The Team
Conley Ferguson, Founder
For more than 30 years, Conley Ferguson has built his career in the casino and hospitality industry from the ground up, literally starting by bussing tables. Since then, he has worked across virtually every area of casino operations, gaining a firsthand understanding of what it takes to serve guests, lead teams, develop people, and build successful organizations. That journey shaped a belief that has guided his career ever since: where you start should never determine where you are going to go.
Throughout his career, Conley has made developing people and organizations central to his leadership. He designs programs that help people recognize their own potential while creating environments where that potential can grow. At the heart of his philosophy is something far less complicated: self-respect matters, professionalism matters, and every person - regardless of title, position, background, or circumstance - deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. Conley believes real growth requires hard truth and even harder dedication. He believes that authentic leadership requires courage; courage to challenge expectations, courage to question convention, and the courage to speak truth to stupid. He expects much from people because he believes there is much within them, and he is equally willing to challenge himself. Growth should never require someone to compromise who they are, but it will almost always require them to challenge who they have been.
These philosophies eventually moved beyond the workplace and onto the page. As an author, Conley translates decades of leadership experience (and more than a few lessons learned the hard way) into practical ideas people can actually use. Through The Intentional Leader, The Intentional Leader Workbook, The Intentional Leader: 100 Huddles, The Intentional Minute, Making Room, and Stare Into the Sun, his writing explores leadership, personal growth, perspective, resilience, and intentional living. Whether developing a team, designing a leadership program, challenging conventional thinking, or writing the next page, his mission remains the same: help people recognize where they are, respect who they are, see where they can go, and intentionally create the opportunity to get there.
Be well and live with intent.
For more than 25 years, Miguel Aguilera has dedicated his career to education and the belief that learning should create opportunity. As an educator, he has developed programs and curricula in both Venezuela and the United States, with a particular emphasis on language education in Spanish, English, and Portuguese. His work has brought him alongside young adults, students, newcomers to the United States, and individuals learning English as a second language, giving him firsthand insight into how language can either open doors to opportunity or become an unintended barrier to it.
Miguel joined Intent2Grow after reviewing the program and recognizing its potential to reach people who are too often left out of traditional professional development. Not everyone has access to a university-level education, and for many, professional training available only in English creates yet another obstacle to advancement. Currently leading the translation of Intent2Grow programming into Spanish, Miguel is helping ensure that language does not determine who gets access to the knowledge, skills, and tools necessary to grow professionally.
At the heart of Miguel’s work is a deep belief in the potential of the people he teaches. He shares Intent2Grow’s philosophy that professional and personal development should not be reserved for those who began with the greatest advantages—it should be available to anyone willing to learn, grow, and do the work. His passion for education is matched by his commitment to removing barriers that prevent people from recognizing what they are capable of achieving. For Miguel, teaching is about more than transferring knowledge; it is about making opportunity understandable, accessible, and possible.
Miguel Aguilera,
Executive Director of Education and Language Access