John Saunders spent many years as a Wall Street Senior Vice President, sales team leader, and award-winning sales executive. He followed his passion for helping others grow, founded a coaching and consulting company, Forward Advisory Solutions, and published a book, The Optimizer. As a coach and consultant, he's worked across industries, including renewable energy, health care, financial services, publishing, and more. Each project has a focus on creating clarity of the company mission and vision, growing company alignment and driving optimization that delivers tangible business results through embedding leadership strategies that empower team members to proactively join the journey of growth for both the company and themselves.

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He holds a BS from the University of Wisconsin and an MBA from Georgetown University. Additionally, Saunders is an active angel investor, a formal mentor for the Georgetown Executive MBA program, and was a member of Georgetown McDonough’s MBA Alumni Advisory Council. He also has been a featured speaker at these universities: Columbia, Stanford, Montclair State, and Georgetown and conferences Proqis, and Innov8rs.

As a lifelong learner, Saunders asserts that change is necessary in today’s business world and believes in empowering those he works with. His work has proven serial incremental improvement is the path to success. Small steps enable team members to embrace change as this strategy reduces the emotional challenge of change. In addition to writing, mentoring, and coaching, Saunders enjoys spending time with his family, traveling, and exploring the outdoors.