J.R. has multiple sports performance related certifications, including ACE, USA Track & Field, and Athletic Republic’s Exercise Science certification. He is also a member of the National Strength & Conditioning Association. J.R. has been training athletes for the past 8 years, and has studied extensively with Westside Barbell’s “conjugate training”, Russian block periodization, and USA Track & Field. J.R. started training with Acceleration at the end of his 8th grade and continued with the Acceleration program for 15 years until he eventually became the Director of Acceleration Naperville.

Professional: While others were training at professional combine training facilities in preparation for the NFL Draft, J.R. trained himself in Macomb Illinois and posted amazing numbers. At 6’3”, 245 pounds, J.R. ran a 4.48 40 Yard Dash, 3.92 Pro Agility, 6.57 L-Cone, a 10’8” broad jump, a 42” Vertical Jump, and repped out 225 pounds 28 times in the bench press (Western Illinois and Ohio State‘s Pro Days).

In 2002, J.R. signed a free agent contract with the Seattle Seahawks practice squad. During week 3, the St. Louis Rams picked J.R. up to the active roster due to the retirement of Heisman Trophy Winner, Eric Crouch. J.R. spent the rest of the season on active roster for the Rams and was called the “NFL’s Fastest Fullback” by then St Louis Rams coach Mike Martz. J.R. continued to play 6 years in the NFL as a reserve fullback and special teams player also with the Oakland Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs, and Cleveland Browns.

J.R. also played in NFL Europe where he won a NFL World Bowl Championship, scoring the game’s last touchdown to cap off the victory. During last season, he was a lead blocker for Roger Robinson who owns the NFLE record for rushing yards in a season. J.R.’s NFLE Reebok jersey is currently the highest selling NFLE jersey of all time.

Throughout his career, he has trained and played with NFL Hall Of Fame members Jerry Rice, Rod Woodson, and John Randall, and future NFL Hall Of Fame members Randy Moss, Tony Gonzalez, and Marshall Faulk.

College: J.R. originally signed onto The Ohio State University to play football and run track. As a freshman, J.R. ran a personal best 20.9 200 meter dash. After his freshman year, he transferred to Western Illinois University to focus entirely on football. As a Leatherneck, J.R. was a 3 time All-American, leading the nations tight ends in multiple categories, multiple years. J.R. was recently named to the All-Time Missouri Valley Team, joining Kurt Warner, Rodney Harrison, and Naperville Central Alum, current New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton.

High School: J.R. was a 4 sport athlete in high school playing football, indoor track, outdoor track, and baseball. He earned All-State and All-American honors his senior year in high school for football and track and was a national standout 400 and 200 meter dash sprinter, placing second in the nation in the 4×400 relay, and boasting one of the fastest 200 meter dash times in the nation.

Diane Pomerance is the author of nine books, seven of which are nonfiction about animals. She has a deep love and profound respect for nature and all living creatures, and she writes and speaks of the interconnectedness and interdependence of the whole of life. She is an ardent animal lover and advocate who has rescued, rehabilitated and adopted more than 46 dogs over the past decades. She is deeply involved with animal welfare and the environment.

She is also a Grief Recovery Specialist who helps people recover from grief over any kind of loss, but has a special interest in helping those who have lost a beloved animal companion to cope with and recover from their grief. Animals are dearly loved and respected family members to many of us, and yet we have been socialized to feel ashamed or embarrassed by the intense grief we feel following their loss. Dr. Pomerance created and established the Pet Grief Counseling Program for the SPCA of Texas in 2000. It is a free service open to the public which offers bi-monthly grief recovery groups as well as telephone and one-on-one counseling. All of the grief counselors are specially trained SPCA of Texas volunteers.

Spirituality has been the passion, the “calling” of her life, and she has dedicated her life to spiritual research and exploration. A dear friend of hers introduced her (at age 15) to a book that would transform her life. It was called An Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda at. At about the same time she was also introduced to an Indian guru of the Sant Mat religious movement and spent a weekend retreat with him in Toronto, Canada. She was a voracious reader and felt a powerful affinity for the teachings of Sant Mat.

For many years Diane studied and conducted research into various world religions and philosophies ranging from Hinduism and Buddhism, Spiritualism and Theosophy, Sufi to Subud, etc.and was privileged to study with many great spiritual teachers and masters including J. Krishnamurti, Swami Muktananda, Gurumayi Chidvilisananda, Sri Daya Mata and contemporary life teachers such as M. Scott Peck, Jack Canfield and Dr. Leo Buscaglia.

She spent five years studying with and then writing the biography of her remarkable spiritual teacher and mentor, British psychic, medium/healer, Katherine Hayward who had been born in Wales in 1899 and had an out-of-the-body experience at the age of 7. Angelic beings encouraged her to return to the physical body and Katherine awoke in agonizing pain but speaking in a full, mature adult voice and being able to predict the future. Diane researched and witnessed numerous examples of psychic phenomena. Above all else, she learned a body of spiritual teachings that Katherine and her family had received from their Spirit Guides for a 6-month period of daily instruction during the early 1920’s regarding Life & Death – their meaning and purpose.

Diane holds a Ph.D. degree in Mass Media/Communications from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She earned her M.A. in Theater from the University of Michigan. She also received her B.A. in History and Speech from the University of Michigan along with a secondary education

teaching certification.

Diane loves animals and nature. She also loves to travel and has been to most parts of the world from Africa to Australia, South America to Asia, Europe to South America, and so on. She has an innate love of and respect for indigenous peoples and all non-violent cultures. Her exciting new book, Katherine: A Woman of Vision

Tisch is a New York based Astrologer with over a decade of experience. Based on your birthday, year, time, and place, Tisch looks at the current trends in your life.  She provides time frames and dates for upcoming love, career, personal, and financial cycles.  It is a great tool to maximize dates and make the most of your lucky cycles and transits. It is also useful to prepare and master the lessons from the more challenging cycles. 

Dr. Robert P. Holman is currently serving as the Interim Medical Director and Assistant Fire Chief for the Washington, DC Fire and Emergency Management System (EMS). DC has the highest per capita of 911 calls in the nation. He has served as the inter-agency Chair of the Integrated Healthcare Collaborative whose goal is to develop more appropriate avenues of same-day medical care for those with low acuity medical needs. This will involve the development of a nurse triage line for low acuity callers and non-emergent transport to outpatient care facilities throughout the District of Columbia.

Dr. Holman is leading efforts to divert low acuity callers away from the emergency transport system to more appropriate outpatient care settings through the Integrated Health Care Collaborative (IHC). The IHC has involved ~60 members from multiple governmental and non-governmental agencies.

He is also leading several new educational initiatives for the ~1,800 paramedics and EMT's working at DC FEMS. The Office of Medical Director (OMD) is responsible for medical oversight of each of the pre-hospital medical providers who responded to 170,000 EMS calls in 2016. The OMD is also responsible for the Street Calls division (its Community Paramedicine / Mobile Integrated Health program), Continued Quality Improvement, and the Controlled Medication program .

Previously, Dr. Holman was the Internal Medicine Discipline Director for Unity Health Care, and prior to that he was a Professor of Medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine for nearly 24 years, until May 2013.

About Robert Sjoquist:

Starting in 1977 with his first company, THE AVALANCHE COMPANY, Robert Sjoquist has always been fascinated with why people buy what they buy and what is the process that sets a value to a good or service?

The AVALANCHE COMPANY was a start-up based on an innovative way to remove snow from primarily Residential but also pitched Commercial roofs.  It was an amazing concept and a brilliant idea but the Inventor and company Founder had gone Bankrupt trying to get the AVALANCHE into the Mainstream Marketplace.  On his way to Bankruptcy he had rung up over $20,000.00 in Legal fees with Robert’s Father’s Patent and Trademarking Law Firm in Minneapolis, MN.

The result was that the firm, in order to try and salvage something from the account, took control of the limited inventory and all Patents and Trademarks that they had filed on behalf of the company and Attorney Sjoquist was tasked with “Get us some money for all of this”  In stepped Robert with a Guerilla Marketing Plan that eventually got the product noticed and successful and he and his Father bought the Patents and Trademarks from the Law Firm and 3 years later sold them for a HUGE Profit to a small manufacturing company in the Midwest.  By then Robert was off to his next innovative episode.

Soils Solutions LLC is Robert’s 12th start-up company and it truly brings together all that he has learned and had a passion for throughout his life.  The innovative and market making plants, amendments and erosion control products that Soils Solutions Is either exclusive with or, at least, one of a very few Distribution points for will all be centers of their own Worlds at some time in the not too distant future and building the bridges to those new worlds is what Robert LOVES to be a part of.

About Soils Solutions:

Soils Solutions Inc. is a Certified Small Business that scours available markets, growers and suppliers locally and around the World so as to offer the most efficient, cost effective, environmentally beneficial and highest quality Plant and Soils Solutions available anywhere.

Toward that goal we are partnered with Delta Bluegrass in Stockton, California to distribute their proprietary line of Native California Legacy Grasses which have been proven to require 40% - 50% less water than traditional fescue grass sods that have been in the market for years. Our Native California Grass Sods Program currently features 5 varietals and each have features and characteristics designed for different installation requirements and aesthetics.

Working with our partners at Delta we are currently bringing to market a true Paradigm Shift in Extremely Low Water Groundcover. The plant is called KURAPIA and at Delta they grow it as a sod that is delivered as 2’ X 5’ strips that are rolled up and placed on pallets for deliveries daily to homes and commercial addresses across Southern California. KURAPIA has been proven to require 80% - 90% less water than conventional grass sods. In testing at various Universities, here and abroad, areas of mature KURAPIA have shown to achieve root depths in excess of 10’ deep into the ground so as an Erosion Control tool it is unsurpassed. KURAPIA also flowers periodically throughout the hotter Summer months so it is an excellent pollinator for your neighborhoods and gardens.

Another product line that we are extremely excited about is the Concrete Cloth textile matting sold by Milliken Industries. Cal Trans, the U.S. Forest Service and hundreds of City, County and State Maintenance Departments are using Concrete Cloth daily in their repair and design plans as a Hard Armor to protect vulnerable areas from water and soil erosion. Artists, Sculptors and Outdoor Space designers have discovered Concrete Cloth to be an amazingly flexible “Canvas” for creating truly unique visual and structural environments that will last for decades. Landscape Designers that work with Water Features and Water Courses LOVE that they can use Concrete Cloth to create Waterfalls, Streambeds and Bank Contours that were previously not possible. All of that plus the fact that Concrete Cloth has a fabric top layer that is paintable, stainable and almost chameleonlike in it’s characteristic of blending into the environment into which it was placed has allowed for the creative release of dimensional design not found until now.

As always Soils Solutions Inc. continues to be a provider of California Native Seed Mixes for Hydroseeding Contractors, City, County and State Botanists and Horticultural Designers and even to Homeowners with Large areas of land that they wish to keep in a “Native” condition. We carry the highest quality and most intensively researched Mycorrhizals, Humates, Organically Derived Fertilizers and more Generalized Soils Conditioners available in the marketplace.

As the Director of Soils Solutions, I am constantly searching for NEW but PROVEN “better mousetraps” that I can bring to our loyal and expanding customer base.