Our Team

New York Office

TJ (Timothy John) Walker,  founder and lead trainer
Walker is a media trainer and presentation coach who specializes in helping senior officers of public corporations become better communicators. He began media training in 1984 and has since trained top executives with Charles Schwab, EMC, Ernst and Young, Goldman Sachs, RLI Corp., Summit Technology, NBTY, Inc., TransAct Technologies, and American Science and Engineering. Before specializing in training corporate officials, Walker trained everyone from the US Auditor General to members of the Osmond family to the star of the "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" movies. (for full bio, click here)

Ali Velshi, trainer
In addition to media and speech training clients, Velshi anchors two daily television shows on a national business news network. The first is a live-interview format showcase of companies and individuals that demonstrate the necessary savvy, leadership and inspiration to succeed in today's business environment. The other show is a program that deciphers investment ideas with an interactive look from Wall Street to Main Street U.S.A. Ali interviews about eight guests a day. Before coming to the United States, Velshi hosted The Business News, Canada's first and only primetime business news hour. In 1999 he joined Canada's recently launched only all-business news channel, Report on Business Television, as an anchor. Velshi also worked as a business anchor for Cable Pulse 24 and sister station, CITY TV. While working at CFTO-TV, Toronto, Canada's most watched local TV station and the flagship affiliate for CTV Television network, he was awarded a yearlong fellowship to the Congress by the American Political Sciences Association. As a result of the fellowship, Velshi began working with U.S. Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ill.

Michael Sigman, trainer
Michael's media training workshops are particularly valuable to clients because of his ability to evaluate key messages from various journalism perspectives, e.g. news director, producer, anchor/reporter, and talk show host. He held all those positions during his journalism career and is currently the business editor of Delaware Today magazine. Michael's broadcast journalism career began in Philadelphia as a news planner for WCAU-TV, Channel 10. He was also an all-news radio anchor and PBS television news producer before taking the anchor chair at First State News, Delaware's only television news station. That news program received two Emmy Award nominations under his leadership. Michael also received Emmy nominations for public affairs and live-program producing. Philadelphia's PBS affiliate WHYY-TV aired his hour-long documentary on a U.S. Senate race one week before the 2000 general election. Michael was also the prime-time evening news anchor for TSM News.

Neal Linkon, trainer
After spending 10 years in broadcast news, Neal started providing media training and public relations for companies like Motorola, Johnson Controls, International Paper, Lockheed Martin, and Rockwell. Neal has handled media crises ranging from environmental incidents to federal indictments. He has worked directly with 60 Minutes, 20/20, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, LA Times, Business Week and many others, and appears regularly on Milwaukee's NBC affiliate as their Internet expert. He is widely published in PR Tactics, Ragan Report, PR Fuel and others, and has spoken on a range of issues before large conferences and company meetings, including the PRSA International Conference and Internet World.

Florida Administrative Office

Sharon Castellano, national marketing director. Castellano has more than one decade of experience in the media and training worlds. She is the former syndication director for the Sun Radio Network and was a marketing director for Newsboom.com. She is the primary liaison with all TJWALKER Media clients.

Los Angeles

Janet Ritter, trainer
After conducting more than 3,000 media interviews, Janet Ritter now shares her extensive experience with T.J. Walker Media clients. Janet spent 15 years as spokesperson for one of the largest AAA clubs in the country, where she developed a quotes-on-call reputation among reporters. She also trained dozens of executives and managers to incorporate failsafe media techniques into their own interviews. A trained journalist, Janet continues to write for a variety of publications throughout the world.

Brad Ritter, trainer
Brad offers T.J. Walker Walker clients more than 20 years of experience as a network affiliate anchor/reporter and as an executive coach and trainer. As a television reporter in Florida and Ohio, Brad's work aired on ABC's Good Morning America, CNN and on stations nationwide. Since entering the training and coaching field more than a decade ago, he as worked with spokespersons and executives for such clients as Procter & Gamble, Nationwide Insurance, BP, Bank One and Borden, Inc. In addition to coaching and training, Brad frequently serves as a media spokesperson and has consulted on a wide variety of corporate crises.