"I teach because I build.
Everything I share comes from work I'm actually doing."
Ivy Walker
I've spent my career at the intersection of business building, education, and storytelling.
I founded Helios Digital 13 years ago to create educational content that makes ethics and compliance accessible.
Our award-winning e-cases and documentaries are used by universities and corporations worldwide.
I ran Purpose Workforce Solutions for five years, a staffing company that connected low-income individuals to employment and the support they needed to overcome barriers to work.
We employed over 1,000 people during that time. Currently, I'm building Aisus, an AI automation platform for small and medium-sized businesses who want to take advantage of AI without the overwhelm or expensive mistakes.
Before I became an entrepreneur, my career included Fortune 500 consulting, investment banking, private equity, and health technology. That breadth gives me perspective on the strategic and operational challenges facing growth-stage companies, and it shows up in how I teach and advise.
I'm also a filmmaker. I directed Blind Spots, an award-winning short documentary, and served as Executive Producer for All the Queen's Horses, which became the number one documentary in the country upon release and is now used by corporations and municipalities for compliance training. Filmmaking taught me how to communicate complex topics in ways that resonate and stick. It's a skill that shapes everything I do.
At Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, I serve as adjunct faculty in Executive Education, teaching AI strategy and risk management to senior executives, entrepreneurs, and nonprofit leaders. I hold an MBA in accounting and finance from Kellogg, an MIT certificate in No Code Machine Learning and AI, and a BS in Community Health from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Each venture grew from a real problem I experienced and a conviction that things could be done better.
Aisus is an AI-powered automation platform that helps small and medium-sized businesses identify workflow inefficiencies and implement intelligent solutions. I built Aisus because I wanted to help operators with limited budgets take advantage of the AI revolution without getting paralyzed by complexity or making costly mistakes. It's a practical application of everything I teach about AI implementation and risk management, built specifically for the businesses that need it most.
Helios creates educational content and compliance training for higher education, professional education, and corporate clients. Our award-winning e-cases and documentaries have been used by thousands of students worldwide in accounting, criminology, psychology, ethics, and management courses. We also offer ethics CPE courses for accounting professionals and custom compliance programs for corporations and government organizations. Helios has been running for 13 years and continues to serve clients across three distinct markets.
Purpose was a staffing company with a social impact mission. We connected low-income individuals to employment and provided wraparound support to help them overcome barriers to work.
Over five years, we employed more than 1,000 people and helped them access living-wage opportunities.
Purpose taught me what it looks like to build a business that serves both profit and purpose without compromising on either.
Storytelling is how I make complex things stick. Every project is a different medium, the same mission.
Twelve-Minute Risk Management is an award-winning guide for business owners navigating complex compliance landscapes without getting paralyzed by them. The book offers a practical framework built around short, focused exercises that help you identify and manage the risks specific to your business. It's designed for operators who know they need to address compliance and risk but don't have endless time or resources to do it. Risk management doesn't have to be overwhelming. It just has to be intentional.
I host Anatomy of Failure, a podcast where I talk with entrepreneurs about what went wrong in their businesses.
These aren't the headline-grabbing collapses of billion-dollar companies.
These are real founders who built something, watched it struggle or fail, and are willing to get honest about what happened and why.
Every episode is a conversation about the hard stuff most people don't talk about: the missteps, the bad decisions, the market signals they missed, the emotional toll of watching something fall apart.
No sugar-coating. No sanitized narratives. Just raw, useful insights from people who've been through it and are willing to help others avoid the same traps.
The goal is simple: dissect what went wrong so you can get it right. Because failure isn't something to run from. It's something to learn from.
Blind Spots is an award-winning short documentary I directed that examines how blind spots in judgment and oversight create conditions for fraud and failure.
The film has been used in educational and corporate settings to help people recognize their own vulnerabilities and build better controls.
I served as Executive Producer for All the Queen's Horses, a documentary that became the number one documentary in the country upon release. The film tells the story of one of the largest municipal fraud cases in American history and is now used by corporations around the world for employee compliance training. It's a powerful example of how storytelling can make complex financial crimes understandable and memorable.
I teach AI strategy and risk management in three contexts: as adjunct faculty at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management Executive Education, in workshops sponsored by private equity firms for their portfolio companies, and at conferences where business leaders are trying to navigate complexity without hype.
The core topics remain consistent across formats, but I adapt the depth and application based on the audience.
These sessions helps organizations chart a practical path to AI implementation. We cover how to assess your current state, identify high-value automation opportunities, evaluate build vs. buy decisions, and create a phased rollout plan that manages both technical risk and organizational change. The goal is to move from AI overwhelm to AI action with a clear, executable plan.
These workshopz teaches people how to spot warning signs before they become crises. We work through frameworks for identifying operational, financial, compliance, and reputational risks, then build controls that are proportionate and sustainable. The emphasis is on practical risk management for real businesses, not theoretical frameworks that look good on paper but fail in practice.
If you're exploring any of these, let's talk.
Let's talk
Retainer relationships with private equity funds to support portfolio companies with AI implementation and risk management.
Board roles where governance expertise in AI, risk, and compliance adds strategic value.
Corporate training contracts for leadership teams that need ongoing education on AI strategy and risk identification.
Conference speaking engagements where audiences need practical frameworks on AI implementation or risk management, not theory.
Whether you're looking to bring AI strategy to your organization, explore a board opportunity, or book a keynote, I'd love to hear from you.
