Our People and Partners

We are a team passionate about excellent performance – yours and ours. Gain insight into what makes each of us wake up and smell that first cup of coffee, or roses, in the morning.

Ted Harro practices the art of linking strategy, everyday business, and the long-term growth capacity of your organization. Ted asks provocative questions and opens your eyes to new possibilities. You gain clarity on core organizational issues working with him. He turns light bulb moments into action plans and results – all while unearthing the true issues in your group’s dynamics.

As the founder of Noonday Ventures, Ted provides overall leadership for Noonday engagements, provides strategic facilitation, and delivers keynote presentations. Ted’s background includes leading the professional services division of Wilson Learning Worldwide. Ted has helped facilitate and implement plans for a variety of well-known organizations in technology, industrial, professional services and nonprofit environments in the U.S. and Western Europe. He also provides leadership coaching to a select group of senior and emerging leaders.  Ted holds a Masters in Organization Communication from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

In Ted's free time, he writes, teaches soccer and piano to his kids, and finds any way possible to be outdoors.

Fun Fact to Know: Ted walked solo across England from the Irish Sea to the North Sea

Jane Blinde personifies an extraordinary sales consultant. She understands sales people and customers to their core. Her tool kit unlocks tricky sales challenges. Jane leads sales teams in providing long-term value – in addition to out-foxing the competition. She has taught and coached countless high-end sales teams around the world. That’s experience that sales executives have come to value.

Jane's background includes positions in marketing, sales and sales leadership with organizations such as Allis-Chalmers, AT&T, Northwestern Bell, US West and Wilson Learning Worldwide. Her ability to gain insight into the most sensitive client situations ensures Jane stands out in a crowd. Jane has a M.S. in Organizational Leadership/Ethics.

Fun Fact to Know: Before her sales consulting career, Jane was trained as an
operatic singer.

Dave Wondra listens with keen discernment. He understands the unwritten, unspoken dynamics of the executive suite. His observations make Dave a master at executive coaching. His 20 years of professional Human Resource experience took Dave from the US to Europe and Asia where he coached senior executives on transition issues. You will find Dave confidential, trustworthy and approachable.  He often plays a role of trusted advisor to the senior leaders of Noonday's clients.

Dave's background includes coaching leaders at Abbott laboratories, Bell Canada, General Mills, Lucent Technologies, Opportunity International, The Star Tribune Company, Wells Fargo and many others. He has professional certification in Individual and Organization Coaching from the Hudson Institute and holds a Professional Certified Coach designation from the International Coach Federation. As adjunct faculty, he teaches for the Graduate School of the University of Saint Thomas.

Fun Fact to Know: Dave is an accomplished trumpet player with a repertoire ranging from classical to jazz and funk.

Terra Lawrie supports our clients in a variety of ways. She often participates in client research and keeps the engine of our projects moving. She administers and debriefs feedback tools for our clients. Her dependability, cheerfulness and insight make her an invaluable team member. Terra's background includes several years on Baxter's human resources staff. She has an MBA in Human Resources from Michigan State.

Fun Fact to Know:  To cover her bases, Terra has degrees from both of Michigan's rival universities: University of Michigan and Michigan State.

Leslie Miller puts her extensive testing and measurement expertise to work for you so that you can link your most important talent to your critical business strategies.  She blends the action-oriented pragmatism of a businessperson with the technical depth of a Ph.D. for a unique blend of expertise and expediency.  She creates user-friendly tools to measure, assess, and develop the talent that most affects your strategy's successful implementation.

Leslie has extensive experience in high tech, financial services, pharmaceutical, transportation, and non-profit/government sectors.  She has a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and teaches undergraduate and graduate level courses in organizational leadership and human resources disciplines. 

Fun Fact to Know: In earlier years, Leslie was an accomplished gymnast.  An Army brat, she won the all-around competition for Europe-based Department of Defense schools when she was in high school.

Gayle Kirkeby brings extensive sales leadership and general management experience to your organization.  Her energetic and practical approach quickly reveals her real-world experience.  While she is well versed in sales theory, her core strength is her ability to execute sales strategy that achieves results.

She has been the senior sales executive responsible for global growth of sales and the sales organizations. She has successfully implemented strategic territory, account, and opportunity planning processes and tools that delivered improved results.  She has a knack for accelerating the time to performance of high-end consultative sales organizations and ensuring that sales people have the tools, skills, and knowledge to perform effectively.

Gayle has a liberal arts undergraduate degree and an MBA from St. Thomas University in St. Paul , Minnesota.

Fun Fact to Know: In her spare time, she enjoys traveling to Italy and working on her golf handicap.