Avery Johnson  |  Brad Leland  |  Mattie Roberts  |  Kimberly Whitman  |  Sheree J. Wilson

Avery Johnson

— Former Dallas Mavericks Head Coach and NBA Championship Player

Speaking Topics
• Aspire Higher: Winning On and Off the Court with Determination, Discipline, and Decisions
• An Evening with Avery Johnson

Available for motivational speaking engagements, book signings and other appearances.

Travels from Texas

Avery Johnson, former head coach of the Dallas Mavericks as well as a championship NBA player for 16 seasons, is a teacher, leader, and most of all, a motivator. Named Coach of the Year in 2006, his first year as head coach, Johnson knows what it takes to rise to the top. His book, Aspire Higher: Winning On and Off the Court with Determination, Discipline, and Decisions (Collins) is the essential game plan for reaching your goals. His message is for anyone looking for the tools and secrets of success – anyone looking to win.

Johnson’s motivational speeches are in high demand at corporations, churches, and schools across the nation. He shares the tools, strategies, and attitude behind his own inspiring success story. Number nine in a family of 10 kids raised in New Orleans’ Lafitte Housing Project, Johnson, like many African-American males in America’s inner cities, spent his youth battling the statistics. Refusing to accept rejection, Johnson came to realize his dream of playing for the NBA.

Known as “The Little General” for his on-court leadership and diminutive stature, at only 5’11” Johnson signed on as a free agent with the Seattle Supersonics before being cut and then playing with San Antonio, Denver, and Houston. He was only the second player under six feet to play more than 1,000 games. Johnson helped guide the San Antonio Spurs to an NBA Championship in 1999. He is still the Spurs’ all-time leader in assists and ranks 28th in NBA history in that same category. In recognition for his contributions to the Spurs organization, Johnson’s No. 6 jersey was retired in December, 2007.

As a coach, his style takes into account his long road and is a true outline for success on the court and in life. While coaching the Dallas Mavericks, Johnson won 66 of his first 82 games, which was four more wins than any other coach in league history. He was also the fastest coach to reach the 50-win mark (62 games) and coached the Western Conference in the 2006 All-Star game. Johnson brought the Mavericks to 60 wins and its first appearance in the NBA Finals.

In 2006-07, Johnson led the Mavericks to a franchise-record 67 wins (67-15 overall) and the NBA’s best record. That mark was also the sixth best record in NBA history. Following the team’s 10-0 February, the NBA awarded him with Coach of the Month honors.

Johnson has a strong passion for men’s ministry, and financially and spiritually supports many church programs in New Orleans, Houston, and Dallas. Johnson serves as a member of the board of directors of Project Turn Around, a faith-based organization dedicated to addressing the social needs of urban youth and their families in the Dallas area. He also serves as a member of the board of directors of Hunger Busters, an organization dedicated to bringing a freshly made meal with compassion to hungry and homeless people on the streets of Dallas. In October, 2005, he was co-host of the Katrina Rescue Ride to benefit the Salvation Army and the Red Cross’ relief efforts for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Johnson lives in Houston with his wife and their two children.

Brad Leland

Brad Leland's long and wide-ranging career has included roles in such feature films as Hancock; Friday Night Lights; Walking Tall II; The Return; Dr. T. and the Women; and Born on the Fourth of July.

Brad is one of the stars of the critially-acclaimed ABC series Friday Night Lights, playing the role of Buddy Garrity. Shooting for the new season begins in August in Austin, and it's rumored that Peter Berg — director of the feature film — may direct the series' season premiere.

His television work also includes roles on Comanche Moon; In the Heat of the Night; and Walker, Texas Ranger (8 episodes).

In 2009, Brad also shot Trauma, NBC's new series set in San Francisco, and performed voice-over for a character in the new spin-off of The Cleveland Show!

He has also been busy with speaking engagements and participating in celebrity golf tournaments in Florida, Cancun and the Southwest.

Brad and Kyle Chandler are hosts of the "Beyond the Lights Celebrity Golf Classic," only the second "green" and carbon neutral celebrity golf tournament in the United States. Organizers have committed themselves to being environmentally aware in the planning of the event and through their choices of supplies and vendors, and working with MoveNeutral.com to estimate the "carbon footprint" arising from venue energy use, vehicle consumptions, and player and attendee travel. The Tournament and MoveNeutral then negate the impact of these estimated emissions by purchasing 50 short tons of "carbon offsets" from NativeEnergy. These offsets are used to support American-owned renewable energy projects, thereby curbing future carbon emissions. The tournament also applies more mainstream environmentally friendly products and concepts to its golf event.

The event chose the Wolfdancer Golf Club because it is a member of the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses. The program helps golf courses protect the environment while preserving the natural heritage of the game of golf. Wolfdancer works closely with the Lower Colorado River Authority, which runs the McKinney Roughs Nature Park adjacent to the course, to ensure the integrity and longevity of the river.

The 2008 tournament featured a private performance by "Friday Night Lights" feature film actor and country superstar Tim McGraw.

The event benefits the Gridiron Heroes and the Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis/The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis.

Mattie Roberts

Mattie Roberts has made a career out of encouraging women—and many men—to "unleash their inner divas." Mattie passes along advice from chefs and showgirls; doctors and drag queens (they do have the best beauty tips, after all) with equal enthusiasm. She's all about helping people become as glamorous as they can possibly stand to be.

She is a frequent contributor to FoxNews.com Strategy Room and represents women everywhere who are “Fabulous Over Forty” on Fox News' FNCiMag.com. As part of her speaking business, she consults with individuals and groups on developing personal style and confidence; incorporating trends into real world applications and the always popular search for "Thin Thighs and Inner Peace." 

Mattie worked as a lifestyle reporter for WFAA and KTVT in Dallas and as a writer for The Dallas Morning News, as well as the Discovery Channel and MSNBC.

Her Emmy win for her hosting talents on TXCN’s "Mondays with Mattie", is testament to the fact that among her peers, she is also well received with her unique brand of lifestyle television. Mattie began her career in television after a short stint at SMU law school. Mattie's first job at the anchor desk was at KXII in Sherman, TX, but her real love of television blossomed when she started writing and producing her own segments on living a healthy, vibrant life.

This took her on a path to New York City where she reported for MSNBC, The Discovery Channel and made appearances on "The View". During this time she also owned a highly successful yoga studio. As it was located only two blocks from Bloomingdales, it gave a nice balance to the spiritual and glamorous aspects of Mattie’s personality.

Mattie is a fifth-generation Texan. She graduated from the Hockaday School in Dallas and Boston University, where she received a BA cum laude in Comparative Religion. Someday, she would like to find a cure for cellulite.

Mattie lives in New York City.

Jeremy Shore

Jeremy Shore is a Holistic Health and Fitness Coach who works with individuals and groups to educate them on how to eat, move, and live healthier lives.  He has made appearances on the Rachael Ray Show and on morning shows coast to coast as an on camera contributor for Men’s Health Magazine.

Also an internationally recognized fitness model, Jeremy regularly works for publications including Men’s Health, Men’s Journal, Runner’s World, Outside, and Men’s Fitness. You will also find him demonstrating exercises online for MSN Health and in books including the TNT Diet.

Jeremy is the creator and host of the new TV show Real Strength on the Halogen network, inspiring men and women across the country to get fit and get involved by using their strength to serve.  Because of this,  Rockport shoes selected him for their 2009/2010 world wide "Choose To Walk" Campaign.  

Kimberly Schlegel Whitman

With a talent for making the ordinary extraordinary Kimberly Schlegel Whitman has taken her original and clever take on parties and created an entrepreneurial empire. While planning her own Idlewild Debutante Ball in Dallas, Texas, Kimberly found an undiscovered opportunity—a lack of quality goods for party rentals. In 1998, a quick thinking Kimberly launched her own event company, RSVP Soiree Luxury Event Rentals, and, after building up a wonderful business, she sold it in 2006. She also took the century old RSVP Social Calendar on-line in 1999 and continues to maintain this comprehensive list of Dallas’ finest charitable events at www.RSVPcalendar.com. Her success in this field led to the publication of four books on Entertaining, countless Television appearances and a daily radio segment on Dallas’ number one morning show.

Kimberly’s latest project, Tablescapes: Setting the Table with Style (Gibbs-Smith, $39.95), is a book that brings focus to adding beauty to time spent with family and friends. This book brings Kimberly’s passion for setting the table to life with over thirty tablescapes that are meant to inspire. The book includes tips and hints on invitations, seating of guests, and up-to-date rules of etiquette, as well as a list of resources for finding the perfect items to create your table setting, whether you want to rent or buy and whether you’re designing an intimate setting with a few close friends or a table for more than a hundred guests.

The project closest to Kimberly’s heart is The Wedding Workbook: A Time Saving Guide for the Busy Bride (Gibbs-Smith, $24.95). The Wedding Workbook offers every bride-to-be a tool for staying organized while planning her big day. The workbook is designed to hold contracts and other official documents but it is also filled with beautiful places to fill out all of the information about the bride’s gown, wedding party, reception site décor, ceremony flowers and much more. It is a great keepsake that can be pulled out on a future anniversary to reminisce.

Kimberly’s passion for pets is evident in her entertaining book exclusively for dog lovers, Dog Parties: Entertaining Your Party Animal (Gibbs-Smith, $19.95). Dog Parties is the essential new party planning guide that offers entertaining ideas for throwing any posh pup a fabulous soiree. From a birthday party to a “Howl-o-ween” party to an afternoon art gallery opening, Dog Parties offers great tips for planning and executing every detail of a party for your pooch.

Kimberly’s first book, The Pleasure of Your Company: Entertaining in High Style (Gibbs-Smith, $34.95) remains high on every hostess’s list of party resources. It is filled with tips and photographs from over thirty events from across the country. Kimberly shares not only her own ideas for entertaining but also features tips from her favorite hosting mentors. From a Gala evening to an intimate seated dinner, the book is a never-ending source of inspiration.

Kimberly and her flourishing business have been featured in national publications such as Vanity Fair, Elle, Vogue, Town & Country, Better Homes & Gardens, Real Simple, Businessweek, Traditional Home, Canadian House and Home, Animal Fair, Southern Lady, Modern Bride, Elegant Bride, Martha Stewart’s Blueprint, Doggie Aficionado, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and many more. She has been featured in the books, “Texas Women” and “Texans and Their Pets.” Kimberly has been coroneted and “Entertaining Expert,” a “Style Expert,” an “Etiquette Expert,” and an “Arbiter of Taste and Style” on the following television programs: The Early Show, The Tyra Banks Show, Fine Living and HGTV, WB in the Morning, Designing American, Designing Texas, Good Morning Texas, Good Day Dallas, NBC’s iVillage Live and was a featured event planner on the Style Network’s hit show “Whose Wedding is it Anyway?”

Kimberly is a graduate of Southern Methodist University with an Honors degree in Art History. Her community involvements are numerous and include: Christie’s Education Program in New York City, Dallas Symphony Orchestra League Debutante, Idlewild Debutante and The National Debutante Cotillion. Kimberly donates her time to many charitable organizations including the Alzheimer’s Association, The Salvation Army, The Tiffany Circle of the American Red Cross, The President’s Council of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts, The Advisory Board of the Brinker International Forum, Best Buddies, and was honored with the Volunteer of the Year Award by the American Heart Association. Kimberly resides in Dallas, Texas with her real estate developer husband, Justin, their son, JR, and their Chihuahua, Lola.

Praise for Kimberly

“Kimberly Schlegel Whitman is my favorite kind of public speaker. She doesn’t put on her glasses and read a long typed speech from the podium. She understands that public speaking is a form of entertainment. She is intelligent, witty, a gifted raconteur, and a bono fide member of the world about which she speaks.” — Dominick Dunne

“Smart. Talented. Stunning. Those are the words that first come to mind when I think of Kimberly Schlegel Whitman. The consummate hostess and businesswoman, she has translated her love of entertaining into a mini-empire. From planning a Head of State gathering to an informal beach bash in the Hamptons and beyond, she has become one of the country’s leading experts on entertaining in grand style. This powerhouse is really going places—and watch the world become a better place because of her talents.” — Lance Avery Morgan, Publisher and Editorial Director, Brilliant Magazine

“In front of her audience, Kim is smooth, sassy and funny—and she knows her stuff. She gets you with that big smile and a sly wink. You think to yourself: Now THIS is a girl I’d like to party with. She is the consummate speaker: she shares her knowledge smoothly and with a charming sense of humor, never talking down, and always tailoring her topics to her audience. You will learn something and you will laugh.” — Rob Brinkley, Co-Editor and Home Design Editor, PaperCity Magazine

"Kimberly’s attention to detail is remarkable. She knows how to throw a memorable event. Her books give us wonderful insight on how she does her magic!" — Monique Lhuillier, Designer

Sheree J. Wilson

Sheree’s start in show business, a career she secretly always wanted, happened by a lucky mistake. She attended the University of Colorado at Boulder and received a degree in fashion merchandising and business in 1981. Shortly after graduation, while working in Denver on a fashion shoot, one of the photographers thought Sheree was the model. He introduced her to Wilhelmina, the modeling agent from New York, who signed her on the spot. Sheree promptly moved to Manhattan and within eighteen months, had appeared in over thirty commercial campaigns for Clairol, Sea Breeze, Keri-Lotion and Maybelline. Her print work ran in such popular magazines as Mademoiselle, Glamour and Redbook.

After three years of modeling, Sheree's agent, Vicki Light, called her with an audition in a feature film, urging her to move to Los Angeles. She won the starring role, opposite Louise Lasser, Brian James and Reed Burney, in "Crimewave, a 1984 black comedy directed by Sam Raimi. Three days after that film wrapped, she was cast in “Velvet,” an ABC/Aaron Spelling MOW/series pilot, in which she played a female “James Bond” character opposite Shari Belafonte. Within the next year, she had a lead with Tim Robbins in "Fraternity Vacation", a summer comedy in which she played a intellectual beauty who was the object of everyone’s desire.

Producers began to take notice of this dynamic newcomer to Hollywood, and soon she starred in the 1985 CBS television miniseries “Kane & Abel,” with Peter Strauss. This immediately led to “Our Family Honor,” a CBS drama about Irish cops vs. the Mafia, in which she starred with Ray Liotta, Michael Madsen and Eli Wallach. Her career continued to grow including “News at Eleven” and “Power Play.” And then, in 1986, television producer Leonard Katzman called Sheree to talk about a part he thought was tailor-made for someone with her classic beauty and sassy, fun-loving, energetic nature.

Sheree may be best known for her role as April Stevens on the CBS mega-hit series “Dallas.” For five seasons (1986-1991), she played a brainy, wealthy femme fatale who, in her words, was “a bitch on wheels.” Her character went from being one of the most powerful women in Dallas and J.R. Ewing’s nemesis, to being one of the warmest characters in town, eventually marrying Bobby Ewing, the show’s ultimate good guy. Ultimately, April Stevens was gunned down during her honeymoon in Paris. Bowing out with a bang, Wilson’s performance earned her the “Soap Opera Digest Award” for Best Death Scene.

In fact, Sheree was pregnant and wanted to leave in order to fully devote herself to motherhood. At the end of that year, in 1992, she signed to do the lead female role in “Walker, Texas Ranger,” opposite Chuck Norris. Also in that year, she starred in the Showtime movie "Past Tense".

The daughter of two IBM executives, Sheree was born in Minnesota and moved to Colorado at the age of nine, where she learned to ride horses. Her superb equestrian skills won her first place riding cutting horses in the 1995 National Multiple Sclerosis Rodeo.

Currently, Sheree resides in Los Angeles.