Michelle Cummings, M.S., is the Big Wheel and founder of Training Wheels, a known leader in the Team Building field. She is also the Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer for Personify Leadership, a Leadership Development organization. Michelle is an accomplished author and a dynamic, sought-after speaker in the areas of leadership, team-building, and experiential learning. Michelle has created a wide variety of facilitation, debriefing, and team-building activities that have collectively changed the way trainers and educators work.
Michelle speaks at more than 25 local, national, and international conferences each year and authors a weekly team-building newsletter called The Spokesperson that has over 24,000 subscribers in over 100 countries.
Training Wheels is dedicated to building high-performance teams and skilled facilitators. Our practices can transform the way teams communicate, solve problems, make decisions, and achieve goals through experiential learning. Like learning how to ride a bike with training wheels, our clients learn ways to grow and balance for the long ride. We are here to support you by providing hands-on learning and the tools you need to be successful.
Our Guiding Principles frame everything we do.
We Believe…
Michelle chose the name Training Wheels for her company because she loves the metaphor of the training wheel. When learning how to ride a bike, learners usually only use training wheels for a short period of time before gaining enough confidence and courage to remove them and try them on their own. That is at the core of all the work we do. We are only with a group for a short period of time, then it is up to you to take off the training wheel and try on your new skills. Now you might feel a little bit wobbly the first time you try it on your own, but eventually, with more practice, you don’t have to think about it anymore. It’s a skill you own.
Michelle and the staff at Training Wheels are dedicated to top-notch customer service. If something feels a little off, we want to know about it so we can make it right. We strive to be your one-stop-shop for anything you might need to build high-performance teams and facilitation skills. We guarantee that we will continue to create new, effective facilitation and debriefing tools that will enhance your practice. Like learning how to ride a bike with training wheels, our clients learn ways to grow and balance for the long ride. We are here to support you by providing hands-on learning and the tools you need to be successful.
At Training Wheels, our facilitation team is a dynamic group of experienced professionals passionate about creating meaningful connections and fostering personal and team growth. Utilizing innovative experiential learning techniques, they design and lead engaging programs tailored to enhance communication, trust, and collaboration among teams. Their expertise in leadership development and team-building ensures a transformative experience that aligns with our mission to support growth through hands-on, practical learning opportunities. Together, we help teams unlock their potential and achieve lasting success.
Dr Chris Cavert
Education:
Chris holds an undergraduate degree in Physical Education, Teaching K-12 and a master’s degree in educational leadership with an emphasis in Experiential Education. Chris earned his Educational Doctorate at Northern Arizona University. His focus of study was the educational development and training of adventure-based experiential practitioners.
Experience:
Chris began his group development career as a wilderness-based adventure educator guiding, teaching, and encouraging change in youth populations in back-country settings and challenge course venues. Since then, he has taught in primary and University school settings, directed and managed three challenge course programs, written over a dozen teambuilding activity books, and has lead workshops and trainings for experiential educators all over the world.
Strengths:
Chris loves to create, adapt, and use experiential activities that help individuals and groups, of all ages, find their way to important breakthroughs in their development. He believes that purposeful conversations are at the heart of all meaningful change and that engaging, interesting, and fun experiences are the best way to cultivate those conversations.
Stephanie Sibille
Education:
Stephanie Sibille holds a bachelor’s degree from New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. She is certified in and regularly delivers and administers the DiSC and Belbin Team Roles assessments.
Experience:
Since 2006, Stephanie has been facilitating groups in a variety of environments, from outdoor challenge courses to board rooms. She currently teaches on a variety of topics including presentation skills, time and workload management and coaching and feedback, where she often uses experiential activities to bring the content to life. She has worked extensively with many well-known corporations including Meta (formerly Facebook), Kaiser Permanente, GE, Thyssenkrupp and PepsiCo, as well as numerous government agencies and large non-profits such as the United Nations Development Programme and Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Strengths:
Stephanie is often recognized for her candor, energy, and approachable facilitation style. Additionally, her work with numerous overseas clients has allowed her to work on four continents with participants from close to 100 countries, and she constantly strives to use activities and examples that are culturally relevant for her target audience. Above all, she carefully strikes a balance of attentiveness to every programmatic detail while maintaining a fun and casual learning environment for her participants.
West Shirley
Education:
West holds an undergraduate degree in business management, and a master’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in international business.
Experience:
West began his group development career as a challenge course builder and facilitator in Colorado in 1998. As the course director at a summer camp for special needs campers, West fell in love with difference experiential education can make in the lives of youth. Since then, West has been a high school teacher and currently trains summer camp staff in the safe operation of challenge courses and zip lines. West also facilitates team building and leadership training for non-profit companies and corporations.
Strengths:
West loves to craft unique experiential-based programs for youth and adults, bringing about ‘aha’ moments that leave lasting impacts. One of West’s great joys is to see people surprise themselves when they experience what they are capable of that was hidden from them before.
Kristin Salada
Education: Kristin holds her B.S. in Communication Studies & Spanish – at Northwestern University and her M.S.M. in Organizational Communication & Training – from Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. She also holds multiple certifications in a variety of behavioral assessments including Myers-Briggs, Thomas-Kilmann, Fundamental Interpersonal Relationship Orientation and Behavior and is a Master Trainer at Personify Leadership.
Experience: Kristin has consulted with clients in facilitation techniques, effective communication, team and leadership development, conflict resolution, decision-making, strategic planning, building networking relationships, navigating change, shaping culture, and ‘train the trainer’. Her background includes work experience as a Manager of Marketing, a National Sales & Delivery Manager for a wilderness-based professional development firm, and a Site Director for an outdoor center serving urban youth.
Strengths:
Kristin is an expert at helping work groups have conversations that matter and become high-performing teams. Kristin’s approach is energetic, professional, and personable. She incorporates engaging experiential learning exercises to bring about increased self-awareness and team esteem, resulting in improved work performance. She rides her bike to support Multiple Sclerosis research and narrates audiobooks and e-learning courses for companies.
If you’re ready to roll, Training Wheels can help you get there! Our workshops and activities create fun, meaningful connections between participants. Whether you are building a strong corporate team, teaching an inquisitive class of kids, or connecting with group members in a virtual training workshop, we are excited to help. Please reach out and let us know how we can help.