Our Team

Soraya (Morgan) Gutman
CEO & President

To Learn About Soraya’s Seminars, click here

Soraya (Morgan) Gutman founded, grew and successfully sold her business advisory firm, Morgan Business Solutions, to Brand Launcher where she served as a C-level Executive for 5 years. Today, Soraya is CEO of Cross Talks; a one-of-kind think tank and networking mastermind for entrepreneurs with a Biblical perspective.

Soraya, an Adjunct Professor at Penn State and TEDx speaker, is a nationally sought out speaker for organizations including The U.S. Military, Vistage, Informa, The Delaware State Chamber of Commerce, FABTECH & Leadership Delaware. To learn more about her 5 out of 5 ranked seminars and book Soraya to speak, click here

Having lived and worked during political, economic and social turmoil in England, Germany, Egypt and Turkey, Soraya has a deep understanding of the challenges business owners face during all economic climates. She is uniquely talented at transforming her international and resourceful spirit into practical, can-do business solutions that produce results.

Soraya lives in Delaware with her beloved husband, daughter and Hungarian Pointers.

Pastor Robert Kossak
Biblical Advisor, Chairman of the Board

ROBERT KOSSAK

How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him
of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?

ROMANS 10:14
(NKJV)

Robert Kossak is …

• the husband of one wife (Yo Adriane!)
• The father of two girls, Ava who is 14 and Presley who is 8 and is named after Elvis
• Serves as Cross Talks Chairman of the Board
• Founder of The No Walls Church Network
• Founder of The Discipleship School
• Prior Executive Director of Youth For Christ Chesapeake Region
1. (at the time the largest geographic chapter in North America)
• Prior Executive Director of Youth For Christ Chesapeake Region
1. at-risk youth detention centers
2. K-12 public and private schools
3. adult jails and prisons
4. Churches
5. conferences
6. businesses
7. colleges and universities

in Jesus’ name … Amen!

Liz Brown
Vice President, Master Team Leader, Avondale, PA

Liz Brown PCC has been involved in helping individuals and groups make positive life changes for the last decade.  She is Professional Life Coach (PCC) through the International Coaching Federationand owner of Be Well Life Coaching in Centerville, Delaware.   In addition, she is one of 1,000 coaches who hold the National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Certification (NBC-HWC).

Driven by the desire to help those in the community with ADHD and those who are recovery from addiction, Liz expanded her business to serve those individuals and families who are looking to move in a positive direction and overcome obstacles that have been causing a struggle. She holds national certifications in both areas.  Empathy, mindfulness and sense of humor are part of her coaching style and clients feel welcome and safe.  Liz enjoys offering workshops to groups both in her office and for small businesses.

A native of Delaware, Liz lives with her husband, Charlie in Centerville where they have enjoyed raising their four “twenty-something” children and beagle, Penny.

Eric Leaman
Managing Director

Eric Leaman is a recognized expert in helping business owners to overcome and capitalize on the issues and opportunities that they, and their businesses, face every day.

For almost three decades, Eric has guided thousands of small business owners to found, maintain and expand their business. He speaks monthly to audiences of fledgling business owners & struggling entrepreneurs, delivering his no-nonsense approach to accomplishing success in their professional and personal lives.

Eric’s consulting journey began in 1992 when, after almost two decades as a business innovator with several Fortune 500 companies, he refocused his efforts in and established one of the first small business, generalist management consultancies in the northeast.

In 2001, after personally helping hundreds of small business owners, Eric turned his efforts to the training and development of re-careering business executives who wanted to leave the rat race of corporate life and operate their own consultancies. This was done through a program that delivered access to the diverse resources needed to start, maintain, grow and profit from their consulting businesses.

Over a period of 10 years, his organization trained and assisted over 2,000 consultants to establish and grow their practices.

Eric’s faith journey in the Episcopal Church began shortly before his marriage to his wife Leigh in 1999. Following their wedding, he was received into the Episcopal Church. He went on to become an active participant in Liturgy as a Lay Reader, Healing Prayer Minister, and a Eucharistic Minister. He served as co-chair of the parish youth group and co-chaired the Rector Search Committee, guiding the parish through the necessary steps during a period of transition to a new priest. Eric leverages his business and real-world experience with his Faith and his published ‘Daily Prayer’ and ‘Morning Meditation’ to support others in their journey in faith.

Ed Samuel
Board Member & Team Leader, Glen Mills, PA

Ed Samuel is a senior Executive Career, Life Coach, certified Career Assessment, and Consultant Team Leader at SamNova, Inc. based in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Ed provides one-on-one career transition coaching for mid-level to senior executives across multiple functional roles and industries. Ed leads 18+ career assessment coaches in the greater Philadelphia area, GA, MI and Africa. Ed also leads a non-profit ministry in stewardship and employment with Crown Financial Ministries as a US Advisor.

Ed has led 125+ executive networking forums with more than 2300 executives over the last 9 years. He conducts career management workshops and is a guest speaker at regional career transition forums and networking events such as; Chem/Pharma, Joseph’s People, TPNG, Lehigh Valley Professionals, and ExecuNet.

Ed began his career with DEC, where he spent 19 years in Accounting and Customer Operations. He was also General Manager for The Stride Rite Corp., garnered international experience as Global Director of Customer Admin. with QAD, Inc. and VP of Operations and CFO for two distinct high-tech venture firms. Ed holds a B.A. from Wilmington University – summa cum laude and undergraduate degree in Accounting.

He is married to Sara Dawn, his high school sweetheart, loves to spend time with his daughters, grandkids, hike and fish for smallmouth bass.

Brooke Miles
Master Ambassador

Brooke Miles founded Delaware ShoutOut, a social media ghostwriting and training firm, in 2014 to help organizations use the power of social media to build their brand. Her mission is to teach busy entrepreneurs how to pack more punch into their social media without breaking a sweat. In 4 years of business, Brooke and her team have served more than 200 clients, who have reported significant gains in followers, engagement, and traffic to their websites.

Brooke is a highly sought-out public speaker, having won multiple awards from Toastmasters International. Finally, as an active member of the New Castle County Chamber of Commerce and Delaware Small Business Chamber, Brooke is dedicated to the success of fellow business owners in the First State. Learn more about Brooke at www.linkedin.com/in/brookethemarketingpro.​

Ed Dolan
Master Business Advisor

Ed Dolan is a veteran coach and mentor with a long track record of steering businesses to success. After many years as a successful CEO and business leader, Ed refocused his efforts in 2001 to advising and mentoring entrepreneurs, helping them to achieve profitable business growth and personal enrichment.
Ed coaches, guides, and leads business owners toward better business results, more effective leadership, and a healthy work/life balance. His advice, training and guidance have enabled thousands of business owners to successfully grow their businesses.
His other involvements include frequent presentations for entrepreneurial audiences, He is a frequent counselor and seminar presenter for the Small Business Development Center (SBDC). He is accredited by and a Fellow of the Institute for Independent Business, where he has served on the Board of Trustees. He also serves on the boards of several companies, facilitates a CEO Peer Advisory Board and is the author of the “Meet Murray” series of business books.

Ed holds Bachelors and Masters degrees from Rutgers University, and has completed PhD-level studies at Rutgers in operations research. He lives in New Jersey, with his wife of more than 40 years, where he enjoys salt-water fishing and spending time with his family.

Joanner Graves
Ambassador

Founder and Managing Partner at Sanctuary Spa

Providing a ‘Sanctuary’ for residents of North Wilmington and surrounding areas since 2003

Sanctuary Spa is an award winning day spa located at 1847 Marsh Road, Plaza III, Wilmington DE. Inspired by her passion for nurturing others, Joanne created Delaware’s first day spa as a tranquil retreat from the stresses of everyday life. As a wife, mother, and business owner, actively in her local church, Joanne appreciates the necessity of bringing balance to your life with self care through the healing power of touch.

“Rest and self-care are so important. When you take time to replenish your spirit, it allows you to serve others from the overflow. You cannot serve from an empty vessel.”
-Eleanor Brown

Dr. Kim Nalda
Ambassador

Dr. Nalda was born in Baltimore, MD and spent the first half of her life there. She graduated from Duke University in 1999 with a B.S in Psychology and a certificate in Neuroscience. She spent a year abroad in Scotland as an au pair before attending University of Maryland School of Medicine. She graduated UMD School of Medicine in 2004 with her M.D. and attended Family Medicine Residency at St. Louis University. Her training was a joint program with the Air Force Family Medicine program at Scott AFB in Belleville, IL and this provided a breadth of experience of full spectrum family medicine in the inpatient and outpatient settings. Dr. Nalda served as the Chief Resident at SLU Family Medicine. Her main areas of interest are in preventive care, mental health, and women’s health. Her passion at Rekindle Family Medicine is establishing and maintaining optimal health including mental health, spiritual health, emotional health as well as physical health.

She is happily married to Ruben Nalda, who is prior military with service in both the Navy and the Air Force and is currently serving the VA Health system as the Chief of Emergency Medicine and Hospitalist services. Their family spent a decade moving every 3 years due to the military and training for both doctors. After spending time in St. Louis, MO, and Lexington, KY, the family finally relocated to Hockessin, DE where they are now firmly planted in the community. Dr. Nalda served as President of the PTA for CACC Montessori for two years and is currently part of the greeting ministry at Sycamore Hill Church. She has two beautiful grade school aged daughters who are a priority. In her spare time, she likes to cook, scrapbook, craft and make soap from scratch.

Ken Evans
Master Ambassador & Board Member

Ken Evans is a devoted husband married 28 years to an amazing wife. Proud father of 3 daughters.
Previous 15 year New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce Account Executive who was recognized for collaborating powerfully with different  state and private organizations in New Jersey. Recruited to The Delaware State Chamber 5 years ago where today he is fondly known as Delaware’s own “KEN-NECTOR” for his talent and passion of connecting people with purpose

Earl Jeter
Board Member

Earl has over 20 years of experience in accounting, taxation and financial services. He served two City of Wilmington Mayors as the City Auditor conducting internal audit and fraud investigation. Earl served as a Chief Financial Officer of a nonprofit organization and helped turn the organization from a deficit to a surplus. He served as financial manager of a major uniform cleaning company in Delaware. He worked for the Internal Revenue Service and has over 10 years of experience working for various accounting firms in Delaware/Pennsylvania region. Earl is a Certified Public Accountant and a Chartered Global Management Accountant. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and I his MBA in finance at Wilmington University. Earl is a Member of the AICPA, Delaware Society of CPA, Institute of Management Accountants, and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

Mila Gutman
Welcome Committee

Hard working student who loves to smile, laugh and welcome every guest with warmth and a very funny sense of humor. Mila is a hard worker who takes her job seriously. In addition to welcoming guests, Mila often helps setting up before a meeting, preparing Power Point slides, distributing promotional materials, creating online Member surveys, and coming up with creative ideas to go with the Biblical themes every month. She is an integral part of the Cross Talks community!

Johnny McCartin
Ambassador

Johnny McCartin is a motivated entrepreneur with a passion for technology and people. Starting his first business at the young age of 14, he now owns and runs two successful tech companies that offer custom software development and remote IT support.

Johnny has a natural talent for building meaningful connections with anyone he meets. He attributes this to his upbringing and close family bond.

When he finds free time, Johnny enjoys cooking and traveling. He is also an avid motorsports enthusiast.

As a Cross Talks Ambassador, Johnny looks forward to serving the Cross Talks community in any way needed.

Toni Wagner
Ambassador

Toni is a franchise consultant and owner of FranNet of Greater Philadelphia with offices in Chester Springs and Blue Bell, PA. Toni provides consultation services at no cost to individuals who are serious about seeking business ownership opportunities. Toni matches the personal, professional and financial goals of her clients with carefully prescreened national franchise companies. She coaches her clients on how to thoroughly search for and evaluate franchise opportunities so that franchising can be considered as a safe and affordable way to be a business owner. Prior to becoming a franchise owner and consultant, Toni spent 30 years in the IT industry in sales, executive management, project management and corporate training. With her passion for business coaching and her skills in management, marketing, and sales, Toni is uniquely qualified to help her clients realize their dreams of owning a business. A New Jersey native, Toni attended Cedar Crest College in Allentown, PA and now resides in Chester Springs. PA.

Stewart Wiggins
Master Ambassador

Stewart Wiggins is one of those leaders in business world who knows how to build relationships, trust, and support. Throughout his career either as a military officer, as a civilian leader navigating both union and non-union workplaces, or as a small business owner he has demonstrated the ability to engender trust and build relationships with the most diverse populations.

His grounding is in supply chain and logistics. Either in the transportation, retail distribution, medical device and pharmaceutical distribution, or even wholesale grocery and consumer packaged goods sales and distribution. Building teams, developing leaders and growing the business with a scrupulous eye on the bottom-line have been at the centerpiece.

Now his passion is helping others change their lives to live a healthier lifestyle.

Stewart thrives in leading in the most diverse and challenging situations. He likes to say “The Greatest Opportunities Come From The Greatest Challenges”.

Stewart is an active member of the Board of Directors for the Upstate Hospital in Syracuse. He has certifications as a Six Sigma Green Belt, Project Management, and Lean Logistics.

Stewart enjoys winning and helping others win. He and his wife Aline enjoy gourmet cooking, international travel, and sports.

Rick Martin
Ambassador

Rick Martin is the owner of Postal Connections in Hockessin that offers postal services, printing and even selling items on eBay. With a background in insurance and social services, Rick provides the groups with tremendous business experience and wisdom. He enjoys time with his wife, children and grand children.

David Tate
Ambassador

David is a Financial Advisor at Diamond State Financial Group and a Registered Representative and Investment Advisor Representative of Securian Financial Services, Inc. He earned his Life and Health insurance licenses and his Series 7 and 66 registrations. David graduated from Vanderbilt University majoring in both Economics and English. He went on to obtain a Master of Divinity at Westminster Theological. He then served in pastoral ministry in two congregations in southeastern Pennsylvania for over 25 years while also pursuing a Doctor of Ministry at Princeton Theological Seminary.

A native Floridian, David has lived in southeastern Pennsylvania since 1989. He invests in his community as a volunteer with the special needs ministry of his church. He also participates in the MS Bike to the Bay with other colleagues from Diamond State. David has been married to Cindy for over 25 years and together they have three sons. Caleb is studying business at Penn State University and Daniel has a degree in psychology from Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA. Andrew attends high school in Southern Chester County.

Jim Power
Ambassador

Jim Power is the Executive Director of the Huntington Learning Center on Kirkwood Highway in Newark, Delaware. The Newark Center is accredited by Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and has been helping area students succeed in school and improve their scores on college and private school entrance exams for over twenty years.

Jim earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Cornell University and began his career in hospitality industry operations.

Jim’s passion for impacting young adults began and grew as he coached high school varsity and middle school teams over the past 12-years. He found great satisfaction in teaching players fundamental skills needed to succeed on the field (and in life) and then watching his players improve with this new knowledge. As Executive Director of the Newark Huntington Learning Center, the venue and fundamental skills have changed, but the passion for helping young people achieve greater success has not. His advice to people seeking their own business is, “find an opportunity that combines your passion with your skills and experience and success and joy of life will follow.”