The Team
Mike Minter
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Mike Minter has been a pillar of the Carolina Panther defense since joining the team in 1997. Known as one of the most consistent performers in professional football, Minter is a rare breed having spent his entire career with one organization. He has seen the highs of playing in the Super Bowl and the lows of a team that won but one game in a 16 game season.
An all-pro safety, Mike officially retired from the Panthers on August 7, 2007. But there was and is life after football.
Mike has been called a true Renaissance man. His new-found successes as businessman and philanthropist will soon rival his fame on the field. His humble demeanor and desire to give back to the community places Mike in a category of his own. His impact on fellow athletes has been enormous. His impact on his community may be even greater.
As a motivational speaker, Mike’s insights are unique, his delivery impeccable, his credentials unparalleled. He makes his listeners laugh, he makes them think and, above all, he encourages them to become everything that God intended for them.
As a business owner himself, Mike has experienced the excitement, opportunity and challenge of starting and operating several successful businesses.
Mike also recognized the lack of real support for the very businesses that are the backbone of our economic fabric in the Charlotte area as well as the entire country. That is why Mike has made a commitment to serving those organizations in a way that will help them to maximize their success.
The result is Minter Consulting which provides a variety of business consulting services along with many business support services that organizations need such as: marketing (plans, design, web site development) accounting, IT support, insurance and legal.
Minter Consulting has worked with organizations that include manufacturing, construction, restaurants, retail, education, service industries, churches and non-profit groups.
As a result of Minter Consulting’s commitment and successes, a well-known Fortune 50 company has retained our services to provide business consulting to Women and Minority Owned Businesses that they serve.
Gail Angelo
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Gail promotes positive change and transformation for her clients through the customized development of skills and strategies designed to enhance leadership success, performance effectiveness, and personal/professional fulfillment. Her areas of expertise are focused in: Strategic and Succession Planning, Leadership and Team Development, Executive and Life Coaching
Gail’s ability to exceed her client’s expectations stems from over twenty-five years of consulting and coaching experience with a commitment to excellence and sustainable growth. She collaborates with her clients to meet current and future goals by:
- Accurately assessing individual and organizational needs
- Dissecting challenges and identifying critical success factors
- Creating and executing customized, practical sequenced strategies
- Effectively facilitating processes to develop skills, promote change and enhance results
- Re-igniting passion and engagement for greater satisfaction and outcomes
Gail has held a variety of leadership roles in the manufacturing, sales, and distribution functions in Nestle and Frito-Lay specializing in organizational and talent development. Some of her clients include Deloitte, Egret Holdings/Osprey Systems, MBAJ Associates, Wachovia, and the YMCA. In addition to her client work, Gail has been the keynote speaker to a number of women’s groups on the subject of Women in Leadership, Executive Presence in the Workplace, Work-Life Balance, and Life Transitions.
Gail holds a BA in Psychology, an MS in Industrial Relations, and Advanced Coaching Certification from the International Coach Federation (ICF). She is a member of the ICF and the National Association of Professional Women.
Brian Baylor
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Brian is a business and non-profit consultant and former management executive with Caterpillar, Inc., in addition to being the founder of Howarth LLC, the company responsible for developing The Leader’s Equation.
Brian has diverse national and international experience in the areas of marketing, human resources, operations and general management.
In addition to his consulting experience, Brian most recently led a manufacturing joint venture company in Tianjin, China, that was so successful that the company was highlighted in the Caterpillar Annual Report.
Additionally, Brian has shared The Leader’s Equation principles with several organizations around the world, including the China Lean Manufacturing Conference, the Caterpillar Corporate Employee Engagement Conference, The Conference Board’s Global Engagement Conference and the DuPont Global Production System Conference.
The Charlotte, N.C., resident is committed to assisting organizations of all sizes and scope with defining and delivering their measurable definition of success.
Michael R. Bradshaw
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Mike Bradshaw is a business consultant with a wealth of consulting and senior level management experience that includes a thorough knowledge of the financial, regulatory, facilities and vendor management, operational and organizational operation of a financial institution.
Mike is a creative, highly motivated, results oriented, consultant who is focused on helping his clients define and achieve their strategic objectives.
Mike has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Western Carolina University and serves as Vice-Chairman on the Western Carolina University Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Advisory Board.
In the banking industry alone, Mike has held a number of high-level positions with such institutions as the Carolina Federal Credit Union, Catawba Valley Bank and BB&T. He was also a senior consultant with ALLTEL’s financial services division and has spent several years as an independent consultant to a wide variety of organizations.
Edward Cates
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Edward specializes in consulting companies who are developing or enhancing a Supplier Diversity program within their organization.
With ten years at Bank of America as a vice president, Cates developed expertise in consumer and commercial banking, training, public relations, executive events management, multicultural marketing, supplier diversity and business communications. Cates authored the first departmental playbook documenting strategy and procedure standardization for Bank of America’s validated “World Class” Multicultural Supplier Diversity and Development team.
A graduate of Emporia State University in Kansas, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications with a minor in political science and serves on their Alumni Board of Directors. Cates was selected to serve as a White House Intern in the Office of Advance & Scheduling during the Clinton administration.
Additionally, Cates served as an executive board member of the Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council and founding board member of the Georgia Women’s Business Council (a WBENC affiliate).
Cates is also a published author focusing on business journalism with articles and cover stories appearing in a number of U.S. based publications. In 2009, Cates received the Minority Business Advocate of the Year Award from the National Council of Asian American Business Associations.
Dr. Izzy Justice
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Dr. Izzy Justice has over two decades of experience in the global management consulting business working at Deloitte Consulting, Andersen Consulting, and the global healthcare IT leader, Cerner Corporation. He sits on several for-profit (DCG & Archimedes) and non-profit (First Tee & Davidson College Alumni) Boards. He is a sought-after advisor to several other boards and provides thought leadership on Talent Management and Emotional Intelligence in the workplace.
Izzy is a certified six sigma Master Black Belt and has authored three books. He has just completed his 4th book, entitled “Epowerment – Achieving Empowerment in the e World”, due out in March 2010. The foreword is by Marshall Goldsmith and explores the workforce and workplace for the next ten years while positioning Emotional Intelligence as the Core Competency of this new world workplace.
He is fluent in seven languages, has two Bachelor of Science degrees from Davidson College, and NC State University, an MBA from Queens University, and a Doctorate in Management.
Barbara Pinson
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Barbara Pinson is a Media Coach and Communications Consultant with a foundation rooted in 15-years of news broadcasting. She is dedicated to helping everyone from business executives to athletes and other public figures understand their communications strengths and their opportunities for improvement. Her one-on-one and group coaching prepares clients for public speaking engagements, presentations and various media interactions.
On air, Barbara has held Anchor and Reporter positions in Washington State, Michigan, Western New York, and most recently at the CBS affiliate WBTV in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Barbara is also a published author and an educator with a Bachelor’s in Communication Studies from the University of Michigan, and a Master’s in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Miami.
Her Broadcast Instructor/Adjunct Professor experience spans the Connecticut School of Broadcasting in Charlotte, North Carolina; Buffalo State College in Western New York; and the St. Bonaventure University’s Jandoli School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Olean, New York.
Curtis Walker
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Curtis specializes in helping companies learn and implement Lean Strategies within their organizations to help them improve their performance and results.
As aLean Sensei, his role is to guide the vision and strategic deployment process at the highest level with our client partners. He has spent the past 25 years perfecting his Lean Conversion skills through experiencing and implementing best practices in a multitude of organizations. Curtis has led the organization in achieving great success by helping large and mid-size companies, in a variety of industries, implement their own Lean Conversion strategies. Curtis has assisted over 400 companies worldwide achieve major financial improvements resulting in documented savings of over $ 1Billion.
In addition, Curtis has successfully completed assignments with the Department of Defense, where he taught in-theater U.S. soldiers to repair vehicles within a mandated two-hour time frame, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, having increased reincapsulation of in-country warheads from ten per year to 200 per year.
Prior to starting Minter Consulting, Curtis held various positions in operations from Director to CEO. His work experience encompasses a variety of companies including Daikin Clutch, Pilot Automotive, C.R. Bard, Ralston Foods, Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center and Rave Computer. Curtis began his experience in Lean after spending several years in the early 80’s working directly with Toyota Sensei’s from Toyota City (Japan) and holds a BA in Production Operation Management, a Masters in Production and Operations Engineering and he is also a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt.
James H. Warder
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James has brought a wide-ranging wealth of experience to various organizations in a career spanning nearly 40 years.
Holding degrees in both journalism and public relations, James has been the editor of a weekly newspaper and was also the news director for a news-talk radio station. That experience also led to a teaching position for journalism students at a community college.
In addition, James is an accomplished writer having ghost written a syndicated newspaper column, and his work has appeared in various industry publications, general publications and business magazines. Over the past several years, he has contributed to Mike Minter’s autobiography, seven business related books, and recently completed a biography on a Revolutionary War figure.
His business expertise led James to the position of regional manager of a mortgage company that captured more than 50 percent of market share under his marketing guidance, and he has consulted with a large variety of for-profit and non-profit organizations in all aspects of their operations.
James is also recognized as a network-marketing expert having attained the position of Area Director with Business Network International where he also taught new members the intricacies of networking.
