Here's Who'll be Speaking at This Year's Convention

Carlos Alleyne excels in local and international real estate, having distinguished himself by being named part of the Institute of Luxury Home Marketing's Million Dollar Guild as well as Global Realtor of the Year by Broward, Palm Beaches & St. Lucie Realtors. He also has served as local and state global chair.

Brian Anderson-Needham leverages his Marine and law enforcement expertise to offer Realtors specialized CE-approved safety training. With decades of experience, he equips professionals with essential skills for personal protection, enhancing real estate safety and professionalism. Join this session to boost your confidence and safeguard your sales. Be your OWN weapon, you ARE worth it.

Pamela has been a Florida Realtor since 2000. Her experience includes all aspects of residential sales and marketing. Real estate is not just her profession, it’s her passion. She has served the industry on local, state, and national levels with committee involvement and as a volunteer leader. Enduring the ups and downs of the real estate market, Pamela brings knowledge and know-how to the classroom. Her goal is to have everyone leave with information and inspiration they can implement in their personal and professional lives. Before getting into real estate, Pamela was in television production sales. She is currently a full time Realtor, a speaker, an orchid grower and a proud ‘Pamma’ to her four precious granddaughters.

Tony Barrett started his career in real estate in 2004 and began working immediately, going under contract with a buyer in his first week on a single-family home. Looking back, he was truly at a loss, and was asking What’s Next? Now after several years in the business his goals are simple. Do real estate right! This requires education, mentorship, advocacy, and involvement with our National, State and Local Boards. Tony is a retired Firefighter/Paramedic and loves helping others. He thinks this is why he feel like real estate is a perfect fit. It requires building relationships and solving problems, both things he is good at. During the past few years, He has chaired commitments at the Realtor Association of Sarasota Manatee and is the incoming President Elect for 2023. He believes that professionalism in our industry is more important than ever, and education is the key to maintaining it.

Neil Bridgers is a vice president and managing broker at Watson Realty Corp, the fourth-largest brokerage in Florida. He instructs more than eight classes across the state for Florida Realtors and serves on the board of directors for RealMLS.

"TIME magazine has named body-language detection expert Traci Brown one of the nation’s top deception detection experts. Trained alongside our country’s top law enforcement, Brown is a frequent television guest and author of How to Detect Lies, Fraud and Identity Theft. "

Martine Cadet specializes in creating compelling narratives that captivate audiences online. She transforms personal brands by weaving their unique stories into engaging online experiences. She is a well-respected authority on digital content strategy who also mentors the next generation of marketers as a marketing adjunct professor at various universities.

Joshua Cadillac is a top-selling agent, real estate coach, national speaker, investor, developer and author who trains real estate professionals on how to “Close for Life” by building lasting success through extensive knowledge. He gives agents the education they need to not just get deals done and survive in this industry, but to build loyal repeat customers that would never work with anyone else.

Sean Carpenter has been in the real estate industry for over 25 years, serving as a Realtor, manager, education director, coach, and national speaker. His philosophy is simple: Build relationships, solve problems and have fun.

Jennifer Cassetta is a nationally recognized keynote and TEDx speaker, high-performance coach, podcast host and author of the book “The Art of Badassery: Unleash Your Mojo With Wisdom of the Dojo.” Over the past decade, she's been working with thousands of Realtors with her knockout combo of wellness and safety coaching and speaking.

With the knowledge you expect from an attorney and the sense of humor you wish your attorney had, Trista Curzydlo brings a fresh, fun perspective to real estate law. A graduate of Washburn University School of Law, former assistant legal counsel to Kansas Gov. Bill Graves and an assistant district attorney in the Kansas Consumer Fraud division, Curzydlo was the government affairs director and legal counsel for the Wichita Area Association of Realtors and the South Central Kansas MLS.

Cynthia DeLuca began her real estate career and quickly became a top producer. She decided to open her own real estate company, which grew to the largest independent real estate company in Central Florida. In 2016, DeLuca sold her company, which consisted of six offices and over 135 members on her team to one of the nation’s top 350 real estate companies.

"Bill Dedman is a Pulitzer and Peabody award-winning investigative reporter, and author of the New York Times No. 1 bestselling biography Empty Mansions. Dedman was one of four lead reporters on Newsday's undercover investigation of racial steering by real estate agents, ""Long Island Divided."" The investigation, published in November 2019, revealed that Long Island’s dominant residential real estate brokerages help reinforce racial segregation through illegal steering of customers. "

Dan Elzer is an internationally acclaimed speaker, trainer and consultant with over 30 years of experience in the real estate industry. He is known for being direct and skilled at cutting through the noise and challenges of any market.

Abhi Golhar is a private equity investor, entrepreneur, 3x nationally syndicated radio show host on the Wall Street Business Radio Network who's unlocked the power of YouTube to find leads, build authority and generate revenue.

Co-creator of the real estate industry's first AI newsletter, Real AI, Kevin Hawkins of the WAV Group is a prolific content developer. Winner of two NAREE writing awards, he's a renowned public relations consultant, supporting leading real estate tech firms, associations, MLS companies and more.

Anthony Huey, CSP®, is a highly rated international speaker who offers session attendees pragmatic communications tools, tips and techniques they can use immediately. Huey has presented more than 3,500 paid communications workshops, seminars and speeches in his career. He has assisted the National Association of Realtors and various state affiliated realtor groups across the country.

"Dustin E. James, America’s top “Corporate Energizer,” is on a mission to elevate sales performance by building resilient, connected and creative leaders. He has presented to over 500,000 people and teams throughout the U.S., both virtually and in-person. "

Phil Jewell started to understand the importance of attaching a bigger purpose to what we do when leading soldiers in overseas combat. His subsequent journey as a co-founder of a real estate marketing company and thought leader allows him to share this knowledge and passion so you can get to the heart of your clients' needs.

Minnesota Realtor and broker Brandon Johnson specializes in teaching real estate professionals about the latest tech tools, smart home systems, video marketing, and client engagement through social media. Alongside his decade-long real estate career, Johnson has engaged in various side hustles, which have honed his entrepreneurial skills and deepened his understanding of diverse investment opportunities.

Jackson Kerchis is a former startup executive, Zen monk, and management consultant. He created and taught the first happiness course at the University of Alabama. He applies the science of happiness and human flourishing to improve individual and organizational performance.

Jo Ann Koontz is an attorney and CPA practicing in the areas of real estate, business organizations and taxation. Her dynamic presentation style makes boring topics engaging so attendees stay engaged and learn more.

For more than two decades, Victor Lund and WAV Group have provided consulting services to leading brokerage firms, franchises, MLSs, Realtor associations and the technology industry that serves them. In 2023, Lund co-authored the book “Acquiring more Profit,” drawing from his years of brokerage merger and acquisition experience. Lund is the foremost expert on brokerage valuations and M&A strategies.

Melanie McLane is a Realtor, appraiser, broker, educator and writer. With 40 years of experience in all aspects of real estate, she brings great experience and practical advice to attendees. She likes to call herself bilingual because she speaks the language of agents and of appraisers.

Jaime Resendiz has helped thousands of real estate agents leverage the power of video marketing to take over real estate markets and scale their business to six figures.

An acclaimed employee retention expert, Lisa Ryan is known for strategies that keep top talent happy. She’s worked in many different industries, and her leadership as founder and “chief appreciation strategist” of Grategy drives its organizational success.

PJ Smith is the broker-owner of a boutique brokerage in Naples, Florida, specializing in luxury resort and second homes. A Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist™ and GUILD member, she is the 2024 president of NABOR, director for Florida Realtors and NAR, Florida Realtors FR RSPS committee chair, and NAR Land Use Committee vice chair.

Janine Stange, a motivational speaker, singer, and media figure, embarked on a historic journey to sing the "Star-Spangled Banner" in all 50 states. Her story is captured in the documentary "National Anthem Girl" now on Amazon Prime and Apple TV. Featured on major networks, she's a regular on Sirius XM's 60’s Gold.

"Ann R. Thompson, a Realtor with 40+ years of experience and a master's degree in international real estate, is known for her knowledge, instructional skills and ability to cultivate higher professional standards. Her dedication to excellence earned her the prestigious Pedagogy Award from the Greater Tampa Realtors. "

Jake Thompson is a performance coach and the CEO (chief encouragement officer) at Compete Every Day, a sales and performance training company. He has been featured in Forbes, hosts a podcast in the top 1% globally, and has directly impacted over 80,000 ambitious leaders. Thompson has built a proven framework that helps Realtors improve their mindset and habits to get better results.

"Tony Veldkamp is a senior advisor at SVN Commercial Advisory Group in Sarasota. His primary focus is on office and industrial investment properties and vacant land for development. He is a graduate of FSU and earned his CCIM designation in 2005. He is a past president of his local Realtor association. "

As a real estate veteran with over 22 years of experience, Mike Walker has taught negotiation strategy and sales in more than 31 states and has trained over 20,000 agents in negotiation certification programs. He specializes in contract and acquisition strategies. Walker has worked with governments, universities and corporations to improve their negotiation approaches.

Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz are the founders of Courage Crafters, Inc., and the authors of the best-selling book, Go for No! They speak together internationally, teaching business, sales, and entrepreneurial audiences how to overcome their fear of rejection and achieve extraordinary sales success by hearing 'NO' more often.

Juana Carstarphen Watkins serves as Vice President of Law and Policy and General Counsel of Florida Realtors. A native of Pensacola, Fla., and a graduate of Florida A&M University and Florida State University College of Law, moved to Central Florida in 1999, where she began her career in law. Watkins discovered a love for the real estate industry after joining the Division of Real Estate in 2001 as a senior attorney. Over the next 16 years, she served as chief attorney and deputy director of the agency before being appointed director by Gov. Rick Scott and serving seven years. One of the highlight of her career has been an appointment on the Federal Advisory Committee of The Appraisal Subcommittee of the U.S. Congress. When not working, Watkins promotes autism awareness and enjoys spending time with her family.

Steve Wright is an award-winning reporter who has written about sustainability and real estate for NAR’s On Common Ground for 20+ years. Based in Miami, he also works as a planner focused on creating a better-built environment for people with disabilities. Wright is an acclaimed visual artist, keynote speaker and world traveler.