Testimonials

Dear Clay,

In September of 2006, I attended Aileron's Course for Presidents with Dave Sullivan as the facilitator. I found the training highly valuable and insightful from a non-profit viewpoint. We were in the midst of acquiring a new facility to relocate our domestic violence shelter and office. Aileron provided New Choices and our Board of Directors and myself a resource to utilize during an extremely difficult time of transition. Daniel Hackett facilitated a board Retreat in January of 2007, and we strategically planned our future. Since then, we have recruited new Board Members who believe in our organization and are willing to extend efforts beyond a one-hour commitment per month. Our announcement on May 11th around our developments could not have been made without Aileron, and we would like to recognize you at this event.

• Sincerely,
• Julie Manuel, Executive Director
• New Choices

Bill,

Your assistance with finding a replacement board member has been fantastic. That you are still there to help like this makes the price you guys charge for the class very cheap. Definitely one of the best values for business training/consulting that I've ever seen.

• Thank you,
• Scott Knowles, President
• Wolf Creek Company

In October...Doug, Lisa, and myself attended the 2-day workshop for Senior Managers in Dayton. We enjoyed it immensely. We keep reminding each other that we are paid "from the neck up"...and have become less of doers and more geared toward business. The presenters and content were just what we needed. We feel much more aligned with the other Management Team members who completed the course earlier.

Our company utilized your services for our Strategic Planning. We each have created project timelines for 2007...which will be reviewed and critiqued on Jan. 31 at your facility.

I look forward to a "project" that revolves around assessing our culture and the people in it...utilizing Aileron experts.

I also hope that there will be a mid-level management course that we can use for our emerging leaders.

• Thanks,
• Linda

Dear Clay,

How do you thank someone for changing their lives? Because of your entrepreneurial education classes that we took, we were able to sell our business for millions of dollars, instead of being out of business and working at jobs.

In case you didn't know, we sold our company, Horizon Payroll Services Inc., on March 30, 2007. The best part of the sale is that Horizon will stay in Dayton, and continue to grow and benefit the Dayton community after we eventually leave the business.

It was the help and guidance through the years of people like Bill Matthews and Dave Sullivan that lead to the success of our company. According to Bill and Dave, we made one of the sweetest deals that they have ever seen. Yes, I know we did the work, but we could always rely on them to help with questions and issues that came up. It was a standard joke that Dave's goal in our board meetings was to make me (Marilynne) cry. If he didn't, he was not doing his job.

When I took your first entrepreneurial class in 1998, our gross annual sales were $25,000. In 2006, our sales were at $1.1 Million and are continuing to grow. There is no adequate way for us to express our gratitude for your generosity to both us and the Dayton community. Dayton is very lucky to have someone like you there to help business owners achieve their dreams.

Now that we have achieved our American Dream, we would both be honored if there is ever any way that we could support Aileron to help small businesses.

To you, Aileron, Dave and Bill- Thank you - Thank you - Thank you!

• Sincerely,
• Marilynne & Alan Saliwanchik
• Horizon Payroll Services, Inc.

Clay,

It's difficult to express the positive influence you have had on my life and career, but my wife and I are grateful for the original Iam's University and now Aileron.

Originally, in the mid 90's we had a family business of 25 years and were struggling with market changes. The program helped me realize the issues and eventually get away from that business; it was a difficult time, but we made the best of it. Now, many years later and with nice follow-through from Bill Matthews, I am again receiving assistance from the program you are enabling. This time the growth is positive. And Bill has helped me in finding an advisor that will pull me into the entrepreneur role, with regular frequency, to maintain control and direction. His name is Joe Minham, and we're off to a nice start.

It seems you don't receive the recognition that is due, and I just want to say Thank You! Thank you from a basic person in this big environment who is having a better life because of the program and people you brought to the market.

• With my deepest sincerity,
• Tony Cali, Agency Owner
• Allstate Insurance

We just finished a one-day Strategic Planning session sponsored through Aileron with Daniel Hackett. It will go a long way to helping us form a crisp Strategic Plan for 2008 and beyond.

Please let Clay Mathile know that as a key member of a privately held company in Cincinnati, I really appreciate what he is doing through Aileron to help all of us. His commitment to this segment of the business community is quite impressive and I hope you pass on my sincere thanks to him for all of his efforts and financial support.

P.S. Thanks to all of you at Aileron who are making Clay's dream a reality on a daily basis. I know dreams without execution don't amount to much. All of you are providing a wonderful service to the business community.

• Don Ruberg, Jr. I, CEO
• FASCOR, Inc

Hi Deb:

Thanks for following up with me. I don't know if Eric had passed the information along or not, but your course information was very helpful to me. So much in fact, that I was just voted in as the newest board member for the Rhythm In Shoes dance company.

I wish I had some constructive criticisms or suggestions to offer you, but the fact is I can't find any room for improvement with this course! And being a Creative Director, I was really using an analytical eye to review the course structure, flow, language and content. I found it all to be spot on—and without the benefit of a course instructor no less.

The course book really forced me to think about why I wanted to serve on a board and to what extent I was actually qualified. And as this is my first board position, I found the section on roles and responsibilities particularly helpful. Also, the case studies did a nice job of reinforcing what makes an effective board member.

The organization I'll be serving did a very nice job of providing me with an organizational history, mission and role expectations packet. I don't know if that is standard protocol, but it was information I thought I was going to have to track down myself. With a lot of that legwork already done, I found it very easy to analyze my personal fit based on your outline and eventually make my commitment.

I very much appreciate Aileron sharing this information with me. Let me know if there's anything I can do for you as you prepare to launch the course. I'm happy to provide recommendations or a testimonial if needed. After all, your guidance helped me land the "job."

• Thanks again and best regards,
• Steve Baldwin, Director, Creative and Strategic Messaging
• Turner Effect