Meet Your Emcee

Linzi Rodgers

Singer, Writer, Healthcare Consultant, Co-Founder of Love Won

Linzi resides in Muncie, Indiana with her two boys. She has a 4 year old son, Gabriel, who was recently promoted to big brother status with the welcoming of baby Judah in June 2018. Two dogs (Pablo and Nina) are also part of the Rodgers family.

Linzi loves to share encouragement through God’s word. You can often find her singing, praying, and connecting with various people all over the world.

Linzi can often be found spending time with her family, close friends, or working on a project of some sort. #TheUnleashedWoman

Connect with her here: Personal Instagram

Meet Your Speakers

Emerald Sparks

Financial Strategist, Speaker, Author, Founder of Emerald Sparks Ltd, Founder of Jewel’s Dog Boarding & Daycare LLC

Emerald Sparks, a native of Dayton, Ohio, graduated from Ohio State University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration with a specialization in Accounting. Emerald got her start at Fortune 500 companies where she worked in myriad of areas, including helping companies improve their internal and external financial controls.

Now, she is a culturally relevant financial strategist, an author, and a personal & business finance expert. Emerald solves misconceptions about money for individuals who want to move from surviving to thriving by teaching and motivating them to become confident about money and take their finances to the next level.

To fulfill her passions of both finances and fur babies, in 2015, Emerald founded two companies called Emerald Sparks Ltd and Jewel’s Dog Boarding and Daycare LLC. In 2016, Emerald authored a self-help book entitled Vision. Future. Reality: How to Budget like a Boss.

Recently, she was recognized as an Affirm YP Honoree, an award for top-tier young professionals in the Greater Southwestern Ohio region who are contributing to their community, while making great strides in their profession.

Emerald speaks to various audiences, helping individuals and families create their own version of financial freedom through education and coaching. Emerald helps everyday people increase their money mindset and become extraordinary money masters by maximizing their income to make their money do what they want it to do. #TheUnleashedWoman

Connect with her here: Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

Francis Rodriguez

Elevation Strategist, Entrepreneur

Francis Rodriguez is a born and raised Latina from New York City! Her very bold personality is balanced by her huge heart! Coming from a fast paced community and being raised by a single mother with four older siblings, growing up in NYC was tough! Being a product of her neighborhood, Francis was repeatedly told that she would not go very far in life.Thankfully, she had an amazingly strong mother who did everything in her power to raise strong, educated, and respectful children.
At the age of 19, Francis decided she was going to move out of state to pursue a degree in education and give living in Indiana a shot. Indiana proved to be an adventure as she soon found out that she had two year old twin sisters living there! She was heartbroken yet excited. Francis knew this move would be a struggle and that she would miss her mother. However, her mother always encouraged her to follow her dreams!

Next thing Francis knew was that she was alone at the Indianapolis airport with one suitcase waiting on her father to pick her up – a father whom she didn’t have a strong relationship with. That was the start of a new journey full of heartbreak, sadness, adversity, and success that taught her many valuable lessons.

These lessons brought her many business opportunities and challenges. Ultimately, Francis learned to elevate herself daily in every aspect of her life and to do the same for those she crossed paths with. This led her to fulfill her passion by becoming an Elevation Strategist. Her mission as an entrepreneur and Elevation Strategist is to glorify God by giving her all and helping others to elevate their lives each and every day. #TheUnleashedWoman

Connect with her here: Facebook, Instagram

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Lindsey Vertner, MA

International Personal Development Coach, Transformational Speaker, Founder of Lindsey Vertner, LLC, Co-Founder of The Unleashed Woman, LLC, Founder of Faithfully Fulfilled, Entrepreneur, Family Intervention Specialist

Lindsey’s drive for excellence and success push her to be an entrepreneur with many business ventures. As the founder of Lindsey Vertner, LLC, she is most passionate about her work as a personal development coach for the overwhelmed woman – where she utilizes her unique perspective and coaching methods to push her clients to new limits. Lindsey is devoted to helping women live a passionate life full of purpose, balance, and the happiness they deserve. She is also a co-founder of The Unleashed Woman – a company that connects women of all backgrounds through empowerment and networking opportunities and events.

A major car wreck in 2007 had multiple medics pronouncing Lindsey brain dead and paralyzed. Amongst a multitude of injuries and battling to live, Lindsey acquired an amazing and rare outlook on life from this traumatic experience. She uses her gifts and her unparalleled outlook to push her clients to success.

As a captivating speaker, not only does she motivate and inspire her audiences through her words, but she challenges and encourages them to lean on her and take action in that very moment. She strives to leave every person feeling better than they did before. Her bubbly personality and bright smile often precede her.

Lindsey’s seven years in the direct sales industry as a Sexual Health Educator allowed her to connect with women of all backgrounds. Recently, she has returned to the corporate world as a Family Intervention Specialist where she provides intensive in-home therapy to at-risk families.

Lindsey is graduate of Indiana University with a bachelor’s in Psychology and from Liberty University with a master’s in Professional Counseling and Life Coaching. Lindsey currently resides in Indiana with her husband and two miracle children. #TheUnleashedWoman

Connect with her here: Website, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter

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Mel B. Cook

Career Coach, Master Executor, & Clarity Consultant

Mel B. Cook has been dominating from the block to the boardroom since she was 16 years old. At an early age, she understood the importance of self-discipline, hard work, and consistency. However, that didn’t give her immunity against life’s hard blows and obstacles. Despite it all, she was able to adequately maneuver her way through life and the corporate world.

Mel has served in leadership, managerial, and other influential roles for several Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, and health systems. She has over twenty years of customer service experience and more than sixteen of those years were spent in a healthcare setting. She has a proven knack for determining areas of inefficiencies and developing viable solutions to ensure success. Melanie has definitely solidified her seat at the table!

Melanie realized that the best employees and entrepreneurs are those that understand who they are at their core and set goals accordingly. As a result, she branched out of the corporate setting and started Mel B. Cook Consulting, where she provides a blueprint to busy professionals on how to consistently execute on their goals to increase their earning potential, work-life balance, and success rate.

Outside of being a seasoned professional who has served in various capacities, Mel is a survivor of sexual assault, abandonment, a broken home, and depression. Her latest book is a testament of her will and dedication to overcome life’s challenges by consistently choosing greatness. Mel continues to live out her personal mission by building stronger people, stronger businesses, and stronger communities. #TheUnleashedWoman

Connect with her here: Website, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter

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Natalie Louis

Breakthrough Coach, Author, Motivational Speaker, Founder of Release the Queen In You, Founder of Wonderfully Made Girls

A native of New York, Natalie turned her mess into her powerful message of victory as she bounced back from heartache and shame. Her passion is to help women recognize the queen within and become the best version of themselves that they can be.

Natalie has overcome many obstacles in her life and now she is helping women to do the same. Natalie is the founder of Release The Queen In You Movement where she encourages, empowers and equips queens to go from breakup to breakthrough by helping them to move forward and get their confidence back.

Natalie published her first book titled, Release The Queen In You in October 2015. In November 2016, a second book that she co-authored with fourteen other amazing women, called W.O.M.B Sisters Chronicles Volume 1, made her a #1 Amazon Best Selling Author.

Natalie is also the founder of Wonderfully Made Girls where she helps young girls learn to love themselves just as they are. Natalie is a wonderful motivational speaker, breakthrough coach, and mentor to young women. Natalie travels the world sharing her message of faith, hope, and love. #TheUnleashedWoman

Connect with her here: Website, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube

RitaFaith MacRae

M.Ed, LPN, H.Ct, CEO of Solstice Strategy Partners, Speaker, Self-Mastery Strategist, Writer

Rita is a licensed practical nurse, a Certified Consulting Hypnotist with the National Guild of Hypnotists, and a spiritual counselor who specializes in helping women to emotionally heal and to spiritually transform. She has a passion for empowering her clients to grow through personal and professional change so that the mind-body-spirit are in alignment.

She is an expert in Five-Phase Advanced Transformational Hypnosis® (5 Path) which is a progressive therapy that focuses on identifying the root cause of emotional pain, self limiting beliefs, and destructive behaviors. During the course of her 5-session program, individuals experience awareness, forgiveness, acceptance, and self-love. This allows individuals to release years of pain and trauma from the inside-out for a happiness they never knew was possible. As a 5 Path practitioner, Rita joins the ranks with the top 1% of hypnotherapists in the world.

Rita holds the following credentials: Bachelors in Psychology from Mount Holyoke, Masters in Education from Springfield College, License in Practical Nursing, Certification in Level III Mediumship and Spiritual Counseling from PSYCHE Institute, Master in Usui and Karuna Reiki, and Ordained Minister by Universal Life Church. #TheUnleashedWoman

Connect with her here: Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

Vanessa Cañas

Best Selling Author, Motivational Speaker, Event Consultant, Luxury Hair Influencer

Vanessa’s passion and dedication to helping as many people as possible leaves her to be one that is not tied down to a single industry. More than just a motivational speaker, Vanessa is also an international best-selling author. In June 2017, Obstacles Equal Opportunities was released. In this book, Vanessa collaborated with 23 amazing authors to share her life-changing story to help empower others. Currently, she is working on a second book.

As an event consultant, Vanessa has dominated the event planning industry. She is well-known as a planning powerhouse who partners with her clients to embody, strategize, and execute top-notch events.

This year, Vanessa entered into a new endeavor with the fastest growing
premium hair care company in North America. Network marketing was not part of
her plan. However, after the products started working on her thinning hair,
Vanessa decided to market the product to help other men and women attain their
healthiest hair and boost their confidence.

As the founder of a worldwide organization called MasterMind4Kids, Vanessa is dedicated to teaching mindfulness & universal laws to orphans & inner city children under the age of 9. Her goal is to raise mass consciousness to a new level.
Prior to entrepreneurship, Vanessa worked in the corporate realm for 17 years
leading teams, large events, and implementing positive change leadership with
United Airlines, GE Medical Systems, & AT&T.

Vanessa lives outside of Chicago with her husband, Jesse, of 26 years and their
dog, Olivia. They have one son, Nathan. Vanessa loves fast cars, music, and
traveling the world. #TheUnleashedWoman

Connect with her here: Website