Our People

Jim‘s passion is helping successful executives achieve their full potential while they enjoy their life’s journey.

Jim has extensive experience in executive coaching and development, business strategy, communications, and change programs that produce lasting results in business expansion and transformation.

He is the founder and president of The Balanced WorkLife Company.

Jim’s roots are in science with degrees in physics, chemistry and mathematics. Jim is a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst and a Certified Professional Values Analyst and is a member of the International Coach Federation. His business acumen starts with 25 years at IBM in a variety of technical, marketing and senior management positions. When he left IBM he was the Practice Leader for the Business Transformation consulting practice.

Since 1991, Jim has also been the managing partner of JRD & Associates Ltd. with offices Scottsdale, Arizona. The firm’s vision is to dramatically improve the productivity and effectiveness of executives and knowledge workers.

Jim lives at The Retreat in Scottsdale, Arizona with his wife and business partner, Lori.

“Above all, do no harm.” (Hippocratic Oath)

Proverb: Education is like water falling on stone. Drop by drop the water will wear away the stone, but a year’s supply poured on at once will have no effect.

Lori’s passion, training and experience are centered on providing the environment and tools needed to facilitate our clients’ quest for business and career success balanced with a high quality of life. She looks for ways to create practical, experiential learning with just-in-time training and information.

With a Master of Science in Instructional Design, Development and Evaluation (IDD&E) from Syracuse University, Lori has responsibility for the design and development of intellectual property related to our executive development, team effectiveness and PlanningAction programs.

Previously, Lori held various sales and management positions with IBM and most recently was the Manager of Business and Professional Education for IBM Canada. Since 1993 she has worked with her partner Jim building The Balanced WorkLife Company.

In support of a balanced worklife, Lori enjoys hiking, working out, reading, entertaining and taking care of Keeley (our Skye Terrier dog) and Tasha (our Siberian Forest cat).

Steven is our Vancouver coach in The Balanced WorkLife Company and founder and president of Focused Management Solutions Inc., a Vancouver based management consulting company. Steven’s background is as a results-oriented chief operating officer with a proven ability to structure and guide organizations and executives to deliver exceptional results. This has positioned Steven as a key contributor to our core team in the development and launch of the Balanced WorkLife Experience.

Steven works with corporate and entrepreneurial executives to focus their talents toward working ‘ON’ vs. just ‘IN’ their business. He brings clarity to the executive’s career objectives, as well as their personal goals and works with them to develop exceptional teams to support them.

Steven also facilitates strategic planning sessions with executives, their sales teams and business partners. He uses structured facilitation techniques to drive teams to clarity and actionable ‘short paths’ to success. He is frequently called upon to work with clients and their largest customers, partners and sales teams to jointly develop or finalize large, complex multi-year opportunities or partnerships.

His international practice has included engagements in the United States, South Africa, England, South America, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, India and Russia.

Steven lives in West Vancouver, British Columbia with his partner Wendy, two very spoiled cats and a set of golf clubs that really enjoy travel.

Carol aspires to give added value to our clients by coaching them to leverage their natural talents for a more satisfying and successful life.

With a degree in Criminal Justice and Sociology, Carol has continued her love for working with people as our Executive Performance Consultant. Carol is responsible for evaluating client’s exceptional talents and how they can better utilize them in their current or future careers. She adds a core component to team facilitation that gives executive teams the ability to become more effective on a communication level that focuses on optimizing each team member’s strengths which can lead to higher productivity and overall team success.

Throughout Carol’s 30 years of work experience, she has been employed within various industries ranging from small entrepreneurial companies to large corporations. The diversity of her employment background gives her a great deal of insight into understanding how to work at every corporate level in meeting our clients’ needs.

Outside of the office, Carol can usually be found in the gym working out, enjoying a hike in the beautiful Arizona desert, golfing, or spending time with her two grown children, Shaunna and T.J. (both of whom she is most proud!).

Bryce is the Internet Marketing Specialist for The Balanced WorkLife Company. He has dedicated himself to growing our careerist community and running all our marketing needs.  You can find him on Twitter and Google+.

Bryce has a dedicated background in Marketing.  He worked with some of Dell’s largest customers, ASU and University of Phoenix, to help promote Dell’s products to faculty, staff, and students. He was a consultant and trainer for Microsoft’s smart phones, Windows Vista and Office 2007. He also marketed the launch of Livescribe’s smartpen technology. In college, he graduated Magna Cum Laude from the W.P. Carey School of Business at ASU, and was nominated as outstanding graduating senior in Marketing.

In his free time he likes to read, watch movies, play guitar, help others, and spend time with friends and family.

Sandy Gerdon-Johnson is a Senior Human Resources executive with 25+ years of global experience as an HR Generalist, Executive and OD Practitioner. Her experience includes all aspects of Human Resources, as well as Training, Communications and Executive Coaching. Sandy has worked in such diverse industries as underground mining, high tech and land development. Her business background includes Investor Relations, Operations Management and Business Development. In addition Sandy has considerable experience and measurable results in creating innovative staffing solutions for non-profits.

Sandy has been involved with designing and implementing successful strategic programs including total HR service delivery, voluntary severance, organizational capability planning processes and HR/business partnership alignment models. She is a recognized champion in leading Diversity efforts. She is known for driving results through business leadership conferences, mentoring programs, succession planning and innovative hiring strategies. She has an extensive understanding of legal issues facing small and medium size Companies, including EEO and Immigration.

In the past year, Sandy worked under a grant-funded position to develop and deploy a volunteer program for the AZ Museum for Youth that resulted in more than quadrupling the volunteer hours for the non-profit Museum.

Sandy has a BA in Communications and Masters of Library Science and Educational Media from the University of Arizona.

Nancy delights in seeing our clients become the best they can be. She works with individuals and organizations to improve team effectiveness and deal with change. She combines strong investigation, coaching and facilitation skills to help clients be clear about fundamental issues impacting their performance, and reach consensus on problems, goals and solutions. She uses her expertise in organizational design, conflict management, and management processes to help clients design and implement change that will work for them.

Nancy developed her understanding of management and organizational issues during a 30-year career with IBM, including 10 years as a Business Transformation specialist in their Management Consulting organization. Since joining The Balanced WorkLife Company she has certified as a Professional Analyst in Behavior, Values Trimetrix and TTI DNA and developed expertise in profiling jobs to support hiring and organizational design .

As she too strives for balance, Nancy can be found enjoying family and friends, revitalizing her piano skills, learning to sing, golfing, and traveling.

Nancy lives in Toronto with her husband Gregg and two pampered cats – Ritz and Carlie.