For the past 14 years Debbie Allen has been teaching the lessons of shameless success with her innovative business-building strategies. Debbie started her entrepreneur career at the age of 19 in a rental company then moved to retail where success followed her. She has been honored by the US Chamber of Commerce with the prestigious Blue Chip Enterprise Award and is author of five books including Selling Power, The Opus, and The Compass.

Author of the NYT bestseller, Style, Elsa Klensch was a pioneering journalist for CNN for over 20 years before she branched out and tried her hand at writing a mystery novel. At CNN Elsa was the host of "Style with Elsa Klensch" and has anchored Spring and Fall fashion show coverage for the Trio network. Elsa has lectured on fashion and design at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Chicago Historical Society and the Houston Museum of Arts.

An expert in business strategy and innovation, James Gilmore offers businesses and industries ways to render greater authenticity. James is co-founder of Aurora and author of the best-sellers Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want and co-author of The Experience Economy: Work Is Theatre & Every Business a Stage. James is currently a Batten Fellow and Visiting Lecturer at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia.

Leonard Berry is the director of the Center for Retailing Studies, editor of the Arthur Andersen Retailing Issues Letter, and former president of the American Marketing Association. He is respected speaker and is especially known for his extensive research into the success factors of companies renowned for their quality of service. Mr. Berry has concluded that there are four principles of great service: reliability, surprise, recovery, and fairness.

Author of Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping, Paco Underhill is founder and managing director of Envirosell, a behavioral market research and consulting company. Paco applies his research methodologies to issues in retail environments. Envirosell is a leading research and consulting agency for stores, banks, restaurants and consumer product manufacturers.

Paul Orfalea was nicknamed "Kinko" because of his curly red hair. When he was studying as a student at the University of California at Santa Barbara he had a simple idea: provide college students with products and services they need at a competitive price and so Kinko's was born. Today Paul is a philanthropist and visiting professor in the Global and International Studies Department of the UCSB. Orfalea authored Copy This! Lessons From A Hyperactive Dyslexic.