Our Team

What does she do at Riverbend?

Doreen Linneman is the founder and leader of The Riverbend Group, LLC, a people and organizational development company focused on management consulting, professional development and teambuilding. Doreen is passionately dedicated, both professionally and personally, to inspire people who want to courageously find and live their best life. Doreen specializes primarily in the healthcare and sports industries.

What did she do before joining #TeamRiverbend?

Prior to founding Riverbend, Doreen was the co-founder and CEO of iShake, LLC, an info-tainment company that developed software applications for the iPhone and the web. Both 12thNight Mobile, a mobile consulting firm, and Leadership Game Changer, in partnership with IMG, round out her start-up portfolio. Pre-entrepreneur life, Doreen held leadership positions in consulting, marketing, sales, and operations at such companies as Johnson & Johnson, SmithKline Beecham, and SYNAVANT.

Where did she study?

Doreen holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School and a Bachelor of Arts with pre-Med and Chemistry concentrations from Vanderbilt University. She is a Master Trainer in LIFO Behavior and Communication Styles, a certified Mental Toughness facilitator and trainer, and has completed the Navy SEALFIT Leadership Academy.

What does she do other than Riverbend?

She is an alumnus of Atlanta’s “40 Under 40” and is an international keynote speaker at universities and conferences. In addition to being a 3-time Ironman Triathlete and certified professional tennis instructor, Doreen is an adventure-holic and has a serious case of wanderlust. Doreen has paraglided off a mountain in Venezuela, lived with and taken care of lion cubs in South Africa, climbed an ice-covered volcano in Chile, rappelled a cliff and scaled underground waterfalls in the caves of Belize, trekked Silverback Gorillas in the mists of Rwanda, zip-lined and rafted her way across Costa Rica, boated on the Panama Canal, came face to face with Great White Sharks off the coast of Africa, and has completed sugar-cookie surf torture and log evolutions led by mighty and inspiring Navy SEALs.

What’s her favorite Riverbend workshop or experience?

Definitely nothing tops Prepare to Roar for Doreen…. But Leadership Legacy is a close second. As for workshops, she is passionate about Change Management and has a blast with Presentation Skills.

What does she do at Riverbend?

Cece Berger Sharp is the President and Chief Operating Officer of The Riverbend Group. Cece is charged with making sure all the behind-the-scenes activities for Riverbend internal run smoothly so that Riverbend can concentrate and deliver meaningful experiences that help inspire and equip our clients to be greater. In addition, Cece gets to step into the role of Executive Client Advisor to deliver those programs. She loves to pour into organizations and people. Her background in Sales Training and Sales Force Effectiveness means that she is also constantly focused on continuous improvement- for Riverbend and for Riverbend clients.

What did she do before joining #TeamRiverbend?

Prior to joining Riverbend, Cece worked for Kimberly-Clark and Molnlycke Healthcare. Cece held roles across various functions. She started her career in Research and Engineering and then progressed through Creative Innovation, Marketing, Sales Training, and eventually to overall Commercial Excellence. She loves to apply her engineering thought process to commercial problems to help efficiency and effectiveness.

Her last role before Riverbend as VP of Commercial Excellence for Molnlycke Healthcare allowed her to solve problems to improve sales and marketing performance through leading the sales training, marketing communications, and CRM teams.

Cece was also recognized in 2016 by the Association of Training and Development for a Best Award for her work on improving sales effectiveness through onboarding and certification processes that increased sales output over 30% in new hires first six months on the job.

Where did she study?

Cece holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Purdue University, where she graduated summa cum laude in Chemical Engineering.

What does she do other than Riverbend?

Outside of Riverbend, Cece spends time with her husband and three girls- hopefully outdoors or at a family movie night. Along with their three pets, they live an active lifestyle of school, extracurricular activities, and travel. They love adventuring to new destinations. Cece and her husband once quit their jobs and traveled the world for 6 months visiting over 20 countries. The whole family also has the travel bug. They have visited over a dozen National Parks and once lived all together in a 27-foot RV for the summer!

Cece can also be found exercising or her favorite activity- dancing! If there is a dance floor, make room, she will be on it.

What does she do at Riverbend?

Jen is an Executive Client Advisor and ICF Professional Certified Coach who brings prior experience as a Marketing Executive, Leadership Development Consultant, and small business owner to the Riverbend team of Client Advisors.

She is known as a trusted advocate, equipping managers and leaders with practical tools to advance their careers with a particular focus on navigating change and uncertainty. Jen’s wheelhouse is helping leaders and teams sort through their most complex challenges with greater ease, leaving them focused, confident, and less stressed.

What did she do before joining #TeamRiverbend?

Prior to joining Riverbend, Jen led her own leadership consulting firm. Before that, she sat in the senior leader “seat” for over 20 years, managing and coaching teams in fast-paced start ups through Fortune 50 organizations. Her direct, straight-talk approach, and practical programs have equipped leaders with skills and strategies to drive forward culture and organizational change, build and retain high-performing teams, and navigate personal transitions.

Where did she study?

Jen holds a master’s degree in Leadership and Organizational Development from University of Texas and a Bachelor of Science in Marketing, minor in Psychology. Jen is an accredited professional executive coach from the International Coach Federation, a certified LIFO® Trainer, and leads the professional coaching practice at The Riverbend Group.

What does she do other than Riverbend?

When Jen is not coaching leaders and guiding teams to be greater, you can find her on Puget Sound waters (Washington State) paddling a dragon boat, a sea kayak, or stand-up paddleboard. If she’s not on the water, she’s in the forest hiking, spending time with horses, playing with rescue dogs, experiencing our world through travel, or singing in the community choir.

What’s her favorite Riverbend workshop or experience?

ONE Rowing®, Change Management: The Human Element, Results-Centered Communication, powered by LIFO® and coaching leaders via Riverbend EDGE™ Coaching programs.

What does she do at Riverbend?

Meri is an Executive Client Advisor who brings experience as both as a Sales Representative and an Executive Sales Leader to the Riverbend Group’s team of client advisors. Meri’s passion, grit, and integrity allowed her to achieve consistent top performance as an individual contributor. Her empathetic, supportive and servant minded leadership allowed her to build and manage several top performing sales and management teams in the Medical Aesthetic Space. She is uniquely qualified with boots on the ground experience intimately understanding challenges individuals, managers and executives face in launching products, accelerating growth and protecting market share in a highly competitive landscape.

What did she do before joining #TeamRiverbend?

Prior to joining Riverbend, Meri spent over 20 years in the Medical Aesthetic space. She was able to transition from a successful sales career into leading both sales people and eventually sales leaders for companies like Galderma, Revance Aesthetics and Cartessa Aesthetics. In these roles, she has navigated highly complex situations like building and managing highly effective teams, company restructures, layoffs, mergers, product launches and performing consistently in a volatile market.

Where did she study?

Meri holds a Bachelors Degree from the Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia. She majored in Public Relations and minored in Speech Communications. She is currently enrolled in the Executive Leadership and Coaching program through Accomplishment Coaching and expects to be ICF certified in January of 2024.

What does she do other than Riverbend?

When she is not coaching leaders and guiding both teams and individuals to be greater, you can find Meri spending time with her husband (Rob), daughter (Madi) and goldendoodle (Zoe). They love to adventure and play locally as well as travel to new places as much as possible.

What does she do at Riverbend?

Sara is a Senior Client Advisor who brings experience as an Industrial-Organizational Psychologist and Leadership Development Consultant to the Riverbend team of Client Advisors. She has dedicated her career to helping individuals and teams unleash their potential by becoming increasingly more grounded in who they are and who they want to be.

By combining her experiences as a counselor, consultant and coach, Sara brings a special ability to meet others where they are and help them get to where they want to go. Leveraging decades of research and proven practices of adult development, Sara has helped thousands of leaders and teams identify growth opportunities and create development plans that result in accelerated growth and increased effectiveness. Her dedication to improvement, excellence, and integrity make her a valued partner to everyone she works with.

What did she do before joining #TeamRiverbend?

Prior to joining Riverbend, Sara served as a leadership development consultant in both internal and external roles. Her work has involved program creation and delivery, one-on-one and team coaching, research, and writing. She has worked with leaders in corporate, government, higher education, and non-profit organizations. To continue to invest in the development of others during the COVID-19 pandemic, she co-founded and hosted the Growing as Grown-Ups podcast and online development platform.

Where did she study?

Sara received her Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational (I/O) Psychology at the University of Georgia where her research was published and been presented at several national and international conferences. Sara also has a Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. Her experience listening to clients and taking into consideration surrounding factors has uniquely prepared her to collaboratively help clients find the best solution to their problems. This experience has taught her the value of taking a systemic approach to situations and viewing the role of consultant as one of a helper.

What does she do other than Riverbend?

Sara loves to spend time with her husband, Bryan, traveling, playing games, seeing Broadway shows, and creating memories with her step-kids Reid and Addie. Her two dogs, Rusty and Simon, are her dearest friends and often make appearances on video calls. When she has time, she loves to dance (West Coast Swing), cook, and eat Mexican food.

What does she do at Riverbend?

Lindsay is a Senior Client Advisor and ICF Professional Certified Coach who brings experience in sales, business development, and leadership development.

Lindsay is passionate about company culture, employee engagement, communication, business efficiency and problem solving.  She is quick on her feet, known for her innovation and creativity in building long term solutions that are efficient.

What did she do before joining #TeamRiverbend?

Prior to joining Riverbend Lindsay led her own coaching and facilitation company.  With over 18 years of experience in business, two master’s degrees, completion of over twenty-four certifications & development courses, and a member of the International Coaching Federation, Lindsays passion centers around company culture, employee engagement, and corporate health.

She has a healthy background in pharmaceutical and medical aesthetic sales and business development and was a top performer in her companies for over 10 years receiving several awards and president’s clubs.  She believes her success came from using a high level of active listening to really listen and understand what her customers needed, this led to her studies in human behavior, the development of client consulting, and her desire to lean into the field of training and development.

Lindsay’s passion for company culture comes from her personal journey as a child of corporate executives, her own business experience, and her studies in positive psychology, physical wellbeing, leadership development, and organizational change.

Where did she study?

Lindsay holds a Bachelors Degree from LaGrange College.

Master of Science in Healthcare Leadership Management from Purdue University Global

Master of Science in Positive Phycology Coaching from Life University

National Academy of Sports Medicine personal training

Currently enrolled in getting certified as an Executive Coach at Symbiosis Coaching

What does she do other than Riverbend?

When Lindsay is not working, she can be found enjoying time with her husband Kevin, her son Owen, step-children Brayden and Brianna, and her dogs Rosie and Charlie.  She loves to spend time outdoors hiking, paddle boarding, exploring new places and traveling.   She is active in her community as a small group leader of high school girls at her local church.  Lindsay is passionate about helping others become the best version of themselves so they can live a life of confidence free from resentment and regret.  She is a published author in the book Warrior Women.

What does she do at Riverbend?

Haley O’Brien, MEd, joined Riverbend in 2010 and the organization cannot run without her! As Leader of Creative Design and Logistics, Haley ensures engagements are delivered with excellence down to the last detail. She is the mastermind behind many of Riverbend’s Action-Based Learning® materials. Haley’s Masters in Educational Leadership, and her teaching background brings expertise to creative learning design, adult learning principles, and efficient organization to programming.

What did she do before joining #TeamRiverbend?

Prior to joining Riverbend, Haley taught nine years in the secondary educational setting, across many subjects. While teaching across the state of Georgia, in various teaching settings and socioeconomic statuses, she was honored with being nominated for Teacher of the Year three times.

Where did she study?

Haley holds a Masters Degree of Education in Educational Administration/Supervision/Leadership from Albany State University, as well as a Certification for Interrelated Special Education from Georgia State University. She earned a BS in Education at the University of Georgia (Go DAWGS!).

What does she do other than Riverbend?

Haley served as Chairpersons on the SACS committee, Talented and Gifted Selection Committee, and 504 Committee. She was an Ambassador and Advisor to many student clubs and activities, actively involved with young people making lifetime decisions to guide their future in a positive light. She is the sole creator of an Outdoor Classroom Arena and Curriculum that incorporates Action Based Counseling into the Interdisciplinary program for students in Fulton County Schools.

The greatest joy of her life comes from her family – husband, two daughters, and of course the family dog, Charlie! Haley is an active member at Hillside UMC in Woodstock, GA where she serves on varying committees. She is actively involved in her community, specifically working with young people within the local high school and her church. She loves to compete on the tennis court, and dig her toes in the sand while relaxing on the sandy beaches of the Gulf Coast.

What’s her favorite Riverbend workshop or experience?

Haley has many favorite Riverbend moments, but the Amazing Race in San Diego, where she was dressed up as a clown… may take the cake. She sees that specific engagement as a great example of how we incorporate fun with learning, and when those two go hand in hand it is guaranteed the new learning will be retained and applied to our clients’ business.

What does she do at Riverbend?

Evan joined Riverbend’s Creative Design & Logistics team in January of 2022. Evan develops, organizes, and fulfills materials for our clients across a variety of engagements. With her strengths of communication and leadership, Evan sees to every detail in a project, ensuring success. Partnered with her passion for connecting with people from various backgrounds along with her unique talent for creating memorable learning experiences, Evan promises our clients are inspired and equipped following an engagement with Riverbend.

Where did she study?

As a recent graduate of Kennesaw State University, with a major in Public Relations and a minor in Leadership, Evan is excited to kick-start her career at The Riverbend Group. She is committed to excellence and honesty. You can see her heart shine through her beautiful smile; Her enthusiasm is infectious.

What does she do other than Riverbend?

Outside of being a Riverbender, Evan loves to spend her time working out, reading, and planning her upcoming adventures. As a former cast member and skipper, Evan loves to nerd out on all things Disney, specifically the World Famous Jungle Cruise. She spends her free time volunteering with Agape Hospice Care and Wellspring Living, along with serving as a door holder at Passion City Church. Evan is enthusiastic about being outdoors, seeing the world, and connecting with people.

What does she do at Riverbend?

Renee joined Riverbend’s Creative Design & Logistics team in January 2018. Renee plays an intricate role in developing, organizing, and fulfilling materials for our clients across a variety of scale engagements, such as large Sales or Product Launch meetings to small, intimate executive off-site retreats. Renee has developed world class customer service and organizational skills thanks to her previous life as a flight attendant and a legal administrative assistant. In addition, her global airline experience, provided the perfect training ground for adaptability and change leadership. Renee’s ability to apply her expertise with those she serves in and around Riverbend is renowned time after time, project after project. We are so grateful for her.

Where did she study?

Renee’s work ethic started early, as she studied at Kennesaw State University, while simultaneously workings as a legal secretary at Cobb County, Georgia’s Solicitor’s Office. When her life journey led her to American Airlines, Renee underwent an intense six-week medical and service training course — “I felt like I was at a military boot camp!” Renee led and served passengers all over the world. While doing so, the travel in itself provided an education that cannot be gained in the classroom – learning about different countries, cultures, and people are some of her passions.

What does she do other than Riverbend?

Renee enjoys exercise classes (PureBarre, Pilates, Yoga), as well as long walks, hiking and bike riding. Her entire family – husband Eric and their two children Will and Mia – love snow skiing! They prefer to ski in the western mountains, with frequent trips to their favorite ski town – Big Sky, Montana.

What’s her favorite Riverbend workshop or experience?

Renee is passionate about making any and all of Riverbend’s client deliverables a success. With that said, one of her favorite experiences to-date was a client’s North America Sales Meeting, at which she was an integral part in Riverbend delivering 9 workshops simultaneously for 1,800 people in 3.5 hours! Her favorite of those workshops is Riverbend’s “Leading with Emotional Intelligence in Times of Stress” – thanks to Renee’s leadership and organizational skills, there was no stress to be seen or had for that massive deliverable!

What does she do at Riverbend?

Elizabeth Slone has been with Riverbend since 2004. Elizabeth wears many hats in her role as an Executive Client Advisor including: content strategy, engagement leadership, program development, and facilitation. Elizabeth is also a Master Trainer in LIFO, the behavioral styles theory The Riverbend Group utilizes in many of their trainings.

Elizabeth’s expertise in strategy, curriculum design, human resources, training, and teambuilding has enriched Riverbend’s growth and reputation with its clients. She loves to learn and has a passion for excellence. It’s not uncommon to find Elizabeth digging in to mounds of research or scouring the web to learn as much as she possibly can in order to better serve our clients.

What did she do before joining #TeamRiverbend?

Prior to joining Riverbend, Elizabeth spent seven years as global human resources director for two practice units of Accenture. In the role of Practice Manager, she led career development model design and implementation, compensation strategy, recruitment and retention strategies, and designed balanced scorecard metrics and reports. As a Business Architecture consultant, she served on the global orientation design team.

Her time at Accenture also afforded Elizabeth extensive international experience, working with practices in Western and Eastern Europe, Asia, South America and Canada. Elizabeth has put her global perspective to good use at Riverbend while working on projects for Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Africa.

Where did she study?

Elizabeth holds a Bachelor of Arts degree, with a Political Science and Communications concentration, from Vanderbilt University. She is a LIFO Master Trainer and certified in Quantum Negotiations.

What does she do other than Riverbend?

Nothing makes Elizabeth smile brighter than being with her loving family. She lives in the suburbs of Atlanta with her husband and two beautiful girls. Elizabeth is always on the go, cheering her girls on at varying sporting events including cheer, tennis, volleyball and soccer. She enjoys traveling to sunny destinations with the love of her life, and serving her friends, church and community.

What does she do at Riverbend?

Lauren has been a Client Advisor and Facilitator with Riverbend since 2007. Her 16-year expertise as a Licensed Professional Counselor has been maximized in a wide variety of Executive and Professional Coaching engagements. When it comes to client’s National Sales and Product Launch Meetings, her versatility puts her either running a breakout room, leading an Action-Based Learning® activity, or ensuring any behind-the-scenes initiatives are running smoothly. She is also one of our certified LIFO® facilitators. In addition, Lauren can be found from time-to-time supporting our Creative Design & Logistics team efforts. Her all-in, well-rounded mindset and skills make her a huge asset to any client engagement.

What did she do before joining #TeamRiverbend?

Prior to joining Riverbend, Lauren worked in a variety of mental health settings. Lauren’s experience includes private practice, school, and agency settings. She has worked as a mental health consultant, for both private organizations and schools, working to strengthen relationships with faculty and students.

Where did she study?

Lauren holds both a Specialist (EdS) Degree and a Master of Science (MS) Degree in Professional Counseling from Georgia State University, and a Bachelor Science (BS) Degree in Psychology from the University of Georgia. Lauren is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the States of Georgia and North Carolina, and is a National Board Certified Counselor. Lauren additionally has extensive training in forensics and earned status as a Registered Play Therapist (RPT), which comes in handy working on Riverbend’s Action-Based Learning® events! As previously mentioned, she is also certified in LIFO®.

What does she do other than Riverbend?

Lauren loves being with her husband, James, and daughter, Halle. She is passionate about continuing to grow as a therapist and pursues regular trainings and continuing education in mental health and coaching. Lauren can also be found exercising, mentoring, traveling, and serving in her church.

What’s her favorite Riverbend workshop or experience?

Whether it is hiding apples IN the “Big Apple” for an Amazing Race themed client ABL® or seeing a client breakthrough in a one-on-one coaching setting, Lauren loves all aspects of Riverbend! Having a sideline view observing the clients learn while running down a football field, watching teams come together to solve a problem, or practicing a new technique role-playing for a clue to solve a mystery is what she loves most. Lauren enjoys the unique ways Riverbend meets the individual needs of each client they serve!

What does she do at Riverbend?

Allison Guyton has been with Riverbend since 2007, both as a facilitator and as a content developer. Allison excels at customer satisfaction.

Allison brings 20 years of operations and project management, as well as meeting and event planning expertise to Riverbend. Her experience is especially leveraged at National Sales Meetings and Product Launches, while she also brings fresh perspective to professional development workshops as well. Allison is a Certified LIFO Trainer, the behavior styles theory The Riverbend Group utilizes in many of their trainings.

Allison’s reputation for interpersonal skills and relationship management, contingency planning and crisis management, as well as time and detail management make her an incredible asset on the Riverbend team.

What did she do before joining #TeamRiverbend?

Prior to joining Riverbend, Allison led a cross-functional team at Maas Companies, Inc, an international consulting and marketing company specializing in industrial, commercial, and real estate liquidations and auctions. Her team managed event design and implementation, budget oversight, sales and marketing programing, internal controls, and creative design.

Where did she study?

Allison holds a Bachelor of Arts from Vanderbilt University.

What does she do other than Riverbend?

Spending time with her family is top on Allison’s list of fun things to do! When not playing the role of “Mom,” Allison loves to travel both domestically and abroad, especially Africa and Europe. Many times these trips are with Doreen – make sure to ask her about some of their favorite travel memories. She enjoys reading, cooking, and many of the sports Colorado offers.

What’s her favorite Riverbend workshop or experience?

“It is hard to top our time in Africa [Prepare to Roar May 2013] surrounded by the majesty of the Serengeti, but I love working on ABLs …The “Amazing Race Las Vegas” we designed is memorable to me…. We had a blast watching teams sprint into the home stretch.”

What does she do at Riverbend?

Kristin joined Riverbend in 2017 as an Executive Client Advisor. Her belief that everyone has unique potential and her dedication to helping people recognize and build on their talents through personal and professional changes is the motivation behind her work. She believes that learning and growing are keys to happiness, that being interesting is one of the best measures of a life well lived, and that by embracing their individualness, people can grow to live up to their full potential.

Consulting with small companies and large corporations, Kristin has never met a problem she wasn’t excited to solve. She applies a unique problem-solving methodology to help her clients and, consulting on a wide range of strategic initiatives and unraveling problems that are keeping companies and people from reaching their full potential. In addition to wrestling the seemingly unsolvable, her main areas of expertise include leadership development, profitability improvement, organizational design, and large-scale program and team management.

What did she do before joining #TeamRiverbend?

Prior to joining Riverbend, Kristin advised Fortune 50 companies across a wide range of industries including financial services, pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, professional services, telecommunications, and technology. Conducting leadership training, crafting missions and visions, managing large teams, and improving financial performance, Kristin focused on moving organizations forward and setting them up for long-term success.

Where did she study?

Kristin holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts with a Journalism major and History minor from Pennsylvania State University.

What does she do other than Riverbend?

When not consulting, she writes about the power of individuality, is endlessly fascinated by neurobiology, and coaches girls soccer, Girls on the Run, and Odyssey of the Mind teams. Kristin can often be found in the middle of an “epic” game of Four Square with her two daughters and her husband, trying desperately to tire out her 100+ pound chocolate lab, or plotting her next adventure.

Believing that change is good, Kristin travels often. She has lived and worked overseas, finding adventures from skiing the Alps, to white-water rafting in Costa Rica, and sailing the British Virgin Islands.

What’s her favorite Riverbend workshop or experience?

Building High Performance Teams is always a favorite for Kristin…she loves talking culture and has a passion for helping teams uncover their purpose, set their inspiring vision, and drive down the path toward success. She also loves designing strategic initiatives and problem solving/critical thinking based workshops.