A NASA astronaut, Joan Higginbotham is a trailblazing electrical engineer who in December 2006, flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery to become the third African American woman to travel into space. Over the nearly 13-day mission, she joined the seven-member crew to continue construction of the International Space Station (ISS), embarking on four space walks and operating the station’s robotic arm. Sharing captivating insights from her 20-year distinguished career with NASA, Higginbotham inspires audiences with her personal journey of breaking barriers into space and beyond. Taking groups aboard the International Space Station and sharing her lessons-learned along the way, she highlights the keys to succeeding in her missions – including preparation, perseverance, and never giving up – and how these tactics can be applied to any endeavor.

Steve Schmidt, a renowned political analyst and former Vice Chairman of Edelman, is one of America's most prominent communications, public affairs, and political strategists best known for strategic roles on Republican political campaigns including those of President George W. Bush, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and US Senator John McCain. Steve specializes in "political message development and strategy." He is one of the nation’s most plugged-in political operatives who offers a candid look at today’s headlines and breaks down what the latest political news means for stakeholders on Main Street, Wall Street, Capitol Hill, and beyond.

Tall and thin, with remarkable onscreen energy and ease, the actor possessed intense malleable features that he used to good effect in both dramatic and comedic roles. Despite this gift, he surprisingly began his career with off-screen pursuits. Jones worked as writer and story editor for NBC's college-set comedy "A Different World" from 1991 to 1992. In 2000, he took on a role in a sports-themed feature set in the recent past in "The Replacements" and in 2002, Jones portrayed a band director out to prove that he has the best band/drumline that the historical black colleges and universities have to offer in the drama "Drumline." Jones has appeared in numerous television series including "Rules of Engagement," "Necessary Roughness," "House M.D." and "Pushing Daisies."

Scott Deming takes his twenty years of business ownership, board positions, working with small, independently owned companies as well as multi-national corporations and employee relationship expertise. Scott Deming speaks for and trains companies across the globe – big and small, in just about every industry. From CEOs to business owners to managers to sales people to customer service reps, Scott Deming’s programs have transformed individuals and organizations alike, showing them the real process for customer evangelism and lasting customer loyalty.

Known as the Iron Cowboy, James is an endurance athlete who has breaking records for years. In 2012, he completed 30 Ironman triathlons (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run) in one year. No one had ever done anything close to this. In 2017, he did the unimaginable, completing 50 Ironman triathlons in 50 consecutive days in 50 different states, all while raising money to reduce childhood obesity. It was an amazing physical feat, an astounding logistics challenge and fair bit of chaos, all at the same time. You can watch the trailer here for the critically acclaimed Amazon Prime documentary; Iron Cowboy | The Story of the 50.50.50. But that wasn’t enough. In 2021, he pushed further, a lot further, beyond what doctors and physiologists thought was humanly possible, and completed the CONQUER 100…100 Ironman distance triathlons in 100 consecutive days, this time raising money to combat sex trafficking. That’s 140.6 miles per day, every day, for 14 straight weeks, for a total of 14,060 miles!

Serving more than 36 years on active duty, Lieutenant General Robert P. Ashley, Jr. is a career Army intelligence officer who has served at the highest level of U.S. national security and intelligence. His final assignment was as the 21st Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) – reporting directly to the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security and the Secretary of Defense. Prior to the DIA, Lieutenant General Ashley served as the Army Deputy Chief of Staff, G-2, where he was the senior advisor to the Secretary of the Army and Army Chief of Staff for all aspects of intelligence, counterintelligence, and security. Through engaging insider stories and insights from his extensive career at the center of intelligence and security, Lieutenant General Ashley examines the current geopolitical landscape, the intelligence community’s role in national policy, as well as the threats and challenges facing the nation today and in the future. Drawing on more than 36 years of military service, he combines study, personal experience, and observation to share lessons-learned from our most consequential military leaders, present and past, and breaks down how to apply these leadership insights at any organization.