"I met Andrea in 2008 at one of our regional conferences, where she delivered a great Myers-Briggs presentation to our branch professionals. Andrea brought real-world examples to the group for working with the different personality types of both clients and financial advisors. Her teaching didn’t stop with just the presentation; she also followed through with one-on-one and team coaching afterward. Other positives: Andrea is friendly and outgoing, explains things in layman’s terms and completely understands our business. "
Missy Escribano- Director of Education and Partner Relations Raymond James Financial Services
“It had been a long while since I had an assistant who stuck with me for more than a year and a half. When it was time to hire once again, I thought there might be a more intellectual way of going about the process, so I sought the services or Andrea Schlapia at Ironstone Communication. After receiving hundreds of resumes, I narrowed them down to five. Andrea then coordinated a Myers-Briggs test for each of my top choices and interpreted the thest results alongside my results. This was a great way to find out what made the candidates tick, where they got their energy and how they felt about particular things
Today, I have an excellent assistant who is as aware of my communication needs as I am of hers. And, if things ever get out of whack, we have checks and balances to fall back on to keep ourselves on track. Since it's working ou so well, I will be using this process again with the other advisors I manage in my office. Andrea is so pleasant and easy to work with that I'm looking forward to our ongoing business relationship.”
Michael Johnson, Branch Manager, Elm Grove, WI Raymond James
"Andrea is an excellent trainer. She is very positive and outgoing, and she definitely keeps everybody’s attention. The feedback from Andrea’s presentation about communication between people is extremely positive. She walks attendees through all the personality types and offers practical ways to deal with clients as well as co-workers. Anyone who hires Andrea will enjoy her. "
Sheila Hines- Client Services Manager Consolidated Planning Corporation (Branch of Raymond James Financial Services)
"Andrea has personally taught me many key skills that have greatly improved my sales skills and presentation ability. Her energy and natural talent at disseminating knowledge make her a highly effective coach. It is clear from her enthusiasm level that she has a tremendous passion for helping others improve their abilities."
Norman Pia- Internal Consultant at Genworth Financial
"Andrea Schlapia is one of my top choices for a trainer. As a coach at Merrill Lynch responsible for training new hires in eastern Pennsylvania, I facilitate and hire other trainers to provide instruction on various topics. I hired Andrea once, and because she was so fabulous, I have booked her again and again. She gives an engaging sales training presentation about the importance of understanding how our different personalities affect our communications with each other. Andrea gets all the trainees involved, and I always receive great feedback about the sessions she leads."
Gary Katz- CFM Merrill Lynch
“Andrea is a extraordinarily talented communications and sales training consultant. We collaborated many times, working with Regional Sales Directors who reported through the Broker Dealer Channel on various skill development exercises including sales presentations, organizational habits, territory management and employee self evaluation. Andrea was an extremely important component in my overall plan to better my sales team. She is highly intelligent, highly motivated and just a great person to work with.”
Mark Perrelli , Director, National Sales Manager, Broker Dealer Division , DWS Investments Distributors, Inc.
"Andrea is the consummate professional. With excellent sales training materials, the ability to connect with people and the knack for bringing something new, Andrea’s sessions were always an easy sell. She worked a great deal with the independent advisor firms we helped manage and she built good relationships with each one, which ensured that we booked her year after year. Andrea also trained the sales staff and management teams of our own home office, working with them to prepare for national conferences and regional meetings. Often she would train the other trainers. Andrea was such an asset to have that we were able to leverage her expertise for our major clients."
Mary Pat McDonald- CIMA Head of National Accounts, Financial Advisor and Bank Division DWS Investments
“Having worked with Andrea at Deutsche, I have a unique perspective: I’ve watched her present to both clients and our fellow employees. Andrea’s greatest strength is that she takes the time to understand the issues and the challenges of the people she’s addressing before she gives her presentation. Too many professionals show up and say, “Tell me about your business and your problems and I’ll see how I can help you.” Not Andrea. She does her homework first, then comes in with solutions in mind to drive an organization’s business. Andrea is such a down-to-earth person that she makes people very comfortable, which enhances the communication process. Few people are as comfortable talking to the chairman of the board as they are to the janitors. Andrea certainly can bridge that gap.”
Dr. Bob Froehlich- Retired Chairman of Deutsche Asset Management Investment Committee
"If I want to grow my business, I have to add value to my advisors so they can take their business to the next level. As a sales manager, I utilized Andrea’s skills in workshops to help me do just that. Andrea is always enthusiastic, a great presenter and lots of fun. Most important, she provided great business-building information. Andrea was always being asked back."
Steve Larson- Divisional Sales Manager DWS Investments Distributors Inc.
"Andrea is a skilled professional trainer with superb facilitation skills. Andrea worked for the vendor we contracted to train our supermarket banking employees. Although the vendor had a number of employees able to facilitate this training, I requested Andrea be our primary trainer after observing her abilities and how she connected with the employees. She also provided valuable coaching services to managers who were struggling with coaching their employees sales abilities."
Robert Steele- Citizens Financial Group - Chicago- Director, Learning & Development
"I have worked with Andrea for several years now and it’s always a pleasure. Andrea is committed to achieving excellence and results.”
Wendy Van Vleet , Account Manager , CPP, Inc
"Andrea is the most effective communicator that I have encountered and is a results oriented person. She has the ability to captivate an entire audience with her boundless energy. When her presentation is complete, it leaves you wanting more time in her company! I would highly recommend Andrea without reservation.”
Julie Schuder , Branch Operations , Raymond James & Associates
"Andrea is one of the most capable motivers/trainers I have worked with in our industry. She is knowledgeable, captivating and inspiring to all those who have worked with her and have heard her. She posses an imense amount of resources that have included programs from time management, sales training, etc. Andrea is an amazing coach no matter what level you may need.”
Ada Baker , senior regional vp , DWS Investments/Deutsche Bank
"Andrea is a lighthearted presenter who knows how to transform difficult subject matter into fun and interactive workshops. At DWS Investments, Andrea and I worked together in the advanced sales department. Her overall goal was to educate financial advisors on how to be more efficient and profitable. Through workshops, Andrea focused on ways the advisors could better communicate with peers and clients. I’d say Andrea’s prior experience as a business coach was invaluable because she was teaching from a real-world perspective, rather than a theoretical one. "
Ryan Stephenson- DWS Investments
"Andrea is the best trainer I have ever experienced in my 30 years of being in the financial industry. My responsibilities include motivating the sales team. The “dreaded” sales training classes weren’t “dreaded” when she came around. In fact, our salespeople wanted to come, and attendance was never an issue. Andrea presented a variety of sessions including selling over the phone skills, how to communicate successfully, how to close on the phone, and more.
Her engaging personality combined with her experience won us all over."
Elin Pye-West Coast Branch Manager John Hancock
"Andrea is a well-received guest speaker for our educational and management conferences. For our operational staff, her presentation dealt with effective client communications. She engaged the audience with different techniques, such as breakout sessions, questions, visuals, PowerPoint slides and handouts. She also gave a presentation on effective coaching through communication to our operations managers, which focused more on teamwork in the office. Completing the Myers-Briggs test as a course prerequisite, the managers’ personality traits were easily tied into the group presentation. Bottom line: the evaluation results from attendees were all “Very Good” and “Excellent.” We’ll definitely have her back!"
Tina Betz-Education Specialist, Raymond James Financial Services
"I hired Andrea to provide the “Special Corporate Presentation” at the 2009 Alliance for Distance Education in California’s Summit XX in Oakland. The audience consisted of university administrators and instructors; members of international, federal and state educational organizations; and representatives of global and national universities and corporations. I was impressed by Andrea’s ability to customize a presentation that addressed the needs of our educational system to enable the next generation to be digitally competitive in the corporate marketplace. Based on her extensive experience in the corporate world, Andrea brought a pivotal discussion to the table and demonstrated a complete and thorough grasp of this multifaceted platform. Her enthusiasm was terrific. I have known Andrea for more than 22 years, and I was 100 percent confident in her knowledge and her innate abilities to bring the conversation to the floor so that all parties benefited. She again proved to be magnificent!"
Heidi Maston- President 2008/2009, Alliance for Distance Education in California, www.adec-cal.org
"I had the pleasure of working with Andrea as a colleague for three years. Our clients were banks, savings and loans, and credit union management teams looking for advice on all the activities needed to be successful in a retail bank structure. Together we worked on presentations and curriculum development, and we co-facilitated classroom trainings as well as annual client conferences. Andrea brings energy to any room. She’s great with ideas, and very creative yet focused—which is powerful to see. Our brainstorming sessions always ended with a list of actionable items for the groups we were working with. I definitely had a partner I could trust and count on."
Steve Moushon- District Manager Bank of Texas
"Andrea is so effective, even with jaded salespeople, because she has an uncanny ability to connect with her audience. As a colleague of hers at Deutsche Bank, I met with and recommended her services to independent investment advisers. Within minutes of starting our first workshop together, I realized how great she was as a trainer. Andrea had the group laughing and interacting with her, and she provided real-world take-aways they could immediately implement. Her skill of impacting and fulfilling the needs of her audience was the perfect complement to what my peers and colleagues were trying to accomplish."
Doug Wallace- Investment Management Consultant
"Andrea’s smart and fun! She brings a fresh perspective and business savvy to the table every time. I hired Andrea as my business coach so I could be more effective in my endeavors. She was extremely helpful in keeping me focused on creating goals while building both structure and systems to achieve them. Andrea was like my personal business cheerleader—a blend of business knowledge and enthusiasm. She was just what I needed."
Vanessa Lowry- Marketing and Communications Consultant
