The DeFinis Team

Meet Our Consultants

Kathy Andre

Kathy Andre joined the DeFinis Communications team in 1997. As a senior consultant, Kathy facilitates all the DeFinis Communications programs, conducts individual one-on-one coaching, leads the Executive Immersion program, facilitates Speaking Spas™ and helps clients with media training. Her ability to balance tough feedback with support and encouragement enables clients to quickly take their skills to the next level. With keen insight into their strengths and improvement areas Kathy helps her clients accelerate performance in all aspects of presentation skill development.

As an independent business consultant, Kathy has guided leaders and their teams to enhance their performance, improve team dynamics, and move to self-management. Her strong facilitation and coaching skills enable leaders and their teams to accomplish both their short- and long-term business goals. Kathy’s strength is her ability to understand her clients’ needs and candidly coach them to effective outcomes. She is adept as exploring ideas and options, and she works closely with her clients to determine the best course of action for enhancing their performance. Her pragmatic approach balanced with her energy and compassion contributes to the achievement of powerful results.

Kathy holds a BS degree in Business Management from California State University Chico, Chico CA. Her certifications include Arbinger Institute, Coaches Training Institute, Lucid Living and the Bigger Game Company. She is a certified instructor in management development courses for Blessing/White, Achieve Global and The Real Learning Company. In addition to her training and consulting work Kathy maintains a robust business coaching practice where she helps individuals clarify their goals and reach high performance.

Rita Gallaway

Rita Gallaway brings over 15 years of experience in the media industry to DeFinis Communications. She specializes in facilitating the two-day Encore! Elegant Skills for Powerful Presentations program and the Technical Demo Presentations Skills program. She facilitates DeFinis Communications’ programs worldwide.

As a DeFinis Communications consultant, Rita works with professionals to develop their content and strengthen their delivery skills so they appear confident, professional and polished. By balancing her business focus with her caring approach, she helps clients feel empowered and at ease when they stand up to speak.

Rita’s professional background helped sharpen her presentation skills and make her a natural facilitator. She worked for seven years as Vice President National Sales at Univision, three years at Telerep San Francisco, and three years at KSBY-TV as a local account executive and then as a local sales manager. Her focus on new business development (direct and agency) and creative solutions with multiple media (TV, radio and internet) demanded a concrete understanding of the psychology of sales and the mind of the customer.

Rita sits on the Board of Directors for Consorte Media, is a member of the Society of Industry Leaders, and was on the Executive Board of San Francisco Radio and Television for 3 years (2002-2005). A Northern California native, Rita graduated from UC Berkeley in Political Economics, and now lives in San Francisco.

Fred McAmis

Fred McAmis has come full circle with DeFinis Communications. For 15 years he worked with the presentation skills firm as a client in the various companies he worked for. Now as a DeFinis Communications consultant himself, he trains others on those same skills.

Fred facilitates and supports the DeFinis Communications one-day Building Professional Presence and two-day Encore! Elegant Skills for Powerful Presentations programs. His passion and skill in the areas of personal and professional development have earned him the reputation as a master trainer, facilitator and management coach. It is through these activities that he helps individuals and organizations achieve and go beyond their stated goals and ambitions.

In addition to his work with DeFinis Communications, Fred is an independent Human Resources consultant with over 20 years experience working inside and outside successful Fortune 500 companies. As a senior HR professional, he has managed most HR functions with a strong expertise in Training and Organizational Development.

Fred started his career in Human Resource at Quantum Corporation in 1986. He then moved on to Sun Microsystems where he managed an engineering services group. In his five years at Sun, Fred studied and learned the dynamics of management as well as the dynamics of large complex organizations. With this experience he returned to the HR function in such companies as Octel Communications, Autodesk and Hyperion Solutions, where he held a wide variety of senior HR positions.

Fred holds a BA in Psychology from UC Davis and an MA from JFK University in Management (Organization Development).

Meet Our Virtual Team

Paula Doubleday

Paula Doubleday, owner of Paula Doubleday Design, Inc., is a highly skilled and innovative graphic design and communications specialist. She works with corporate communications and human resource departments to develop educational and training materials to enhance learning through clean, easy-to-access graphic design principles. She designs manuals, facilitator guides, presentations, program models and any other companion workshop materials, taking the project from production through printing and delivery. She also provides company branding, marketing and website design, specializing in the small business sector.

ESP Interactive Solutions

ESP Interactive Solutions offers top-quality professional website design and web development services. They produce Internet-driven solutions, rather than just websites, that solve specific business problems and ultimately increase efficiencies, drive results and generate business. They provide superior resources in web development, e-marketing, advertising and business analytics, and they customize their solutions to fit any size business. Their vast experience in website design, web development and e-commerce is evident in everything they do.

Dawn Josephson

Dawn Josephson, the Master Writing Coach™, is an editor, ghostwriter and writing coach. She works with professional speakers and business leaders, enabling them to master the printed word for enhanced credibility, positioning, and profits. In this capacity, Dawn helps her clients create irresistible books, articles, web copy and other marketing pieces that position them as the expert. In addition to offering editorial services, Dawn is also a professional speaker and business coach who helps new and established freelance writers achieve their career goals.

David Kerr

David Kerr, owner of David Kerr Design, specializes in web design, user interface design, information architecture, web animation production and print production. He offers full service graphic communications services to businesses and nonprofits. Focusing on the strategic business need behind the communication, he helps clients express their true selves in a fun and meaningful way.

David Lutz

David Lutz, owner of Digital Publishing Solutions, provides a full range of desktop publishing services for corporate clients and business owners, including desktop design consulting, desktop publishing, document management, web publishing and digital photography. Desktop design and publishing services include generating training materials, designing/creating document templates, corporate event collateral and presentation materials. Document management services include design and implementation of documentation and version control processes and systems. Web publishing includes creating and editing web pages, supplying web hosting services and HTML file conversion.