Maureen O'Brien, CEO, MOF

Maureen O'Brien is the CEO of the Global Women’s Leadership Forum™.

MO, as she's known to her friends and colleagues, graduated with a degree in education. Her first post college job was in sales for a Fortune 500 Company selling building products to contractors in the Chicago area; not so usual for a woman. After she married, continuous relocation became less desirable. She combined her knowledge of building products and her love of building relationships in sales to create and sustain her own exterior remodeling company, following the birth of her first son. That gave way to the company name O'Brien & Son, Inc. Maureen and her infant son were in business. They traveled door to door selling siding, gutters, and windows!

As glamorous as that sounds, those were tough days for the young mother. True to form, she imposed her will to get the job done. Gradually, she built the business into a formidable establishment in tandem with building her family of six!

People were intrigued to learn the story of this engaging woman and her choice to play with the "big boys" in a non-traditional field. Requests began to come from businesses and organizations asking her to share her story. That was the birth of MaureenO’BrienSPEAKS. With her degree in education and the equivalent of a "doctorate" in hard knocks and life experience, Maureen created programs in SALES NEGOTIATION SKILLS, LEADERSHIP, BUILDING YOUR PERSONAL BRAND, and CUSTOMER LOYALTY. 
McDonald’s Corporation hired O’Brien to work with their Women’s Leadership Network. In a brainstorming session with the Chair of the WLN, O’Brien asked how other Fortune 500 Companies handled similar issues with employee resource groups. Confused, the Chairperson told O’Brien she had no idea how other organizations handled issues—that they never got together to share success stories or best practices. That conversation was the impetus to the birth of the Global Women’s Leadership Forum™.

O’Brien is the author of the book, “Get Your Big Girl Pants On and SELL Something—A Handbook for Women (and Really Progressive Men) In Sales” --a sell out at business conferences. She developed "MO-MENTUM UNIVERSITY" and “Your Business ID” for setting measurable goals using Intentions/Deliverables. She also developed the curriculum for the Takecara 'U' a problem solving process that once internalized can be utilized personally and professionally. O’Brien authored the 30 Day Workbook “Oneness. Wholeness. Wellness—Four Ways To C.A.R.E. Enough  To TakeCaraU!”

Maureen O'Brien has been honored as ~ "One of the Most Influential Women in Business" by the Chicago Business Ledger and the National Association of Women Business Owners has been named "Humanitarian of the Year" by the National Speakers Association - IL.

Maureen O'Brien is the current President of the National Speakers Association - Illinois.