Garry Foster, BA
President, Enlightened Communications


Garry Foster has been working in communications for over 25 years managing and organizing speaker venues, author tours, product launches, press conferences, and radio and TV appearances for a variety of prominent leaders. He has prepared copywrite for brochures, flyers, educational charts and texts, banners, news releases, ads, and seminars.
 
During this period he organized several national tours and press conferences for police commissioner, RCMP officer and crime prevention spokesman Carmen Kilburn, LLB; world famous magician Doug Henning; and cancer researcher, author and lecturer Hari Sharma, MD, FRCP(C); among others.

Most recently, Garry supported the David Lynch Foundation benefit concert “Change Begins Within” contacting the Canadian media and organizing interviews for David Lynch and friends Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Star, Paul Horn and Donovan, among the others. The Foundation is raising funds to help a million at-risk youth in school systems worldwide by offering the “Quiet Time” program of Transcendental Meditation (TM) to help reduce stress, bullying, violence and substance abuse, and to improve academic achievement.

Garry volunteers his time as Co-Director ofOperation Warrior Wellness – Canada” – an initiative to bring the stress-reducing benefits of TM to military veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
 
Garry was a Senior Advisor for the IsaiX Technologies group of companies in Montreal consulting on business strategy and communications for software applications and specialized industry courses for life sciences professionals. He formed an advisory board of physicians from across Canada and managed teams, travel and accommodations for several industry conventions in North America. Garry worked with colleagues to conduct market studies and business strategies under the National Research Council’s IRAP program. Under a grant from the National Research Council, he and colleagues were instrumental in planning and assessing the strategic advantages of IsaiX's (Chyma physician scheduling software) application for hospitals and for use in pandemic preparedness in hospitals throughout Canada and the United States.
 
He was the editor of LifeTrack, a monthly opt-in life sciences newsletter for 26,000 biotechnology professionals, and has published in The Globe and Mail, The Times Colonist, The Vancouver Sun, HealthIT World, Canadian Classics and Performance and Leader Magazine, among others.
 
Garry began his career in small business in 1976 in the wholesale-retail automotive industry near Ottawa and founded a successful UAP branch franchise, where he learned the art of tending to client relations to win loyal customers.
 
After graduating from university in 1985 with a degree in the humanities, Garry became a certified stress management consultant holding in-residence seminars and lecturing and touring across North America. He has organized events and media interviews for George Harrison, Mike Love and The Beach Boys, award-winning Hollywood director David Lynch, geneticist John Fagan, PhD, and quantum physicist John Hagelin, PhD, among others. Garry was a personal assistant to Canadian magician Doug Henning and organized the media launch of his theme park, which the Ottawa Citizen called the “largest non-political press conference in Canadian history.” In 2004 Garry was awarded a Doctorate of Peace from MERU in Switzerland. He continues his strong interest in peace creating initiatives.
 
Garry has lived and worked in eight countries and is an avid reader, writer and photographer with a passion for collector cars.

 
         
 
   
 
 
   
  Jim Bagnola, CSP
Business Development Advisor


Jim Bagnola has been speaking and educating worldwide for over twenty-five years.

His expertise in leadership, stress management, customer service, coaching skills, and change management inspire his clients to turn within and awaken to the reality of their own greatness.  Jim’s goal is simple: to build Professional Human Beings.

He was educated in political science and communications at the University of Akron and is currently working on his Masters degree. His ground breaking new book will significantly improve the health of corporations by influencing the thinking and behaviour patterns that fundamentally impact individual health. These health consequences are truly personal and individual but in the final analysis affect the total health of the organizations to which a person belongs.
 
Jim draws upon his experience as a certified stress-management instructor since 1975, and as an executive coach to Fortune 500 company leaders, when educating and leading others.
 
Throughout his life Jim has enjoyed a variety of professions:  He owned his own business, held corporate VP positions, served on university administrations, and managed world-famous magician, Doug Henning.
He is a member of the National Speakers Association and has earned the designation of Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), which qualifies him as one of North America’s top-rated speakers.  

Jim is currently a senior partner with the consulting firm, The Leadership Group, and is a visiting faculty member of Western Management Development Center in Denver. He sits on the board of advisors for Leaders Romania and gives much of his time as a frequent lecturer for AIESEC, an international educational foundation based in Rotterdam. He is also a member of the board of trustees of Olive Branch Foundation in Ohio.

Jim highly values his on-going opportunity of influencing and interacting meaningfully with thousands of people in both private- and public-sector organizations. Born in Canton, Ohio, and now residing in Austin, Texas, Jim has traveled to more than 70 countries for both adventure and work.  He is an avid sports fan, health enthusiast, and life-long reader.

Jim is a supportive colleague and great friend who is fun, richly entertaining, and wise beyond his years. To watch Jim in action is mesmerizing; he leaves you wanting more and more. Enlightened Communications is honoured to have your constant support and experience guide us in the speaking industry. We know you will always perform at your peak as a professional and have complete confidence that every client will be more than satisfied with the result of your efforts to build Professional Human Beings in their organization.

 
         
 
   
 
 
   
  Beth Terry, CSP
Senior Advisor


Beth is a certified speaking professional who approaches life with vigor. She has held executive positions in the insurance, retail and real estate world of corporate America. She was Vice President of her husband’s electrical contracting firm in Hawaii and counts many construction firms as clients. Beth continues to be actively involved in Hawaii’s tourist and retail industries.

Beth naturally gravitated to the speaking circuits from an early age: Every job and every career eventually led to her speaking for the company, on behalf of the company, or to the employees of the company.

In college, her professor urged her to do two new things every year – and one of them should scare her a little. So she learned how to fly; rock climb; took Japanese lessons; competed in weightlifting; is learning country dancing; and getting back into horseback riding.
 
In 1989, Beth took on the biggest challenge of her life. She walked away from a great salary and exciting job as the National Manager of Administration for an $800 million Real Estate company and started Pacific Rim Seminars in Hawaii. Beth has presented her programs to hundreds of thousands of people in six countries with the underlying philosophy that, “If you aren’t laughing, you aren’t
learning!” She currently operates Beth Terry Seminars in Phoenix, Arizona.
Beth’s no-nonsense style is straight forward. She has been in the business world long enough to know that trendy training programs come and go. At the bottom of all business success and all employee success are good ol’ small town, values. Here’s a few samples:

  • do the right thing
  • do what you said you would do
  • if you need help figgerin’ it out, ask somebody
  • most luck comes from hard work, goals, and stickin’ to it
  • the best thing you can do when it all goes to hell is keep on movin’ forward
  • if you’re getting paid for a 40-hour job, they expect you to actually work 40 hours
  • if you don’t own the business, somebody out there who does may have mortgaged their home, their kids, and their future to make it happen. Respect that and give them your best
  • life really is good; we really do have it great; most people really are decent human beings; and you do create your own success
  • Gratitude, Forgiveness, Grace, Detachment, and Love pretty much trump everything else. Looking for ROI? You’ll find it there.
Beth is currently home-based in Phoenix, Arizona, with an office in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her theme is “common sense solutions for every day management problems.” Her greatest strength, beyond her sense of humor and stage presence, is her ability to synthesize and translate complex ideas in a way that anyone can grasp and use.

Beth is one of only 160 women and 350 men out of thousands of international speakers to have received their CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) designation since 1980. She is the author of two books and continues to share her insights with everyone she meets.
 
Enlightened Communications is deeply grateful to Beth for her wisdom, experience and joyful humour in helping bring this bureau to fruition. We look forward to working with you and learning more as we venture forward.