O T A V A L A

At Otavala Consulting, we have partnered with many highly qualified associates, and have a team of skilled network consultants. Among them are colleagues from different areas of business administration, such as management, finance, sales & marketing, accounting, and organizational psychology. We also have access to a wide network of independent consultants and subject matter experts who can be sub-contracted to assist with specific needs.  

Dr. Tomi Wahlstrom, Lead Consultant

Doctor of Management – Colorado Technical University

Master of Arts in Human Resource Management – Hawaii Pacific University

Bachelor of Arts in Psychology – Hawaii Pacific University

Certificate in Quality Management

Certificate in Clinical Depth Psychology

The Lead Consultant and a co-founder of Otavala Consulting, Dr. Tomi Lennart Wahlstrom, has a Doctor of Management degree and a Master of Arts degree in human resource management. He has also completed several years of post doctorate studies in psychology, and earned a certificate in quality management. Dr. Wahlstrom has over 20 years of experience in counseling, management consulting, and higher education (teaching and administration). His unique combination of training in psychology and management has prepared him to assist with a wide range of organizational and individual issues. To learn more about Dr. Wahlstrom, please visit www.wahlstrom.us.

Dr. Wahlstrom specializes in leadership training and his dissertation on archetypal leadership, Psychological Applications in Management: The Hero's Journey, has been sold internationally since 1997. The book was rated as  a #1 bestseller in the eBookMall 100 Politics & Government Bestsellers list in February of 2009. Dr. Wahlström has worked as a Management Consultant since 1992 and owned two consulting firms prior to becoming co-founder and Managing Partner at Otavala Consulting. He has also taught in numerous universities and colleges including University of Maryland, State University of New York, Helsinki School of Economics, Colorado State University, Rollins College, and several others.

Dr. Wahlström is currently a Lead Faculty member and Associate Professor at American InterContinental University Online. Recently, he served as the Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs at American InterContinental University Los Angeles and an Associate Professor of business psychology at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology.

Katrina Wahlstrom, Operations Director

Master of Business Administration – North Park University

Bachelor of Business Administration – American Intercontinental University

Katrina Wahlstrom is the co-founder of Otavala Consulting, and manages the business operations of the consulting firm.  She has over 5 years experience as a business professional, and has worked for an independent HR consulting firm in Los Angeles, and a large IT staffing company in Chicago.  Katrina spent time studying in London and Hong Kong, and as a result, gained valuable international business expertise. 

Katrina manages Otavala’s daily operations, including financial oversight and staffing.  Since the start of her professional career, Katrina has been working with small businesses.  Her past experiences have helped to shape her ideals and vision of running her own company and to help other small businesses to keep passion in the world of work.

Consultants:

Dr. Shirley Chuo, Senior Consultant

Doctor of  Philosophy in Organizational Behavior – Alliant University

Master of Arts in Psychology – Pepperdine University

Bachelor of Arts in Psychology – Colgate University

Dr. Shirley Chuo is a Lead Faculty at American Intercontinental University online and teaches courses in Organizational Psychology in both the Bachelor and Masters Programs in Business Administration. Dr. Chuo previously taught for Loyola Marymount University and Pepperdine University in the MBA and the BA business programs. Additionally, she serves as a committee member for reviewing doctoral candidates at Argosy University. 

Dr. Chuo has facilitated training sessions at numerous Fortune 500 companies including Honeywell, AT&T and Time Warner. Her expertise lies in the domain of employment law, change management and executive coaching. Dr. Chuo has two articles published in the International Business and Economics Research Journal, and has won the best paper award in 2005 and 2006 at the Clute International Business and Economics Research Conference.

Dr. James Carroll, Senior Advisor

Degrees:                     

B.Sc. Business Administration

M.A. Management

Ph.D. Management

Certificates:                 

Executive Program, University of California

Executive Program, Drucker School of Management

Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Darden School, University of Virginia

Mattingly Hall, Cambridge University

Stanford University, Palo Alto

Dr. Carroll has served in a variety of leadership positions in the corporate world as well as in academia. These positions include Vice President of Planning and Development at Hydrocruiser Corporation and President/CEO of US Divers Corporation. He owns and operates Carroll-Graham, Inc., a consulting firm he started 1980. Since then, he has served over 75 domestic and international clients as a consultant in the areas of strategic planning and marketing. He is also an Associate Professor at AIU Online and Adjunct Professor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. During the last 4 years he also served as the Dean of Business School at AIU Los Angeles.

Derek Rees, Consultant

Doctor of Psychology in Business Psychology – The Chicago School of Professional Psychology (in progress)

Master of Arts in Industrial/Organizational Psychology – The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Communications - Aquinas College

Derek’s experience is in organizational development. He is experienced in using workflow analysis and job analysis to create organizational structures that align with an organization’s goals. Derek understands that properly structured and motivated work teams can be valuable assets to organizations. After helping an organizations structure its work teams, he helps managers understand the human dynamics relevant to working as an effective team.

Derek’s past research has been on how the leadership role for a group must change as the group develops. As he is working towards obtaining his doctorate, he is furthering his research on the leadership characteristics need for managing a work team. His focus is on discovering the social factors that influence the thought patterns and decisions of the members in a work team. 

Steve Rivera, Consultant

Doctor of Psychology in Business Psychology – The Chicago School of Professional Psychology (in progress)

Master of Arts in Industrial/Organizational Psychology – The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

Master of Science in Counseling Psychology – University of Memphis

Bachelor of Arts in Sociology – University of Tennessee

Steve Rivera has over 8 years of professional counseling and consulting experience.  Steve’s background in Counseling Psychology and Industrial Organizational Psychology has provided him with a diverse foundation for his consulting clients.  Throughout the years, Steve has worked with a variety of populations including businesses, non-profit organizations, and in educational, and mental health settings. 

Along with taking an individualized approach to each client, Steve has consulted on topics including: conflict management, mediation, developing and maintaining personal and business relationships, writing grants and business plans, stress management, and human system dynamics.  Steve’s consulting work focuses on empowering clients, educating on culture and diversity, and goal setting in order to provide continuous improvement for clients.  Steve’s multicultural background appeals to a diverse customer base, and his fluency in Spanish serves to bridge the gap for Spanish-speaking clients who culturally prefer speaking in their native language.

Haitham Nasir, C.P.A., Financial Consultant

Mr. Nasir Graduated from De Paul University in Chicago In 1998 with finance and accounting degree. Consequently thereafter, he was hired by LaSalle bank where he was enrolled in their commercial bank management training program. The said training program was limited to 25 students per cycle out of hundreds of applicants. He spent two years learning commercial bank management, including credit and financial analysis training. Following graduation, he was placed as a branch manager. In 2003, he left LaSalle Bank and joined United Trust Bank (smaller community bank) as Vice President of commercial lending where he was responsible for setting lending policy, underwriting guidelines, risk assessment, portfolio management and federal regulatory exam preparation. After finishing his assignment at UTB, he moved to Citizens Bank and Trust where he acted in similar capacity.

Mr. Nasir has established SB Consulting Group, Inc. (SBCG) in early 2007. SBCG currently employs four accountants and two financial analysts. SBCG specializes in business financial analysis and helps its clients with Financial and managerial accounting issues, tax strategy, financial statement and reporting compliance. They also offer financial literacy classes in the areas of reading financial statements and tax strategy, analyzing financial statements, and book keeping classes for individuals who are seeking to pursue a career in accounting.          

Ryan H. Simmons, Consultant

Doctor of Organizational Leadership – Argosy University (in progress)

Master of Arts in Industrial/Organizational Psychology – The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Business Management minor – Central Michigan University

Ryan H. Simmons is very focused on practical leadership in organizations and coaching.  He has been very involved with non-profit leadership organizations for over 7 years, where he has presented workshops and lead round table discussions.  Ryan has spent time substitute teaching, which has provided him a strong foundation and contributed to his expertise in training.

Ryan facilitates leadership workshops for Otavala Consulting, focusing on first-time and first-line management.  These workshops focus on what is most important to management in the four basic functions of a job (Leading, Organizing, Controlling, and Planning).  Ryan also works as a coach, and in the future, he plans to expand to talent management services for Otavala Consulting. 

Shannon Pellet, Consultant

Doctor of Psychology in Business Psychology – The Chicago School of Professional Psychology (in progress)

M.A. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology - Louisiana Tech University

B.S. in Psychology and B.A. in Sociology - University of New Orleans

Shannon specializes in Selection and Retention Development, and Training and Performance Management Systems. She currently facilitates a Selection and Retention Workshop for organizations interested in improving their current selection methods. These workshops have been developed to address three main topics in selection including Testing in Selection, the Structured Interview, and Employment Law. She also facilitates two related Teaser Sessions covering Job Analysis and Performance Management.         

Lead Consultant:

Tomi Wahlstrom, D.M. 

Senior Consultants:

Shirley Chuo, Ph.D.

Jay Carroll, Ph.D.

Carlos Aquino, Ph.D.

Katrina Wahlstrom, M.B.A.

Consultants:

Derek Rees,M.A.

Steve Rivera, M.A.

Haitham Nasir, C.P.A.

Ryan Simmons, M.A.

Shannon Pellet, M.A.