Our Team

The Your Clear Next Step Team is dedicated to making business better. We uphold our mission and are consistently looking for opportunities to better improve Your Clear Next Step and our clients. Take a second and get to know the wonderful people dedicated to helping you make work and life better.

Sinikka Waugh
Relentlessly positive trainer and coach committed to even better.

Carl Tarantino
Customer servant and exceptional answer finder.

Katrina Sieck
Communications connoisseur and social media marvel.

Kelly Erickson
Queen of QuickBooks and conference manager extraordinaire.

Erin Wells
Calendar magician who makes the most of every minute.
Our Coaches, Partners, & Key Contributors

Judy Alter
Coach

Kay Arvidson
Coach

Paula Bell
Licensed IDI Administrator, Coach
Paula Bell is the CEO of Paula A Bell Consulting, LLC for 20 years. She is a coach, consultant, speaker, and author with expertise in the areas of: business analysis, project management, leadership, diversity, equity & Inclusion, career development and self development. Through her 5-tier consulting business model, Paula helps individuals find their passion, build their brand, and enhance their skill sets through consultations, coaching and customizable documentation to drive results. Her desire is to inspire, motivate and encourage others, through a structured journey of self reflection and awareness as a catalyst for unlimited success. Paula is a Certified Business Analyst, Certified Master Life Coach, Certified Life Purpose Coach, Certified Goal Success Coach, Certified Happiness Coach, Certified Career Development Coach, Certified Diversity & Inclusion Manager Coach, Licensed Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) Administrator, and Forrester Customer Experience (CX) Champion.
Paula also possesses 21+ years of experience in corporate America in project roles to include business analyst, requirements manager, business initiatives manager, business process quality manager, technical writer, project manager, developer, test lead and implementation lead. Paula has experience in a variety of industries to include media, courts, manufacturing and financial. She has lead multiple highly-visible multi-million dollar technology and business projects to create solutions to transform businesses as either a consultant, senior business analyst or manager. Currently she is also a Business Support Manager for a major financial institution leading a team of business process consultants to identify processes and execute on continuous improvement opportunities.
Paula is originally from Brooklyn, NY. She graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Management Information Systems from Oral Roberts, University located in Tulsa, OK. Paula is currently married and resides in Iowa with her husband and teenage twins (boy/girl). Paula is extremely active in her community as she is the Past President of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Fund which provides scholarships to minorities attending Iowa institutions, as well as, volunteers for many different community events. Paula believes in mind, body and soul and to add to the health component, she studies, and trains, martial arts and achieved her 2nd degree black belt designation in August of 2018. She leverages martial arts concepts to bring forth personal and professional concepts, hence her brand of the BA Martial Artist, as well as, she is a Certified Xtreme Hip Hop™ Step Aerobics Instructor.

David Dubzcak
Coach
David Dubczak (pronounced Doob-chak) a.k.a Creative Dave, loves helping people be more creative. He believes everyone has their own secret “Genius Mode,” and creative thinking is the key to unlocking it.
David has been a middle school teacher for 10 years, where his studies in creativity grew out of a desire to find out the reasons many students struggle to make creative ideas. His research led to his book, “Activate Your Genius Mode,” and the new “Genius Mode: School Edition” to help teach anyone the creative thinking skills that turn you into a genius.
David is also an award-winning producer and playwright, and his video productions have won several awards with organizations such as the Iowa Motion Picture Association, Broadway World, and the Festigious International Film Festival Los Angeles.
David earned his Bachelor of Science in Education at Drake University, and his Master of Education in Curriculum and Instructional Technology at Iowa State University. He loves to speak and workshop on creativity and productive failure.

Tom Green
Coach

Nancy Hanna
Coach and Trainer

Barb Ranck
Coach

Joel Smith
Coach

Lynn Swanson
Coach

Blair Wagner
Coach
Blair Wagner’s journey as a business owner started with her third-grade daughter’s bullying experience. She connected with her school counselor to learn what she could do to help and they ended up partnering to create a series of parent workshops on relational aggression.
Their curriculum evolved into a business and today their program is in 43 states and five countries. She converted their curriculum into an online platform and created multiple revenue streams that continues to generate passive income. Her business model has included both product and service.
As a business coach, Blair is certified by the International Coaching Federation and she founded the Iowa chapter. Blair is a leader in the coaching community and she mentors junior coaches.
Blair understands the new business owner experience and the stress that comes with it. She learned the hard way by making mistakes along the way and is passionate about helping new business owners make wise choices and gain traction in their business as quickly as possible.

Gary Walljasper
Coach and Trainer

Sinikka Waugh
Founder, Owner, Trainer, and Coach
Since 1996, Sinikka has successfully applied analysis and leadership expertise to improve performance in a wide array of industries. As a project manager, business analyst, facilitator, trainer, and coach, Sinikka is known for consistently helping teams find innovative ways to solve problems and get things done. Since 2006, Sinikka has provided compassionate leadership in transformation initiatives. Her results-driven professionalism blends seamlessly with her down-to-earth, “try this now” approach and her passion for helping others reach their goals and interact more effectively with others.
Sinikka has served as the Vice President of Marketing & Communications for the Central Iowa PMI Chapter.
Sinikka holds a BA from Central College, an MA from the University of Iowa, and is a certified Project Management Professional through the Project Management Institute. Sinikka and her husband Spencer live in Indianola, Iowa with their two daughters.

Melissa Worrel-Johnson
Coach and Trainer