Featured Speakers

Mickey Coffino opened Queen City Metal Recycling & Salvage (QCMR) in 2013. Queen City Metal doubled projected numbers in its first year of operations and has local, national, and international contracts. It also exports more than 5 million electric motors to the Netherlands with doubled growth projected. A serial entrepreneur for the past twenty-eight years, Mickey also owns a hair salon where she still styles hair thirty hours per week and has done hair for fashion week in New York. She also founded a nonprofit program for the mentally ill and has an auto dealers license for purchasing scrap vehicles. Over the last four years, her honors and awards include the Mecklenburg Times 50 Most Influential Women, the Charlotte Business Journal's Women In Business, Enterprising Women, the Crown Awards for women in small business, and the 2017 SBA Small Business Person of the Year for the state of North Carolina. Her biggest accomplishment has been raising triplets as a single mother.

Martez L. Prince, PharmD, established his independent pharmacy, Premier Pharmacy and Wellness Center, in 2015 after five years of working his way up the pharmacy ladder at Rite Aid Corporation. While still at Rite Aid, he began to focus on the direct needs of the community in which he served. He was voted favorite pharmacist among his peers for four consecutive years. The patients treated him like family, and he gained their trust and respect. His vision in establishing an independent pharmacy was to guide patients to greater health with a focus on patient education, medication utilization, and medication therapy management. He received his doctorate in pharmacy from Florida A&M University in 2010.

Dianna Ward owns Charlotte NC Tours, Greenville Segway Tours, Bike the Rabbit, Kansas City Segway Tours, and Chattanooga Segway and Bikes—all full-service tour companies with a variety of fun ways to sightsee. Dianna has also been the executive director of Charlotte B-cycle since its launch in 2012. In this role, she is responsible for managing the growing bike-share system in Charlotte’s urban core. Dianna regularly collaborates with sponsors, city leaders, and biking advocates, and is a forward-thinking champion focused on Charlotte’s goal of becoming a “city of bikes.” She was recently elected to the board of directors for the North American Bike-Share Association (NABSA). Dianna has experience in operations research, statistics, and management, and is a passionate leader. She has served in a number of roles with Bank of America and Wells Fargo. A native of Albuquerque New Mexico, Dianna holds a bachelor's in mathematics from Grinnell College and a master's in operations research and statistics from NC State University.

Matthew Bradbury is the founder and managing director of Business Acquisition & Mergers Associates (BAMA). He brings over twenty-five years of experience helping people buy and sell companies. He’s led over 110 transactions, and last year, his firm closed on eight companies with over $100M of transaction value. Over the years, Matt has invested in or run many different companies that included start-ups in the fitness industry, the start-up of his M&A shop, and a real estate brokerage firm. Today, he is also a partner and investor in an electric motor manufacturer, an ATM software developer, an equine veterinary hospital, a building products manufacturer, and a global sourcing company. Past company investments included the largest “tank-wash” company in the country and a pharmaceutical sales training business. Matt brings strong experience in a variety of industries including for-profit education, health and fitness, industrial service, motor products, environmental service, and various distribution and manufacturing companies. When not working, Matt can be found on the tennis court with his wife, playing lion with his seven grandkids, tickling the ivories to Elton John, or chasing hawks from his prized koi pond.

Fabi Preslar is president of SPARK Publications, a nineteen-year-old, Charlotte-based graphic design firm that specializes in custom publishing and content development for print and digital magazines, catalogs, books, annual reports, and promotional marketing materials. In the past few years, SPARK Publications has won more than 100 industry awards for client projects. Recently, Fabi was named 2017 Woman Business Owner of the Year by NAWBO Charlotte, one of 2016’s 50 Most Influential Women in the Charlotte region by Mecklenburg Times, and the 2015 B2B Marketer of the Year by the Business Marketing Association of the Carolinas, and she won the Trailblazer Award at the Greater Women’s Business Council Ladies Achieving Continued Excellence (LACE) Awards. She is also publisher of b2bTRIBE magazine, the voice of Charlotte-area entrepreneurs and small business owners, and the author of On Heaven’s Couch, a tribute to her mentor.

Scott Francis is a nationally acclaimed keynote speaker and author originally from Boston, Massachusetts, who inspires, motivates, and educates people by combining content, comedy, magic, and a heartfelt message into his programs. With over thirty years of experience, Scott has presented over 3,100 programs to companies such as American Express, Coca-Cola, IBM, and USA Today, including over 180 Fortune 500 companies. Scott believes that one way of reducing personal stress is to focus on others and give back to the community. Scott uses his down-to-earth motivational style to counsel people on commitment, attitude, and the excitement of moving their lives forward. Today, Scott Francis makes his living as a professional speaker and author who wants to help others reach their dreams, have fun, and be happy. Scott claims, “Successful and happy people aren’t people without problems; they’re people that know how to solve their problems looking at them head-on and deciding to do something about them to improve their lives.”