Our Team
Suellen Burton has performed with PowerSuasion since 1987. Her favorite PowerSuasion characters are Linda, a victim of sexual harassment; Diane, a self-motivated independent assistant who feels she's overly managed; Katherine, a cold-hearted bottom-line investigator for the Chicago Board of Trade; and Florence, a wealthy but uninformed beneficiary of a trust fund. In addition to her Power work, she has performed with many theaters in the Midwest, including National Jewish Theatre, Wisdom Bridge Theatre, Equity Library Theatre, Victory Gardens Studio, Bailiwick and American Inside Theatre (Waukesha, Wisconsin).
Ellen Lerner comes to PowerSuasion from Toronto, Ontario. Her list of accomplishments include acting, personal growth consulting, and corporate facilitation. As an actor, she has developed, directed and performed with the "Kids on the Block" program in Montreal. As a personal growth consultant, she has created experiential workshops helping individuals learn to live creatively. As a corporate facilitator, she has worked with companies to develop new ways of selling, supervising, leading, and resolving conflict.
Annalise Raziq
(not pictured)
Annalise Raziq has worked as an actress and project manager for PowerSuasion for the past four years. She has an extensive background in improvisation, having studied at Second City and ImprovOlympic, among other places. She is also a freelance writer and had her children’s play A Bow in the Clouds produced by Parabola Theatre Company. She holds a BFA in Theatre Arts from Webster Conservatory. Her favorite role is that of mother to her 7-year-old daughter Kalila.
Karolus Smejda (Consultant, facilitator, producer, playwright). Featured in The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, NBC, CNN, The Chicago Tribune, and Future, Karolus has been a management and communication consultant since 1974. Karolus uses a holistic, purposive approach to understanding and improving communication. He applies his practical, on-the-job approach to communication when custom-designing individual and group programs in effective oral, written, and team communication. In addition, he applies his concepts to training managers, salespeople, and executives. He has presented these programs in both the U.S. and Europe.