Our Consultants

Lisa Simon
Lisa is lecturer at Cal Poly and a coach in the Orfalea College of Business Sales Competition and National Collegiate Sales Competition. Lisa holds a BA, Economics from Brandeis University, and a MBA from University of Southern California.

Judy Mahan
Judy is the Director of the Cal Poly SBDC and the Incubator Director for the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. She holds a J.D. from the University of Paris X Law School and an LLM in International Tax Law at Golden Gate University.

Lynn Metcalf
Lynn is a Hood Professor of Marketing and Entrepreneurship. She holds a Ph.D., Marketing and International Business from University of South Carolina and a Master in International Management, Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Paula Dempsey
Paula has over 20 years of marketing and PR experience. She has a passion for branding, digital marketing, and social media. Paula holds the ICSC Certified Marketing Director (CMD) designation and has a BS, Communication Arts from Cal Poly, Pomona.

Kurt Friedmann
Kurt has a 20-year background in customer feedback management, training and development, and sales management. He’s worked with startups to established Fortune 500 companies and is the founder of The KJF Group and CEO of WorldMentor.

Bill Trammel
Bill is an idea executer who has raised over $500,000 via crowdfunding. He describes himself as having a left brain with a right brain eye. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

Tom Katona
Tom holds 9 patents and has led product development teams at several startups. Tom holds a Ph.D. from U.C. Santa Barbara in Electrical and Computer Engineering and a MBA from the Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina.

Janice Odell
Janice is a lecturer at Cal Poly, holds an MBA, and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). She specializes in advising small to medium size companies in financial planning, projections, business plans, strategy, and HR policies and practices.

Nick Andre
Nick is the Managing Director of Kumani, a web design and development company that specializes in e-commerce and WordPress. He has spent over 10 years building online stores and integrating them into business systems. Nick is also a certified Xero advisor.

Jim Dunning
Jim manages the Cal Poly Technology Park, outreach to industry for sponsored research, and technology transfer. He has worked with companies ranging from micro to Fortune 50, and has extensive experience in forming private-public partnerships.

Lisa Sperow
Jolie Ditmore
Jolie is a San Luis Obispo local and a Cal Poly graduate. She has worked in the healthcare industry for 20 years, as a CEO of healthcare organizations and as the owner of a consulting practice.