Meet the Mona Lisa Mentors
Director, Strategic Engagement & Ecosystem Development at The Wond’ry, Vanderbilt University
Yesi has 20+ years of experience in leadership roles across varying global biotech and healthcare industries, consulting, and higher education. She has focused on the following priorities 1) Corporate: marketing, business development, client engagement, innovation; 2) Nonprofit: community engagement, fundraising, innovation, Diversity; and 3) Education: co-curricular student engagement, marketing, fundraising, design-thinking, innovation, and Diversity Equity & Inclusion. Yesi holds a B.G.S. from the University of Miami, and a certificate in Multicultural Mentoring from the University of Florida. Her diverse industry background, global business acumen and multilingual skills make her an invaluable resource in innovating, collaborating, building, and leading.
Yesenia B. Sevilla
Holistic Business Coach and Speaker
A Nashville-based Business Consultant and Keynote Speaker, Tiffany Napper excels in turning overwhelmed creative business owners into thriving CEOs.
In 2011, she left a successful career in the music industry where she spearheaded campaigns for Yamaha with Elton John, Alicia Keys, and Disney, to name a few.
But her entrepreneurial spirit was calling, so she walked away to launch her own PR and branding agency and went on to represent more well-known names including Memphis’ biggest fan, Marc Cohn, and the founder of hip hop, Grandmaster Flash.
Fourteen years later, with five six-figure, self-funded ventures under her belt including an agency and a handbag line, Tiffany now holds the title of business consultant and strategic advisor with great pride.
In 2020, she founded the Upleveler Society to make underpaid and overwhelmed female founders a thing of the past. Through coaching and community, she helps entrepreneurs gain clarity on their numbers, improve their leadership skills, and become confident six- and seven-figure entrepreneurs.
Through her podcast, This or More, Tiffany shares her wealth of knowledge with other dreamers and doers. She also serves as a mentor to young women in business at Vanderbilt University and The University of Texas at Austin.
Tiffany believes that skills, enthusiasm, and support are crucial for success, and that by cultivating the first two and by being humble enough to accept the third, anyone can make their dreams come true.
Tiffany Napper
Founder at DG Consulting Services
With over a decade of experience in finance and accounting, Diana Gleason honed her expertise to serve as the Founder and CEO of DG Accounting Agency, where she empowers creative entrepreneurs with organized, efficient financial systems. DG's mission aligns with Diana's core value of enabling business growth through clarity in numbers.
At DG Accounting Agency, Diana has been dedicated to transforming small business owners' approach to bookkeeping. By leveraging advanced accounting software and techniques, Diana and her team provide support that includes accounting, payroll processing, and sales tax management. Diana's role goes beyond mere oversight; it involves actively engaging with clients to empower them with the financial insights they need to drive profitability and success.
As a former professional dancer and creative, Diana's approach to money is easy, fun and judgement free. Most entrepreneurs don’t go into business with strong financial literacy- and Diana aims to educate and empower every step of the way.
Diana Gleason
Deanna Meador is CEO of tech company Couture Technologies and apparel brand Freedom Company, as well as the co-founder of CHALK Coaching. She is also the lead instructor for the Mid-South I-Corps Hub at Vanderbilt University.
She began Couture Technologies to empower apparel companies with virtual fitting technology, 3D garment creation services, and enhanced data analytics designed to reduce returns. Couture Technologies is a NSF-funded company that was recognized as one of the Top 9 tech startups in the world during the Olympics of Tech, the 2023 Most Innovative Apparel E-Commerce Tech Solution, 2022 Most Innovative Apparel Sales Software Company in the World, and one of the Top 3D Companies in Tennessee.
Deanna is a successful serial tech entrepreneur that describes herself as never meeting a challenge she didn’t like. She started her first company during graduate school and grew it to multiple locations until it was acquired by a larger company. After selling this company, she developed a paperless data collection system for collecting assessment and observational data. This system was adopted by universities across the U.S., South Africa, Portugal, Australia and Sweden. In 2017, she joined 3 other inventors to develop Chalk Coaching, a tool for improving classroom experiences for preschool and kindergarten children through collaborative, data-driven coaching.
On March 8th, 2023, International Women’s Day, Deanna made history when she became the first woman to raise $1.5M in 8 hours. She intentionally structured her raise in this way to start to change the narrative around the lack of funding for women-owned companies.
Deanna was the recipient of the Unsung Hero award for her work with underserved youth, as well as the Young Alumni Achievement Award from her undergraduate university for her innovations (the highest honor the university bestows on alumni under the age of 40, out of over 400 nominees).
Deanna was part of the founding team that started the Wond’ry, Vanderbilt University’s Innovation Center. Through her role as the former Deputy Director, she taught over 17 cohorts of aspiring entrepreneurs and mentored over 600 teams as they evaluated new technologies and launched new ventures. She is a certified national instructor for the National Science Foundation’s I-Corps program and in this role, she leads entrepreneurial training cohorts for teams from across the country. Deanna really enjoys working with creators, inventors, and entrepreneurs that dedicate their lives and talents to making a positive impact in the world
Deanna Meador
Brielle Cotterman is an Inc. 5,000 speaker, Contributor at Entrepreneur, Activist Against Domestic Violence, Publicity Expert, Founder of the Influential Leader Agency and President of CEO School. She has spent nearly fifteen years helping clients craft and scale Dream careers to multiple 7 figures and beyond by building world renowned personal brands and leveraging their stories to create speaking tours, author award-winning books, procure media placements and inspire millions. She is a survivor of attempted murder and domestic violence and an advocate for a world where intimate partner abuse is not tolerated and survivors are met with empathy.
Her clients are regularly featured in Inc., Forbes, Fast Company, Martha Stewart Living, Cosmopolitan and many more! She is a graduate of Indiana University in Bloomington, a World’s Grand Champion Equestrian, former National Spokesperson for multiple charitable organizations, Former Title Holder and Director within the Miss America Organization, Member of The Public Relations Society of America, Member of the Association of Image Consultants International, 2019 Epic Award Nominee from the National Association of Women Business Owners and named a finalist for 2023’s Most Admired Woman Entrepreneur by Today’s Woman Magazine.
Brielle has been married for 5 years to the love of her life and owns & operates a horse farm, where she lives with her husband, three children, 12 horses, mini cow and two dogs.