Meet Our Team
Individually, we are skilled and driven.
Together, we are unstoppable!
Virtanza is currently hiring!
Click here to visit our LinkedIn page and job opportunities with our team.
Founder and CEO | Debbie is a pioneer leading fundamental change in the higher education system by implementing a real-world sales education platform directly connected to employers. She has three decades of experience managing sales teams with Fortune 500 and national companies to achieve more than $1 billion in sales. After her career as a corporate executive, her successful business consulting company sales-certified more than 2,000 adults, conducted more than 9,000 employer field calls, and helped 35 companies in 26 States generate $14M+ in market share revenues.
Determined to solve the massive gap in training sales professionals to meet the market demand for sales expertise, she launched Virtanza in 2018. Debbie is author of Virtanza: The Art and Science of Successful Selling for Business-to-Business Sales Professionals and is creator of the 4-step Virtanza Sales Process.
Email Debbie@virtanza.com | LinkedIn
Chief Admissions Officer, Certified Instructor | Jim has been a key member of the Virtanza team since 2013, serving several roles, the most recent of which are Lead Sales Educator and University Sales Director. A seasoned sales strategist, performance coach, and entrepreneur, he has worked with both Fortune 500 and privately held companies, including startups, in the technology, digital marketing, and sales coaching/training arenas. Prior to his experience as a consultant, Jim managed flagship brands in consumer package goods (Proctor & Gamble), adult beverages (Diageo), held executive positions in start-ups, both lead product and sales positions for McGraw-Hill and led sales operations for Reed Business Information. Jim is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and has an MBA from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan.
Email Jim@virtanza.com | LinkedIn
VP, Instruction & Sales Operations | Stephanie is a leader with expertise in sales/marketing operations and management. She has demonstrated analytical, communications, and project management experience across a variety of industries. Stephanie is a consummate listener and skilled questioner with proven execution and transformative vision.
Her 25-year career has taken her through many roles including selling art, metals, and telecommunications, and sales/marketing leadership in the CRM space; she is the founder of Stephanie L King Consulting, a marketing consultancy, as well as three other ventures. Stephanie’s experience in education includes time lecturing at Mount Mercy University, writing test questions for the ACT, and leading testing operations with Pearson. Recently returned from a year in China, Stephanie is excited to work with the next generation of sales professionals certified through Virtanza.
Stephanie holds a Master’s of Business from the Henry R Tippie School of Management, University of Iowa, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Commerce from Kellstadt School of Business, DePaul University. | Email stephanie@virtanza.com | LinkedIn
Certified Instructor | Known for her charisma, creativity and the genuine care she has for her clients, peers, staff, and students, Bernice Burns is a seasoned sales and management professional who brings over 30 years of real-world perspective to the Virtanza team. She has exceptional communication skills, and she works tirelessly to connect with those around her to create solutions and drive results.
Bernice is especially accomplished at prospecting and needs analysis, sales cycle planning and follow-through, relationship building, negotiation and closing the deal. Her impressive career includes assignments at The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Business Journal, Thomson Reuters, Gannett/USA Today Network, American Banker and American Lawyer. She holds a BA from Connecticut College, and she earned her MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Email Bernice@virtanza.com | LinkedIn
Chief Content Officer | Kylie is a communications professional with a background in writing, editing, marketing, and project coordination. She began working for Virtanza in 2012 as a part-time contractor and now works as the team’s Content Director. Kylie has a strong interest in education technology and the learning opportunities it provides to people around the globe.
Prior to her current role, Kylie worked as a contractor in Facebook’s Global Security department. She created internal processes to optimize her team's workflow, provided weekly reports, and wrote content for internal company posts.
Kylie is an alumnus of Stanford University, where she graduated with a B.A. in English and a B.A. in Film and Media Studies. Outside of work, she is an active volunteer in the environmental community and is passionate about wildlife conservation.
Email kylie@virtanza.com | LinkedIn
Admissions Director, Certified Instructor | Mike is a Sales Manager, Sales Trainer, and Account Executive with thirty-five plus years as a buyer and seller of advertising and marketing products. Recently retired after twenty award-winning years with The Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News, and Inquirer.com, Mike sold newspaper and digital advertising to companies large and small, specializing in B2C companies and political campaigns. Mike is skilled in account acquisition, relationship building, and sales training. Mike is a practitioner of the Virtanza Sales Training Process and recognizes the value of the Needs Assessment Step in determining solutions for customers and future customers.
Trained by sales professionals at Dale Carnegie Training, Knight Ridder Excellence, and Sales Consultants International, Mike also sold for Metro International, the world's largest newspaper group, and Review Publishing. He also ran his own advertising agency, Philly Ad Sales, buying local advertising for area retailers and service companies. Prior to becoming a seller of advertising, Mike was a buyer of marketing and advertising time and space for a multi-location retailer in the area for over fifteen years.
Mike received a BA from the School of Communications at Temple University.
Email mikepg@virtanza.com | LinkedIn
COO, Certified Instructor | Michael has worked almost two decades in startups and venture-financed companies, raising over $100M of angel and venture financing. He has co-founded or held C-level roles at numerous early-stage companies, with five exits. In addition to his role at Select,
Michael is a lecturer in technology entrepreneurship with the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute at the University of Maryland. Michael has a BS in Finance from East Carolina University and an MS, Marketing from Johns Hopkins University.
Email Michael@virtanza.com | LinkedIn
Certified Instructor | Emmanuelle has a rich background with over 15 years of experience as a business coach and consultant. She works with clients to facilitate long-lasting changes that impact effectiveness, productivity, and satisfaction through a thoughtful blend of accelerated learning techniques. Through engaging, interactive approaches and stimulating, creative learning experiences, she establishes excellent rapport with participants.
A highly skilled facilitator and lecturer, Emmanuelle brings real-world experiences to the classroom. In addition to running her own practice, she has served in leadership roles in education, marketing, and business development at privately held companies, start-ups, and nonprofit organizations.
Emmanuelle holds an MBA from National University as well as two bachelor’s degrees in international business from L’École Supérieure de Commerce in Troyes, France, and the Hogeschool van Utrecht, the Netherlands. She is also a certified DiSC trainer and Hypnotherapist.
Email emmanuelle@virtanza.com | LinkedIn
Certified Instructor | Stephanie Lang has been working in Learning & Development for the past seven years and is known for leading with a heart and a growth mindset to facilitate change in individuals and groups. She earned her BA in Global Studies from UCLA and is certified in DiSC, in coaching and facilitation through the Association for Talent Development, and Diversity and Inclusion through Cornell University.
Stephanie's interest in diversity and inclusion merged with sales when she worked at Toco Warranty. There, she worked on making the company's sales job postings more inclusive, resulting in a 10% increase in female applicants. This ultimately increased the number of women on the sales floor.
As a former dancer and with a background in improv, Stephanie adds a splash of creativity to every group she works with.
Email stephanie.e.k.lang@gmail.com | LinkedIn
Certified Instructor | Tony is a life-long Philadelphia resident and is the Vice-President of Local Advertising, Labor, and Operations at the Philadelphia Inquirer. A career sales leader and selling professional, he has worked in advertising sales and management for the past 27 years after 10 years of sales and management in the retail industry. A graduate of the prestigious Cornell ILR School for Labor and Industrial Relations, he has helped to negotiate 3 labor contracts and served as first chair in the current agreement with the Greater Philadelphia NewsGuild and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Tony attended Morgan State University and holds executive certificates from The Wharton School, University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Temple University, and a mini-MBA from the University of Buffalo.
Email tony@virtanza.com | LinkedIn
Certified Instructor | Laurie Lane is a Sales and Leadership professional with over 30 years of proven success leading high-performance teams to build effective content and strategic sales initiatives.
Recently retired, she leaves a legacy of 22 years with the Walt Disney Company specifically the last 9 with Disney Institute where she led the content creation of all foundational Core Curriculum used in programming across multiple disciplines.
While at Disney, she also led the teams who created the technical, service and sales skill training for all the contact centers for the Walt Disney Travel Company and Disney catalogs.
Before Disney, she spent years fine-tuning her sales ability as an account manager for various industries specializing in consumer inside/outside sales as well as internal business to business.
She has dabbled as a small business owner and has recently established her own consulting company. Because of Laurie’s entrepreneurial spirit and love of new challenges, she looks forward to helping her clients meet their goals, now more than ever, during these challenging times.
Email laurie@virtanza.com | LinkedIn
Content Management and Student Relations | Katie is a professional writer and communication specialist with more than ten years of experience developing comprehensive message strategies for internal and external audiences. She created the training curriculum for a large multinational religious organization and has managed communication strategy and deliverables for a franchise network of 3,000. Katie is Virtanza’s curriculum writer. She holds an MA in Communications from California State University, Fullerton.
Email Katie@virtanza.com | LinkedIn
Certified Instructor | Shawna is a reputed change agent with a proven track record of reaching revenue goals through passionate leadership, the development of successful teams, and placing customer's goals first. She holds a Master’s Degree in Business, Management, Marketing and Related Support Services and a BS in Business Management from Hodges University. Shawna has spent her career as sales and training leader and executive, and she has been a mentor to many in advertising sales.
Email shawna@virtanza.com | LinkedIn