. Her approach to employee motivation and wellness has been highlighted at change management best–practices conferences worldwide.
Jill’s focus is to provide leading-edge learning solutions designed to help organizations establish and sustain a performance culture based on a foundation of Conversational Excellence. In addition to helping businesses gain alignment on goals, strategies, and best practices, under her guidance, they also reach new levels of success and profitability.
Melissa Goldstein
Operations
Melissa Goldstein, Operations
She is responsible for the day-to-day operations as well as managing relationships with clients, consultants and partners. She is passionate about exceeding client expectations and is skilled in leading multiple projects from start to finish, meeting tight deadlines and understanding, developing and maintaining brand voice.
Melissa effectively completes operational objectives by contributing to strategic plans, implementing production, productivity, quality, and customer-service standards; resolving problems; and determining system improvements and implementing change.
Leah Takacs
Operations
Leah Takacs, Operations
Andrew Connolly
Senior Consultant
Andrew Connolly, Senior Consultant
Andrew’s practice is focused on eliminating the gap between training and application – helping individuals integrate the world-class content they have been exposed to and have yet to integrate into their daily work.
Prior to his current role, Andrew spent 11 years asa senior consultant at a global training and development organization where he served as one of an elite groupresponsible for certification of Master Instructors in Situational Leadership®.In that role, he designed and led the rollout of leadership, sales, service, and coaching programs at dozens of multi-national organizations.
Andrew makes his home in Simsbury, CT with his two children.
Krissi Barr
Lead Consultant
Krissi Barr, Lead Consultant
Krissi has been using 4S™ for 13 years as a coaching, strategic thinking, conversational excellence, key account planning, sales generation and implementation tool.
Manufacturing, technology, logistics, consumer goods, insurance, financial, consumer goods, and services companies from Fortune 50 to start-ups are well known to Krissi. Her first job at P&G provided her business foundation. Krissi is certified to teach Velocity’s 4S™ Foundations, 4S™Conversational Excellence, 4S™ Focus Forward and Coach 4 Success™ programs, Marshall Goldsmith’s What Got You Here Won’t Get You There® and Don Brown’s What Got You Here Won’t Get You There – in Sales® program, Paul Hersey’s Situational Leadership™, Situational Selling™, and Situational Services™ and Jim Pancero’s You Can Always Sell More™. Krissi is a Certified Professional Behavior & Values Analyst, and Attributes Index Analyst. Krissi is a member of the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches, Institute of Coaching Professionals, and CoachSource. Krissi is a 2015 recipient of Venue Magazine Women of Influence award and in 2012 was named one of the 100 Mind’s Thought Leadership within the Greater Cincinnati Region.
Diane Chew
Lead Consultant
Diane Chew, Lead Consultant
A champion for integrating personal, professional and organizational success, Diane brings a multi-disciplined focus to her work, drawing from emotional intelligence, positive psychology and neuroscience. She is committed to implementing the principles of Conversational Excellence as she engages with clients to strengthen their personal awareness, build, and apply new skills in the areas of leadership development, team building, employee-manager relationships, employee engagement, corporate culture shifts, and work-life engagement.
Diane is a life long learner and routinely participates in continuing education for coaches, consultants and executives.
Maureen Ennis
Client Management
Maureen Ennis, Client Management
Yvonne Gaines
Lead Consultant
Yvonne Gaines, Lead Consultant
Yvonne has held roles as a Facilitator for Herrmann International, Organizational Development Consultant and Manager of Emerging Leaders for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Divisional Vice President and Leadership Development Program Manager for UBS Financial Services and Change Management Consultant for Accenture.
Yvonne is certified to administer a number of instruments, including Leadership Architect®, Learning Agility Architect®, Team Architect®, Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument®, DiSC® Personal Profile System, and various 360° Assessment tools.
Geoff Green
Preferred Channel Partner
Geoff Green, Preferred Channel Partner
In addition, he consults widely on issues around developing company cultures that value and build high performing teams. The design and facilitation of experiential team development programs where the emphasis is clearly placed on process rather than energetic outdoor experiences is a specialty.
He works from graduate to director level and has a wealth of experience that enables him to develop enthusiasm and confidence in attendees to participate and engage in his courses. Feedback from client companies often mentions that they particularly value his ability to both train and facilitate so that by the end of a program the attendees fully “own” their learning.
Companies he has worked with include EBay, Alstom, Motorola, McDonalds, Bank of America, United Nations, Thomas Cook, PowerGen, T-Mobile and Johnson and Johnson.
Tom Kukla
Lead Consultant
Tom Kukla, Lead Consultant
Tom is a Channel Partner with Velocity, LLC as well as a John Maxwell Certified Coach, Teacher and Speaker. He offers organizations Management and Leadership workshops, seminars, training, and coaching in order to guide the personal and professional growth of Managers of all levels and tenure.
The two guiding principles that have served Tom very well in highly competitive marketplaces are Belief in Self and Abundant Thinking. Before anyone else can believe in you, you have to believe in yourself. Abundant Thinking is simply focusing on what you have versus what you don’t have. It’s your strengths, NOT your weaknesses that define your leadership capabilities. Tom is passionate about developing leaders and seeing people reach their full potential.
Kim Montoya
Lead Consultant
Kim Montoya, Lead Consultant
I was first introduced to 4S about 13 years ago while working in pharma. It soon became embedded in my thought process and has been a significant tool in ensuring success in many areas of my life.
While working in sales training at Novo Nordisk, I had the privilege and opportunity to work with John Miller, the founder of Velocity, and learn 4S in even more depth. I facilitated the course to new sales trainees and was part of the launch team for the Diabetes Education program. The most challenging and rewarding part of teaching 4S to this group was as clinicians, Diabetes Educators were used to teaching patients through much more “telling” than “listening.” Watching them grow and succeed in their new roles through utilization of 4S with their patients was so exciting!
I joined Velocity in 2015 as a lead consultant after retiring from a full-time career as I wanted to continue to work in something I was passionate about. I look forward to helping many other business teams discover and learn the 4S Conversation model and achieve even further success.
Marc Schwartz
Senior Consultant
Marc Schwartz, Lead Consultant
Marc is a highly acclaimed speaker and trainer who actively engages the audience in his presentations through the use of experiential learning techniques. Groups regularly report Marc as high energy and able to tie-in pertinent business issues with both organizational and personal development. His humor and passion help participants relax and enjoy presentations so they can naturally retain pertinent information that can help them in many facets of life.
Since 1988, Marc has traveled extensively and has presented keynotes, seminars and workshops to over 47,000 people in twenty-two countries on such topics as Coaching, Generational Leadership, Communication Styles, Sales, Key Account Management, Conflict Resolution and Team Development.
Rosa Schmidt
Preferred Channel Partner
Rosa Schmidt, Preferred Channel Partner
Rosa has served as an adjunct instructor for Rutgers University, School of Executive and Professional Education since 2010.
Volunteering is one of Rosa’s passions. She is Vice Chair of the Salvation Army of Great New Brunswick, as well as a member of the advisory board of St. Vincent’s Academy, a high school located In Newark, New Jersey. Rosa has been honored to receive the Tribute to Women in Industry Award, as well as the Women of Distinction Award from Soroptimist International.
Rosa holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management and a Master’s Degree in Human Resources/ Organization Development from American University. Rosa has also earned her Senior Professional in Human Resources credential, as well as SHRM Senior Certified Professional.