Team

Worth It Team

I would be nowhere without the help and support of this team of creatives. Their insights, dedication and, yes, brilliance, make it possible for me to do what I love.

Allison Durazzi. As Director of Marketing, Allison directs our outreach effort. In the process, she helps me refine my vision for the Worth It training method while growing our following both online and off. She also guides our social media and manages our site and mailings, including our Mentor Morning community.

David Knudsen. Worth It Seminar Advisor. David, and I are running buddies as well as believers in the power of creatives to excel in both their personal and professional lives. Yes truly, excel, if they can learn to use their empathy effectively in difficult, stressful situations. We don’t run fast, but we do take the time to discuss the issues of the day while stretching our legs!

Sara Finkelstein. Sara is our Worth It Program Planner for the Seattle area. She also edited, and directed the production of our most ambitious film: Change the Context. Sara’s work is deeply informed by her own experiences as a creative re-entering professional life. She knows personally the highs and lows that go with establishing yourself as a creative contributor and getting the money and respect she deserves.

Dr. Carola Salvi is a scientist and scholar with Northwestern University. She is our scientific advisor on creativity and evaluates research on the distinct needs of creatives in negotiations. I’ve always known that creatives approach negotiations differently and I’ve been curious about why this is. With Dr. Salvi’s help, we’ve developed a better understanding as to why that’s the case and improved our methods.

Heather Posten. Producer and director of our films and animations. In fact, it was Heather who moved us to animation as our primary Worth It film medium. Heather is our videographer and directs the editing. Heather sticks with it for me, whatever it is, until it meets her standards.

Daphne Adair. Daphne plans and writes our learning guides. They bring depth and detail to our Worth It modules. Her passion for clarity and precise communication deeply enriches the Worth It learning experience. She’s currently creating our new Udemy, Skillshare and Lynda.com training packages.

Chris Looney. Animator. Chris conceives and co-creates the storyboards and animates all our films. Chris directs all aspects of animation production, including the animation capture videos. His collaborative style, combined with his singular visual insights, make our animated films sing.

Ross Hogin. Brand design. Ross created our visual look and feel, including the Ted Leonhardt logo, typography, and color palette as well as our website and all our teaching materials. Ross and I go way back. He worked for me as a designer at The Leonhardt Group.

Jim Gerlitz. Illustrator. Jim draws everything that I can’t, and he draws way better than I do! Jim co-creates the storyboards for the animated films and draws all the illustrations in the films as well as the comics. He went to Burnley School, just like I did. Our shared visual roots are deep.

Jennifer Hill. Production design. Jenny makes sure our print and PDF documents look great and deliver our message with style. She has worked with Jim for years as a designer.

Erin Kodama. Developer. Erin coached the whole team through the process of creating our website. Erin is extremely cool under fire. Despite a seemingly endless stream of changes and details, she delivered. And I’m thrilled.

Arianna O’Dell. Press and publicity. Arianna was my first social media coach. It was through her skills and insights that I began to understand the power of online communities and conversations. When you see us in the media, you know Arianna was behind it.

Charles Wiggins was my negotiation teacher. As a lawyer and professor of alternative dispute resolution, Charles has gained a deep, rich experience in negotiation. We’ve team taught negotiation seminars for creative firms together, and Charles gamely agreed to appear in three of the Worth It films, which led him to discover that he has considerable acting talent in addition to his bargaining smarts.