Speakers

(@ExtremeSRO)

Executive, activist and entrepreneur, Sarah Robb O’Hagan has been described by the media as everything from “Superwoman undercover” to the “Pied Piper of Potential.” She is a high-energy combination of disruptive business leader, fitness fanatic, and cheerleading mom, and has been named one of Forbes' “Most Powerful Women in Sports” and one of Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business.”  

As Chief Executive Officer of the fast growing indoor cycling company Flywheel Sports, she is currently leading the transformation of the business through digital content and services. Prior to this role, Sarah became an internationally recognized re-inventor of brands, having served as global president of the $5Bn sports brand Gatorade, where she successfully led the business through a major repositioning and business turnaround, and global president of the luxury fitness company Equinox, where she reinvented the offering through a significant technology transformation.

Sarah has also founded a movement she calls Extreme Living. Provoked by the cultural shift that gave us kids with shelves of participation trophies, unfounded expectations in the workplace and tragically suppressed potential, she has created a manifesto for change.  Her book, EXTREMEYOU, to be published by HarperCollins in April 2017, provides people of all ages with the tools and support to discover their most exploitable traits, take big risks, deal with big failures and kick ass all the way to success. It is an inspiring and fiercely practical roadmap for individuals, teams and businesses who want to get the most out of their own unique capabilities.

Sarah’s career journey has led her through some of the world’s most iconic brands. Her early successes included the breakthrough marketing campaign she led for Virgin Atlantic Airways in collaboration with the Austin Powers movie, in which she rebranded the airline “Virgin Shaglantic” and turned a 747 into an international flying showcase. Later, Sarah transitioned to the sports industry, where she was a key member of the Nike team that launched the game-changing innovation Nike Plus in collaboration with Apple. What Makes Sarah more proud, however, are her self-proclaimed “epic fails,” including back-to-back firings in her mid 20s and a close call with deportation from the USA - a period she fondly refers to as her “canyon of career despair.” The deep learnings of humility, self-awareness and resilience she drew from that time became the basis of her Extreme approach to life, and informed her later successes.

Sarah is a passionate advocate for an active lifestyle and believes the lessons learned from sports and fitness can be applied to improve performance in the workplace. She has served on Hillary Clinton’s US State Department Council to Empower Women and Girls through Sports and as a trustee of Billie Jean King’s Women’s Sports Foundation. She also sits on the board of STRAVA – the social network for athletes. As a proud Kiwi America, Sarah is an active member of the World Class New Zealand Network, she remains committed to helping her birth country’s development, international competitiveness and economic growth.

Throughout her career Sarah has been recognized for her many achievements including being named to the top 40 Under 40 lists by the Sports Business Journal (2009, 2011, and 2012), Sports Goods Business (2010), and Crain’s Chicago Business (2010). and Ad Age magazine’s “Women to Watch” (2010). In 2014 Sarah was awarded the Sir Peter Blake Trust Award for outstanding leadership and in 2016 she was recognized in her native country with a “World Class New Zealand” award for leadership.

Sarah and her husband, Liam, and sons Sam and Joe and daughter Gabby live in New York. They have a chocolate Labrador named Edmund “Eddie” Hillary.

Prior to joining Lindsay Goldberg, Debbie was the Global Marketing Director at FGI, where she oversaw the sourcing and execution of investments and managed FGI’s global network of business development professionals. She earned her MBA from the Joint Global Executive MBA Program at Columbia Business School and London Business School and her B.A. in Journalism from New York University. Debbie focuses on Lindsay Goldberg’s business development efforts.

Amanda Freeman is Founder and CEO at SLT - www.sltnyc.com. SLT (Strengthen Lengthen Tone) is a fast growing NYC-based boutique fitness studio business with 16 studios to-date and several more in the works. SLT offers an innovative and effective workout on The Megaformer. If Cardio, strength training and Pilates had a baby, it would be SLT. It''s a heart-pumping, music-thumping, sweat-inducing, low impact workout.

A graduate of Duke University, Amanda Freeman began her career as a consultant at The Intelligence Group. Assuming the role as Vice President, she performed a variety of qualitative and quantitative research to evaluate today''s concerns and tomorrow''s trends for companies such as ESPN, Target, P&G, Samsung, Lancome and Liz Claiborne. After three years at The Intelligence group, Amanda attended Harvard Business School where she received her MBA in the spring of 2003. Taking her career as a trend forecaster and consultant to the next level, Amanda then went on to work at LA-based talent agency, CAA, where she continued to help companies around the world understand their Generation X and Y consumers. Seeing that her foresight in trends was unrivaled in the current market, Amanda decided to cultivate her own voice and perspective in a place that was entirely her own.

In 2007, Amanda co-founded Vital Juice, a health and wellness daily e-newsletter focused on delivering the latest in trends, research and tips in the areas of fitness, beauty, nutrition and wellness. Having amassed over 250,000 subscribers in over top-tier cities and growing at an annual rate of 150% a year, Amanda sold her stake in the company to Tasting Table in 2012.

After working in finance for nearly six years, Nora noticed a pressing need for attractive women’s workwear.

She found traditional business suits uncomfortable and unflattering. Driven to help women succeed in the workplace and equipped with real-life insight into the need, she left the corporate world and founded her own clothing company in 2013.

Nora is dedicated to providing women with attire to help them feel confident, attractive and comfortable. The collection is designed to support the busy lifestyle of a business traveler or modern executive who needs her wardrobe to transition from the boardroom to cocktail hour effortlessly.

The collection features practical details such as hidden pockets and machine washable, wrinkle resistant fabric. The core suiting collection, crafted from machine washable stretch crepe, can be mixed and matched easily with all of the pieces in the collection. The core collection remains in stock year round. The brand’s most popular styles are available in a wide array of bright colors and neutrals so that women can own multiples of their favorite pieces.

Our fabrications are almost entirely wrinkle-resistant, and many are machine washable. Additionally, 100% of the products are manufactured in New York City's Garment Center.

After eight years in business at American Express, Ariane founded her first company, twobirds Bridesmaid, in 2006 in order to offer a one-­‐size-­‐fits-­‐all design that can be wrapped in over fifteen ways to flatter women of all shapes and sizes. twobirds is based on the needs of millions of women to invest in an important milestone for a loved one, while also buying a dress that can be worn after the wedding (thus, “killing two birds with one stone”). twobirds headquarters is located in New York with presence in over 100 boutiques across the world and through select online retailers.

Newly pregnant in 2010, Ariane was similarly frustrated by the lack of stylish clothing options in the maternity market, and realized a second void in women’s apparel: she founded HATCH to provide a collection of chic clothing solutions to invest in during pregnancy and to wear long after the bump is gone. The HATCH Collection now includes complete head-­‐to-­‐toe styling, as well as HATCH Mama, a line of toxin-­‐free lotions and potions for women during pregnancy and postpartum.  Additionally, HATCH has recently opened its first retail location in SOHO New York to compliment its fast growing direct-­‐to-­‐consumer business model. 

Ariane’s commitment to giving women what they need during life’s most challenging and important moments extends as well to her commitment to Every Mother Counts, a charity founded by Christy Turlington Burns to ensure maternal health for millions of women globally.

Melissa Mash is Co-founder and CEO of Dagne Dover, a New York based brand known for creating "the perfect bag" for work, school, gym and travel. Dagne Dover handbags store and organize your daily essentials -- from laptops to tablets, to keys, to water bottles, to sunglasses, to lipglosses, to pens, to chargers and more. Dagne Dover has been featured in publications such as Forbes, Business Insider, Oprah Magazine and InStyle, and it is available through retail partners such as Nordstrom, Equinox and Bandier.

Prior to Dagne Dover, Melissa worked in various roles at Coach, both in New York and in London. She then attended Wharton Business School before launching Dagne Dover with her two co-founders Deepa Gandhi and designer, Jessy Dover.

Melissa lives in New York City with her husband and son.

Katherine Ryder is the founder and CEO of Maven, an expert health network for women that leverages technology to expand access, lower costs, and make our healthcare system more inclusive.

Maven offers on-demand video appointments, texts, and instant access to prescriptions to any woman, anywhere via its best-in-class women’s and family health practitioner network. Maven Maternity is the leading maternity benefits program, helping expectant parents navigate fertility to the so-called “fourth trimester,” the challenging transition back to work, and all points in between. Maven helps corporate America both save on maternity-related costs and retain female talent.

Previously, Katherine worked as an early stage investor at Index Ventures, where she focused on investments in digital health and education. Prior to that, she was a journalist, writing for The Economist from Southeast Asia, New York, and London. In 2009, she worked with former U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, helping him write his memoirs about the U.S. financial crisis.

Katherine received her B.A. from the Honors College at the University of Michigan and her MSc from the London School of Economics. She currently lives in New York City with her husband and son.

Michelle sources investment opportunities and manages Bertram Capital's intermediary relationships throughout the Western region of the United States and Canada, and maintains business broker relationships nationwide. Additionally, Michelle is responsible for coordinating Bertram sponsored events and producing firm marketing materials.

Stephanie Davies is a Vice President and the Head of Business Development at Staple Street Capital.  She focuses on transaction sourcing and relationship management. Prior to joining Staple Street Capital, Ms. Davies was a Vice President at Atlantic Street Capital where she oversaw the firm's business development activities. In addition to her business development responsibilities, Ms. Davies was involved in the due diligence, execution and monitoring of investments.

Prior to joining Atlantic Street Capital, Ms. Davies was an associate at Aleutian Capital Partners, where she helped source and execute mergers and acquisitions advisory assignments, and debt and equity capital raises for middle market companies.

Ms. Davies received her M.B.A. from New York University's Leonard N. Stern School of Business and graduated with honors from Marymount Manhattan College.

Stephanie Fels Michaelson has 10+ years of experience working with clients in the financial services industry. Her expertise lies in technology solutions and the delivery of data intelligence systems in the M&A marketplace. She joined DealCloud after leading and expanding Sales & Client Success operations at PitchBook. Her previous experience also includes Client Relationship Management at S&P Capital IQ, covering clients in Europe, US and Latin America.

Stephanie is fluent in English, French and Spanish. She comes armed with a B.S. in Economics & Business Management from University of Westminster (UK) and a B.S. in International Business from Hanzehogeschool van Groningen (Netherlands).

Jessica is a Vice President at CODE Advisors, where she provides investment banking services, including advisory on M&A transactions and late-stage financings, to clients in the technology and media verticals.  Prior to CODE Advisors, she was an investment banking associate at Citi, with experience in both the Telecom, Media, and Technology group and the Global Consumer group.  In addition, she was an investment banking analyst at Citi in the Financial Strategy Group.  She received her MBA from Harvard Business School and her SB in Mechanical Engineering from MIT

Linda B. Hollinshead is a partner in the law firm of Duane Morris LLP in its Philadelphia office. Ms. Hollinshead practices in the area of employment law, providing counseling and training to employers throughout the country on a variety of subjects, including diversity and inclusion, leadership and mentoring, harassment and discrimination prevention, wage and hour compliance, termination and hiring practices, performance appraisals and performance management. Ms. Hollinshead advises clients in numerous industries, including financial services, manufacturing, retail, technology, education, healthcare and energy.

Ms. Hollinshead advises on employment issues in mergers, acquisitions, dispositions and restructurings, including post-merger integration. She conducts investigations on behalf of employers regarding claims of harassment and discrimination as well as counsels employers concerning their own investigation of and responses to such claims. She also assists employers by drafting employee policies and handbooks, confidentiality and restrictive covenant agreements, employment agreements, termination and severance agreements as well as independent contractor agreements.

Ms. Hollinshead is a 1997 cum laude graduate of Rutgers University School of Law and a graduate of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University (M.S., Public Policy) and Bucknell University (B.A., cum laude).

Ms. Beck is an inspirational and innovation-focused C-Suite Executive with a proven track record for unlocking growth and sustainable profitability of consumer branded businesses by re-energizing brands, growing under-leveraged consumer segments and markets and engaging employees to share in the business success. She has experience in the CPG industry working across multiple categories, functions and countries building a reputation for developing a future-forward vision and strategy, prioritizing resources, surmounting organizational barriers that undermine cross-functional collaboration, focusing on operational excellence and building a healthy winning culture. She is an active Angel investor and an industry speaker in forums ranging from the Organic Trade Association to the Network of Executive Women (NEW). In 2017, she was awarded the title, Top 25 Most Influential Women CEO’s of the Mid-Market in the USA.

Olu is the CEO of Wholesome Sweeteners Inc., the #1 Natural & Organic, Fair Trade sweetener brand in North America in the Natural Channel. Her mission is to bring healthier choices to Conventional Channels and drive the affordability of and accessibility to better-for-you options. Olu has brought her keen business focus on innovation and value creation and her in-depth expertise in the consumer products sector to galvanize change by focusing on vision development, strategy, marketing and flawless operational execution. 

Prior to joining Wholesome Sweeteners Inc., Olu ran her own strategy and management consulting business, The Beck Group NJ LLC, working with PE firms and key Angel Funds on pre/post acquisition due diligence to drive shareholder value. She is a Limited Partner of SoundBoard Angel Fund, a NJ based Angel Fund, (www.soundboardangelfund.com) and a Limited Partner in the Entrepreneurs RoundTable Accelerator, the premier New York City accelerator (www.eranyc.com).

Olu’s career experience is in Consumer Packaged Goods. She held Senior Executive positions at two Fortune 50 companies, Mars Inc. & Johnson & Johnson, where she focused on turning around under-performing small divisions or functions in these large corporations and building stellar global brands. 

Olu, who is an Oxford University and University College London Alumna, is on the Advisory Board of Morristown Medical Center, part of the Atlantic Health System.

Amy is Founder and CEO of Sky Partners, a Performance Coaching, Facilitation, and Advisory Firm. Amy has spent her career helping CEOs, Families and high-profile individuals navigate their most confidential and complex matters, including conflict within partnerships and family dynamics. Amy has 30 years of experience in leadership, transformational change, negotiation and executive coaching across sectors. She has led client engagements ranging from large-scale mergers and acquisitions, organizational change, and cultural integrations. Amy’s relationship management capabilities and law background have led her to drive results, which are both strategic and operationally strong within the U.S. and across Europe, Australia and Latin America.
Amy holds a J.D. from New York Law School, Executive Coaching Certification from Columbia University and B.A. from University of New Hampshire.  Her past employers include: J.P. Morgan, Union Bank of Switzerland, and U.S. Trust.

Amy has been a guest on CNN to discuss the topic of harassment in the workplace.  She is a well-known speaker on the topic of Family Dynamics, Performance Coaching and Acquisitions. She has volunteered extensively with children with disabilities and disease, is an avid sailor, hiker and marathon runner. She was also a short-term Fisherman and Ice Road Trucker.

Joseph Healey is Korn Ferry’s Global Private Capital Practice Leader. He joined the firm in 2009 and he is based in New York.

Mr. Healey has spent nearly three decades in executive search advising leaders of illiquid asset management firms in Private Equity, Private Debt and Infrastructure on talent acquisition and talent management strategies. Representative clients include a wide spectrum of asset management organizations interested in long duration investing include direct investment firms, traditional asset managers, hedge funds, Family Offices, corporates and a variety of institutional limited partners. With respect to new fund formation, Mr. Healey has played a central role in the formation of more than 20 private markets investment firms.

Prior to his current position, in 2002 Mr. Healey founded a specialist Alternative Asset Management executive search firm which became one of the industry's most well-recognized boutiques. He led both the firm and its Private Equity Practice until its sale to Korn Ferry in 2009. Prior to 2002, he headed the Private Equity Practice of another global executive search firm.

Mr. Healey has become one of the recognized authorities on the Private Markets investment industry. He is a frequent guest speaker at industry conferences in the United States and Europe and he is often quoted in industry publications. He is an advisor to several funds and their leadership teams and he has also served as an expert witness on private equity compensation matters.

Mr. Healey is a proud board member of the Manhattan Theater Club, one of the premier not-for-profit theater companies in the U.S. and he is a recreational triathlete.

Mr. Healey earned his undergraduate degree in Accounting from Hofstra University.

Beatrice is a Co-Founder and Managing Director of Sperry, Mitchell & Company, an investment banking boutique which specializes in arranging the sale or merger of private mid-market companies. She also co-owns Percival Scientific, a leading Iowa-based manufacturer of biological incubators and plant growth chambers. She is on the Board of Managers at Haverford College, a member of the Executive Committee and on the Board of the InterSchool Orchestras of New York, and Chair of the Development Committee on the Board of ICD – The Institute for Career Development.

Beatrice is a regular lecturer at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business; she has also lectured at the Stern School of Business at New York University and the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia. She has been widely quoted in the financial and business press, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Financial Times, Forbes, Fortune, Business Week, Crain’s, USA Today, CNN Money Line and National Public Radio. In 2016, she was a featured speaker at The Bloomberg Breakaway Summit and also served as an Expert Panelist for a Merrill Corporation webinar. In 2017, 2016 and 2015, she was recognized as one of The Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A by Mergers & Acquisitions.

Beatrice is the co-author of The Complete Guide to Selling Your Business, which is in its third edition and is also published in Chinese.

Beatrice received a B.A. from Yale University and an M.B.A. from the Columbia University Business School.