Coffee Talk is all about the power of bold conversations. One of the ways we plan on paying it forward is  by awarding three leadership coaching scholarships at each Coffee Talk event under the direction of Gail DePriest the Director of Executive Leadership & Corporate Relations for the Clemson MBA.

Gail DePriest is the Director of Executive Leadership & Corporate Relations for the Clemson MBA.  Formerly a Senior Vice President and Corporate Director for a global management consulting firm, Gail DePriest has advised Fortune 500 companies and top-ranked business schools.   She is a Senior Lecturer teaching Advanced Leadership as well as Innovation & Creativity in the MBAe for Entrepreneurship focusing her research on organizational cultures.  She teaches Global Leadership in the Clemson/Oxford study aboard program and her clients have included the US Department of Defense,  Michelin North America and Bon Secours Health System. She is a contributing writer for the Upstate Business Journal,  the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce Journal and is the author of, “Journey 21 – 10 Strategies to a Better Work Life.”

Cheri works with leaders who are motivated to stretch outside of their comfort zones and want a trusted guide to keep their journey on track. She specializes in keeping clients focused on their goals and visions by creating space for them to think and develop strategies for success.

Cheri’s clients are corporate professionals and physicians wanting to set strategies to improve their professional skills and achieve greater satisfaction in their work and personal lives. They realize the transformations they are pursuing will require new habits, new skills, or new ways of viewing common stumbling blocks. Toward that end, they work together to identify and implement critical success strategies.

Cheri has developed a niche working with individuals who need to learn how to foster more effective, collaborative, productive working relationships. In the clinical realm, some physician clients may struggle to overcome communication challenges that come along with the culture change from private practice to becoming an employed physician. Cheri helps them meet the challenge head on, increasing awareness of their emotions and productive responses to those emotions, as well as how to leverage their natural talents to overcome limitations.

 Beth helps individuals define and pursue their next best professional step. As a certified Myers-Briggs Type Indicator consultant who is also trained in the DISC Behavioral Assessment, Beth works with her clients to increase their self-awareness of skills, core values, traits, and preferred styles. She assists them in connecting the dots of who they are today to their potential of tomorrow. Together, with clarity and intention, they develop an action plan.

Beth is an entrepreneur. Among her many business ventures, she started a company that designed and sold waterproof and protective footwear to the motorcycle industry. She built the company to national brand status, developed an exit strategy, and sold the company after 12 years of ownership. Always energized by the entrepreneurial spirit, Beth now helps others start and grow sustainable businesses. She has served as a judge of the Clemson MBAe EnterPrize and Innovation at Work competitions and is the current Chair of the Greenville Area Small Business Development Center (SBDC).