Testimonials

“I first worked with Deb in 2008, and she has consistently demonstrated professionalism, team playing, unique skills and proven results since then. We began collaborating on award applications, where her prowess is evident, but soon Deb became an invaluable thought partner on multiple fronts. She has captured my voice with remarkable authenticity as a ghost writer, and been a reliable, honest sounding board.

Over the years, Deb’s steadfast assistance, drive, discipline, persistence, humor, ability to wrangle anyone and anything, and way with words have contributed to multiple industry accolades (both for me as an individual and for companies I served as CLO), many conference keynotes, a series of presentations and articles on the Future of Work (way before it was the topic du jour), two graduation speeches, two books on data and analytics, a technology apprenticeship initiative, and so much more. You owe it to yourself to find out what she can do for you.”

—Jenny Dearborn, Chief People Strategy Officer, Head of People Insights Practice, BTS (worked with Deb while Chief Talent Officer of SAP, Chief Learning Officer of SuccessFactors, an SAP Company, and Chief Learning Officer, Americas at Sun Microsystems)

“The Haskell team has had the pleasure of collaborating with Deb Arnold for Training Magazine’s APEX Awards since 2015 and more closely in the past seven years, with outcomes exceeding all expectations. Deb’s strategic guidance and unmatched expertise were instrumental in securing four Top 5 rankings, ultimately clinching the prestigious #1 spot in both 2023 and 2024and membership in the 2025 Hall of Fame. Deb was adept at helping us articulate our story and results, not only making our submissions more compelling, but also helping shape how we view our own impact! Throughout the process, Deb pushed our team to be our best with objective and tangible feedback and guidance.

Working with Deb has been a highlight of my four years at Haskell. She is an excellent coach who is patient, a keen listener, and has a valuable knack for distilling complex stories into concise and accessible narratives. Any organization working with her is sure to be better from the experience.”

—Brooke Jones-Chinetti, VP, Learning, Development, & Engagement, Haskell (Training APEX* Award: #1-2024, 2023; #4-2022; #3-2021; 2025 Hall of Fame inductee)

“Deb is great at what she does and really fun to work with. She took an award application we drafted that we thought was fine and rewrote it so that it became stellar, which helped us earn a gold award from Brandon Hall. I can’t recommend her highly enough – she is fantastic.”

—Jennifer K. (Jenny) Stine, Ph.D., Co-Founder and President, Academic Leadership Group (Gold winner, 2023 Brandon Hall Group HCM Excellence Award, Best Association Professional Development Program)

“At Dollar General, one of our operating priorities is ‘Investing in Our Diverse Teams Through Development, Empowerment and Inclusion,’ and we continue to seek avenues to drive operational excellence of our training programs while generating awareness of those efforts. We first began collaborating with Deb on the Training APEX* Award in 2016. Through her resources and coaching, we gained a deeper understanding of the award, selection criteria and how to better convey our impact, all significantly improving our submission. Deb’s collaboration and continued dedication to our success helped DG to achieve first place two years in a row. Additionally, our recognition journey with Deb helped DG better articulate and effectively communicate training impact overall.”

—Lori Bremer, VP, Talent Management, Dollar General (Training APEX* Award: #1- 2020, 2019; #5-2018; #8-2017; Hall of Fame)

“What makes Deb great is that she takes what you are thinking and turns it into what you had hoped you could say. She’s a great strategist as well as a phenomenal writer and an extremely quick study, and that combination generates very impressive results. Deb’s keen understanding of the power of words and extensive award experience are an asset to any learning team.”

—Dr. Karie Willyerd, Chief Customer Strategy Officer, GP Strategies (17 wins while CLO of Sun Microsystems including #1-ATD BEST, 2009; #15 on Training APEX* in 2021 while CLO of Visa)

“Deb Arnold was a great coach in helping our company achieve the status of #2 and then #1 training company in the world. Deb listened patiently to our accounts of programs and results and helped us decide which training initiatives we should talk about. She also challenged us to tell our story more succinctly and in more accessible ways. Throughout, Deb provided honest and objective feedback and continually pushed us to share the results so that judges unfamiliar with our company and industry would easily understand. She was caring and supportive and a cheerleader! Her resource guides, workbooks, and tips all proved invaluable, and worth the coaching fee alone. On top of it all, Deb was great fun to work with and we enjoy sharing our achievement with her.”

—Mona Covey, Learning Manager, Keller Williams Realty (Training APEX* Award: #1-2017, 2015; #2-2016, 2014; Hall of Fame)

“Deb has a unique way of addressing the application that makes it easy to read and understand by the judges and to place the applicant in the best possible light. She is flexible, highly professional, dependable, and encouraging throughout. She brings a sense of confidence to the effort that makes a huge difference. I am confident she can help any organization improve dramatically regardless of the competition or initiative. Your investment in Deb Arnold’s assistance will pay dividends.”

—Ken Barber, Director of Learning & Development, Shell Oil – Jiffy Lube International (ret.) (Training APEX* Award: #1-2016, 2014; #2-2015; Hall of Fame)

“Our company purchased Deb’s Training APEX* Guide and Workbook, a worthwhile investment I highly recommend. Deb’s interpretations, examples and advice gave us confidence and strategic focus, made applying easier and saved us time. Applying for awards can feel like banging your head against the wall. With these tools, we felt we knew how to win – and we did.”

—Melissa Bargman, Learning & Development, DPR Construction (#10, 2014 Training APEX* Award)

“I highly recommend Deb’s Training APEX* coaching package. Our challenge was having lots of great initiatives but difficulty expressing what we accomplish, because we’re too close to it. Deb helped us tell our story and emphasize what’s important to judges. The guide and workbook alone were very valuable, with useful advice for any award, and the coaching sessions and feedback gave us the extra help we needed and kept us on schedule. Best of all, we moved up 55 spots in the ranking – I credit a lot of that to Deb’s guidance and expertise. This was money well spent.”

—Jennifer Antos, SVP, BH (APEX ranking improved from #118 to #63 in one year, #63 to #19 the next year while VP L&D, Gables Residential)

“What amazed me about Deb Arnold was how she powerfully portrayed our work from a new perspective. She brings the big picture more clearly into focus, and those insights alone make her well worth hiring. Her smarts, drive to win, and humour make her a great partner, and my team is ecstatic about our wins. I can’t imagine applying for an important award without Deb.”

—Dan Pontefract, Founder, The Pontefract Group (multiple ATD BEST rankings including #7, CLO Magazine Learning in Practice and Brandon Hall Group Excellence Awards while Head of Learning and Collaboration, TELUS)

“Deb and her team have become an invaluable extension of our industry awards program in a short time. Her sound guidance, attention to detail, understanding of her client’s needs and great humor make her a vital partner.”

—Rachel Foltz Ufer, VP, Corporate Communications, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide