Career Panelist Bios

The Show Up Movement

Showing Up in Our Careers Panelists

Dr. Patti Weiter is a dynamic and engaging executive coach who aims to create and sustain work environments that maximize human potential, thriving, and individual and collective well-being. Patti integrates her training as a Clinical Health Psychologist into her consulting approach by expertly blending the biological, psychological, and social aspects of leader and organizational behavior to drive change and sustainable results.
Patti is a whole person. She loves karaoke & yoga. She has been married for over 10 years - and still laughs at movie quotes daily. She has birthed 3 girls - one in her car! Patti has a knack for finding the perfect GIF for every situation.
Patti currently has a profile of work. She owns a consulting firm - Shine Psychology LLC. She is also a Personnel Psychologist for the Veterans Health Administration's Healthcare Leadership Talent Institute. In addition, she works on contract for Pixel Leadership Group. To give back to her psychology homes - she serves as President Elect for the Kentucky Psychological Association and Marketing Chair for the Society of Consulting Psychology.

She is an Enneagram 3, Manifesting Generator and Serial Entrepreneur. She started out as a social media manager aspiring to work in sports but that quickly changed when she stumbled online. She now owns a million dollar brand and business and an e-commerce business called Soulful Scrunchies. She wanted to be a sports reporter and she aspired to be just like Erin Andrews. Sports is something that she loved at such a young age and the thought of being on the field after the rush of a good game and having the opportunity to interview athletes just filled her with happiness. It was what fueled her to skillfully major in communication and even went to grad school to help my chances of securing a top-tier job as a sports reporter, and she did it, well actually, she was close. She was fortunate enough to secure two internships at the MLB agency and the NFL agency. After graduating from SMU in Dallas, she struggled finding a full-time job. It was here that she had an awakening. For her side hustle, she did what any other 20-something was good at, she started helping people with their social media. From here she just ran with it and the next thing she knew she opened her first social media agency Lone Star Digital Content. After some time of growing her company, she was ready to take on some bigger responsibilities. She dove full force into coaching and consulting, which led to the creation of Madison Tinder LLC in August 2018. It was only up from there. She went from social media manager to full-time business mentor for multi-passionate women. She is very multi passionate so she used that to fuel the fire in her business. She helped over a thousand clients scale their businesses using online marketing platforms ORGANICALLY.

My name is Jessie Wilson-Young. I was born in a small town in southeast Kansas where I grew up with a twin sister and two loving parents. Once I graduated from high school in my hometown I went to Northeastern Kansas to baker university where I graduated with my degree in elementary education and ESOL endorsement certification. I got my first teaching job in western Kansas where I’m at my now husband Robbie. Before we settle down where we currently live in Chattanooga Tennessee we moved to Boone North Carolina for two years and lived in Louisville Kentucky for two years. Baseball and work opportunities let us to move around before finally settling down in my husband‘s home state of Tennessee. After six years of teaching I realized that I was no longer serving myself or had the lustrous passion that I once did for teaching at the beginning of May career. I started my photography business back in 2017 and it was more of just a side gig. Now it’s my full-time job along with my side gig of being a social media manager at a bridal store in downtown Chattanooga. My husband was the one to push me into entrepreneurship it has believed in me since day one. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be showing up authentically as the woman that I am and letting others see the chasing your dream doesn’t have to be just a one and done type of situation. You can have many passions and many dreams throughout your life and as long as you take the time and effort to see your dreams through they’ll become a reality.

Maria Schaefer is Vice President of Enterprise Talent Operations in BrightSpring Health Services’ Human Resources (HR) organization. Her job is to advance the company’s strategies and efforts for acquiring talent and strengthening its employer brand. She joined BrightSpring’s Human Resources leadership team in February 2022, following a 17-year career at Humana where Maria last served as Chief of Staff and AVP of Strategy Advancement in the Information Technology (IT) organization. Maria’s prior tenure at Humana was marked with a diverse set of experiences with growing responsibilities every step of the way. She played in various leadership roles across Human Resources for nine years, setting strategies and executing programs centered around compensation, mergers and acquisitions, organizational design and development, and talent management. She also served in roles where she was responsible for setting and executing the organizational strategy, leading daily operations, managing senior executive cadence, and monitoring organizational performance. Maria has also previously led a $900MM project management office and other enablement functions such as communications, learning, and organizational change management. In addition to her “day job”, Maria is an active player in Louisville. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Coalition for the Homeless and us a contributing member of GLI’s Talent Leadership Council. Maria also regularly assists with various community projects that address food insecurity and/or promote our youth’s health and well-being. At Humana, Maria was a known culture builder and sponsor of women’s advancement in the workplace. She served as President of the Women’s Network Resource Group and was a founding leader of the WNRG Mentoring Circle Program. She was also an active player in the company’s internal speaker circuit, inspiring employees to take a stand and own their careers through tales of her own personal and professional development, as well as speaking about “Personal Branding”. Those are former contributions that she plans to bring into her new company as well. Maria enjoys travel, good books, and quality time with her husband Brandon and two children (Carsten, 14 and Bianca, 9). She is a graduate of the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor.

Shay McAlister is an investigative journalist and anchor at WHAS11 TV in Louisville, KY. She joined the team in July of 2015, fresh out of the University of Missouri and eager to learn. Through years of reporting in Kentuckiana, she found a passion for shining a light on areas that would probably prefer to be dark. Shay’s steadfast and relentless approach to journalism has led to federal accountability and legislative changes. In 2018, she launched the UNSOLVED series, which covers Kentucky’s cold cases and brings families closer to getting answers. Shay has led the coverage of the Bardstown mysteries, narrating the chart-topping podcast ‘BARDSTOWN’ in 2019. Her years- long investigation into nonprofit Wildlife in Need led to authorities stepping in to shut down the animal refuge, riddled with accusations of wrongdoing, and set the stage for new legal accountability for similar organizations. Shay's investigation was featured in the NETFLIX documentary series Tiger King in 2021. Shay is most proud of her work with the ACE Project. In 2015, she met grieving mother Rose Smith, at her son’s vigil. Smith’s son had been murdered the year before and Shay was sent to cover the story. It was an interaction that could have began and ended on that night. But, neither of the women let that happen. Instead, the two kept in touch for years, as Smith started a non-profit in her son’s honor. In 2017, Rose told Shay about her dream to build a community center on the property where her son was killed. With help from WHAS11's parent company TEGNA, Shay and Rose officially opened the neighborhood center called The ACE Place in May of 2019. Shay sits on the board of the ACE Project today. Since moving to Louisville, Shay has been awarded two Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards, five Emmy Awards and numerous AP Awards including ‘Best TV Reporter.’ She was born in Dallas, TX, but moved often while growing up- living in Miami, FL, Munich, Germany, Breckinridge, CO and Columbia, MO before moving to Kentucky. Shay is a graduate of the University of Missouri and now lives in Louisville with her rescues- Juniper the dog and Monday the cat.

Brittany Boone is the Founder and owner of Noted, a women’s clothing brand specializing in personal styling and a one of a kind shopping experience. Brittany started Noted early 2019 and grew the brand during the peak of the Covid19 pandemic allowing her to leave her full time job and pursue her passion in entrepreneurship. She has been described as a quiet storm, being a meek yet powerful force in her profession and at home. She uses her positive attitude and enthusiastic energy to encourage others to work hard and succeed. Brittany is a two time graduate from WKU earning her bachelors in Marketing and a Master of Science in Recreation Sport Administration. During her time at WKU she joined the Exquisite Chapter of Epsilon Zeta, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, INC. Served as President of the Black Student Alliance, was a Spirit Master, Graduated and Lead DLI, received a President’s award for diversity and the Carl Kell Student scholarship. She now resides in Louisville, KY with her husband and two children. Outside of work, Brittany can be found at church, outside running, at her kid’s sporting events, serving with the National Association of Women Business Owners or her favorite, on the couch snuggled up with her family and a bowl of ice cream.

Schaka Davis is a native of Panama City, FL who holds dual Masters Degrees in Communication/Finance and Business Administration and is a graduate of the University of Louisville (GO CARDS!). She is the Vice-President of Humana’s African-American Network Resource Group and is a board member for Sowing Seeds With Faith, a local non-profit geared towards engaging youth academically and socially in the Louisville community. Schaka is also mother to twin daughters: Natalie and Nicole (12). In her current role as a Director of Business Intelligence for Humana, Schaka leads a team of Senior Data Scientist Engineers that are responsible for simplifying complex processes, as well as creating, identifying, and maximizing opportunities that provide insight to operational teams. She is passionate about utilizing strategic, tactical data techniques to highlight disparities amongst underserved and under-represented populations, while consistently challenging herself and her team to take their thinking to the next level. Through Schaka’s unconventional journey of being homeless, in foster care, and enduring many other hardships, she managed to defy the odds and decided that failure was non-negotiable. She believes in the helping hand method – we all need help to get us where we want to be in life. Schaka prides herself on encouraging/helping women and challenging decision-makers to diversify leadership in demographics where there is a void.

Showing Up in Our Careers Panel Facilitator

"Dr. Whitney M. Stewart currently works as a Learning and Development Program Manager within a healthcare setting in Louisville, KY. Prior to her current role, Dr. Stewart has led learning and development in various K-12, post-secondary, non-profit, public, governmental, and healthcare roles. Her expertise focuses on driving change through culturally responsive training, leadership development, learning, and instruction. Dr. Stewart is a published researcher whose research encompasses race and education. Dr. Stewart further supports clients and organizations striving to improve and develop their culturally responsiveness as the CEO of her own education consulting company, WM Stewart Consulting. In her leisure time, Stewart enjoys exploring new activities and adventures, traveling, spending time in the great outdoors, volunteering, and spending time with family, friends and loved ones. Born in Mississippi, and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, she is a proud, three time graduate of the University of Louisville. Dr. Stewart’s favorite quote is, “When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world (George Washington Carver).”"

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