Todd's journey towards authenticity began with degrees from the University of Memphis and the University of Tennessee. Next came process improvement and team-building experience with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) and Ernst & Young. He then earned a Ph.D. in Management from the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University, as well as a prestigious Post Doctoral Fellowship, and eventually a position on the graduate faculty at Wright State University. After ten years in the classroom, early tenure, many awards, and many scholarly publications, the entrepreneurial spirit took over.

Todd left the ivory tower and now wears many hats: speaker, author, trainer, advisor, not to mention being the go-to leadership and life expert for millions of people through Lynda.com at LinkedIn. His library of work with Lynda.com has made him a two-time global best-seller earning praise from professionals in over 170 countries.

As a speaker, Todd possesses a rare combination of traits: world-class expertise, a rugged authentic style, and an ability to use words to light a fire inside people. At every event, they laugh, think, and cry. The results speak for themselves: a TEDx talk, Inc. Magazine Top 100 leadership speaker, widely quoted (New York Times, TIME, Forbes, BusinessWeek, US News & World Report, and hundreds more), with a long list of amazing clients (Exxon Mobil, GE, State Farm, JM Smucker, Ernst & Young, LinkedIn, Medtronic, TGI Fridays, NCR, and many more).