Our Team

Executive Leadership Team

Bruce Schronce

CEO | Executive Partner

Bruce Schronce is the founder and CEO of StrongLead.  Bruce has worked with and developed leaders in North America, South America and Europe for over 25 years as a business executive, entrepreneur, speaker, mentor, training facilitator, spiritual leader and leadership coach.  He specializes in challenging leaders to a comprehensive approach of personal lifelong leadership development, organizational perspectives, committed engagement, team building and action planning that lead to definitive and deliberate steps of positive growth and significant impact.  Bruce is married to his childhood sweetheart, Sandy and they have two sons, Ethan and Hunter.

Chad Hall, MCC

COO | Executive Partner

Chad is a Master Certified Coach who helps leaders, teams and organizations improve performance and well-being.  He has coached top-level leaders around the world in technology, healthcare, marketing, finance and non-profit sectors.  His areas of expertise include coaching, training, and performance development and he’s a qualified practitioner with assessments such as MBTI, LPI 360, and Core Values Index.

Chad is a graduate of Lenoir-Rhyne University (BA), Duke University (MTS), Princeton Seminary (ThM), and Western Seminary (DMin). He has written several journal articles and books related to leadership and coaching, including the Amazon bestselling eBook, The Coaching Mindset.  He lives in Hickory with his wife, three growing children, and Buster the wonder dog.

Ethan Schronce

VP of Business Development | Executive Partner

Ethan is a certified coach and energetic leader with a passion for building and growing relationships.  As VP of Business Development, he oversees StrongLead’s growth through sales and marketing.  He is also active in setting the overall direction of the firm as an Executive Partner.  Ethan’s background is in client-centric roles specializing in sales, account management, and creating efficient, scalable systems.  He’s a graduate of Liberty University’s Business School and lives in Lenoir, NC with his wife Victoria, son Roman, and fur-child Zeke.

Ethan cares deeply about his community and is the Committee Chair for Young Life Catawba Valley, is a Caldwell Chamber of Commerce board member, serves on the Leadership Council for Hickory Young Professionals, and has been recognized as a Top 10 Under 40 award winner for NC’s foothills region.


Coaches

Bill Burnham

Bill Burnham is a business coach for StrongLead, LLC.  Bill has experience leading local, regional and global teams. This includes teams of soldiers, engineers, salespeople, sales managers, product managers, marketing, market development and manufacturing teams. He spent a 27-year career at Corning, Inc. in various, successive leadership roles. He spent 5 years as an active-duty officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  He was Assistant Professor of Business at Montreat College teaching subjects including leadership. He was Vice President of Operations at Catawba Valley Brewing Company. Bill holds a Master’s in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from The University of Alabama.


Bill has been married to Angie since 1984. They have two married daughters, Annie Hollar and
Emma Renno.  They have one grandson and a German Shepherd named Daisy.

Dr. Paul Gratton

Dr. Paul Gratton is Associate Professor of Business at Montreat College in North Carolina and a StrongLead Coach. Paul earned his Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) from George Fox University, Master of Public Administration (MPA) from Drake University and B.A. in Management Information Systems (MIS) from Iowa State University.   

Paul enjoys bringing out the best in others through coaching and using systems approaches to address organizational challenges. His research interests include organizational behavior, strategic management, complex systems, healthcare, and non-profit leadership. 

When not teaching or coaching, Paul enjoys running, hiking, biking, camping, and raising chickens in the beautiful foothills of Western North Carolina with his wife and four precocious children. 

Brian Tracy, ACC

Brian Tracy is the Lead Pastor of Evangel Assembly in Wilbraham, MA. Brian has also served as an Executive Presbyter for the West Massachusetts Region of the Southern New England Ministry Network of churches for over twenty years.

Brian received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Central Bible College and a Masters in Religious Education from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He completed a Doctor of Ministry degree in Leadership and Renewal from Regent University.

Brian is involved in coaching both leaders and their teams to help them accomplish their goals and perform at their best level. He is also involved in the training and mentoring of new leaders and coaches and the creation and maintenance of leadership systems within organizations. Brian has been married for 31 years to Cristie Tracy and has two sons and two grandsons.

Chris Hammond, PCC

Chris Hammond is certified as a PCC by the International Coaching Federation. He provides professional, performance, and life coaching that focuses on values clarification, relational systems, goal-setting, and decision-making. Chris serves at the U.S. Geological Survey as both the head of its Office of Tribal Relations and the manager of a program that provides volunteer opportunities for students with disabilities (ages 18-22) in support of their educational and professional goals. He lives in Fairfax, Virginia.

Jackie Ann Adams, PCC

Jackie has a passion for working with women leaders in the workforce or ministry or in senior non-profit leadership roles. Common areas of coaching focus include leadership challenges, job performance, time management, goal setting,  unlocking potential to strategically meet goals, build strengths, and develop confidence for relational equity with team members and direct reports.

Jackie is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) through the International Coach Federation with 8 years of experience working as a Director of Adult and Women’s Ministry leader. She graduated summa cum laude from Colorado Christian University with a B.S. in Organizational Management and Christian Leadership. Jackie is a workshop presenter, facilitator, trainer, Master of Ceremonies, key-note speaker, retreat speaker and writer. She is married to her high school sweetheart, and they have three beautiful daughters, 3 handsome sons-in-law, and 3 grand kids. She lives outside of Sacramento, California.

Karen Butcher

Karen Butcher is a former teacher, sales consultant, and corporate trainer whose career journey led her to coaching.  As Director of Educational Development at a regional bank for over a decade, Karen helped equip leaders and managers with the soft skills that make a bottom-line difference.  Before that, she was a top sales performer who earned three (!) company cars with Mary Kay Cosmetics.  Today, Karen brings her skills as a leader and her passion for helping others to the coaching game.  She masterfully incorporates the DISC assessment into her coaching and helps develop leaders at all levels.  Karen lives in Central Kentucky.

Laura Stephens-Reed, PCC, CMC

Laura helps leaders and organizations to harness the opportunities and overcome the challenges presented by current or anticipated transitions in circumstance and mindset. An ordained minister since 2002, she works primarily with North American clergy and congregations across the ecumenical spectrum. Laura lives in Moulton, Alabama, with her husband and son. She likes to write, read multiple books at one time, and play with her family’s new puppy Bagel.

Scott Gress

Scott Gress serves as a leadership coach and coach trainer, consultant, and leadership presenter. He received his Master’s of Divinity from Concordia Seminary St. Louis in 1988 and later earned his Master’s in Organizational Leadership from Palm Beach Atlantic University. Scott began his formal coach training in 2006 through The Coaches Training Institute and is currently certified as a Professional Certified Coach through the International Coach Federation. Scott and his wife, Maria, have two sons and they reside in South Florida. For more information, visit Scott’s website which serves as a hub for his blog posts, podcasts, and YouTube channel.

Susan Borgstrom

Susan Borgstrom has invested 30 years in facilitating personal and spiritual development in clients, integrating self-awareness, meaning/purpose, and positive relationships. Her early fascination with understanding human behavior, growth, and positive psychology led her to a Masters in Counseling Psychology with a certificate in Art Therapy. She built upon this foundation with a Professional Certified Coach certification through the International Coach Federation and continues to expand her practice in areas including Brain Dynamics, Coaching Teams, and Transitional and Transformational Coaching. 

Tracy Asamoah, MD, ACC

Dr. Asamoah is a Career and Transition Coach, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and writer in Austin, TX. She completed medical school at the University of California, San Francisco and attended the David Geffen UCLA School of Medicine for both her general psychiatry residency and child/adolescent psychiatry fellowship. After receiving her leadership coach certification through Coach Approach Ministries, she went on to get additional training in both Brain=Body which focuses on coaching with embodied awareness and Inspiring Leadership Through Emotional Intelligence. 

In her private coaching practice, Dr. Asamoah helps women physicians and other professionals navigate career and life transitions to build the future they envision. Dr. Asamoah also coaches and teaches with the American Medical Women’s Association and Physician Coaching Alliance on becoming a resonant leader. She has spoken nationally and written on coaching and mental health related topics. Dr. Asamoah has served on various regional and national boards and committees. When Dr. Asamoah isn’t working with her patients and clients, she enjoys spending time with her husband, 2 daughters and pet bunny, Mylo.

Wes Bryant

Weston Bryant, Certified Transformational Coach is an author and host of the Commission Leadership Podcast. His passion is to serve the church and reverse the trend of pastoral burnout. He believes we are each meant to flourish in life and he coaches leaders through a simple framework: Live Courageously. Build Strong Teams. Multiply Your Impact. He is an avid Chicago sports fan and is optimistic that the Bears will find a franchise quarterback in someone’s lifetime. He lives in Indianapolis with his wife and two year old son (and baby Bryant due January 2022).

Dr. Travis Guse, PCC

Travis is an ICF (PCC) and Gallup certified Strengths Coach who focuses on empowering people to be at their best by developing strengths-based lives, teams, and organizations.  He completed his coach training in 2007 with the College of Executive Coaching and recently received his doctorate in the field of coaching from Western Seminary.  Travis has worked extensively with individuals seeking to start new ventures, conduct team building and organizational development coaching with various non-profit, ministry, and health care organizations, as well as governmental and educational institutions.  In addition, Travis was a Strengths instructor for Thinktomi, an entrepreneurial training organization in the Silicon Valley, in partnership with Harrisburg University. Besides being certified in the CliftonStrengths assessment, Travis has also been trained in Gallup’s Builder Profile (BP10), MBTI, the EQ-i 2.0 & 360, the LPI 360, DISC, and is certified as a Paterson LifePlan facilitator.  He has been married since 1991 to his college sweetheart Stephanie and together they have one son, Kendall, who is attending Concordia University in Irvine, CA.

407 2nd St NW, Hickory, NC 28601