MEET THE TEAM AND OUR CLIENTS
Founder
Director of Leadership Programs
Ryan Morrison is a husband, father, leader, and Kentucky Colonel (you'll have to ask him about that one). Ryan is a seasoned leader with 25 years of experience under his belt. He has extensive experience coaching, training, and developing leaders in and outside of his organization. Ryan is an innovative leader with the ability to mobilize teams and drive change. He is a dynamic facilitator who brings a proper sense of humor into the training room and coaching sessions.
Ryan is a Certified Core Strengths Facilitator and Certified in Leader as Coach from Brown University. Ryan holds two credentials from Cornell University in Executive Leadership and Performance Leadership. Ryan holds a B.A and M.A. in divinity related fields. His extensive leadership experience and education provides him keen insight into an organization’s needs, team dynamics and coaching leaders. During 25 years of senior leader experience, serving on local boards and investing in others, he has knack for driving leaders to get results while cultivating healthy relationships.
Ryan has been married to his wife Jana for 25 years. They enjoy 3 kids (Hayes, 22, recent Purdue grad and now working in Avon Public Schools; Evan - 20, Soph. playing Rugby at Marian U.; Abbi, 15 - non-verbal autistic). Having a special needs child has given his family a different perspective and attitude about finding joy and light in family challenges. In his free time, Ryan enjoys dating his wife and spending time with his family, adding a new bottle to his growing bourbon collection, reading a good book, cheering on the Hogs in any sport or his beloved St. Louis Cardinals, and binging a good TV series.
Michael Brown is a husband, father, leadership practitioner, entrepreneur, author, and former church planter. Michael has spent over a 15 years consulting, training, and implementing transformational leadership programs for senior-leaders at organizations such as Procter & Gamble, Goodwill, Tyson, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, and Hershey, to name a few. Michael is also an author, executive coach, and keynote speaker, addressing audiences from 50 to 2,000 leaders.
To ensure he can meet the unique needs and business objectives of his clients, Michael is certified in several industry-leading programs and assessments, including the SDI 2.0 and Core Strengths. He is a Master Facilitator of Core Strengths.
Michael holds a B.A. and a Master of Arts in Strategic Communication and Leadership from Seton Hall University. He is the author of Followship: Servant Leaders Serving Leaders, which helps managers quickly strengthen relationships with their team members to serve their growth and development. He also served as an Emotional Intelligence adjunct instructor at the University of Arkansas. Michael is recipient of the 40 under 40 award through Arkansas Business.
Michael makes divots in fairways in his spare time, tries to fly fish and mountain bikes – all while coaching his kids’ world championship soccer teams (okay, they might not be world champions yet).
Executive Coach
Abbie Thompson is a wife, mother to two daughters, and HR Executive. She is based out of Northwest Arkansas and has spent the past 15-plus years leading Business and HR teams for Fortune 500 companies, privately held organizations, and high-growth startups. She has had the privilege of leading teams throughout her career in people operations, Human Resources Business Partners, Talent Acquisition, and Learning and Organizational Development. Her experience has developed in her a uniquely holistic grasp of corporate strategy & execution with an even sharper conviction for the empowerment of people to achieve their goals. As a seasoned coach, she brings 15+ years of experience partnering with high-performing individuals to elevate their leadership capabilities and achieve professional excellence. Her mission is to empower leaders to bring their whole selves to work, navigate complexity, drive meaningful change, and exceed their organizational goals. With a background in human resources and business operations, she has a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities that executives face in today's dynamic business landscape. Her journey also includes empowering coaching engagements with executives across many industries and levels of an organization. Abbie’s coaching philosophy is rooted in discernment, authenticity, fulfillment, trust, and igniting impact. Abbie is committed to creating a confidential and supportive space where clients can explore challenges, celebrate successes, and embark on a journey of continuous improvement.
Abbie holds a B.A. in Management and an A.A. in Ministry. Her certifications include: Certified Trainer in Situational Leadership, Center For Leadership Studies; Korn Ferry Leadership Architect Certification, Korn Ferry Management Consultants; Conscious Leader Trained, Conscious Leadership Group; Workplace Investigations Interviewing Techniques, Wicklander- Zulawski & Associates
Abbie is always down for an adventure, whether it is planned or on the fly. She enjoys exploring Northwest Arkansas, spending time with her husband and kids, dinner with her girlfriends, all things sports and cheering on the Chicago Bears ( when there is something to cheer about).
Training and Marketing Manager
Deena Faseler is a wife and partner to her husband of 16 years. She is also a mom to two wonderful kids, Cameron and Ellie. Deena holds both a B.A. and M. Ed. from Texas A&M University. She has 16 years of experience in education; first teaching and coaching at the High School level, and then teaching Pre-K. Though no longer teaching full time, she remains active in the education world. Deena loves organization—and not simply being organized (we probably all enjoy that) but the actual operation of organizing. Things like color-coding, spreadsheets, lists, containers, the container store (which gets its own category), and post-it notes bring to Deena, an inordinate amount of joy and pleasure. Deena also loves people; she gives thoughtful care and attention to those she helps, whether professionally or personally. Deena, however, does not like being the center of attention or talking about herself, so let’s move on.
Her educational and administrational skills merge in her role serving clients where she is able to both organize, track, and manage our various clients with efficiency; while also being able to understand and effectively communicate the ways in which our services might best support the unique needs of organizations.
Deena has worn several hats, working as an educator, coach, bookkeeper, substitute teacher, and volunteer church administrator. Her husband, Paul, is a pastor and church planter. Deena also moonlights as an unpaid chauffeur and tutor.
Clients and Stories
We focus on serving our clients and making every session a “win” for the client. The majority of our work comes from repeat business and client referrals. Check out who we have been serving over the years and read some of the stories and testimonials.
“Recently, Insight Leadership group facilitated at our team’s annual offsite meeting. I chose Insight specifically, because I needed a facilitator with expertise in Core Strengths—but even more than that I needed a facilitator with expertise in developing leaders and helping them find their full potential. Our experience in the class was truly exceptional, far beyond what I have experienced in my 23 year career with other groups that facilitate training. The reason for that is Insight doesn’t just train, they connect with each participant and help them make a connection between the content and how the participant can apply that every day going forward. While a lot of training is left at the door when the participants leave, the personal and professional maturation that Insight enables allows everyone that goes through their training to truly be changed when they leave. The impact that the training had on my team beyond the personal and professional growth that was achieved is also the energy that the team left with—feeling that they had been invested in and enabled to reach their potential! And that energy, that excitement, is worth a tremendous amount as it accelerates the team’s ability to make an impact in their every day lives both at work and at home. Thank you Insight Leadership Group!”
“Engaging with Insight Leadership resulted in exceptional growth and development within our management team at Circle of Life. We spent two full days with Michael Brown, and months later, our team still reflects on what they learned. The sessions were geared towards new and experienced leaders, so everyone felt they got something from them. I highly recommend Insight Leadership to anyone seeking to help their staff increase their management skills, company culture, and teamwork.”
“We met through LinkedIn at just the right time. Who would have thought a perfect combination would have occurred between a hospital region in Northern California and a talent development organization in Fayetteville, Arkansas! A new succession planning program was rolling out with 12 participants in Sonoma. Insight Leadership was contracted to facilitate and deliver a customized course leveraging the Strength Deployment Inventory. Then Insight coached all 12 leaders in the program for 6 sessions. Seven of the leaders were promoted to higher roles. Insight Coaching and the SDI were consistently mentioned as a major aspect (of success) for their personal and professional development. ”
“I would say that what I learned from our sessions has been very valuable and I pull from the learnings every day. Not only for my team and others I interact with, but also for myself and being self-aware of how I am feeling and reacting to a situation. There was a situation where my boss felt that I had too much on my plate and she had given someone else on my peer team a piece of my scope. I was absolutely crushed being a “red’ and having something taken away from me even though, in her eyes, she was trying to be supportive. Once I could gather my thoughts and reflect on why I was feeling so strongly, I realized that “reds” feel appreciated when given more responsibility and the opposite is also true. I was able to talk to my CNO about how her attempt to help actually made me feel less appreciated. It was a very good conversation and allowed a better understanding of one another. I think it made our relationship stronger. That interaction and enrichment never could have happened if I had not been through your program.”
“Insight Leadership Group has been a fantastic partner for Monolith. We’ve leveraged both Michael Brown and Ryan Morrison, and both are engaging facilitators that can captivate a room. Ryan’s ability to connect with groups and share his stories helps bring the concepts to life. We’ve rolled out the Core Strengths SDI 2.0 Assessment to several teams and following each workshop, I hear nothing but glowing remarks. We can’t recommend Insight Leadership Group enough!”
“We have really enjoyed working with Insight Leadership. The training is fun, dynamic and interactive. We are a more cohesive team as a result of working with Insight. ”
“Michael Brown is a tremendous speaker and trainer. He has rolled out the majority of the Emotional Intelligence training for our Finance and Accounting Function at Tyson Foods. He took a three day course and pared it down to one day and the results and feedback have been extraordinary! If your company is looking to partner with a great Leadership Training group, Insight Leadership Group, LLC and Michael Brown is who you should pick! He has also done work with our Leadership and Organizational Development team at Tyson Foods, Inc. I would recommend Michael and his company to anyone who needs training, leadership development or executive coaching for your Team Members.”
“We had a great day of SDI 2.0 training with Ryan today. It was a nice chance to connect with the whole team together. The online platform was easy to use and understand, Ryan’s workshop was highly interactive and a lot of fun too!”
“I have had the pleasure to work with Michael for the last 5 years in varying roles and capacities and I have found that above all else, Michael is deeply rooted in helping his clients succeed. I have engaged Michael in classroom style training, customized courses to address a specific team problem, and one-on-one coaching. I have found that Michael is great at understanding the unique challenges that a team faces in internal and external communication as well as emotional intelligence. I have also found that he goes beyond behavioral generalizations where most personality profiles and communication courses stop, and focuses on core motivators to help people with introspection and look at the viewpoints of others that we interact with, in personal and business settings.
I will say that Micheal digs deep into his toolbox to find the training material most helpful to his clients, and I would never expect a vanilla response or program. Michael demonstrated this when he customized a Communication course coupled with personality profiles for an IT support team where internal and customer communication is always a challenge. I have also found Michael to be a mentor and trusted advisor, with sound advice on building up teams through soft skills.
If you choose to work with Michael, get ready to engage someone with sound character and genuine interest in helping you and your team.”
“Insight Executive coaching is helping me understand how to lead a more balanced life with a clearer focus on the things that matter most and how that balance makes me a better and more engaged leader and person. ”
“Insight Executive coaching provided me with invaluable insight into the composition of my team. This coaching will help us navigate our changing technology environment by giving us the tools to better communicate and understand others perspectives.”
“Insight Executive coaching helped me to be more intentional and thoughtful in my engagements with employees and in seeking a more effective work life balance.”
“Distilled gave me the opportunity for an amazing adventure with like-minded leaders, who may be struggling with similar challenges. We were awakened by enjoying fellowship, a few drinks, and the ability to relax and rest. This, in turn opened some capacity to think about the bigger picture and what challenges were holding me back. It was a moment to detach from the regular workday and focus on areas I may be ignoring because “I will get to them”. I was able to reflect on the issues that are causing stress and anxiety when I pour myself out all day at work and don’t have time to truly focus on personal growth. I was most surprised to realize that I do not listen to the advice I give to people and try to hold on to too much and am in my own way. It was eye opening to realize that I need to trust others in their positions as I cannot carry the weight of every task or function in the company (no matter how much I feel I can).”
Reach out and let’s talk. WE’d love to hear your story
We look forward to meeting you!