The Encouragetech Team

Steve Schewe | Trish Sullivan Vanni

Steve Schewe
President

As the founder and president of Encouragetech, I have a wide background in business, an approach rooted in curiosity, and an abiding interest in the welfare of my clients.  Early in my career, I was fortunate to work as an analyst for Morgan Stanley in their mergers department, and for a Minneapolis-based venture capital firm that has since become Wells Fargo Venture Capital Management.  So I see business challenges with the eye of an investor and a director.  Offered the opportunity to become a partner in the venture capital firm, I instead jumped to the operating company Cray Research, hoping to broaden my general management expertise.  Over the next six years, I learned about business development, sales, and turnaround management.  I formed a research consortium that created Cray Research’s first applications product, and I put out fires as the CEO of a computer company turnaround.  Before I started Encouragetech, I was VP of Strategic Marketing for Aetrium, a publicly held semiconductor equipment manufacturer.  For the last 12 years, I’ve consulted for a range of clients, primarily concentrating in B2B distribution, technology, and financial services.  My largest client is a national performance management firm called BI. 

My primary contributions have been strengthening marketing channels or helping clients change channel strategies, including pursuing new opportunities like joint ventures, acquisitions, or disintermediation, improving margins or sales performance, or implementing business practices and processes necessary for successful technology implementations or cross-selling.  Often, I’ve led change management efforts, including the design and facilitation of conferences ranging from 20 to 400 people that have advanced these objectives; these have included international conferences in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.  I’ve also helped many entrepreneurs and division management teams develop successfully funded business plans.  As I’ve entered the second half of my career, I’ve found that more and more clients value the advice and coaching that I provide as part of most assignments.

I hold a BA in Economics from Yale University and an MBA from the Darden School at the University of Virginia.

Trish Sullivan Vanni

Trish assists companies that want to communicate clearly and effectively with key stakeholders. Her expertise is determining the exact nature of the communications challenge and outlining a compelling solution. Her work helps Encouragetech clients deliver essential messages to customers, prospects and employees — messages that produce the desired action.

Vanni began her career at Dow Jones & Co. where she was a marketing manager. For 12 years she was the president of Sullivan Communications, a marketing communications company serving leaders in the information, financial services, and pharmaceutical industries. Clients included Dow Jones, Knight Ridder, Merrill Lynch, DLJ, AOL, Merck, Ethicon, Bell Atlantic, MCI and others. She has won multiple awards from the Information Industry Association, the IABC, and Communications, Advertising, and Marketing Association (CAMA) of New Jersey.

Vanni holds a BA from Georgetown University, a publishing certificate from Stanford University, and an M.Div. from St. John's University.