Growth Leadership

Partner John (Buck) Bradberry

Over 25 years, John Bradberry has improved the performance of more than a thousand founders, leaders, teams, and ventures – working with startups as well as global corporations (and most things in-between). In 2007, he launched a multi-year, immersive study of the startup process, wrote a book on the subject, and founded ReadyFounder Services (now EPL). He enjoys speaking/mentoring on the topic of entrepreneurial talent and performance at conferences (e.g, Lean Startup Conference, SXSW, SIOP) and schools (e.g., Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC Chapel Hill, University of Georgia, Davidson), as well as songwriting, running, and spending time with his wife Kristin and daughters Phoebe and Isabelle. He’s a graduate of Davidson College, with a Masters in Psychology from the University of Richmond.

Partner Dawn Ballenger

Dawn Ballenger oversees EPL’s research and development initiatives, and consults with the EPL team and clients to strengthen entrepreneurial capability. Dawn believes that entrepreneurial skills are best developed from a foundation of clear and accurate appraisal of characteristics and motivations. She is an executive coach accredited by the International Coach Federation (ICF), certified by the McColl School of business, and brings experience in organization development, founder/team assessment, and entrepreneurship research. She holds degrees in English and Philosophy from Vanderbilt University.

Partner J.C. Faulkner

J.C. Faulkner is an EPL Partner bringing 25+ years of experience as an entrepreneur/CEO, lead investor, and senior corporate leader. He currently maintains and leads an investment portfolio of ventures at various stages, and advises founders and management teams on strategy, management practices, client acquisition, and funding. Formerly, J.C. was Founder/CEO of Decision One Mortgage (D1), acquired by Household/HSBC in deals totaling $100 million. Prior to founding D1, J.C. spent twelve years in senior leadership roles at First Union Corporation. He is a graduate of Davidson College.

Strategic Partner Adam Ortiz, Psy.D.

Dr. Ortiz provides executive assessment, coaching, and talent management consultation services. By leveraging industry-leading assessment techniques to define and objectively measure the leadership skills that impact key business drivers, he helps establish targeted plans for increased effectiveness. Adam brings a broad and pragmatic perspective to his clients. This perspective has evolved over the last 20 years, working with leaders from around the world and across a wide range of Fortune 500 companies. He is particularly known for his work assessing executives and assisting them to develop core leadership, self- management, and communication skills. Adam has held executive leadership positions at Time Warner and Bank of America. He began his career with the United States Air Force, working with Air Force managers and leaders to adapt their skills to the special demands of the military. Adam graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Social Psychology from Park College in Parkville, Missouri, and received his doctorate in Counseling Psychology from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Strategic Partner Janet Lim

Janet is a consultant and executive coach specializing in strategic positioning, entrepreneurial development, and empowering growth leadership to drive sustainable business growth and impact. Her 25-year career navigating diverse roles across Singapore, China and the broader Asia-Pacific region has spanned business development, sales, procurement, entrepreneurship, leadership development, and strategic facilitation.

This multifaceted background has granted Janet a unique ability to discern patterns of business success and failure through an organization's decision-making, interactions and culture. As a consultant, she has worked alongside former senior partners from top consultancies, advising major entities like GE, Philips, Dell, Brambles, IFC-World Bank, UNICEF and various government bodies.

Janet stands out for her integration of psychology, behavioral science and neuroscience into her coaching practice that focuses on developing entrepreneurial mindsets and enhancing performance. Her goal is to empower executives and entrepreneurs to achieve sustainable growth and impact.

Janet holds a Master's degree in Industrial-Organizational Psychology and an undergraduate double major in International Business and Marketing. She is a member of the Singapore Psychological Society (SPS) and Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP).

Consultant Bela Stankova

Bela Stankova specializes in superior performance and courageous entrepreneurship. As a certified co-active coach and a leadership trainer, Bela helps entrepreneurs and corporate professionals perform at their best, creating success on their own terms. Bela brings a combination of non-profit board experience, senior management and leadership development practice of over 200 engineers from the software industry. In her last corporate role at the tender age of 28, Bela oversaw the professional development of 700+ employees in 7 countries and ran 4 social educational initiatives -- programming academies with more than 12,000 online and 1000 in-house participants. With a broad educational background in Political and Economic Studies, Sociology, Rhetoric, HR and Executive Management, Bela knows how to bring the macro and micro perspectives together, helping founders create successful businesses while working on the internal behavioural challenges. Originally from Bulgaria, Bela started her consultancy in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where she currently lives with her husband and son.

Sr. Advisor Bart Craig

Bart Craig is a senior advisor at EPL and is a co-author of the Entrepreneur Core Characteristics Profile (ECCP). Bart is an associate professor and Program Coordinator at North Carolina State University’s Industrial-Organizational Psychology doctoral program. His research and teaching focus on organizational leadership, training methods and evaluation, counterproductive work behavior, and psychological measurement. He serves on the editorial boards and as an ad hoc reviewer for many academic and research journals (e.g. Consulting Psychology Journal: Research and Practice, Drake Management Review, Journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Research Methods, Journal of Business and Psychology, Personnel Psychology). Bart holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in industrial-organizational psychology from Virginia Tech and a B.A. in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Consultant Dick Eaton

Dick Eaton is an entrepreneur, angel investor, startup mentor, team and leadership development consultant, and executive leadership coach. Equipped with rich coaching experience and professional certifications he is dedicated to building leadership capabilities, accessing untapped potential, and uncovering new capacities that help clients innovate and make powerful change happen. Dick is the Founder and Chief Energizing Officer of Leapfrog Innovations and his work has been featured in various media, including the Wall Street Journal and Fortune Magazine. His clients range from early stage/pre-revenue start-ups to global corporations. Dick serves as an executive leadership and team coach for MIT Sloan Executive Education, University of Oregon Executive MBA, and FMG Leading. Eaton's corporate experience includes sales management with Procter & Gamble, account management with Mintz & Hoke and Cabot Advertising, and as Director of Marketing on the founding team of Staples, The Office Superstore. Dick plays most any sport involving a ball or a disc, practices yoga and Reiki, and is an avid painter.

Strategic Partner James Brooks, Ph.D.

James Brooks is a leadership consultant and executive coach specializing in executive development strategies, assessment and coaching. He helps companies find, assess and develop world-class leaders and a robust talent pipeline. He has consulted with some of the world’s largest and most admired companies, including AbbVie, BlackRock, Morgan Stanley, Nike, the NBA, and Johnson & Johnson. James was formerly an HR executive at Cisco Systems, where he held a succession of talent management roles and co-founded Cisco’s Leadership Development and Employee Engagement Centers of Excellence. His efforts have been noted in many publications, including Fortune and the Wall Street Journal. In addition, he has significant experience in strategic planning efforts and building selection systems, and has worked or consulted with companies and non-profits of all sizes. James has a Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational psychology from DePaul University, and a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) designation from the Society of Human Resource Management. He holds and Honors B.A. in Psychology from University of Missouri and also studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, France.

Sr. Advisor S. Mark Williams, PhD

Mark Williams is a neuroscientist, medical educator, and recipient of the Apple Award for Innovation in Science. He advises EPL on entrepreneurial resilience, product development strategy, and client/user experience. He is currently CEO of R65 Labs, a developer of digital wellness platforms based in Durham, NC. Formerly, Mark was founder/CEO of Modality, a pioneering mobile app startup acquired by Epocrates in 2010 (now a part of athenahealth). He was invited by Steve Jobs to present at Apple’s App Store Launch event in 2008, and his teams have created more than 150 health and education apps. He holds degrees from Davidson College, Yale University, and has taught at Duke Medical School.

Consultant Rachel Gorman

Rachel Gorman is a high-energy coach, trainer and facilitator who together with individuals and teams, helps people and businesses thrive. She encourages people to align with their core purpose and values and practice new thinking and behaviors. Clients focus on this to enhance communication, energy, engagement, motivation, performance and work culture. Rachel brings over 20 years of experience working with people in healthcare, non-profit and the corporate world, across a wide variety of sectors and industries. She helps develop leaders by focusing on mindset, intention, impact and effectiveness. She has a Masters in Applied Social Sciences from Binghamton University, and is a Positive Psychology practitioner. She studied post-grad at Yale and UPenn. She strongly believes we can learn and grow until the day we die. She lives in New York City with her husband Peter and son West.