Our Team

THE LODESTONE TRUE NORTH TEAM …

Meet the team who combine their own entrepreneurial experience with proven Lodestone tools and methods to enable you to rediscover your passion, lock your future into focus and reclaim your destiny. 

Mark Whitmore

Founder, and Head coach.
Certified practitioner of multiple operating platforms.

Shane Kardos

Chief of Staff and Operations at Lodestone True North

Gail Crites

Team Coach, and Business Blueprint Academy Teacher

Gail comes from three generations of entrepreneurism. Her Syrian grandmother and grandfather were sent to America by their parents and came through Ellis Island when they were still in their teens. They established a restaurant in Cambridge Ohio and worked together with their seven children. Gail‘s father also established a miniature golf course across the street from the restaurant so his five children could learn all of the ins and outs of business by running it in their teens and through their college years. They were so successful together as a team they were able to purchase a 1969 Gran Torino convertible from their profits. Gail is the mother of four highly diverse and successful sons, eight grandchildren and one great grandchild. She has first-hand experience as a retail Sales District manager for a New York Clothing Chain, radio sales and media marketing, and writing and producing commercials. She has facilitated hundreds of roundtables and trained facilitators in 22 nations for La Red Business Network since 1993. Since then, she has also helped many US companies hire , train and retain principled talent and is excited to be part of the Lodestone Coaching team.

Sam Shively

Teacher, Business Blueprint Academy

Samantha has been an entrepreneur since the beginning. The moment she could start creating and leading, she did. Her father is Mark Whitmore, so the business mind runs in her blood. She’s a stay-at-home-mom who hustles side jobs like no one’s business, including being a business coach. Those “aha” moments that change the course of a person’s life, family, or business are what she lives for. She always gives 110% in all she does, whether it’s raising her two toddlers, training wild horses, or problem solving for people and business. She lives in Ravenna, Ohio with her husband and two daughters on a farm with her many chickens, dairy goats, and horses.

Tim Campbell

Coach and Biz Dev, Business Blueprint Academy

Mark Whitmore
Founder, Lodestone True North

“I am like a record producer. I am here not to create the art, but to coax the art out of the client. I want them to discover their voice and use it. Not my voice.”
~Mark Whitmore, Lodestone founder

Founder

An entrepreneur since he was 20 years old, Mark spent decades as a commercial and residential property owner and manager.

Mark discovered that property management isn’t just about buildings. It’s about the people who live and work in them. He began to understand how they live and work. What they want out of their lives.

Mark went from being a personal mentor to transitioning into a more professional role to include business and organizational advice. Mark created management and organization tools he calls Principled Products because they help clients discern what’s important – not just for running a business – but for living a full, rewarding, principled life.

Our Name

That explains the name – Lodestone True North. In the natural world, lodestone is a naturally magnetized mineral that seafarers throughout history used to find their way on journeys. In today’s business world, Lodestone True North is a dynamic firm of experienced leaders and coaches led by Mark Whitmore who help entrepreneurs and managers find their way to their ultimate destination, and also solve the hurdles they’re facing at the moment, including people, process, or profit problems.

Mark lives on a homestead that has been his family’s farm for six generations – maintaining the best traditions while adapting to change and embracing the future.

Some Of Our Latest Resources

IT TAKES TIME. EVERYTHING WORTHWHILE DOES.

It will take time, a willingness to change, and a commitment to honestly assess yourself, your team, and your company. At Lodestone, we can assure you, though, the results will be worth the effort.

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