As Founder and CEO of Forward Progress, Dean leads his core team to provide digital influencer marketing solutions, serving over 2,000 corporate clients for the past 15 years. In 2015 Dean created and released a Social “Team Based” Education platform known as Social Jack™, and they have successfully trained over 100,000 professionals on Social Selling and B2B Influencer Marketing. Their curriculum is used globally by Fortune 500 companies, Associations, Conferences and Universities to instill best practices related to the effective use of social networks. Dean enjoys time with his family, and yes, some of that family time is spent in the dōjō: Dean and his son are both 3rd degree black belts in Tae Kwon Do. He and his family also enjoy supporting community.

"It's Kind of fun to do the impossible." - Walt Disney

Cary has a passion for taking innovative ideas and nurturing them into successful companies. A serial entrepreneur and long-time investor in technology companies, he has a great ability to drive strategic growth and carry a company through the many phases of growth to success. Cary loves turning digital social networks into real-life relationships that produce results, improve sales, enhance branding and help companies scale and reach their top-line revenue potential. When not at work, he can be found engaged in any outdoor activity or with a guitar in his hand and a smile on his face.

Rick Sherman has spent his 25 year career in the graphic arts and marketing, and he has successfully blended entrepreneurial ingenuity with corporate practicality. He effectively created a campaign for both B2C and B2B models across multiple industries: Education, Real Estate, Technology, Finance, and Manufacturing. With Forward Progress, Rick has helped develop and execute the integrated Rapid Launch Plan, designed to achieve rapid sales growth and response, and he has seen it successfully implemented across multiple business sectors. Rick’s experience encompasses every aspect of the marketing and production process.

Joe is a serial entrepreneur leveraging over 12 years of web development and business experience to help clients achieve their goals and build their business.  In joining the Forward Progress team of professional visionaries Joe specializes in web development, online advertising, and search engine marketing.  Joe takes great pride in being a part of an exceptional team helping clients reach their sales and marketing goals.  In his free time Joe enjoys being outdoors, boating, and traveling.  Joe is an avid consumer of technology news and loves the newest gadgets. 

"Where there's a will, there's a way."

Ben is a designer and creator of engaging, experiential media.  Having spent a majority of his life working in the entertainment industry of Los Angeles, he brings a depth and breadth of experience in film production, live event management and creative collaboration in advertising.  When not performing as a DJ or working on his own film projects,  Ben can be found at the beach or dancing it up at music festivals and live events around town. 

 "It's not about what the equipment does, it's about what you can do through that equipment. That's where the soul is." 

Stephanie is a social media marketing guru, who has a passion for helping companies and brands reach their full potential by utilizing various social media platforms. Outside of marketing, Stephanie is an avid petite fashion blogger and bickram yoga aficionado. She loves traveling, trying new restaurants in the city, and binge watching seasons of Netflix shows on Occasion :) 

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do” 

Jennifer spent the first decade of her career in client systems & service in the banking and informational technology fields, eventually managing a team of employees. She developed a fondness for organizing and creating events, so she eventually co-founded an event management company, which she subsequently sold. With a strong passion for philanthropy and fundraising, she has supported a number of charitable causes over the years, and along with her husband, Erich, has created the Tengelsen Family foundation.

Strategic planning, managing and planning successful events, managing business operations, and public speaking are all time-tested and powerful skills she has honed over the years, but Jennifer’s true superpower is connecting other people. With a vast network of social and professional contacts, she has an almost mystical knack of knowing when a colleague or acquaintance would benefit from the knowledge or experience of another. When she’s not working or helping people forge new connections, you’ll find Jennifer juggling the myriad duties of hockey and baseball mom to her son, and navigating the challenging yet rewarding aspects of parenting a newly-minted teen daughter.

“God helps those who help themselves..”

Jackson has been using social media marketing in business for over 6 years. He is a College student who shows great dedication to everything he does. As a third degree black belt and instructor in martial arts, he applies disciplinary skills in all of the work that he does. He has experience with marketing, social media, business development, coaching, teaching as well as speaking in front of audiences.

Holly A. DeLisle is the Senior Manager at Forward Progress in charge of all financial aspects of the company. Holly has been involved in accounting and customer service with two key companies over the last 20 years. She first started her role at Delcom Systems Group Inc. as an owner involved in accounting and customer service, and she managed 22 employees.

In 2005 Holly made the move to Forward Progress to head up the accounting and human resource functions. She currently has set up the systems for the company that involves the following: Accounting, Invoicing, Accounts Payable, Benefit Analysis, Recruiting, Human Resoources, and Customer Service. She also coordinates all the key events for the company. She currently is also the PTA President for her sons Middle School in Indiana.

Paul has over 15 years of experience in providing design, development, and implementation of customized CRM applications, integrated web applications, and online marketing systems to medium and enterprise level businesses. He has been involved in managing all aspects of various projects from concept to delivery as well as hands on application development on a wide variety of platforms, mainly involving client/server architecture. He has managed specialties including systems/data integration, workflow automation, reporting services via extensive experience in database server administration, third party API utilization, and various reporting platforms. He is the lead developer on several multi-million dollar custom online payment web applications, requiring in-depth understanding of online data validation, integrity, and security. Other duties include end user technical support and training on all custom solutions.

Elise is Forward Progress/Social Jack’s Social Media Intern. She has been part of our team for six months now, and she is adapting nicely to the professional environment of the work force. In addition to being our intern, she is also studying Public Relations/Advertising with a minor in Media Studies at DePaul University in Lincoln Park. She is very passionate about working with others to create successful, ethical media on social media platforms. In her free time, she loves to go Swing and Blues dancing around Chicago. You can also find her taking Zumba classes at The Ray Meyer Fitness Center or seeing comedy shows in the city!

“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” -Maya Angelou

Brett has used social media throughout his life and is excited take it to the next step by using it for business. He studies at DePaul University as a hard-working and determined student. He also loves working with people and learning new things every day. On his free time, Brett can be found at a movie theater, playing tennis, or relaxing at the local coffee shop.

“Live life to the fullest, and focus on the positive.”

Brenda is an award-winning growth and turnaround architect and customer evangelist who boasts an impressive history on the delivery side of contact center operations. She is an innovative solution provider in the area of customer service, call center and service desk operations, and customer experience management. Her thought leadership extends to corporate branding, CRM, IT-managed services, contact center product development. An accomplished and trusted advisor, Brenda has fashioned a uniquely impressive suite of solutions that can help mid- to large-sized companies boost customer engagement and transform their cultures.

Brenda extends her leadership to the millennial marketplace, helping many young leaders find their true voice and passion in their business life. She provides insight and direction to millennials, giving them a reason, a purpose, and an outcome. For her tireless and selfless work in this area, Brenda received the 2007 National Business Leader of the Year Award from the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), for which she also served as vice chairwoman of the board. Brenda also served in an advisory role for ic Stars, a nonprofit organization for training upcoming talent in information technology.

“We become what we think about!” Earl Nightingale