Robert N. Skir grew up in Oyster Bay, Long Island. His love of all things fantasy, science fiction and horror led him to make animated films at 14, latex masks at 16 and write short stories throughout high school. He majored in English at the University of Virginia and earned a master’s degree in screenwriting at UCLA. He has written many episodes of animated television, including “Beetlejuice,” “X-Men,” “Batman” and “Superman,” and has served as story editor and written on “The Mask,” “Extreme Ghostbusters,” “Godzilla” and “Transformers: Beast Machines.” His short story “Singularity Ablyss” was published in the 2005 anthology Transformers: Legends. He has taught Animation Writing at UCLA.
John Skomski is the founder of Converge Wealth and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional who helps aspiring retirees make sense of their money and retire sustainably on their own terms. Over the past decade, he has had more than 12,000 conversations with retirees and soon-to-be retirees, an experience that shapes the same straightforward approach he brings to Minding Wealth, his financial wellness workshops for employers that help employees reduce money stress and make more confident financial decisions. John also hosts Retirement Is a Joke, a practical and mildly amusing retirement show that cuts through the noise and helps people feel more confident about their next chapter.
Jon Skovron lives with his two sons outside Washington, D.C. His first novel, Struts & Frets, is about music. It was recently published by Abrams Amulet. His second novel, Misfit, is about demons and
other monsters. It comes out in the fall of 2011. If you like music and/or monsters, visit him at jonskovron.com.
Raised in the Bronx, Frank Smiley has worked in Late Night for over four decades. He produced and wrote for Conan O’Brien for more than 30 years, as well as for Saturday Night Live, Howard Stern, Dennis Miller, Alan King, and Dr. Ruth Westheimer. An 11-time Emmy Award nominee and Writer’s Guild Award winner, he has produced and collaborated with the biggest stars in comedy and film, including Will Ferrell, Jack Black, Chris Farley, Bill Hader, Adam Sandler, Robin Williams, Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Larry David, Ben Stiller, Tom Hanks, Harrison Ford, and just about anyone else you can think of. Frank has introduced numerous stand-up comics to Late Night audiences, including John Mulaney, Bill Burr, Jim Gaffigan, Ray Romano, John Oliver, Marc Maron, and Norm MacDonald. Frank currently produces and appears on Team Coco’s The Conan and Jordan Show podcast, which has over 600,000 downloads per episode. Frank and iHeart Radio launched the Humor Me podcast, starring comic genius Robert Smigel, the voice of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, in 2025.
John C. Smith has a master’s in celestial mechanics (the motion of heavenly bodies) and has spent more than twenty years at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., designing missions to explore the planets. He has worked on successful missions to Venus, Earth and Mars and has been part of the Cassini/Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan for 16 years. He is the designer of the four-year “tour” of the Saturn system that began in 2004 and recently contributed to the design of a two-year extended mission through 2010.
Peter A. Smith is currently working as a visiting professor and research associate at the University of Central Florida, while pursuing his Ph.D. in modeling and simulation at the same university. He was formally trained as a computer engineer and has spent much of his career working with serious games and simulations as a contractor with SAIC and the U.S. Navy. He is also the community manager for the Serious Games Initiative and a blogger for the initiative Web site as well as the Second Life Insider.
Dr. Robin L. Smith is a global thought leader in the regenerative medicine industry, one of the fastest growing segments of modern-day medicine. She received her M.D. from Yale University and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business. During her tenure as CEO of the NeoStem family of companies (NASDAQ: NBS), which she led from 2006 to 2015, she pioneered the company’s innovative business model, combining proprietary cell therapy development with a successful contract development and manufacturing organization.
Dr. Smith maintains a regular column for The Huffington Post. In June 2016, she was awarded the Women of Power and Influence Award from the National Organization of Women (NOW) and is the 2014 winner of the Brava Award, which recognizes top women business leaders in the Greater New York area. She was also a finalist for the 2014 EY Entrepreneur of The Year award for the New York area, recognizing entrepreneurs who demonstrate excellence and success in the areas of innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities.
As a business leader, entrepreneur, doctor and philanthropist, Dr. Smith is uniquely positioned to lead the global healthcare industry into the cellular future, where the cells of our bodies will stand as the foundation for a wide array of cures.
Grace Smith is on a mission to make hypnosis mainstream. A pioneer in the Hypnotherapy field, Grace’s private clients including Fortune 500 CEOs, A-list celebrities, Olympic athletes, and government officials. She is founder of the world’s #1 provider of hypnosis education, products, and services, Grace Space Hypnosis (gshypnosis.com) and Grace Space Hypnotherapy School (gshypnosis.com/school), a world-class hypnotherapy certification program. Grace is the author of Close Your Eyes, Get Free: Use Self-Hypnosis to Reduce Stress, Quit Bad Habits, and Achieve Greater Relaxation and Focus.” Grace’s work has been featured in The Atlantic, Forbes, Entrepreneur, InStyle, Marie Clarie, Buzzfeed, MindBodyGreen, She Knows and dozens of podcasts. She is a regular guest on CBS’s hit show, The Doctors and her “Relax, Brazil!” segment on popular Brazilian late night talk show, “The Noite con Danilo Gentili” went viral, bringing her powerful self-hypnosis techniques to millions of viewers. Her keynote speeches include OZY Fest with Hillary Clinton, Proctor & Gamble, SummitLive, Women Empowerment Expo, Soul Camp, and more.
At age 15, Jason Smith founded his first company, a residential landscape design and installation service, thanks to mentoring from other entrepreneurs in his community. By the time he graduated from college, his company had helped pay tuition for a dozen staff, each recruited away from passion-crushing employment in big-box stores or fast-food restaurants. Fueled by polymathic curiosity, Jason subsequently worked in a variety of industries: real estate, property management, nonprofits, trade associations, higher education, and now, medical device development. Jason’s wide-ranging experience enabled him to recognize something rare at Velentium: Most organizations lack the combination of insight, empathy, and investment guts required to do right by their staff, clients, and investors alike. He believes that 28 Days to Save the World will show leaders how to harmonize these “competing” interests to build more effective, resilient, and positive organizations. 28 Days to Save the World is the tenth published book Jason has helped author.
