Dr. Brian Smith has a PhD in organizational psychology, a master's degree in management information systems, a bachelor's degree in accounting, and is a certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt Consultant. Brian has been helping business owners and managers since 1988. His company, IA Business Advisors (a DBA of Individual Advantages), has helped over eighteen thousand clients since 1996. His educational background coupled with thirty years of experience is what led Brian to write this series. His passion for helping others and seeing them succeed to their fullest potential is unparalleled. Brian is married to his beautiful wife (René), has three children (Kristin, Mary, and Henry), and one doting granddaughter (Kenzi). Brian and René reside in Algonquin, Illinois but have had the opportunity to live in Colorado and Oregon.
Brian's greatest joy in life is his family. During the nicer seasons of Illinois, Brian finds pleasure in grilling, baseball, riding on his jet ski, mowing the lawn, and enjoying the beautiful weather. Brian's personal definition of prosperity is realizing that in each moment he is in control and responsible for his own destiny; whatever that may bring. His personal motto is: Live in the present. There is nothing more important than what you are doing at this moment, it's the time you have to make your best decision!Mary Smith, Brian's middle child, has her bachelor's in English literature and minored in psychology at the University of Redlands. She is currently working on obtaining her master's in organizational leadership. She has been working with IA Business Advisors and her father since June 2014, starting out as an editor. After graduating in 2016, she became a full-time employee; while her main job still revolves around writing and editing, she enjoys helping her team with various projects ranging from presentation creation to data analysis.
Her dog, Bilbo, comes to work with her daily and is adored by all who meet him. Mary's biggest passions in life are animal advocacy, music, reading, and art. Her personal definition of prosperity is finding contentment in knowing that nothing is certain and nearly everything is chaos; in that chaos, she chooses to see the beauty that surrounds our world. Her prosperity comes from finding the smallest glimmer of hope in a vast sea of darkness. Her personal motto is: In the words of Neil deGrasse Tyson, "For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: know more today about the world than I knew yesterday and lessen the suffering of others. You'd be surprised how far that gets you.".