Speaker Bios

General Session Speaker
8:30am
Buddy Julius, The Firm, LLC 

Buddy Julius founded The Firm Consulting in 2010 and serves as managing partner and president. He works closely with clients based across the country to create and implement government relations strategies at the state and local levels in Wisconsin.

With nearly two decades of experience working with the Wisconsin Legislature, corporations with significant presences in Wisconsin and local trade associations, Julius brings unique expertise and understanding of how to effectively and efficiently solve his clients’ challenges. His clients have spanned diverse fields, including transportation, healthcare, high-tech initiatives, procurement, startup initiatives, education, real estate and financial services. Julius represents the majority of his clients on a multi-state, federal and municipal level.

Prior to establishing The Firm Consulting, Julius spent nine years as the director of government affairs at AT&T, where he developed and managed legislative initiatives at the state level. Previously, he served as policy director for the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Realtors. Earlier in his career, he spent six years as a senior legislative assistant in the Wisconsin Legislature. Julius has also worked on numerous state and federal legislative campaigns.

A community leader and avid volunteer, Julius currently serves on the VeTransfer Board, is an active mentor to the startup community, and is a member of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC). He is also a UWM Graduate School Cabinet member.
General Session Keynote Speaker
9:15 - 10:30am 
Sam Glenn, "The Attitude Guy"

With Sam Glenn, attitude changes everything. At one time, Sam Glenn was barely getting by working odd jobs at night. He was negative, depressed and sleeping in his car or on borrowed floor space. It was a series of positive events from knocking over the legendary Zig Ziglar at a buffet to simple cups of coffee with good friends that gave Sam what he calls a KICK IN THE ATTITUDE to turn his life around. Sam changed his negative outlook and began working on developing a more positive attitude.
As Sam’s attitude changed, everything changed. He discovered renewed purpose, happiness and humor. For the past 20 years, Sam has become regarded as one of the most fun, entertaining and inspirational conference kick off speakers. Sam has been named Speaker of the Year on several occasions by meeting and event organizations and won two national awards for his training videos. In addition, Sam is a gifted artist and author of 23 books that focus on personal and professional development. Sam and his growing family currently reside in Carmel, Indiana, although he is originally from Minnesota.
To learn more about Sam Glenn, his story and his message, visit his really cool website: www.SamGlenn.com.   Or follow him on his social media hangouts – Facebook @/SamGlennSpeaks  or on Instagram @samglennspeaker.
 
General Session Keynote Speaker
10:45 am-12:00 pm
Sarah Vita

Sarah is the social media expert and Digital Strategist for a variety of projects with Cultural Outreach, as well as project manager for consumer education, social media and assistant editor for Mortgage Women Magazine. She has published several articles on social media trends and best practices and has spoken at a variety of conferences on topics related to social media, next gen marketing and multicultural marketing, including the HousingWire Engage marketing conference. In addition to social media training via webinars and speaking engagements, Sarah creates social media content and marketing campaigns for clients in the mortgage industry. Sarah graduated from University of Southern California with a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature, and minors in French and Film with experience in consulting, production and data analytics for companies including NASA.

Sarah can be reached at sarah@culturaloutreach.com

Expertise/Topics: 
  • Millennial Marketing
  • Next Gen Recruitment and Retention
  • Social Media
  • Multicultural Marketing
  • Hispanic Homeownership
General Session Keynote Speaker
1:30pm-2:45 pm
Chip Lutz
 

Lieutenant Commander Chip Lutz, USN(Ret), MSEd, CSP, is the President and founder of Unconventional Leader, LLC and has 30 years of solid leadership experience. A retired Navy Officer, he has had two command tours and also served as the Director of Security for Naval District Washington, DC during September 11th,  2001. In that capacity, he was responsible for the safety and security of 25,000 people on 6 different Naval Installations in the National Capital Region during one of our Nation’s most trying times.

A seasoned educator and trainer, he is currently adjunct faculty for two different universities and has taught over 20 different classes in leadership, management, human resource development, and organizational behavior. He is the author of 5 books, is the father of 4 children, has 2 grandchildren, is the youngest of 6 children and remains, to this day, his mother’s favorite child.

 Having spoken professionally full time since his retirement from the Navy, Chip has travelled all over the United States, sharing his message of leading unconventionally to organizations, associations, and military units.  One of his favorite engagements was when he had the privilege of speaking to the team members at Sargento Foods (because he got a cheese gift basket).

Chip is a leader who has been there, done that, and has the uniform to prove it!  He works with leaders who WANT to lead better, get more done, and leave a legacy.  He is where theory meets application.

“If you want others to follow…GO FIRST!”  -Chip Lutz

 Chip has earned the Certified Speaking Professional® (CSP) designation. Conferred by the National Speakers Association, the CSP is the speaking profession’s international measure of professional platform competence.

Only 12 percent of the 5,000 + speakers worldwide, who belong to the Global Speakers Federation, currently hold this professional designation.

 
 
 

 
   
 
 
   
 
 

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