Sowing the Seeds of Sisterhood

Sowing the Seeds of Sisterhood is the beautiful collaboration between the talented Artist and Graphic Designer, Gina Benson and the gifted Healer and Transformation Life Coach, Misty Blakesley. 

As Gina and Misty traveled the path of Solopreneurship, they realized just how lonely and difficult starting a business can be. And as they worked together towards their individual goals, something amazing emerged as they realized that they were better together than alone.  

And that is how Sowing the Seeds of Sisterhood was born. Together Gina and Misty have launched a Podcast with the mission to encourage and support women as they strive to serve with greatness as entrepreneurs or employees, daughters, sisters, wives, mothers, friends, mentors and more. Gina and Misty also wanted to create an opportunity for everyone to access coaching regardless of where you may be in your journey, budget, or time zone. So Misty and Gina have also launched multiple ways for their audience to participate via the podcast and memberships which include digital library of courses, live groups, and 1:1 sessions.

Co-Founder

Lemonade with Love

I started coaching because I know we are all powerful enough to create the life we want. I am living my dream and now I help people like you find and live your dream as well. Sometimes we just need someone else to help break down the barriers.

Founder

relode

In my most recent position, I was tasked with developing and building processes and systems to support Relode’s first Customer Success Organization, hiring and developing a client success and delivery team. In more detail, I sourced and ramped up a team of 10 (4 Client Success Managers, 4 Job Managers, and 2 Candidate Success Associates) during a high growth year of 84% YOY revenue growth and 4X customer logo increase.  I also implemented and documented scalable processes for all roles including Customer Success Managers and Job Managers, rejuvenating client kick off and on-boarding. In addition, I performed monthly ROI calls, and QBR’s with client senior leaders and decision makers, tracking performance and coaching for improvement and career growth. I authored and executed upselling and cross-selling processes, increasing sales. Moreover, I created accountability for Customer Success Managers tied to net & gross logo and revenue retention. I also designed a job intake PowerPoint and process, optimizing the Job Manager process, slashing candidate wait time in funnel. In a few measurables, I skyrocketed the crowd client NPS score from -11 to +64 and improved crowd client engagement $2M to $3.1M, with a predicted $1.2M in Q3 of 2022.  I also created processes and procedures, leveraging Salesforce and Power BI, exceeding all objectives in less than 8 months. Finally, I created an inspirational culture with zero team turnover as well as phenomenal client experience leading to client retention.

VP of Client Success

Apex HCM

For these three years, I was charges with New Sales, Account Management, Implementation and Onboarding, and the Marketing departments. I managed and motivated a team with a $1.2M team quota. In more detail, I :
•	Achieved a $1M pipeline during the Pandemic while recovering from an extreme 2019 ransomware attack. 
•	Focused on retaining the $10.5M client base and converted 1300 EINS and 87,000 EEs to the Apex Platform.
•	Achieved $850K in new sales and retained a $11.5M client base while growing ancillary and partnership revenue $600K.
•	Rejuvenated processes, implemented a sales funnel, and redefined sales opportunities escalating closing ratios from 18% to 35%.
•	Developed the Client Success Program, expanding recognized revenue from 72% to 89%.
I also completed an in-depth analysis of the conversion back log and recurring revenue, partnering with the CFO. In addition, I analyzed TAM and determined the market, understanding the competitive landscape and refining the value proposition.  I also identified new product requirements and prioritization for quarterly planning for the development team (Agile). I carefully created a new Sales Playbook, reducing the sales process time by half. Finally, I improved cross functional communication and escalated the new client on-boarding experience.

VP of Sales

Heartland Payment Systems

Here, I lead the charge of increasing sales in payroll and HR services and referrals to merchant services, e-commerce, and lending. I recruited, hired, trained, and developed sales professionals and sales leaders, conducted weekly team calls, 1:1s, and team building events. I supported the team with on-going mentoring and coaching, leading to promotions. Behind the scenes, I inspected the pipeline, managed forecasting and division budgets and produced production and forecasting reports for the Regional VP. Finally, I created 55% of the Diamond level performers in the top 25% of revenue producers in the enterprise.

Payroll Division Manager

As the Global Ancillary Sales Manager, I managed a team charged with increasing sales in consumer health spending account services, absence management services, dependent verification audits, total reward statements and custom communications in a dual hunter and partnership role. I profiled, prospected, and executed marketing and sales campaigns gaining top prospects and accounts in GA, FL, SC and NC, creating 25 opportunities in 9 months. I also repaired cross functional upper manager relationships in 9 months’ time, leading to better collaboration and a positive impact on results.

Ancillary Sales Manager

Becker Professional Education

SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER, 2014 – 2015

For this fast-paced year, I mentored and coached 55, with clients including Price Waterhouse, KPMG, Deloitte, Ernst & Young (EY), and Grant Thornton, underpinning company growth of 12-14% YOY.

ACCOUNT MANAGER, ATLANTA METRO, 2010 – 2014

I managed 70+ accounts producing $3.5M+ in revenue.  I was honored as a member of the Growth Initiative Counsel propelling new growth by developing targeted tools for online classes.

Sr. Account Manager

Helping people transform their life through healing | Intuitive | CPO | CHO (Chief Happiness Officer) | Boy Mom | My Husband's Biggest Fan

I work with individuals by leveraging my passion to help people transform their lives by guiding them to self-healing of their trauma and wounds allowing happiness, abundance, and love to flow. I am passionate about the potential living within each of us and activating that potential so every person can the life they dream of!  

I also partner with Founders and CEOs to support his or her vision by optimizing individuals and teams through coaching, providing valuable insights and best practices to create a culture of highly engaged and energized employees . I lead through example and inspire through my passion. 

Lemonade with Love: As I received my calling to transform people and businesses through healing, I founded Lemonade with Love. I merged my spiritual gifts with the science of meta cognitive programming to help people transform their lives through consulting, group/community sessions, and one-on-one sessions. I would love to help you unleash your potential and find happiness today. Message me to get started. 

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CLIENT TESTIMONIALS

LEADERSHIP WITH LOVE
"Misty was a spark of courage that I needed personally. Having a leader that pours into you and points out your strengths while acknowledging the weakness is what I needed. Most leadership I have experienced were not so uplifting, they only pointed out the bad and basically stated "Do better". You made me feel like I could definitely do well and go far in this position and any position I set my mind to. You have provided me vision. I greatly appreciate that."  - Joseph Smith

FINDING YOUR WAY THROUGH TRAUMA 
"Misty is without a doubt one of the most gifted souls that I have had the luck to encounter and know in my life. Her counseling and guidance have been vital to my personal healing from childhood trauma and relationship trauma. She is patient, nonjudgmental and genuine. She has a unique ability to give the right messages at the right time, and coupled with that she suggests practices for everyday life that further you along your path. I can honestly say, that I would not be the same person, mother, parter, friend and employee without the divine guidance I have received through Misty." -Dara Vaughan Peck

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Find out more at www.lemonadewithlove.com. 

For daily personal development tips and motivational guidance, FOLLOW ME on LinkedIn.

Misty Blakesley

The Invisible Mentor

My guests talk about one problem or issue she's passionate about then present their answer in six minutes. The One Problem is a way for us to learn from each other.

Host of The One Problem Podcast

I specialize in teaching leaders - senior level executives and business owners - the art of strategic reading to acquire the knowledge necessary for their growth and success. I show leaders to efficiently extract valuable insights from books, enabling them to enhance their leadership skills and steer their businesses towards greater success.

Educator

When a journalist from Investor's Business Daily wanted to write an article about the books CEOs read, she interviewed me, the founder of The Invisible Mentor.  I love to read books off the beaten path, because they allow me to build my body of knowledge that I can draw on to creatively solve problems. I write about books, reading strategies, in-demand skills and more on The Invisible Mentor. License my content, so your employees get exposed to ideas to solve company problems.

So what else do I do? Looking to increase your visibility and gain credibility? Let me interview your clients, then craft your success stories. I am a storyteller. You can post your success stories on your website, publish in a newsletter. or use them to create an anniversary booklet to highlight an important organizational milestone. A good interview makes it easier to tell your story. An expert interview lets you tell more engaging and compelling stories.

On The Invisible Mentor blog, you will find inspiring stories about successful people, diverse book summaries with key lessons, and mini biographies of wise people you can learn from. Recently, I have been writing a lot about the skills professionals need to thrive in the future. Learn from the experiences of others. 

If you need someone to help you decide which books to read or online courses to take for ongoing learning, I can help you create a learning and development plan. If you need someone to interview your clients to capture the stories of your business, I can help you with that as well.

If this sounds like what you need, email me at avilbeckford@gmail.com

Typical Clients: Entrepreneurs, Small Business Owners, Trade Organizations, Professional Member Organizations, Professionals 50 - 60 years.

Content Writer/Creator

I help book-a-holics to accelerate their career by planting the seed of knowledge. 

Are you a professional, who is feeling stuck in his or her career? Join MoreReads: Blueprint to Change the World to get new skills, develop career resilience, cultural awareness, and get fresh perspectives, by reading diverse books. You read five books each month and learn to push yourself to the edges of your comfort zone to learn more than you could imagine. 

Why MoreReads: Blueprint to Change the World? It is not the typical professional development program. I created tools to help you to identify the big ideas from the books you read, so you can resolve challenges you face. After you have read five books, you get another tool to help you to combine ideas from the different books you read, elevating them into bigger ideas. If you are strategic about reading, choosing books that will stretch your mind, you can profit from your big ideas when you implement them. It takes only one big idea to transform your life and your business.  I created an e-book to help you to spot big ideas. Are you up for MoreReads: Blueprint to Change the World?

How can MoreReads: Blueprint to Change the World help you professionally? When you are reading the books during MoreReads, you are looking for ideas to mine - you are learning to become idea prone. This places you in a position of recommending the right ideas at work, which can help you to get noticed by influencers and power brokers, that can help your career progression. You to get more from your reading time. You may just get that promotion you deserve. Join the Performance Accelerator Plan today and be proactive about your career development!

Just some food for thought - I can turn MoreReads: Blueprint to Change the World into a professional book club for your organization.

If you are interested, email avilbeckford@gmail.com.

Typical Clients: Self-directed Professionals 25 - 49 years, who want to stand apart from peers.

Learning Strategist, MoreReads Success Blueprint

Originally from Jamaica, with stints in Calgary and New York, I now live in Toronto, Canada. I am the Founder and CEO of The Invisible Mentor (formerly Ambeck Enterprise), a firm that specializes in producing a variety of content, such as blog posts, fact sheets, reports, e-books, and book summaries. An expert interviewer, researcher and writer, with over 20 years of experience using interviewing as a data gathering and knowledge management tool, I combined these skills to craft the book, Tales of People Who Get It, and its companion workbook, Journey to Getting It.

An advocate for people taking control of their professional development, I founded The Invisible Mentor (http://theinvisiblementor.com) to provide an alternative mentoring model where professionals get the information and resources they need to mentor themselves. Through book summaries and reviews, profiles of wise people, and interviews with highly accomplished people, I create a safe place for self-directed learning, where professionals can learn, stretch, and grow in their career. 

I also founded the LinkedIn group, Leaders Are Great Readers, and the Strategic Reading Challenge to share my love for reading and to help people use a reading challenge as a learning tool.

Recognizing that relationships are the foundation of success, I facilitated the process on several occasions by interviewing members of a community, so they can share their stories with each other. I use interviews as a knowledge management tool for future leaders to benefit from the experiences and deep insights of present leaders. And I will interview your star employees and executives, taking their stories to the world.

If this interests you, email avilbeckford@gmail.com

Typical Clients: Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Senior Vice President of Marketing

Chief Communications Officer, Author of Tales of People Who Get It, Expert Interviewer

Ellevate Network

•	Make sure that Ellevate’s vision, brand, and mission are at the forefront of everything the Leadership Team undertakes.
•	Ensure the chapter is providing members with a great Ellevate experience. 
•	Represent Ellevate at chapter events and with local media when appropriate.
•	Work closely with HQ to act as ambassadors of the Ellevate brand.
•	Assist with providing strategic feedback and input for new HQ initiatives, products and proposed changes and improvements for the business.
•	Work with HQ to implement membership acquisition plans.
•	Responsible for working with HQ to ensure successful leadership succession.
•	Develop short- and long-term growth plans with the Membership Lead.
•	Plan and host regular, recurring Leadership Team meetings
•	Participate in monthly calls with Ellevate HQ.
•	Oversee other members of the Leadership Team and help develop future leaders
•	of the chapter.
•	Maintain a list of current contact information for Chapter Leaders and volunteers.

Co-President, Ellevate Network Toronto Chapter

Lead the Toronto Chapter of Ellevate Network.
•	Make sure that Ellevate’s vision, brand, and mission are at the forefront of everything the Leadership Team undertakes.
•	Ensure the chapter is providing members with a great Ellevate experience. 
•	Represent Ellevate at chapter events and with local media when appropriate.
•	Work closely with HQ to act as ambassadors of the Ellevate brand.
•	Assist with providing strategic feedback and input for new HQ initiatives, products and proposed changes and improvements for the business.
•	Work with HQ to implement membership acquisition plans.
•	Responsible for working with HQ to ensure successful leadership succession.
•	Develop short- and long-term growth plans with the Membership Lead.
•	Plan and host regular, recurring Leadership Team meetings
•	Participate in monthly calls with Ellevate HQ.
•	Oversee other members of the Leadership Team and help develop future leaders
•	of the chapter.

President, Ellevate Network, Toronto Chapter

Drake Beam Morin, Inc.

Data analysis
Customer profiling
Information gathering

Director of Research

Helping Leaders Know More, Do More, and Be More Through Strategic Learning and Curated Insights

I enable senior executives, business owners, and leadership teams to unlock their full potential by strategically leveraging knowledge from nonfiction books and diverse perspectives. My approach, Leadership Reading, equips leaders to save time, focus on what matters, and apply insights effectively.

Leadership Reading isn’t about consuming books cover-to-cover. It’s about reading with purpose. 

Leaders learn to:

- Identify the books that align with their goals.
- Focus on the 20% of the text that delivers 80% of the value.
- Apply proven strategies to extract insights quickly and effectively.

I’m also the creator of Bookish Notes, a resource available through The Art of Learning Leadership Academy. More than summaries, Bookish Notes provide curated insights, actionable ideas, discussion prompts, and diverse perspectives on key topics. These tools help leaders:

- Know More: Expand their knowledge with curated wisdom from diverse authors.
- Do More: Apply big ideas to solve challenges and drive results.
- Be More: Grow into informed, effective leaders who inspire change.

Through my work, I help leaders maximize their learning while minimizing time commitments. By focusing on the right books and actionable insights, professionals can creatively solve problems, make better decisions, and achieve meaningful outcomes.

What I Offer:

- Leadership Reading Mastery: Teach executives and organizations how to extract insights from nonfiction books strategically.

- Bookish Notes Membership: Access curated knowledge designed to build expertise and save time.

- Applied Knowledge Workshops: Interactive sessions tailored to equip teams with tools for strategic learning and implementation.

- Custom Learning Solutions: Tailored strategies for leadership development and organizational growth.

Whether you’re a senior leader or an organization seeking to empower your teams, my tools and strategies can help you Know More...Do More...Be More.

You can email me at info@theinvisiblementor.com.

taplio

The Battle

Misty Blakesley

Avil Beckford

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