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Shawn Burcham is the Founder and CEO of GRITT Business Coaching and the Founder and CEO of PFSbrands - a company he and his wife, Julie, started from their home in 1998. Under Shawn's leadership, PFSbrands grew into a thriving, 100% employee-owned company with over 550 employee-owners operating Champs Chicken (400+ locations), Cooper's Express, Howie's Subs, and other brands across 30 states. In 2021, Shawn also founded All-n-One Outdoor, a company providing commercial grounds care, snow removal, and landscaping services. Shawn's personal experience building open-book management, financial literacy, and employee ownership from the ground up is the foundation of everything GRITT teaches. He is a sought-after speaker and author whose coaching philosophy is simple: when people understand the business they work in - and feel a stake in its success - extraordinary things happen.
Patrick works with organizations of all sizes to strengthen business performance through financial and operational clarity, helping leaders and teams connect daily decisions directly to results. A Vistage CEO speaker, he has been involved with the ESOP Association and the National Center for Employee Ownership for more than 20 years and served as a member of The ESOP Association's Advisory Committee. He is known for making financial and business literacy practical, engaging, and actionable. Patrick serves on several boards including The Synergy Company and MGC Roofing, a 100% employee-owned organization. His work is deeply influenced by his mother, Jill Carpenter - co-author of The Power of Open Book Management and an early ESOP pioneer - carrying that legacy forward with the belief that employees thrive when treated with unconditional positive regard and given the knowledge to truly understand the business they own.
Jennifer Briggs is a Founding Partner at GRITT Business Coaching, Board Chair of the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO), and CEO of The Synergy Company™. She brings over two decades of experience in organizational development, executive leadership, and employee ownership across a wide range of industries. Jennifer served as VP of Organizational Development and HR at New Belgium Brewing for nearly 13 years - an award-winning workplace recognized as one of the Most Democratic Workplaces seven times and a Wall Street Journal Best Place to Work - where she helped build a nationally recognized culture of ownership, learning, and responsibility. A trained consultant through the Beyster Institute at UC San Diego specializing in employee ownership and open-book management, Jennifer is also a Rutgers Executive Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing. She has served in board and advisory roles across multiple employee-owned and growth-stage companies, including PFSbrands, Brinkman Construction, Bivar, GISinc, and Engineering Economics. As a fractional executive and turnaround leader, she has guided founder transitions, recapitalizations, and culture transformations across industries including brewing, construction, food, and geospatial technology. Her work with GRITT helps leaders build the people systems - trust, transparency, and shared accountability - that transform good companies into great ones.
Mark Gandy is the founder of G3CFO and creator of the Free Agent CFO™ model - a non-traditional approach to financial leadership that goes far beyond the numbers. Mark is obsessed with helping businesses grow their three bottom lines: top-line unit sales, profitable cash flow, and the street value of the organizations they're building. What sets Mark apart is his integration of marketing, sales strategy, and data analytics with financial acumen - helping owners and leadership teams see their business clearly and act decisively. Mark is a member of the GBC ownership group and brings a practitioner's perspective to every engagement, working alongside business leaders as a true thought partner in building financially literate, high-performance organizations.
Trevor Monnig is a Partner at GRITT Business Coaching and a sought-after voice in the employee ownership community. He spent nearly 20 years as CFO for two high-growth companies, including leading the ESOP transaction at PFSbrands that resulted in 100% employee ownership in January 2017. Following the transaction, he gained direct experience navigating the unique aspects of an ESOP company - employee owner education, legal and accounting compliance, valuation, and third-party administration. Trevor now serves as an ESOP Trustee through Acumen Advisory Services, bringing fiduciary-level expertise to the ownership cultures he helps build. He currently serves as President of the Heart of America Chapter of The ESOP Association, sits on the Advisory Board of the Missouri Center of Employee Ownership, and is a regular speaker at regional and national ESOP events. He also serves on multiple boards as an external director for ESOP companies. Trevor brings both the technical expertise and the human-centered philosophy that defines the GRITT approach.
John McElroy serves as President of GRITT Business Coaching and Senior Vice President of Procurement at PFSbrands. He holds full accountability for GBC's financial results, operational execution, customer outcomes, and long-term growth - while maintaining strong alignment with PFSbrands' enterprise priorities. Over 10 years at PFSbrands, John has led across Customer Success, Marketing, Distribution, and Quality Assurance. Prior to that, he spent 13 years building deep expertise in logistics and retail, wholesale, and e-commerce distribution, with a focus on reverse logistics and returns supply chain operations.
Tom partners with organizations to develop resilient leaders, psychologically safe cultures, and high-performing teams using evidence-based practices. He brings over 20 years of executive leadership experience, including as EVP for an international truck and Caterpillar dealer, where his teams were recognized for outstanding financial performance and environmental stewardship. A three-time "Teacher of the Year" at Cal State East Bay, Tom teaches leadership, marketing, and organizational effectiveness. He holds degrees from UC Berkeley (BA, Economics & History), University of Chicago (MBA, Finance & Marketing), and the University of Pennsylvania (Master of Applied Positive Psychology). A Certified Executive Coach, Level 1 MBSR Instructor, and recognized Executive Scholar at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management, Tom integrates mindfulness, resilience, and positive leadership into everything he does.
Michael's career spans Business Development, Operations, Sales, and Management across industries including Food & Wine, Construction, Industrial Automation, Property Management, and Professional Consulting - with companies ranging from Four Seasons Hotel Boston and Pebble Ridge Vineyard to Springfield Remanufacturing Corporation, Keller Williams, and PFSbrands. These experiences allow him to relate firsthand to the challenges business owners and leaders face every day. Michael's greatest passion is helping employees at all levels understand business and financial literacy, gaining line of sight to how they influence company performance. He is an active advocate for employee-owned companies, a member of the ESOP Association, a regular webinar and conference speaker for the NCEO (National Center for Employee Ownership), and serves on the ESOP Committee for PFSbrands - GRITT's parent company.
Alexa partners with leaders and organizations to scale their people, sharpen their strategy, and expand their impact. With more than 30 years of experience, she is a senior certified HR leader and certified coach in Gallup CliftonStrengths, Predictive Index, and Kolbe - using behavioral data to align talent to business goals and build high-performing teams. A national speaker on leadership, employee ownership, and the future of work, Alexa serves as VP of Communications for the Heart of America Chapter of The ESOP Association (Missouri and Kansas) and was selected as a judge for the 2023 TEA Annual Awards for Communications Excellence (AACE). She challenges leaders to think differently about leadership and emerging technologies like AI.