About Optimum Associates Executive Coaches

After receiving his B.A. in mathematics from Cornell University, Marty completed his Ph.D. in clinical psychology at Temple University. From 1972 to 1986 Marty specialized in the field of training. This experience included training trainers, designing training, being Vice-President of Sales for a training company and eventually president of his own company. In 1986 he began his career as an executive coach and has become the coach of choice for many companies. Marty has coached thousands of executives in his one-to-one sessions. About one-half of these executives are women, people of color and non-U.S. executives.

Marty’s current clients include PepsiCo, Disney, Becton Dickinson, MGM-Mirage, Frito-Lay, Qualcomm, T. Rowe Price, ICI Paints, Satyam, YUM Restaurants, Sun Trust Bank, Pepsi Bottling Group, J.C. Penney and Johnson Controls.

As an organizational consultant Marty specializes in team building, conflict resolution, feedback systems and skills and workshops in building and maintaining trust. With a career spanning over thirty years and around the globe, Marty has trained tens of thousands of executives through his seminars and coached over 1500 executives one-on-one. Marty has written numerous books including Survival of the Savvy: High-Integrity Political Tactics for Career and Company Success (Free Press, 2004) which was a Wall Street Journal Best Seller and Super Selling Through Self-Talk: The Ultimate Edge in Sales Success (Price Stern Sloan, Inc., 1986). His most recent book is Customer Tells (Kaplan Publishing 2007), which is co-authored with John Futterknecht and Ben Sorensen and focuses on how to deliver exceptional customer service. Dr. Seldman, who is President of Optimum Associates and his team of John Futterknecht and Ben Sorensen train thousands of individuals every year in organizations across a wide spectrum of industries. In addition to Marty’s corporate work, he is active in the non-profit sector as a coach and consultant. He also serves on the boards of four organizations that work in the areas of human rights and poverty alleviation.

Following his undergraduate academic and athletic success John followed his passion for helping others maximize their potential by receiving a Master of Arts from Colorado State University in Adult Education and Training.

John soon found the ideal union of his competitive drive with his passion for helping others in executive coaching and training. Partnering with Dr. Marty Seldman, one of the world’s most experienced and successful executive coaches, John has not only learned from the best in the business but has trained thousands of individuals in organizations across a wide spectrum of industries including financial services, pharmaceutical sales, manufacturing, gaming, and consumer goods.

John is often called upon to coach executives in challenging situations to leverage their abilities and to bring about behavioral change making them even more valuable team members. In addition to coaching, John routinely leads seminars helping managers provide more effective feedback to employees thus providing the greatest opportunity for individual growth and organizational success. John also spends much of his time at Fortune 100 companies helping executives learn the dynamics of organizational politics and then teaching them how to optimize their career path and success by leveraging the tools of organizational savvy.

John is a co-author of Customer Tells (Kaplan Publishing 2007) which focuses on how to deliver exceptional customer service.

and the educational field having worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers and Pfizer where he was one of the top producing health care representatives. In addition to his sales successes, Ben was elected to Pfizer’s Executive Leadership Council.

Ben draws on his work experience from both the private and public sector to help individuals in corporate, governmental and non-profit organizations improve communication skills, resolve conflict, deliver effective customer service, provide more effective feedback to employees, and increase their organizational savvy to optimize their career path and success. Leading seminars and working with individuals on a one-to-one basis, Ben strives to help others attain their full professional potential while giving them skills applicable to their personal lives as well.

Ben is a graduate of Emory University, holds a Master of Arts in Leadership from Duquesne University, a Master of Divinity from Amridge University and received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. He co-authored Customer Tells (Kaplan Publishing 2007) which focuses on how to communicate effectively and deliver exceptional customer service. Ben serves on the board of directors of the Caribbean Education Foundation, Inc. He also proudly holds the rank of Lieutenant (junior grade) in the United States Navy Reserve, serving as an intelligence officer.

at internationally recognized companies including MGM MIRAGE (now MGM Resorts International), Textron, Inc., AlliedSignal, Inc. (now Honeywell, Inc.), Pepsico, Inc., and Ford Motor Company.  During her impressive career, Jovita served in a variety of leadership capacities at both publicly traded and private firms including Chief HR Officer, Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Global Vice President of Human Resources, Corporate Vice President of Employee & Labor Relations, and Sector Vice President of HR Shared Services (during which she created the first ever shared services organization for the firm). Additionally, Jovita effectively leveraged her leadership and keen business knowledge worldwide – across several continents including North & South America, Europe, and Asia.

Recognized for her proficiency in strategic planning, talent management, promoting enterprise-wide employee engagement, and the design & delivery of world-class HR programs and services, Jovita routinely transformed HR from a one-dimensional, administrative support role to that of a key driver of business strategy.  Renown throughout her career for her expertise in Business-HR alignment, Jovita is, by no means, a traditional Human Resources leader.  Her well-earned reputation as a visionary and consummate talent scout is matched by her sharp eye for uncovering competitive business opportunities–a skill combination rarely found and one in which she takes great pride.

An admired and respected speaker and executive coach, Jovita engages clients and audiences in an environment of experiential learning while coaching them on ground-breaking techniques to effectively push beyond personal, professional, or organizational limitations.

Jovita earned a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree from Tuskegee Institute.  She went on to acquire degrees of Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Industrial & Labor Relations (MILR) from Cornell University – dual graduate degrees in Business & Human Resources Management.  Jovita has the distinction of being the first person in Cornell’s history to be awarded both graduate degrees.  Additionally, she is a proud recipient of both the Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and Global Professional in Human Resources certifications.