Client Testimonials

John’s contributions to my growth as a leader, and to our team have been invaluable. Through executive coaching, he helps us to create clarity, define focus, ensure alignment and achieve consistent results. While facilitating strategic planning sessions, he works with our team to go deeper, tackle the tough topics and get to the next level. His insight, guidance and coaching make a real impact and he is a gifted coach and facilitator. 

-Pam Preston, Chief Operating Officer at Stowell Associates Inc. 

John has been helping SimuQuest scale up over the last several months. I am wary of outside help generally, but the experience with John has been excellent. He is tactful, but able to ask the tough questions to make sure the leadership team is focusing on what is most important to grow the company. His experience enables himm to allow us to find our direction, while offering guidance as needed. This help has been invaluable-the kind of thing we tended to think we could do ourselves only to eventually find out it’s much harder than we thought. 

-John Mills, CEO at SimuQuest

John has been involved with our executive team for the last several months now, and we are seeing great growth from his input, his facilitating and ability to keep our focus sharp on our primary meeting goals. With John’s participation in our high level meetings, we are free to explore deeper areas of our organization, our culture, and our ability to lead our individual teams. Thank you John for being able to see what we are too close to … and helping guide us toward meaningful change. I highly recommend John to help any size company in any stage of development. His life experiences, current business observations, and strong commitment to following processes will help guide your team to focus and address those things that are most critically important to achieving your growth objectives.

 -Ken Goldberg, SVP Sales, MJS Pakaging

John is awesome, we have used his services for the past two years to conduct our annual planning process. He runs a great meeting, he keeps it on track and is not afraid to tackle the uncomfortable issues. His knowledge is top notch and he relates this knowledge with his personal experiences. I would recommend John for any of your management needs.

 -Jim Johnson, CFO, Sport View Technology 

I was a bit skeptical initially when we decided to have John facilitate our two-day execute annual business planning last October having always facilitated in-house previously. WOW sums up our experience; best retreat ever, really helped us hone our strategy and establish a great quarterly plan to ensure we stay on target. We’ve retained John permanently to lead our quarterly planning sessions and provide monthly coaching to our leadership team. I highly recommend John if you have any interest in taking your business to the next level. “

-Dale Mansour, CEO, NuSoft Solutions 

As the CEO of a nearly 20-year-old professional services firm, I have relied on John to give me sound advice and wise counsel over the years. I was delighted to see him in his current role as an EM Advisor so that we can work together in a more formal coaching capacity. His EM work with me has moved my business forward in a short period of time. Most importantly, John has a natural consulting style that balances objectivity and reality with the motivation to make change. I find him to be of particular value to me in three key areas: sales process and pipeline; revenue forecasting; and management of my leadership team. EM has some really helpful tools that allow me to put John’s advice into action. If you are a business leader who aspires to take your organization to its highest maximum potential, work with John.”

-Lisa Vallee-Smith, CEO & Founder, Airfoil Group  

John, your presentation was fantastic and so “real world.” That’s refreshing because many of the things we hear are theory. What you have to say is where the rubber meets the road! For someone who has been there and done that and is actually right in the thick of it, I greatly appreciate you helping me.”

-Gary Cooper, Executive Chairman, Palmetto Infusion Services

John conducted an off-site meeting with my core management team to do an execution tune up. John was able to get excellent participation and input from the group. We left with a better understanding of our key priorities and next steps to grow the business. I would highly recommend this session for companies looking to get improved communication and focus.” 

-Jonas Rodger, Owner, Hi-Watt Thermal Industrial Solutions

John and I have known each other for 7 or 8 years and I just hired him to facilitate our annual strategy retreat and ongoing advisor. I’ve been through a dozen strategy retreats and this one was the best. John was excellent. Our team is better with his guidance. 

-Chip Measells, CEO, Stowell Associates

I have had the pleasure of working with John in his role as President of two companies in different industries. John has great vision that enables him to quickly see the opportunities and challenges facing the organizations he serves. He has the strategic mind and leadership skills to successfully lead his team through very complex situations. John is a quick study with a passion for learning and a passion for sharing what he has learned with others. Combined with his can do attitude, his passion inspires those who follow his lead to achieve their highest potential. “

-Mike Limauro, CEO, Renewal Road

John is an incredible coach and adviser. My firm hired John in July of 2018 to provide insight into our growth barriers and facilitate “The Execution Tune-up”. John went above an beyond the scope of our engagement to gain intimate knowledge of each KEY Executive and their associated business objectives. John is very level-headed and articulate. My Team was left enlightened and empowered at the conclusion of our initial engagement. John will be involved in future executive interactions to include co-facilitation of our annual Strategic Planning Retreat.”

-Josh Shanahan, CEO, SVT Technology Solutions

I would like to thank John for the mentorship he provided me at Arrow Strategies. John made a significant impact on my life both personally and professionally. He always believed in me, challenged me, encouraged me and inspired me. John’s visionary mindset and ability to connect with people makes him an individual who creates positive change. John put me in the position to better myself while providing expert insight and discipline. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with John. 

-Paul Long, Manager of Talent Delivery

There are a handful of people in my 25-year career that made me pause and take time to admire their talents. John is one of those people. Not only is he smart and articulate, but humble and wants the best for results for the team. I had the pleasure to be part of a 2-day business planning session with John. He knew exactly what buttons to press to force the team to work together. John is focused on having a high performing management teams. He is one of the best business coaches I have encountered. If you have an SMB sized business and looking for a business coach, I highly recommend to hire John’s services.

-Rayan Hanoudi, Director of Consulting and Delivery at Avtex

I just want to THANK YOU again for an insightful, educational, and meaningful 2-days of sessions and SWOT analysis. The discussions, information and tools you provided are invaluable! I gained so much knowledge from your presentation, and I am excited to start implementing some of the tools you provided to help my team and our company achieve success!  You helped me realize there are many areas I need to improve upon and actions I personally need to start owning and incorporating. 

-Devra Miller, Chief  Chica, Miamica

John and I worked very well together because he was truly an “open door” type of leader. John had a lot of great ideas but he would not dictate how they should be carried out, he welcomed smart and creative solutions to solving challenges and creating a healthy culture. No matter the situation, John was able to remain calm and cultivate honest and powerful conversations. It was a pleasure and an honor to work with John and any organization would be better for having him in it.

-Rachel Hamill, Regional Sales Manager at Atlas Copco USA

As we looked to continue the growth of our 134-year-old company, we felt it was imperative to engage a strategic advisor to guide us through the strategic planning process. After spending three days with John Ninkovich, not only did we have a plan with clear priorities, but our Executive Team’s feedback was that this was the best meeting in which they have ever participated. Our initial work with John was so successful that we have decided to engage him to work with our team through the next year.”

-David Lubin, President, MJS Packaging

John Ninkovich is a proven leader. We have worked with John over the past year and he has truly helped Interior Environments understand not only how we got to where we are today but more importantly what we should be focusing on that will get us to the next level. John has helped us identify the leaders in our organization and worked together with us to make sure our executive team had aligned goals. If you are looking for a strategy coach to help your business, I would highly recommend John Ninkovich.

-Steve Cojei, Owner & Founder, Director of Sales | Interior Environments