Denise Anton

Denise has worked in the area of Counseling Psychotherapy since 1996 and has experience in research, teaching, supervision and psychotherapy. Additional training she has completed includes grief and loss, hospice, trauma, PTSD, group work, brain and brain behavior, postpartum depression and marital counseling. Denise has experience working with individuals, couples and families; counseling a variety of issues including, premarital and marital, relationships, divorce, anxiety, depression, postpartum issues, anger management, PTSD, self esteem, grief and loss and a variety of other life transitional issues.

As a psychotherapist, she enjoys providing authentic, compassionate, challenging and insightful support as she journeys with her clients through a variety of challenges they face. Denise understands that our past has influenced our preset but it need not dictate our future. Our life experiences, positive or negative, are building blocks for who we are today and can be effective tools in creating who we aspire to be tomorrow. She believes that with the right tools, empathetic support and personal determination, we can live our lives to the fullest.

Carrie Donahoe

Carrie holds a master’s degree in social work from the University of Pittsburgh. Carrie is a breast cancer survivor! As a cancer survivor, she understands the turmoil endured when a person is first diagnosed with cancer. She feels that her personal and professional experiences have allowed her to create an environment of support, encouragement, and empathy.

Carrie’s approach is integrative and direct, tailoring treatment to meet an individual’s needs. She incorporates warmth, genuineness, and humor into her work, aiming to create a space where individuals feel comfortable engaging in critical thinking and introspection. She helps individuals access greater understanding of their illness and supports them from day 1 of an individual’s diagnosis.
Her main therapeutic interventions include, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Mindfulness, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Carrie is also a certified EMDR practitioner.

Kelsie Baldé

Kelsie Baldé is the owner of Hair Enhancements as she also works closely with clients like you. After many years in the hair industry, she has spent the past decade specializing in hair replacement because it’s her true calling.

Kelsie has a passion for hair and for living in service to others, and she vows to always make any client she works with feel comfortable, beautiful and encouraged.

“At Hair Enhancements, we build relationships with our clients and we’re with them through their journey with hair replacement – people are often surprised at how much time and care goes into our work. But I can’t imagine it any other way. I’m blessed to be able to comfort and support people going through such a tough time when losing their hair. Seeing the smile on their face, knowing we were able to give them some control and confidence is priceless!”

Jennifer DiLucia

Jenny was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA.  She graduated from Westminster College with a degree in Broadcasting and minor in Theatre Arts.  She is the mom of three beautiful children, Lexi, Jake and Nolan.  Jenny is also a dog mom to two barking beagles, Bruster (6) and Rookie (1).  She resides with her family in Pittsburgh, P/a.  

She has always had a passion for broadcasting.  When Jennifer was in college, she hosted a radio show and went by the nickname “Lady C.”  Jennifer also started the Entertainment report on her college TV station.  

Shortly after college, Jenny worked at a number of radio and local television stations in Pittsburgh. 

Bringing her passion for podcasting to life.

She put her dreams and aspirations on hold to raise her children and now she’s ready to pursue her passion and help others talk about their stories.  She came up with this idea because people are always approaching her with their struggles and life experiences, and she thought – “to heal is to talk about it.”  You just never know who else is dealing with the same issues.

I wanted to create an open Forum for men and women to express themselves and share whatever they wanted to help them heal or have a laugh.

She is excited for this new chapter of her life and she can’t wait for you to all follow along with her! 

Take Care My Beautiful People!

She will bring marketing and Brand Awareness.  Plus Jennifer has the ability to connect and relate to a wide range of individuals in the community.  

Jennifer Hisdorf

They say do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.

Jennifer lives up to that maxim. She’s the type of person you want on your side: one who will transform challenges into success.  

Jennifer firmly believes that relationships are the foundation of everything Brentwood Bank does for customers. And once she gets to know you, she’ll have a better understanding of exactly how she can help achieve your goals.

Get to know Jennifer. Because she’d love to get to know you:

Upon graduation, Jennifer decided she’d take a job as a part-time teller until she figured out what to do next. Seventeen years later, she can’t imagine being anything other than a banker and a valuable resource for her clients.

The quote that guides her career sums it up best: “People don’t do business with companies; they do business with people.”

Jennifer is on a first-name basis with her customers not because of any corporate mandate. She just naturally treats people like family. As a Vice President of Treasury Management at Brentwood Bank, Jennifer’s favorite part of the job is greeting customers with a warm smile and a genuine “hello” the moment they walk in the door.

Not surprisingly, Jennifer has a long list of accomplishments, including being a Junior Achievement Young Professionals Inspiring Success in Banking and Finance award winner, the Women’s Business Network Woman of the Year and winning awards for Pittsburgh Business Choice Best in Business Banking and Pittsburgh Business Choice Best Networking Group- POSH Women. But she’ll admit the feeling she gets from helping customers is her highest honor.

When she’s not making new connections, Jennifer volunteers and gives back to her community. And she’s devoted to her 3-year-old son, who already loves to explore the great outdoors. Apparently, making connections just runs in the family.

Nicole Lerda

Known for her compassionate and emotionally intelligent leadership style, Nicole Lerda spent over 20 years in the highly male-dominated financial services industry before she purchased and launched MaxxCole Salon & Skin Spa. This experience, combined with her professional training and passion for mentoring, made Nicole perfectly poised to assume and enhance the salon’s existing operations and services.

Nicole began her professional career in Recruiting and Marketing with the MetLife Corporation and leveraged her tenacity and entrepreneurial spirit to rapidly ascend to executive leadership roles within two Fortune 50 organizations. First becoming the Director of Marketing, Nicole also became a fully licensed financial planner and was later elevated to the position of Director of New Business Development. Ultimately, she was promoted to Managing Sales Director where she oversaw a team of 40 financial advisors, scouted new talent for the firm and oversaw all community initiatives.

Over the course of her career in the financial world, Ms. Lerda has led sales and administrative teams to great financial success, created and executed award-winning, national marketing campaigns, and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Carlow University as the Director of Major Gifts. Nicole is also a sought-out speaker who’s been an invited guest and featured speaker at the country’s most prestigious financial conferences. She also frequently addresses groups in her community to share her thoughts and best practices on female empowerment.

As she was rising through an industry where only 15% of its employees were women and only 4% were in leadership roles, Nicole made it her personal mission to help as many women as possible – and not just her female coworkers in the industry. Nicole not only mentored and hired women into leadership roles within the financial services industry, but she also leveraged her financial savvy to deliver women-focused financial planning presentations all over the United States. For these efforts, Nicole was named the Community Champion of the Year in 2021 for volunteerism focused on women and children.

At the community level, Nicole volunteered at the local women’s shelter and made a habit of frequenting women-owned businesses – often offering free financial and operational advice to those business owners. These local efforts directly led to her becoming the owner of MaxxCole Salon & Skin Spa, as she’d referred her friends to the salon, helped the former owner with financial planning, and held client events in the salon’s space to drive traffic to the business. When Nicole learned in 2020 that the owner didn’t expect the salon to survive due to the pandemic, she decided to rescue the business and the careers of its 10 employees.

With her extensive background in strategic marketing and business operations, it’s no surprise that the salon not only survived but is thriving and growing. She has single-handedly tripled revenue and transformed customer service to an impeccable client experience. As the owner and operator of MaxxCole, LLC, Nicole is the architect behind MaxxCole’s commitment to excellence for clients and team members alike. In 2021 MaxxCole was named the “Women-Owned Small Business of the Year,” Ms. Lerda was recognized as a Pittsburgh Professional Woman of Influence, and Allegheny West Magazine dubbed her an “Influential Leader”. In 2023, the Better Business Bureau awarded MaxxCole Salon & Skin Spa with an A+ accreditation and in October of 2023, Nicole won the Brave Woman Project’s Pillar Award for Encouragement.

When Nicole is not at MaxxCole, she can be found participating as a member of several business, community and non-profit groups, including the Airport Area Chamber of Commerce, Pittsburgh Professional Women, Brave Women Project and Face2Face Healing. In 2023, she was selected to be an Advisor to the Women in Business Club at Robert Morris University. Financially, she supports local non-profit organizations that focus on helping women on challenging journeys in the areas of domestic violence, food insecurity, female cancers and career support and placement.

Nicole is also the author of “Her Mission: G R A N T E D” – a campaign that focuses on helping women to rid themselves of the dreaded approval and permission mentality. Her 100% organic self-care product line is available at the MaxxCole Boutique and her coordinating presentation, “The Permission Principles: Six Simple Strategies to Regain Your Confidence, Freedom & Time” is now available for booking.

Keri Harmicar

Keri has been in some sort of community affairs/engagement capacity all of her life. Beginning as a youngster, with her grandmother, Jane, marching on Washington to pass the ERA, she has spent much of her time supporting causes that she believes in. From animal welfare to women’s equality, to twilight wishes for the elderly, hospice, and LGBTQ rights; she is proud to be an ally and a voice for those who need it.

Keri is the Senior Communications Director for UPMC Insurance Services Division. She is responsible for all internal and employee communications and is co-chair of the DEI Council. She has created an award-winning podcast, called Inspire, which is focused on the employee experience and has also developed a video series highlighting the work of UPMC employees in the community.  Keri is the board Vice President of Allies for Health + Wellbeing, as well as board emeritus of Northside Common Ministries. She is on the strategy and development committees of Persad, The Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival, and Attack Theater. She is also a member of United Way Women Unite. 

 Keri holds family dear and “friends like family” even more dear. She hashtags “eattherestoftheapple” as one of her primary philosophies – that even when there are bruises, there is still plenty that should not be discarded, overlooked or taken for granted. (Ask her about how this started, it’s a great story.) She loves to read, cook, travel, and entertain. She’s a huge fan of music, too.

Keri resides in Bellevue with her husband, David, and their mini golden doodle rescues, Sydney Ellen Wade and Holly Golightly.

Alec E. Vaezi, MD, PHD

My goal is to provide “an ideal experience for each patient, every time.”

I have a PhD in Cancer Biology from the University of Chicago and have trained with outstanding mentors in head and neck and skull base surgery at the University of Pittsburgh. With over 10 years in practice, I bring world class head and neck cancer treatment, including sialendoscopy and robotic surgery to Long Island.

In working with the Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Winthrop our patients have access to multidisciplinary, state of the art care and clinical trials, right where they live. Our team includes dedicated radiation oncology, medical oncology, neurosurgery, hyperbaric treatment, dentistry, a nurse navigator, nutrition and speech pathology. We provide exceptional head and neck cancer care delivered to patients close to their home, community and social support network. Our patient centered approach improves not only patient satisfaction, but also clinical success. A high priority is communication back to the referring provider.