OUR TEAM
Meet the Team Behind Peak Performance
Our talented and experienced collaborative team has a can-do attitude that delivers results for your workforce development training needs, and hey, we are fun to talk to and love a good challenge.
Denise M. Rice
President & CEO
Denise Rice is president and owner of Peak Performance, Inc. She also serves as a Manufacturing Consultant to the Tennessee Manufacturers Association, a division of the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
Previously, she was an Operations Executive with a career spanning more than 25 years with Corning, Inc. and their subsidiaries holding positions including Director of Operations, Plant Manager, and Engineering Manager. Under her leadership, Cormetech, a joint equity venture between Corning and Mitsubishi, was awarded Tennessee’s Business Recycler of the year, Gold and Platinum awards for their BEST (Business and Education Working Together) Program with Cleveland High School and was nominated for the U.S. Department of Defense Freedom Award for their support of military veterans.
Ryann Norman
Product Development & Marketing Manager
Ryann Norman is a business and marketing professional with more than 15 years’ experience in the Engineering and Manufacturing industries in the Nashville and Chattanooga, TN area. Prior to joining Peak Performance, Ryann spent 12 years with CLARCOR Inc. (now Parker Hannifin), a global holding company for a diverse range of top filtration companies.
Ryann has held various positions in HR, Sales and Marketing, progressing into the role of Corporate Business/CRM Analyst, overseeing the implementation of a corporation wide Customer Relationship Management system, streamlining processes and significantly improving data accessibility for 500 sales and marketing personnel.
Joey Stokes
Director of Technical Training
Joey Stokes is a maintenance and training professional with more than 15 years’ experience in automotive manufacturing. He has held positions ranging from industrial electrician to maintenance manager in Lean Manufacturing environments in the Chattanooga, TN region. Most recently, he worked as a maintenance manager during the launch of a modern hard surface floor manufacturing facility where he led a maintenance department to introduce Lean Maintenance and TPM to the facility, leading cost reduction activities in maintenance to reduce maintenance cost by $1.8 million. Before joining the flooring company, Mr. Stokes worked for a tier 1 supplier owned by Toyota Motor Manufacturing where he learned the Toyota Way for TPM and Lean.
Brooklyn Sewell
Human Resources Coordinator
Brooklyn Sewell is a young professional that began her journey at Peak Performance as an intern while she attended Cleveland State Community College. She now oversees all the administrative functions, financial matters, and human resources.
Brooklyn volunteers her time to assist local students in navigating the college admission process and ensure they complete the Tennessee Promise program requirements to receive and retain their scholarship as a TN Promise Mentor. She is also a board of director member for Cleveland/Bradley Keep America Beautiful, a nonprofit that is dedicated to enhancing the beautification of the community.
Angela Leamon
Director of Operational Excellence
Angela Leamon is a manufacturing leadership professional with over 24 years in appliance manufacturing driving continuous improvement opportunities by reducing process variability and cycle time through Six Sigma and Lean methodologies. During her tenure at Maytag/Whirlpool, she held management positions in a variety of departments – including Lean Six Sigma, Manufacturing, Purchased Parts Warehouse, Quality, and Purchasing.
As a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and Lean Six Sigma Manager, and throughout her career, she has led Lean Six Sigma training and events with over 300 Greenbelts, Yellow Belts, White Belts, Process Owners and Champions trained and more than 70 Kaizen events conducted.
Victoria Thomas
Marketing Coordinator
Victoria Thomas is a young marketing professional who has held various sales, marketing and social media positions for a diverse set of companies such as Walt Disney World and Apple. She is also the Founder of her own online magazine, Melodic Magazine, where she continues to coordinate media coverage for members through record labels and band management.
Currently, Victoria is the Marketing Coordinator at Peak Performance where she assists with marketing plans for social media, creates brand advertising, and curates content for other marketing projects.