Fern Lebo, President

A gifted author and compelling speaker, Fern grabs her audience and jolts them out of their complacency. Funny, passionate, and wonderfully creative, Fern decimates the rules and reinvents communication, delighting her audience with a whole new system for building business relationships — on paper and in person.

For nearly 20 years Fern has given sales people the personal and professional techniques they need. She began in 1989 as Lebo Communications. In 2000, she was a founding partner of her predecessor company, Sales Force One. Now, as president of FrontRunner, she brings her passion and her complete kit of ready-to-use tools to some of North America's biggest companies—helping them achieve remarkable success.

An internationally published author, Fern has written five books, a mountain of sales materials, technical documents, web copy, manuals, and scores of articles. She is a frequent keynote speaker, a guest lecturer at Stony Brook University, and as an adjunct faculty member of Auburn University she teaches an accredited, online Business Writing Workshop. Across North America, Fern is a well-respected authority on business communications.

Professionally trained as a psychiatric Occupational Therapist, Fern brings the psychology of a positive response to the table. With her quick wit and deep understanding of adult education, she is genuinely skilled at helping people break away from their comfort zones of familiar but often ineffective communication styles.

Fern is that rare individual in whom solid academic grounding and hands-on experience create the ideal blend. Her strength lies in her professionalism, enthusiasm and unfailing talent in helping people to "see the light."

Roger Hyman, Associate

Roger Hyman's professional writing career began nearly 25 years ago as a publications editor, articles writer, and consultant to industry. Over the years, while still a Professor of English at McMaster University, he wrote and edited a collection of manuscripts for both the private and public sector.

Roger has published a great variety of written material including technical documents, promotional material, annual reports, articles and newsletters. He is an accomplished ghost writer and has successfully composed an assortment of speeches and professional papers for public figures.

In 1990, Roger began his business relationship with Fern and is now a busy associate of FrontRunner. A powerful writer and extraordinary coach, Roger has a keen understanding of the principles of good writing, especially as they apply to business and training goals. His special gift is his consistent ability to help people produce coherent, logical and easy to read material.

Judy Issokson, Associate

When you search the dictionary for the word "exceptional" you should find Judy's picture there. With a Doctorate in Educational Leadership and a Masters in Education, Judy works directly with executive teams, senior staff, and line managers facing diverse strategic business challenges. Whether it's Leadership Development, Organizational Design, Change Management, or Performance Consulting, her focus is on 'blended solutions for balanced results'.

Entertaining and effective, Judy works in multiple industries to improve leadership performance, align people and processes, identify emerging issues, and assess the effectiveness of organizational interventions. Clients appreciate her attention to designing actionable solutions and her willingness to adapt to doing business in their terms. And when it comes to developing the next generation of leaders, her skills are extraordinary.

A real asset for us and for you, Judy is also certified to facilitate Myers-Briggs assessments, Team Management Systems, and Emotional Competency Inventories. Her insights and expertise are amazing. Best yet, she always exceeds expectations — as consultant, coach, facilitator, program designer, or advisor.

Naomi Loeb, Associate

A riveting speaker and skilled performer, Naomi Loeb's special talent is her unfailing ability to capture an audience and infuse them with a passion for the subject at hand. Beginning with a solid base in TV journalism, Naomi pursued a career in front of the camera at CBC and TVO — and behind it — to become an award-winning documentary film maker. She then shifted focus to the corporate setting where she quickly became a star. Truth is, Naomi absolutely delights in engaging an audience — and can do it in English or French.

Naomi's style is electric. Her profound understanding of an audience and her remarkable aptitude for engaging the listener, contribute to her depth of expertise and the power of her results. A communications teacher at York University and Seneca College, Naomi is a master at finding a memorable message. And when it comes to on-your-feet delivery, Naomi is a one of a kind.

Heather Macleod, Associate

Consulting and organizational effectiveness have been Heather's specialty for 30 years. She has a keen understanding of the principles of communication, especially as they apply to delivering a message in a highly competitive marketplace. It is this clarity of vision that Heather brings you, and which is evident in the excellence of all her work.

Heather's early background included college-level teaching where she co-authored the textbook. She has a well-earned reputation for helping organizations identify and make strategic changes while maintaining productivity. A future-thinker with a bottom line orientation, Heather understands the importance of simple tools and processes to address complex business issues.

With a singular flair for understanding the big picture, Heather is flexible, amusing, and unerring in her ability to create a supportive yet challenging learning experience. She is the consummate professional with a pragmatic approach to helping people “nail it” every time.

Carol Kirsh, Associate

Few consultants have the depth and breadth of hands-on experience Carol brings to FrontRunner clients. Following an MBA, Carol began her career in marketing for J. Walter Thompson and later moved into the publishing industry, achieving progressively higher management roles. Later, she joined the Ontario Public Service as a director with the Ministry of Trade and Technology with a mandate to effect transformational change in service delivery.

Carol's success in building effective teams and service delivery models and her ability to inject a customer-centred attitude into a traditionally non-client focused environment were well received, leading her to roles restructuring one, then another, public service department. Her pragmatic approach led to cost savings, huge efficiency gains, and something relatively new for the public service — satisfied clients.

Now back in the private sector, Carol helps companies to build effective teams and processes focused on client service. She has unparalleled understanding of organizations and how individuals and teams should be managed to reach company objectives. A talented project management coach, she is also an expert in writing and responding to RFPs, management coaching and service delivery strategies.

Simon Payn, Associate

Simon is that outstanding writer and editor whose innate talents and hands-on experience blend to create ideal communications designed to achieve marketing and sales objectives. Starting his career as a newspaper editor in England, Simon worked in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands before taking the helm at a network of online magazines where he practiced excellence and accuracy under tight deadlines and shifting priorities.

Simon has an exceptional talent for seeing the big picture plus the skill to plan, develop and implement strategy for usability and functionality online and in print. Whether it's editing your copy, designing an interface, or writing copy from scratch, you want Simon on your team.

In fact, Simon is the go-to guy when you want to discover precisely how the written word can work for you. He's an expert in online and offline direct lead generation and marketing programs and a pro at creating that virtuous circle between your company, your brand and your customers, using the most advanced and creative offline and online tools.