Maria Marsala: Business Strategist, Financial Advisor Coach, Author, Speaker, and former Wall Street Trader

Stategic Business Coach, Planning Strategist Maria Marsala An unstoppable entrepreneur, Maria began selling AVON at age 14, landed at Merrill Lynch on Wall Street at age 17, and shattered the glass ceiling by age 21. Fiercely determined and keenly insightful, she became a bond trader at Reynolds Securities when female executives were as rare as pink diamonds. Maria spent the next 20 years trading, streamlining corporate operations, and dispensing advice that made and saved millions of dollars for her employers: Bear Stearns, Fundamental Brokers Inc., and Carroll McEntee & McGinley. Maria also mentored many secretaries and clerks transforming them into junior traders.

In 1998, brimming with over 25 years of business experience, Maria founded Coach Maria, a business growth and solutions company dedicated to helping high-achieving female CEOs, presidents, and executives attract higher-end clients and profits. In 2007, with a name change to Elevating Your Business, Maria niched to help independent accounting and financial advisors find more clients, improve revenues, increase productivity and bring work-life balance to their lives. She customizes solutions to detect and overcome each client's unique obstacles, helping them realize a business and lifestyle they only imagined possible.

Maria's Wall Street career distinguishes her in the field of strategic coaching and advising. Her understanding of core business fundamentals and profitability has benefited clients whose sales range from pre-start-up to $30 million per year. She has been a certified One Page Business Plan® consultant since 2002 by the One Page Business Plan Company, an international consulting firm. She has assisted CEOs, presidents, executives, and their teams, creating over 70 strategic business plans. Some of these strategic plans have been featured in business books, most notably as samples in Jim Horan's best-selling book, "The One Page Business Plan®". The One Page Business Plan® was recommended by O, The Oprah Magazine and Money Magazine.

Maria pioneered the "Business Checkup Assessment," a simple process used to determine the "stuck" areas of a business as well as areas that deserve a "hurrah!" After many requests to share her insights, Maria created a step-by-step program called "Corporate Secrets Marketing™." Her concepts have been quoted regularly in prestigious media outlets including: Entrepreneur magazine, Money Magazine, RIA Biz, Jim Cramer's "The Street," Women's Day Magazine, Market Watch, Advisor Max, and The Bottom Line (see some links after this bio). Her strategies are also featured in several books including books Six Steps to Free Publicity by Marcia Yudkin, Streetwise Small Business Book of Lists edited by Gene Marks, The Woman's Advantage Calendar and Find Your Inner Betty by Tanner Stransky and 9 eWorkbooks she's authored.

Always keen on mastering the latest technology for business success, Maria has long utilized the Internet as a marketing tool. As early as 1994, she was a pioneer at the Forums (bulletin boards) on Prodigy and About.com (precursors to today's social networking sites). She has created ten websites for her own businesses from scratch. Maria has been using Web 2.0 since 2002, starting with Ryze and Eacademy. An early LinkedIn® trailblazer with an account opened in 2004, Maria is number 399,626 of 10 million users. She has given several presentations about LinkedIn® via teleseminars and in-person speaking events. Her profile has been featured in LinkedIn® tutorial videos. She has been invited to speak on this timely topic by the public library system and Rotary International.

She'll deliver fabulous commentary to your firm or audience, too! Maria has spoken internationally at more than 100 business and association meetings, retreats, conferences, as well as on radio and TV shows. Maria is also an Internet-marketing veteran, trained life coach, certified teleseminar leader, author, and newspaper columnist. A true type "A" personality - and proud of it!

A life-long volunteer, Maria tutored first-graders at age 10, and has been recognized with 12 certificates of recognition from the NYC Parks Department and two community services awards for her work with teenagers, beach clean-ups, and protecting trees. She currently holds memberships at the National Association of Female Executives (NAFE), Women Impacting Public Policy, Women Business Advisors Alliance, LinkedIn, LinkedFA, and Poulsbo First Lutheran Church.

Maria is a very proud native New Yorker who lives near Seattle, Washington. She is currently single (looking) and enjoys playing cards, playing games, gardening, attending the theater, driving around the country, attending concerts, or perusing hardware and office supply stores.

Next Step...

Contact Maria today and take the first step toward an elevated bottom line, turbo-charged productivity, and a sparkling quality of life. Click here to schedule an exploratory session. Or call us at 425-440-9659.

Top 30 Coaching Gurus 2011

Former Monthly Columnist

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Testimonial

"Maria isn't known as the Resource Queen for nothing - she knows everything there is to know about running a business successfully and where to go to find the tools and services to do it. Maria's advice and strategy has been invaluable to the clarification and execution of my business goals."
--Nicole Wexler, Decorator & Stager, Turquoise Decor, Seattle, WA, http://www.TurquoiseDecor.com