As Featured In John C. Maxwell’s New Book for 2010 Everyone Communicates and Few Connect!

I Believe…

The most successful businesses, organizations and schools know a secret. The way to bring everyone together, advance your organization and achieve success is through establishing a foundation based on principles. Why? Because principles always work, and they never change, making them a reliable foundation for success! I founded this company on principles of success, and it is my goal to bring those same principles to your group through every program. I always highlight stories and demonstrate the “how to” behind successful transformations in both thought and action. Two of my favorite foundational principles are:

The Integrity Principle: Integrity is the state of being whole and complete. You’ll experience what it feels like to “go the distance” and do what it takes to finish the job at hand. Living this principle allows your organization to achieve more – better, faster and stronger!

The Honesty Principle: Telling the truth is always the best route, but it goes much further than that. Living based on the Honesty Principle means embracing your authentic self, supporting the truth and living up to your word. This creates trust, and when your organization has trust, anything is possible!

Bio for Erin Shell Anthony, MBA

Erin Shell Anthony is a Published Author, Educational Consultant, and Professional Speaker whose life purpose is to help people achieve clarity and results that put them on the fast track to success!

After attending college on a full academic scholarship and graduating magna cum laude with Bachelors and Masters degrees in Business Administration, Erin spent several years in Corporate America in Associate and Directorial positions for Fortune 500 companies and consistently led her teams to goals that exceeded market plans quarter after quarter. She continues to enjoy  a directorial position with a prominent local company.  Her leadership, team-building and focus was also evident as at the age of 23, she became CEO of her own company, which she successfully developed and sold for profit!

Erin’s passion for the empowerment of young leaders was birthed from social conditions in middle and high school, where she witnessed and experienced the difficulties that young women have developing healthy relationships. She saw that many would-be leaders stifled their ambitions in order to “fit in”, and she struggled with balancing this situation personally. As a result, she created anthonyGroup Educational Consulting, which focuses on training the next generation of business leaders.

Erin is excited about leadership, balance and purpose, tells it like it is, and inspires others to overcome setbacks to achieve their personal best. As a well-respected speaker, Erin has conducted over 300 presentations around the country in the last 5 years. Erin’s programs produce life-changing results, and take audiences to new, higher dimensions in their personal experiences!

Erin’s latest book release, Leadership Rockstars: 12 Leadership Principles Every Successful Student Leader Must Know to Excel, highlights many of the lessons that Erin and her husband Adrian learned through both challenging and triumphant experiences as a former student leaders. This book demystifies what it takes to create lasting impact as a successful student leader! Students who read this book are left with a solid plan for their leadership experience.

Her passion for leadership and empowering people to work together to achieve goals is evident both in and outside of traditional business settings. After hearing Erin, her sense of being in the moment and helping you feel empowered will leave you feeling like you can truly “create extraordinary opportunities for success and live the life YOU love!”

Erin’s Professional Affiliations include: Alpha Kappa Alpha, Sorority, Inc., Precious Pearls Young Women’s Mentoring Program Committee member, Chamber of Commerce, Tampa Organization of Black Affairs (TOBA) Youth Oratorical Committee, RENEW Women’s Empowerment Group – Founder, The Ophelia Project – Ekho’s Women’s organization. Erin has been featured in Indianapolis Women’s Magazine, POWER Magazine, The Florida Sentinel and additional publications.

A Little More About Me – When I Knew I Would Become a Speaker

Now, for my story. One of my greatest passions is for leadership and helping people determine the exact steps they need to take to achieve, and I’ve always had a special passion for empowerment and for helping others experience success. My women’s group, Renew, began in 1999 after a vision I had for a group of women who would meet, discuss the truth and enjoy giving gifts and eating delicious foods in each other’s homes. Each year, we have a calendar full of meetings, retreats and even sponsored a Renew for teenagers.

Our Renew retreats are so much fun – over the years, we’ve had city-wide scavenger hunts, pit seats at Broadway plays, themed tours and private salsa and merengue lessons…we always try to keep it creative. One particular retreat in 2005, we went to the mountains of Tennessee and rented a gorgeous, secluded cabin that overlooked a deep valley. Typically, wooded retreats wouldn’t appeal to our group of women, but this was no ordinary cabin! It was beautiful…but unfortunately, the good news about this trip stops here! Everything that could’ve gone wrong did – including (but not limited to):

1. Half our group got lost…for 6 hours
2. One member got extremely sick and had to be rushed to the hospital
3. Wasps plagued the area
4. The group that was lost was mad, angry and tired when they finally arrived
5. Two members were pregnant and ended up being dumped in the river on what was supposed to be a quiet canoe trip, at one point, one of them was stranded on a rock in the middle of rushing water! (note: It was all our husbands could do not to drive down to Tennessee and pick us all up when they heard that one!)

You know the saying, “when it rains…” As the leader of the group and member of the planning committee, I was DONE. I didn’t know what to do and I was absolutely speechless at the way things were going. I couldn’t talk to anyone about how awful this Renew Retreat was. No matter what I tried, no matter how positive I was trying to be, no one was responsive. My committee had spent over three months planning every detail of this trip, but we didn’t plan for this. No one was talking to each other, and everyone just wanted to get back home. I was sure that absolutely nothing positive would come of this experience.

I got up extra early the last morning of our trip and went out to sit on the sprawling covered porch of our beautiful cabin. I didn’t know it, but the early morning sunrise in that area was known to be an amazing sight. I sat, watching the sun rise over the foggy valley, up over the mountains, and I just let everything go. How could I be a leader if I couldn’t even bring my own group together in unity? I thought I had found my purpose, now it all seemed to be crumbling apart.

In that still, soft moment, I felt an awareness about my purpose – “your purpose is to be a distribution center for wealth and information around the globe.” My first thought was “how?” The answer came: “through writing and speaking.” I suddenly had a new awareness about what I was meant to do. I felt lighter and was so encouraged! Sometimes the most profound lessons of life are given when we’re at our lowest point. The most powerful lesson I learned was to never give up on maintaining a successful expectation!

Fast-forward several years, and I have spoken extensively on different topics over the years, to corporations, sales departments, youth, college students and associations. I’ve spoken for conferences, events and even graduation programs. I feel honored to use this gift, which is based in principle and driven by love, and consider it a success every time I witness someone create a new, powerful expectation for success. I look forward to sharing this gift with you!

Request Erin for your event!