Ann Tardy, JD, CPA

Entrepreneur •Author • Interviewer • Adventurer

From Silicon Valley corporate attorney to award-winning advocate for middle managers, mentoring expert, and adventurer, Ann Tardy has never met a dull moment or a person who wasn’t dying to make a difference.

Considered one of the top thought leaders on transforming middle management, Ann helps visionary organizations unleash moxie where they need it most – in the middle. By combining the art of management with the science of behavioral economics, Ann interprets the stories we tell ourselves. In so doing, Ann reveals how we are each hardwired to hold ourselves back. She creates a new emotional context to prepare middle managers for executing in complex environments.

Ann and the LifeMoxie team are transforming mediocrity and complacency into moxie in companies such as Pacific Gas & Electric, Kaiser Permanente, Hitachi Data Systems, Southern California Edison, and Metro-North Railroad.  

Ann is the author of:

LifeMoxie – 9 Strategies for Taking Life by the Horns
Moxie for Managers – The Secret to Evolving from Manager to Leader
Moxie for Mentoring – The Secret to Making Mentoring Matter (forthcoming January 2012)

Since 1995 she has been using moxie as a strategic advantage. As a start-up attorney in Silicon Valley, Ann first discovered it while closing over $2 billion of venture-backed financings at two of California’s largest law firms. While dancing with her entrepreneurs, Ann realized that it’s not willpower that separates the magnificently successful from the mediocre, but moxie. Ann went on to lead the legal departments of two high-tech start-ups, taking one company public and the other to acquisition. Following her in-house tenure, Ann launched her own law firm, growing it to 75 loyal clients before merging it with a larger firm.

She has been honored as an Outstanding Business Woman of the Year by the American Business Women’s Association and with the McGraw-Hill Vanguard Award for her contributions to employees at McGraw-Hill and Standard & Poor’s. 

Ann also advocates for using moxie to make mentoring matter. She recently founded the Mentoring Council, connecting leaders of mentoring initiatives to share best practices. During her attorney days, she served for 5 years as the volunteer Director of the Entrepreneurial Education program at a middle school, training 12-year-olds how to start and run businesses through a community-based mentoring program.

She initially tapped this strategic advantage when passed the CPA exam in the first sitting before graduating with an accounting degree from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. Ann then graduated with honors from Chicago-Kent College of Law and passed the Bar exams in Illinois and California (each in the first sitting) before moving to California without knowing a soul.

In summer 2011 Ann circumvented her own hardwiring to cycle over 4,200 miles from San Francisco to New Jersey in The Moxie Ride, a cross-country bicycle ride she founded to research and document what people love about their jobs and their managers. The documentary will be released in November 2011.

Ann lives with her husband, two delicious step-kids, and her scrumptious dog Elwood, in Red Bank, New Jersey where she bikes to the shore every morning to watch the sunrise.

Click here to send an email to Ann

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Cindy Dumbell , Director of Client Engagement

 

As a Sales Executive at Xerox Corporation for 8 years, Cindy knows the value of setting actionable goals that align with corporate missions. The training she received during this period is more valuable than most people get after a lifetime in sales.

Cindy earned a B.S. in Computer Information Systems from DeVry University, an MBA from National Louis University, and a certificate in Elementary Teaching. This unique educational combination made Cindy the ideal candidate for her first role as Director of Operations at LifeMoxie, a role she resourcefully, resiliently, and successfully held for over three years.

In 2011, Cindy transitioned from Director of Operations to Director of Client Engagement to focus on the company’s goal for 2012 (and beyond):"To continuously exceed our clients' Customer expectations!" In addition, she has become a sought-after speaker through teaching Career Development programs and Mentoring Training skills sessions to hundreds of hungry individuals each month.

Cindy uses her goal-setting expertise to balance a life rich with kids, a hard-working husband, and a love for running and triathlons. Her philosophy: keep learning, and keep setting and achieving goals; all the strength you need is within you, you just have to find it and then use it.

Our favorite client testimonial about Cindy:

"All employees in my department received the announcement today that Individual Development Plans are due on June 30. All of us normally greet this message with dread and loathing, but not this year! After your marvelous delivery on the importance of having a career path, the assistants are ready and anxious to have a serious discussion with their managers. Everyone loved your message and style of delivery."

Click here to send an email to Cindy

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Sue Malan, Director of Operations

 

Sue was born in Zimbabwe and moved to South Africa at the age of 7. After graduating in 1980 Sue had a long and stimulating career (all self-taught) in the computer industry, first as a support consultant and then as a trainer. She was head hunted and accepted a teaching position where she created a computer training program for children at an Elementary School. In October 2008, without a job or house (but with a lot of moxie), Sue and her husband Ray and their 3 children took a leap of faith and made the bold move to America to start a new life. She spent a year working for a pharmaceutical company and joined the dynamic team of LifeMoxie in December 2010. Sue began her career at LifeMoxie as a Business Development Executive and within a year she was promoted to Director of Operations. Sue is instrumental in driving projects forward and elevating LifeMoxie to the next level. Her dedication to producing results enables LifeMoxie to offer a ridiculously high caliber of service while making LifeMoxie a great place to work!

Click here to send an email to Sue

 

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Trish Fullerton, Chief Graphic Designer

 

Trish taught herself to draw at the age of 5 studying Dr Kildare eyes in the funny pages, so getting a degree in art from of the University of Texas at Austin was a natural. Trish has worked in Dallas as an advertising art director, and in the post-computer-revolution, she transformed into a freelance graphic designer, aspiring to create magic for her clients – giving them that special look and feel they want. Trish loves to mingle her art with her favorite science as an avid winemaker and grapegrower, and tends her own mini-vineyard and winemaking facility (Esperanza) at her country home in Texas.

 

Click here to send an email to Trish

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Joe Pirola, Chief Technical Officer

 

Joe has been mastering web development for 25 years. His team is responsible for the development, deployment, and administration of LifeMoxie's revolutionary desktop application mentoring program.

Joe specializes in the following software platforms: PHP, MySQL, Javascript & CSS for internet development and Visual Foxpro for desktop development.

Click here to send an email to Joe

 

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April Stensgard, Career Transitions Expert

 

As a career coach, speaker, and trainer April has honed her expertise to focus on individuals who are and want to live their best lives and infuse it with moxie. She has developed The LifeMoxie! Community and The LifeMoxie! Coaches Certification Program as an expansion of LifeMoxie!’s services.

April is committed to developing individuals on a personal and professional level helping them to “Focus their Ambition to Achieve Their Mission.”She has a BA in speech communications and public relations from Northwestern College and has been a professional speaker for the past ten years.April is also a graduate from Coaches Training Institute, CAPT and Hallmarks of Excellence in Leadership. She is also qualified to administer several professional development assessments such as Myers-Briggs.