About Us - Our Staff

Who We Are

Dr. Kathy Miller Perkins, President

For nearly 30 years, Kathy has helped clients such as Toyota Motor, IBM, Brown-Forman, Shell Oil, Rohm and Haas, and Kawasaki Rail Cars deal with the leadership and organizational performance challenges of an ever-changing competitive arena. While guiding them to fast but lasting solutions to specific problems, she has shared her expertise, simultaneously building each client's internal capacity to deal with the various aspects of human performance in the work place. Over the years, she has continued to expand her company's tools, expertise, resource pool, and service options while maintaining a personal connection with each client. Her creativity, flexibility, sense of fairness, and willingness to do real work in the real world have earned her the respect of individuals at all levels of the organizations she has assisted.

Her recent projects include:

• Assisted B.C. Hydro EARG leaders and EARGT (senior leadership team) with team development, decision-making processes, and leading the culture change within the EARG organization.
• Assisted Carpenter Technologies with the design and implementation of a leadership assessment and development process. Coached executives following the process.
• Facilitated management leadership teams development and team building for several teams within Brown-Forman Corporation. Also provided executive coaching.
• Served as executive and management coach for individuals within the VDI Corporation, Rohm and Haas Corporation, Kawasaki Rail Cars, and Brown-Forman Corporation, Kindred Healthcare, Kentucky State Government.

Kathy's published works include:

• Retraining The American Workforce - Addison Wesley, 1989
• Getting Ready to Get Ready to Change - Consulting to Management Journal, September 2001
• Training Strategy Using Internal Experts - Purchasing Today Magazine, September, 2001
• Continual Learning: The Ultimate Skill-set Builder - Inside Supply Management, March 2002
• Going Virtual - Consulting Today, Winter Edition, 2002

 

Ginny Major, Senior Consultant
Director of Leadership Coaching

Virginia (Ginny) Major is Director of Leadership Coaching at Miller Consultants, overseeing the development and delivery of high quality coaching services to Miller clients while also serving as a senior consultant and coach. She has over fifteen years of experience as a leadership consultant and coach, working with C-suite executives and senior managers in a wide range of industries and companies, including Rohm & Haas, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Kawasaki Rail Car, Ernst & Young, Canyon Ranch, Swedish Match, and Ashland Chemical. Ginny especially enjoys working with people from different cultures and is proud of her experience coaching leaders from around the world, including those from the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean.

As a coach, Ginny collaborates with clients to help them identify their most critical developmental goals and create a strategy for meeting them. She then offers the support they need to challenge themselves and follow through on their commitments, producing significant, measurable results. Although she customizes her approach to each individual, common coaching topics include:

• Managing key professional relationships both within and outside the organization
• Understanding and adapting to cultural differences in the workplace
• Becoming a less reactive and more strategic, visionary leader
• Coaching and mentoring direct reports
• Meeting demands of new leadership role
• Building strong executive leadership teams
• Leading organizational change
• Improving executive presence, especially assertiveness and confidence
• Thinking creatively about one’s own career path
  

Ginny is qualified to administer and interpret numerous behavioral and style assessments, including the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Firo-B, CPI 260, and others. She received her B.A. in sociology, with minors in English and Italian, from Indiana University, with highest distinction. She received her doctorate in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Maryland.

Kathi Irvine, Senior Consultant
Director Canadian Operation

Kathi Irvine is the Director of Canadian Operations overseeing the development and delivery of our services in Canada. She has over 20 years of corporate leadership experience with extensive background in organizational change, leadership development and performance management. She is a highly skilled organizational development practioner, business coach and workshop facilitator. She has proven expertise in collaborating with clients to design and deliver initiatives with the focus on business and service results and employee engagement.

Kathi has worked with executives and senior managers in a wide range of industries and companies including Provincial Health Services Authority, Rogers Radio, RBC Financial Group, Simon Fraser University, BC Hydro, TELUS, Suncor, Canadian Forces, Metro Vancouver, Envision Financial, BC Teacher’s Federation, SaskTel Communications, Westminster Savings Credit Union, Commissionaires BC and Valvoline Chemicals.

Kathi is qualified to administer and interpret numerous behavioural and style assessments, including the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, ACHIEVE assessment, and others. She received her Bachelor degree in Business at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver and her Graduate degree in organizational leadership at Royal Roads University in Victoria.

Some of Kathi's recent projects include:

• Integrating behavioural competencies into performance management discussions with a credit union
• Creating meaningful dialogue into organizational communication addressing differences in material, relationship and symbolic perspectives in the not for profit sector
• Management and leadership learning in the transportation industry
• Intergenerational workforce awareness with the teachers federation
• Strategic and operational planning in the not for profit sector

She has a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership from the Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia.

Ray Clift, Consultant

With over thirty years experience in manufacturing, industrial technical education and business management, Ray brings a broad expertise in the analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation of manufacturing management systems and processes.

Ray's past work has included:

• Development and implementation of industrial maintenance mechanic and hourly operator training systems worldwide
• Design and implementation of manufacturing quality team based training systems
• Analysis and implementation of manufacturing statistical process control systems including Six Sigma
• Implementation of International Standards Organization (ISO) management and related process safety documentation systems
• Training and development for first line supervisors and foremen

Shari Lewchanin, Consultant

As a clinical psychologist and business consultant, Shari brings to the Miller Consultants team extensive expertise in diagnostics and in relationship management, change management, and conflict resolution strategies.

Shari's past work has included:

• Planning, implementing, and evaluating programs
• Training and coaching conflict management skills and organizational change strategies
• Developing targeted selection processes
• Developing client assessments

Shari has a B.A. in Psychology, an M.S. in Human Development and Family Studies, and a Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology.

 

Charlotte Gorley, MA, CEC., Consultant

Charlotte brings to Miller Consultants a wealth of experience and training in multi-disciplinary roles. She is recognized by peers and senior managers as a team player with proven and demonstrated leadership and collaboration skills.

Charlotte is committed to the ongoing growth and development of people and organizations through applied learning and experience using common-sense and realistic approaches.

Her experience includes:

• Experience in strategic planning, coupled with a strong project management methodology ensuring that objective assessments lead to action plans resulting in solid, measurable results.
• Extensive work as a skilled facilitator and leader in conflict resolution and team development and change management.
• Coaching in which her mission is ‘To be a catalyst for someone else’s achievements’ emphasizes her firm belief in servant leadership (a philosophy described by Robert Greenleaf) and the power of personal initiative.

Charlotte specializes in working with people who are seeking to achieve their personal and professional potential, people who are going through a transition in their life or workplace, and assisting organizations to develop their future leaders.

Charlotte earned an Executive Coaching certificate and a Master of Arts in Leadership and Training degree from Royal Roads University, and has completed 250 hours of training in conflict resolution from the Justice Institute of BC. She is presently enrolled in a Ph.D program in Human and Organizational Systems. She is qualified to use assessment tools and interpret the results to make the best use of her clients’ strengths, and co-design and implement action plans to achieve positive results for her clients.

Maryanne Honeycutt, Consultant

Maryanne has over 15 years in organizational development and getting results through improving the performance of people. She has specific experience in creating high performance sales and service environments, and successfully working with senior management to drive and sustain the necessary activities, skills and behaviors to experience measurable results.

Relevant Experience:

Maryanne is an expert in personal and organizational productivity, and has worked with hundreds of organizations. Her experience includes:

• Helping to improve individual work flow
• Assisting clients in prioritizing heavy workloads
• Increasing the ability to focus on the critical tasks helps individuals and teams get results by providing tools, techniques and consulting to enhance productivity

Her clients include Microsoft, T-Mobile, Alltech Biotechnology, Bowen Engineering, Corporation, Norton Healthcare, PepsiCo (Gatorade/Tropicana/Quaker), MedVenture Technology Corporation, Hillerich & Bradsby Co., ICAP Energy LLC and Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s Healthcare.

Education:
Maryanne holds a bachelor’s degree from Furman University and an MBA with a concentration in organizational development from the University of Louisville.

 

Martha Helen Smith, Consultant

Martha Helen has extensive experience in management of a family-owned chain of newspapers and, as a long-time board member and chair, of a multi-million dollar not-for-profit healthcare company. Her experience in technical writing includes work with the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education.

For Miller Consultants she has:

• Administered leadership assessments and provided feedback sessions with clients
• Written and edited brief toolkits for the Leadership Series in Human CapiTools
• Prepared content for the new Miller Consultants and Human CapiTools websites
• She lives in Lexington Kentucky with her husband, Al Smith, former host of KET’s Comment on Kentucky

 

Cil Stephens, Executive Assistant

Cil has worked behind the scenes at Miller Consultants for the past 15 years. She is the friendly voice who greets you when you call, responds to your needs, and keeps our consultants connected to you. As the hub of the operation, Cil keeps things on track.