Websites from United States

Robert Willey is an Associate Professor of Music Media Production and Industry in the School of Music at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. He teaches music industry, senior projects, songwriting, computer music, music retail products, and music appreciation. Previously, he spent ten years at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where he received the Ray Authement Excellence in Teaching award and documented the region's unique musical culture. He has written books on the history of rock and roll, music appreciation, Brazilian piano, Creole fiddle, music production, and the music business, and produces music in various styles.

Sean Feeney is a technology executive who helps companies develop and execute their technology strategy. He bridges the divide between Dev and Ops. A believer that complexity is toxic, Sean aims to develop and implement conceptually simple, yet operationally robust solutions. He is also available for speaking engagements on topics such as AWS and the cloud, DevOps, datacenter migrations, digital business strategy, and knowledge management.

Adam Mattis is a partnerships executive, ecosystem builder, and sales engineering leader. He focuses on turning complexity into clarity and strategy into revenue. With over 20 years of experience, Adam builds partner ecosystems, co-sell motions, and AI-augmented operating systems. His work involves aligning incentives, designing co-sell frameworks, and creating operational infrastructure to transform partnerships into growth engines. He has built partner programs from the ground up, transforming legacy relationships into structured growth engines and leading sales engineering teams.

Alexander Pereira describes himself as a child trapped in an adult primate's body and a father of two. He is self-employed, enjoys fitness, and is a vegetable enthusiast who also embraces his inner carnivore. Curious about science, nature, and humanity's role within ecosystems, he created this site to document experiments brought to life through habits, such as creating a backyard oasis, feeding his animal, and raising independent children.

Val Wheatley is the Adventurer in Chief of Wandering Wheatleys. She grew up in Portland, Oregon, but moved to Oahu in 2013. She sold her house and belongings and bought a one-way ticket. Since then, she has taken two around-the-world trips and visited approximately 60 countries. Val started documenting her travels in 2013 to update friends and family. With a background in Human Resources and a degree in Business Administration, she writes with sarcasm, humor, and storytelling. Currently, she creates travel content, manages a team, and cares for her two children.

April Bell helps people find and tell the origin stories behind their values. She crafted her story-mining process into book form with *My Life in Paragraphs: Find and Tell Your Stories*. Focusing on the spoken word, she leads story-mining and wisdom-keeping workshops for professionals and elders. April is the founder of Tree of Life Legacies, a storytelling and wisdom-keeping project based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Since 2008, she has been helping people find and tell their stories, often on video. She is the co-creator of StoryCatcher® for iPhone.

Jason Becker has been on the internet since the mid-90s and misses the "weird" days. He enjoys a wide range of rock music, podcasts, and movies. He lives in Baltimore with his partner Elsa, her mother, also Elsa, and their dog, Brandy. He is currently a vice president in the Resource Planning Cloud at PowerSchool, focused on helping K12 school districts plan and manage resources effectively. He thinks about urban development and transit policy. Jason enjoys walking, traveling, and reading science fiction and fantasy alone at a bar. He invites others to share a meal and oysters with him.

Khürt Williams is an information security architect, photographer, and nature enthusiast. He is the author of Island in the Net, a blog he started in 2006 where he shares his thoughts and photos on tech, photography, hiking, craft beer, and life's curiosities. He is an F1 fan, IndieWeb supporter, and occasional speaker. Khürt lives in Montgomery Township, New Jersey, with his wife, Bhavna.

Ryan Waggoner is a software engineer who has been a full-time freelancer since 2007. After struggling in his early years, he learned how to consistently earn at least $250,000 from consulting clients. In 2015, he launched Everleads, which curates freelance jobs for developers and designers. In 2016, he created Freelance250k, a course for freelancers. Ryan's mission is to train 1 million freelancers, consultants, and solopreneurs to build healthy, sustainable businesses that earn at least $100,000 per year in profit. He lives in NYC with his wife and daughter.

Achyut is building an AI company focused on automating repetitive, data-intensive workflows. He enjoys learning and problem-solving. Based in Brooklyn, NY, Achyut previously founded an online startup incubator called Startify and built the national data platform for India. He has experience working on language models and causal inference. Outside of work, Achyut is training for a triathlon and enjoys writing and performing poetry.

Joel Bein is the founder of Human Liberation, which focuses on removing negative beliefs from the subconscious mind. He hosts The Joel Bein Show, sharing ideas on personal growth and parenting. He is also the founder and conductor of the New Orleans Chamber Players. Previously, Joel was the CEO of Career Hackers, conductor of the Santa Fe Youth Symphony, and a Socratic guide at Acton Academy. He is the author of the book *Do It Now, a finished book*, published in 2022.

Akshat Vaidya is a data enthusiast, explorer, and optimist. He is currently pursuing his MS in Information Systems from the University of Maryland. Akshat strives to be an innovative solution provider and use data to help businesses make insightful decisions. He is working to become proficient in the art of analytics as part of his master's program.

Kent Sanders is a writer, college professor, and guitarist. He created his blog to provide artists and writers with resources, tips, and practical inspiration to fulfill their creative calling. He teaches courses in arts, technology, guitar, film, theology, and worship leading at St. Louis Christian College, where he also directs the online program. Kent is the author of two books: *The Artist’s Suitcase: 26 Essentials for the Creative Journey* and *30 Days of Evernote for Churches*. He also works with creatives through coaching and other services.

Kimberly Hirsh is a school librarian at the lower school of an independent school, serving students in grades 1-4 and their teachers. She has a PhD in Library and Information Science and is a self-described "serial hobbyist" and "multipotentialite." Kimberly enjoys reading books and comics, playing video games, crafting, and performing. She also manages multiple chronic illnesses.

Halelly Azulay is the Founder and CEO of TalentGrow LLC, a consulting company established in 2006. As an author, speaker, facilitator, and leadership development strategist, she specializes in communication skills and emotional intelligence. Halelly works with organizations experiencing growth, focusing on developing leaders and teams at all organizational levels. She is the author of two books, "Employee Development on a Shoestring" and "Strength to Strength: How Working from Your Strengths Can Help You Lead a More Fulfilling Life." Halelly has presented at international conferences and contributes to various books and publications in the field of talent development.

Nick Vitucci manages Google Ads campaigns for service-based businesses. He blogs about business and life, including summaries, notes, and musings. He is interested in topics such as optimization, time, and the work of other thinkers and creators. He also shares his thoughts on leaving New York City and the importance of asking for help.

James Kerti is a writer and poet whose work explores self-trust, emotional resilience, and the way memory shapes us. He is the author of the debut collection, Unfolding Love, which explores love's transformations. In addition to his writing, James works as an online business consultant for creatives and mission-driven organizations through his studio, The Indigo Bloom. He has a diverse background that includes basketball scouting and public service. Past clients have praised his creativity, resourcefulness, and ability to deliver results.

Craig Sikora shares his thoughts and experiences on his website. He writes about a variety of topics, including event recaps, music, life lessons, movies, videos, books, and sports. He also discusses his personal journey of starting over with his website and the confusion he has experienced along the way.

Yohanca Delgado is a writer of fiction and nonfiction. She was a 2021-2023 Wallace Stegner fellow at Stanford University and a 2022 National Endowment for the Arts fellow. Her fiction appears in *The Best American Short Stories 2022*, *The O. Henry Prize Stories 2022*, *The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2021*, *The Paris Review*, and elsewhere. Her essays have appeared in *TIME* and *New York Times Magazine*. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from American University and is a graduate of the 2019 Clarion workshop.

Paul Halme is a two-time bestselling author, international speaker, advisor, and BJJ World Champion. He helps entrepreneurs build successful businesses, drawing on his experience in growing his own martial arts gym into one of the most successful in the US. He creates high six-figure offline businesses for his clients, resulting in his consulting company growing into the seven figures. Paul works with committed business people, helping them gain more time for family, travel, and financial freedom. He is known for his expertise in lead generation, closing sales, and maximizing business profit potential. He runs a seven-figure consulting company with UFC star Alan Belcher and systems ninja Amy Magers.

Torrey Nommesen, also known as 2RE, inspires people to reach their full creative potential. He works as a designer, producer, maker, and educator, creating both digital and physical projects. He solves problems for people to earn a living. 2RE Factory is his "personal incubater" where he develops his projects, which include photography, photo essays, an Android app, and experimental web projects. He co-produced a talk show called Drinking About... The Greatest Inebriated 360° Talk Show The World Has Ever Known and was a member of the band The Capp Street Girls.

Based in South Carolina, this individual is an experienced camper and hiker with over 20 years of experience exploring the outdoors. They enjoy sharing stories about their adventures, mishaps, and discoveries in South Carolina, nearby mountains, and around the world through their blog. They have a history of volunteering as a leader with youth programs like Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts for over 25 years, and currently leads high adventure treks for a local scout troop. They are also an adjunct instructor at a local college.