Adrian G. Simmons is a CPA innovating ways to put money in its place. His first debit was made in the classrooms of Loyola University Maryland, where he completed his studies in 2000, and then launched out as an auditor with KPMG Baltimore. He was relieved to have passed the CPA exam in one sitting so he could avoid more studying, but was surprised to learn that it came with an Elijah Watts Sells Silver medal. In 2002, he left KPMG to join his father in public practice, and began the work of serving small businesses, individuals, and non-profits. Since that time, the practice has grown to now four individuals, and the team works together to help customers become financially strong, so that they can focus on what truly matters in life. Adrian likes tech, uses a fountain pen, prefers dark over milk chocolate, and is happy to say he recently survived a half-marathon. His faith is very important to him, and he teaches Sunday school at his local parish. He also likes the out-of-doors, always keeping an eye out for ways to walk, hike, bike, ski, scuba, camp, swim, and others — one he’d really like to do soon is whitewater rafting. In the world of accounting, his interests lie in finding ways to make business more human, in keeping numbers secondary as a support to life aspirations, and in molding technology to enable creative expression. He is excited to be a part of the network of Thrivealists who share this passion, and are pioneering a new future for the profession.

Angie serves as President of The Rainmaker Companies and previously served as the Director of Consulting for The Rainmaker Companies for several years. 
Consistently named by Accounting Today Magazine as “one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting” and listed as a 40 Under 40 in the Accounting Industry by CPA Practice Advisor, Grissom is a frequent presenter at national conferences, Angie is renowned for her influence in and passion for the industry. She brings all this to her role at The Rainmaker Companies, striving to share her proven knowledge and know-how to transform the lives of clients through consulting, coaching, training and developing accountability within accounting firms.

Mission: “To, once and for all, bury the billable hour and timesheet in the professions”

Ronald J. Baker started his CPA career in 1984 with KPMG’s Private Business Advisory Services in San Francisco. Today, he is the founder of VeraSage Institute—the leading think tank dedicated to educating professionals internationally—and a radio talk-show host on the www.VoiceAmerica.com show: The Soul of Enterprise: Business in the Knowledge Economy.

As a frequent speaker, writer, and educator, his work takes him around the world. He has been an instructor with the California CPA Education Foundation since 1995 and has authored fifteen courses for them, including: You Are What You Charge For: Success in Today’s Emerging Experience Economy (with Daniel Morris); Alternatives to the Federal Income Tax; Trashing the Timesheet: A Declaration of Independence; Everyday Economics; Everyday Ethics: Doing Well by Doing Good; The Best Business Books You Should Read; Pricing on Purpose: Creating and Capturing Value; Measure What Matters to Customers; and Innovating Your Business Model.

He is the author of six best-selling books, including: Professional’s Guide to Value Pricing; The Firm of the Future: A Guide for Accountants, Lawyers, and Other Professional Services, co-authored with Paul Dunn; Pricing on Purpose: Creating and Capturing Value; Measure What Matters to Customers: Using Key Predictive Indicators; and Mind Over Matter: Why Intellectual Capital is the Chief Source of Wealth; and his latest book, Implementing Value Pricing: A Radical Business Model for Professional Firms.

Ron has toured the world, spreading his value-pricing message to over 120,000 professionals. He has been appointed to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountant’s Group of One Hundred, a think tank of leaders to address the future of the profession; named on Accounting Today’s 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012, and 2013 Top 100 Most Influential People in the profession; voted number six and nine of the Top ten Most Influential People in the profession in 2012 and 2013; selected as one of LinkedIn’s Influencer Bloggers; and received the 2003 Award for Instructor Excellence from the California CPA Education Foundation. He graduated in 1984, from San Francisco State University, with a Bachelor of Science in accounting and a minor in economics. He is a graduate of Disney University and Cato University, and is a faculty member of the Professional Pricing Society. He resides in Petaluma, California.