Brains Behind It with Dave Farrow

I was born in Pasadena, California and went through the San Marino school system. First attending the University of California at Santa Barbara, I then transferred to UCLA where I earned a B.A. degree in Economics. After graduating, I settled in Seal Beach, California where I still live today with my wife, Glenda and where we raised three sons, Doug, Devin, and Clayton. Glenda and I are members of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Huntington Beach, California and attend regularly.

After college, I worked various jobs until being employed by California Vision Service (CVS) in 1973. First working as a sales representative in Southern California and Southern Nevada, I soon received a promotion to Regional Sales Manager. A few years later, the company changed its name to Vision Service Plan (VSP), and I became National Accounts Vice-President and then Eastern Division Vice President. For the majority of my career at VSP, I traveled extensively throughout the U.S. becoming a million mile flyer on United Airlines, American Airlines, and Delta Airlines. Retiring from VSP in 2009 after 36 years in national sales and sales management, I began my quest to know everything possible about the World War II experiences of my father, pilot Howard Snyder, and his crew of the B-17 Susan Ruth which was named after my oldest sister. Gradually, it became my passion and resulted in this book. I belong to numerous World War II associations and am on the Board of Directors of the 306th Bomb Group Association.

Glenda and I have a second home in Sedona, Arizona where we spend a considerable amount of time. I am an avid gardener, primarily in Seal Beach where our yard is literally a tropical botanical garden with nearly 100 palm trees planted in the ground. Glenda and I enjoy traveling and have been to numerous countries in Europe, the Caribbean, and Pan-Asia. Some of my other interests are reading, taking long walks while in Seal Beach, hiking with Glenda while in Sedona, and being an avid UCLA sports fan. Website: http://stevesnyderauthor.com/

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Katrina is an experienced journalist, speaker, and author. She loves to use her innate curiosity to provoke thought and find untold stories. Her award-winning book, Henry: A Polish Swimmer’s True Story of Friendship from Auschwitz to America is available in English, Polish, and Czech. She spent many years researching World War II, Poland, and the Holocaust. Her experiences have taught her the power of resilience, the importance of kindness, and true leadership begins with saying Yes to opportunity. Find her at katrinashawver.com.

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Randy Dean, the “E-mail Sanity Expert” ® is a professional speaker and expert on time & e-mail management, effective organization, and the related use of technology. For more than 20 years, Randy has been leading training and speaking programs for major corporate, university, association, and government audiences. Obsessed with time management and personal productivity, he left a successful career as a graduate program admissions director, professional marketer, and manager to become a leading speaker and trainer. The author of the recent Amazon bestseller, Taming the E-mail Beast, he has led programs for thousands of satisfied and inspired students, managers, and professionals on being more productive with their time and life. His highly informative and entertaining speaking and training programs leave audience members with immediately-usable tools, strategies, and skills on how to better manage their time, technology, and information overload following their program experience.

Website: http://www.randalldean.com

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Joshua Krook is a journalist, academic and public speaker interested in the humanities, legal education and employment policies. His writing has been featured on ABC News (Opinion & Analysis), The Conversation, Business Insider, World Economic Forum, World University News and Overland. He has appeared as a guest on Channel 7, ABC Radio, BNR nieuwsradio, 2SER FM, RTR FM and the Lawyers Weekly Podcast. Website: https://joshuakrook.net/

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I’m the author of the novel One Hundred (2019) and the short story collection, A History of Sarcasm (Dog Horn 2009), with more books on the way. My short story, The World, was featured on BBC Radio 4’s Opening Lines programmed in 2009. In 2010 I created the non-profit online publisher, Philistine Press, which has published over thirty ebooks by some amazing writers.

I’m the presenter of the brand new music and comedy podcast, Ragbag.

In 2017 I appeared on TV as part of BBC Ouch’s Storytelling Live at the Edinburgh Festival. Website: http://www.frankburton.co.uk/

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Mark Givens is the owner of Pelekinesis, an independent publishing company, established in 2011. In addition to editing, designing, and producing books for Pelekinesis, Mark writes computer code and has been designing websites for over 20 years. He continues to create art and music in Southern California where he lives with his wife and two children.

Website: www.pelekinesis.com

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2009 Winner Excellence in Teaching Award, UNC-Chapel Hill Friday Center, for Beginning and Intermediate Fiction Writing courses which he designed and teaches.

Richard Krawiec’s first novel, Time Sharing, was published by Viking Penguin. It was reviewed by such luminaries as Michiko Kakutani, Richard Eder, and Jonathan Yardley. It was featured in Publisher’s Weekly Recommended List, and the Village Voice Real Life Rock Top Ten column. Multiple film options have been sold through the years.

His second novel, Faith in What?, was published by Avisson Press. It was well-reviewed, receiving attention from Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus and major daily newspapers throughout the U.S.

His short story collection, And Fools of God, also received excellent reviews from Kirkus, Library Journal and elsewhere. His short stories appear in dozens of literary magazines and have been nominated and short-listed for the Best American Short Stories anthology.

His widely praised second book of poems, She Hands me the Razor, is available from Press 53. Order here.

His first book, Breakdown(MSR Publishing), received praise from, among others, North Carolina Poet Laureate Kathryn Stripling Byer.

His poetry, fiction, feature articles, and plays appear in commercial and literary publications throughout the US, Europe, and Asia.

In addition, he has written a chapter book for children, The Truth About S.C., and two biographies for young adults, Sarah Hughes: Sudden Champion, and Yao Ming: Gentle Giant. The Yao Ming book was awarded one of the top 40 books of the year by the Pennsylvania Librarians Association, and a chapter purchased by Florida for use in their language arts curriculum.

He is founder of Jacar Press, a Community Active Press. Part of the proceeds from all sales go to fund community initiatives. Their first publication, The Sound of Poets Cooking, a poetry anthology/cookbook, was a critical and commercial success. Website: www.jacarpress.com

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Stevens is a journalist, posting regularly on health and alcohol issues for online news services and is a founding influencer at the world’s largest medical portal, HealthTap. Stevens adds his stunning personal 86-proof-two-liters-a-day story with thorough research into alcoholism, sobriety, relapse and recovery.

A former mutual fund industry executive, Stevens blends wit, journalistic objectivity, blunt personal dialogue and no-nonsense business perspective in his five books, 2010’s What the Early Worm Gets, 2013’s Indie Book Awards finalist, Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud, and 2015’s USA Best Books Awards Finalist, Adding Fire to the Fuel, which also won the 2016 Book Excellence Award. His fourth book, 2016’s I Can’t See The Forest With All These Damn Trees In The Way, takes on alcohol and health policy against the backdrop of the Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health. He regularly addresses conferences around the country — including the REEL Recovery Film Festival — on the latest trends in the field of alcohol use disorders.

The abstract for his fifth book, Look What Dragged the Cat In, was accepted for presentation at AddictionTherapy2018 in Paris, AddictionScience2018 in London, the International Conference on Clinical Psychology in Amsterdam, and the International Conference on Dual Diagnosis in Melbourne, Australia. Look What Dragged the Cat In: The Rise of an Opioid Crisis is the book stemming from the abstract Stevens released in 2018. Look What Dragged The Cat In is a 2018 USA Best Books Awards Winner.

Among his life experiences, Stevens has met seven Presidents of the United States, flown with the Navy’s Blue Angels, piloted a Los Angeles Class nuclear submarine and driven a NASCAR at 140mph on a one-mile oval. The football fan and avid golfer holds a Master’s in Public Affairs Journalism from the University of Illinois – Springfield and lives in the Midwest with his children. He is Editor in Chief for Addicted Minds & Associates and owner of www.alcohologist.com and the DVD series, The A-FILES: Alcohol A-Z, as well as the Alcohology app for Kindle and all Android devices).

Website: http://www.alcohologist.com/

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Dr. Michael Barbera is an award-winning consumer psychologist and business strategy consultant. He is a leading expert in consumer perceptions and the complex factors that drive the entire consumer decision-making process. Michael specializes in consumer behavior, emotions, and experiences, both online and in person. His practice areas include social psychology, brand management, marketing, behavioral economics, behavioral finance, and long-term business growth strategies. 

Michael is the chief behavioral officer at Clicksuasion Labs. A combination of psychology and economics at its core, Clicksuasion Labs crunches the evidence-based science behind influence and persuasion. Michael knows what makes consumers tick. His team conducts research, interprets data, and applies real-world insights to help people understand what drives consumer decisions, what influences consumer behavior, and how to achieve measurable results. They don’t sit back and wonder why. They actively seek answers that help guide human behavior.

Michael advises Fortune 500 companies and other clients on how to apply behavioral science to build customer experiences that are more efficient, engaging, and effective. He also creates evidence-based solutions that affect both external marketing strategy and internal operations management. He designs comprehensive C-suite solutions for sales, human resources, product design, and marketing teams to achieve maximum efficiency.

Michael’s experience includes large organizations like Boeing, Microsoft, The Washington Post, John Deere, Harley Davidson, LendLease, the United States Department of Defense, and the United States Department of State. He has worked with noted academic institutions including Ithaca College, Purdue University, Duke University, and the University of North Carolina. He has also worked with renowned recording artists including Warrant and Goo Goo Dolls.

Michael shares his evidence-based insights and experiences as a celebrated keynote speaker for public and private institutions. He leads discussions with other experts on applied social psychology as the host of the Clicksuasion podcast. He has also been a dynamic TEDx presenter, covering a range of interesting issues, including the human perception of gender-neutral restrooms. He shares his research on comfort levels, feelings, and perceptions about inclusivity regarding restroom placards. He also presented compelling research about how hurricane names may impact safety outcomes in catastrophic weather events. More than 100,000 people have heard Michael speak on four continents, and he has earned more than 250,000 views online.

Michael has been a successful entrepreneur since he was 13, and managed his first merger and acquisition at age 17. He’s been a 40 under 40, and continues to champion entrepreneurs and business leaders as a thought leader, moderator, mentor, and counselor. Michael is a board member of the Moore County Chamber of Commerce, as well as the co-founder and vice-president of the board of Revolutionary Coworking, a collaborative workspace that fosters an environment of education, innovation, collaboration, workspace liberty and sustainability. In 2015, the White House recognized Michael for his many contributions to entrepreneurship.

Michael earned a PhD in behavioral economics with a focus in time pressure and scarcity. He has two MBAs with concentrations in entrepreneurship and executive management, and has a BS in business administration.

Website: www.michaelbarbera.com

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Jaynie Royal is the editor-in-chief at Regal House Publishing. While Jaynie’s academic background is in history and archaeology, she has long nursed a passion for literature. After spending many years navigating the publishing industry, Jaynie decided to start a new enterprise that invested deeply, meaningfully and significantly in its authors: Regal House Publishing. Since, Regal has grown to encompass two imprints: Pact Press, Fitzroy Books, and the nonprofit arm, The Regal House Initiative. Jaynie has worked as a senior marketing strategist, and has advanced certifications in

digital marketing and marketing management from the American Marketing Association. She is extremely proud of the talented editing team that has been assembled at Regal and thrilled to provide all of our authors with a high level of editorial excellence. Website: regalhousepublishing.com

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