Brad Szollose's Bio

How Do You Handle 21st Century Chaos?
The Short Story

Brad Szollose is the *award-winning, international bestselling author of Liquid Leadership: From Woodstock to Wikipedia which explores the subject of new leadership styles – mainly how to get the tech-savvy Generation X & Y and analog driven Baby Boomers working together.

But Seriously, WHO is this Guy, and WHY should I listen to him?

Brad Szollose is a business consultant and keynote speaker who helps smart companies understand how much technology has transformed corporate culture and behavior…especially the behavior of Generation Y Millennials, and how that impacts management, interaction and expectations in The Information Age.



But this is not based on management theory: With a 30 year career as an entrepreneur he knows firsthand what it’s like to grow a company from a simple idea in a coffee shop (without any startup capital), to an internationally recognized brand.


Brad is a former C-Level Dot Com Executive who went from entrepreneur to IPO in 3 yrs—co-founding K2 Design, the very first Dot Com Agency to go public on NASDAQ. His company experienced 425% hyper-growth for 5 straight years, expanded from 2 business partners to 4 with 60+ employees and offices worldwide. At its height, K2 was valuated at over $26 million. 

His results only management model (ROWE) was applied to the first wave of young Generation Y workers producing great results—winning K2 the Arthur Andersen NY Enterprise Award for Best Practices in Fostering Innovation.

Known for his humorous and thought-provoking presentations, Szollose received the highest testimonial of his career from a C-Level audience member: "I just had my mind blown."

Want to Increase Output?

Brad’s keynotes and workshops are highly interactive, heart-warming, humorous, and filled with high-content information that challenge assumptions and help leaders and managers create a better work environment for innovation to thrive.

The world’s leading business publications seek out Brad’s insights on Millennials, and he has been featured in Forbes, The Huffington Post, New York Magazine, Inc., Advertising Age, The International Business Times and The Hindu Business Line to name a few, along with television, radio and podcast appearances on CBS and other media outlets.

Brad's programs have transformed a new generation of business leaders, helping them maximize their corporate culture, expectations, productivity and sales growth in a New Economy.


* 2011 Axiom Business Book silver medal winner in the leadership

* #1 Amazon Best-Selling Author

"I just had my mind blown..." - A.S., Vistage, New York

 

Liquid Leadership by Brad Szollose is available at all major bookstores and for Kindle, Nook, iPad and Sony ereaders. Internationally published in India and S. Korea. 

 

 

The Long Story

Brad Szollose started his first business in 1979 at the age of 16. Ironically, that was the same year he won his first design award for a state-wide catalog cover design competition. Having an extensive art program at Lebanon High School in Pennsylvania helped fuel his decision to become a graphic designer instead of a professional drummer.

Brad attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and graduated with honors in illustration, graphic design, and advertising with a degree in Visual Communications.

Brad moved to New York City in 1984 and quickly became a noted multi-media designer, freelancing for such companies as The Caribiner Group, Roger Wade Productions and National Imagemakers, producers of corporate theater and related promotional and entertainment events.

During his tenure at these companies, Brad worked on the national and international sales meetings for the following corporations: American Express, BMW, Banco Popular, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bozell, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Coty, Ethicon, Ford Motor Cars & Lincoln Mercury, IBM, Mercedes Benz, Merck, Mobile, Novartis, Pfizer, Rhône Poulenc Rhorer, Novartis, Seagram’s, Self Magazine, Shire Pharmaceuticals, Sunoco, Tahitian Noni, Vintner’s, WavePhore and Xerox.

In this capacity, Brad managed a team of designers, photographers and programmers in the production of full-scale, big-budget national sales meetings. With a track record in traditional design and the technical mastery of 70-millimeter film, Brad developed a reputation for creating never-before-executed special effects.

After almost 10 years as a professional designer and creative director in corporate events and sales meetings, Brad wanted to try something new.

One year after a treacherous mountain climbing adventure with college friend and fellow creative director Douglas Cleek, Brad and Doug founded K2 Design, Inc. By 1994 they decided to transition K2 into new territory turning their company into an Internet Development and interactive ad agency. Both Doug and Brad envisioned a full-service, totally creative, interactive studio that specialized in building brand awareness and 1:1 relationships over the Internet. Little did they know that the Dot Com boom was about to begin and K2 was positioned to ride the wave.

With Brad and Doug helping to drive the award-winning creative, they added Wharton graduate David Centner as CEO and Matthew de Ganon as chairman. K2 expanded from 16 employees to a workforce of over 60. This hyper-growth positioned K2 as an industry leader, along side such companies as Agency.com, DoubleClick and Razorfish. K2 went public in 1996 with an IPO on NASDAQ, raising over $6 million in public monies and over $1 million in private placement.

Brad became a Board Member, as well as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and Creative Director for K2′s public and investor image.

K2 was the agency and web developer of record for: IBM Deep Blue vs. Garry Kasparov Chess Challenge (one of the first live events to use the Internet), AOL PrimeHost, Waterhouse Securities, Chase CD Hybrid annual report, IBM, Public Theater, Rent touring website, Bring In 'Da Noise, Bring In 'Da Funk live cast party, Audi Netrider site, Toys R Us etc...

Day to day, he managed a team of Generation X & Y employees raised on the Internet, laptops and video games – and developed a way to manage their multitasking and creative nature. Brad’s management model won K2 the Arthur Andersen NY Enterprise Award for Best Practices for Fostering Innovation Among Employees.

Eventually and due in part to 95-hour work weeks for 5 years straight, Brad stepped down from his C-Suite executive position in 1998 to pursue other business ventures. He remained active on K2’s board of directors until 2000.

Since then, Brad has coached entrepreneurs, executives and businesses alike on moving their organizations into the Information Age. Projects have included product launches, leadership training, emerging technology consulting, migrating an automated business model to the Web, Generation Y Management, technological comprehension and executive coaching.

With almost 30 years as an entrepreneur, owning everything from single proprietorships to a publicly traded company, to sitting on the board of directors, Brad is one of the few business coaches with experience in both entrepreneurial start ups to executive board level management and strategy.

"[Liquid Leadership] is THE guidebook for the 21st Century." - Ryan V, NH

 

Awards

Axiom Business Book Awards
Silver Medal in Leadership for the book Liquid Leadership: From Woodstock to Wikipedia — Multigenerational Management Ideas That Are Changing The Way We Run Things by Brad Szollose

Click here for Axiom Business Book Awards 2011 Winners.

Lebanon School District Distinguished Alumnus Award Presented to Brad for his pioneering work on the World Wide Web and co-founding K2 Design, Inc. - the first "Dot Com" company to go public on NASDAQ