presents
Conference 2022
Speaker Bio's
Racheal Allen
CEO, Operations School | OPSIDIA
www.rachealallen.com
Racheal Allen is a Lean Six Sigma certified strategy, systems, and operations consultant
with over fifteen years of experience leading and serving Detroit-based startups and
nonprofits. As a second-generation entrepreneur, she believes entrepreneurship is a
pathway out of poverty and credits the entrepreneurial spirit as a catalytic driver of
poverty cycle breaking and generational wealth creation. After scaling her first startup
into a six-figure insurance agency, she piloted initiatives in the legal, retail, and service
industries. As a nonprofit executive, she’s led operations as a charter school
administrator, central office executive, and in numerous consultancy capacities.
Racheal currently serves as the CEO for Operations School | OPSIDIA, a womxn led,
integrated operations agency, specializing in helping organizations scale impact in high
opportunity communities. Through their collective of 40+ womxn of color, her team
empowers small businesses and nonprofits to build capacity via done-for-you services
and fractional operations support.
As an active member of the Detroit small business and nonprofit ecosystems, Racheal
serves as the facilitator for the TechTown Incubator Program, coach for Rocket
Mortgage’s Demo Day and co-developed the Marygrove Community Impact Incubator,
a yearlong personal and professional development program for Black-led nonprofits.
Recent recognition includes being named the 2022 Small Business Hero of the Year by
Connect313, Young American Leaders Program at Harvard Business School, Oakland
County’s 40 Under Forty, DBusiness’ 30 in Their Thirties, Crain’s Detroit Business’ 40
Under Forty and receiving the Detroit NAACP Branch’s Great Expectations Award.
Monica Marie Jones
Monica Marie Jones Coaching
www.monicamariejones.com
Monica Marie Jones, MSW is a personal and executive coach and facilitator who guides her clients through big breakthroughs in their careers, businesses, relationships, health, and money. An expert in human development, behavior, and mental health, her distinct process is proven and powerful. Whether she is side-by-side with someone or coaching a group from the front of the room, every encounter with Monica will unleash complete clarity and unlimited personal power.
A woman who knows what it takes to shift out of stuck, Monica teaches not only from her professional education and experiences but her personal journey of self-discovery and success. After finding herself struggling to move to her next level, personally and professionally, she realized that there were some parts of her past that life continuously brought her back to, and she could no longer ignore them. On that journey, she discovered the necessity of uncovering emotional wounds, interrupting old patterns and cycles of negative thoughts to facilitate healing, growth, and success. As she continued to delve deeper into her own shifts and what it took to make them happen, she realized the need for a different approach to transformation. So she created it—a signature process that leverages traditional therapy and life coaching, but infuses the principles of facilitation and experiential learning to reach individuals where they are with the tools they need to create lasting change. It is that signature method that allows her to support her clients in achieving what were once impossible goals, from releasing weight to surpassing sales targets in their businesses to discovering unshakable confidence.
Monica’s renowned work spans corporate, government, and nonprofit sectors. She consults with organizations to create transformational programs that reconnect leaders and teams to their careers with passion and purpose.
Nicole Freeman-Kirkland
By the Numberz CPA, PLLC
www.bythenumberzcpa.com
Nicole Freeman-Kirkland! She is a Certified Public Accountant, she has worked in the Accounting and Tax 2 profession over 23 years. She currently operates her CPA practice By The Numberz CPA, PLLC (Detroit, MI) and her business coaching business, The Profitista LLC (Atlanta, GA), and also serves as CFO for two non profit organizations (Detroit, MI) and serves a Board Treasurer for a mental health nonprofit (Detroit, MI).
Her passion and purpose is to work with business owners to make their businesses (large or small companies) profitable, sustain growth, operate efficiently, and achieve bankable results.
Mario Kelly
B3L13EV3 Staffing www.believe313staffing.com
Mario Kelly is the Owner of Believe 313 Staffing, one of very few minority staffing businesses
based out of Detroit. During one of the most critical times, in the midst of a global pandemic
where business and employment all seemed to plummet, Mr. Kelly was able to rise above the
adversities. Believe 313 Staffing was able to provide staffing and create employment for several
individuals here in the city of Detroit. With the great efforts of Mr. Kelly, Believe 313 staffing was
able to continue to thrive and provide jobs to its surrounding community post-pandemic as well.
At a time when the world was adjusting back to a form of normalcy, and families had to get back
to work to provide, Mr. Kelly provided a solution to both individuals and business fighting to get
back on their feet. In doing so, Believe 313 Staffing obtained a contract in April 2020 with one of the biggest hospital chains, Henry Ford Health Systems employing 82 people for its linen department, with four being directly hired in. Soon after July 2020, Mr. Kelly’s company was contacted by Balfour to do post-event stadium cleaning for its separate entities, including Ford Field, Comerica Park, DTE Amphitheatre, The Fox Theatre, and Little Caesars Arena. This particular contract allowed Mr. Kelly to provide employment to 743 people and an additional 200 were directly hired under Balfour's company. Believe 313 Staffing has also assisted with staffing for the demolition site that was once the old incinerator in Detroit, as well as provided staffing for Traffic Management. In addition, Mr. Kelly also has a cleaning company, Believe 313 cleaning where he currently provided services to Shinola Headquarters and its storefronts. The business also provides service to Ford Motor Company manufacturing locations. To date, Believe 313 Staffing currently has over 3,000 applications for individuals seeking employment since the start of the pandemic.
Robert Courtney
Robert Courtney & Associates
www.robertcourtneyandassociates.com
Robert Courtney is an innovator of business and a builder of community through digital strategies. Robert has participated in close to 100 engagements, speaking on the topics of Organic Social Media, Growth, Personal Branding, Entrepreneurship, and more! He currently oversees Robert Courtney & Associates, a Full-Service Digital Agency based in Metro Detroit. Robert and his team cover a diverse range of industries including Fashion, Hospitality, Automotive, Real Estate, Beauty, and more! Individuals usually leave encounters with Robert feeling refreshed and motivated about what they can do if they A.T.A.C.C social media every day. By teaching the 5 pillars of successful digital marketing, Robert has provided a simple and effective way to make sure we're covering all of our bases.