Who We Are
What We're All About!
Our training model focuses on the effects stress has on the human brain. Together, we look at how the brain works and how, under stress, the brain doesn’t work (at least not as well!).
After understanding the human nature of the brain’s stress response, we help your team identify and develop real, sustainable skills that can be used to better manage stress and and promote employee wellbeing.
Together, we, as professionals, citizens, neighbors, friends, spouses, and colleagues can learn to retrain our brains to better deescalate conflict, practice empathy and compassion, and as a result live happier and healthier personal and professional lives.
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Meet the Team
Peter Butte, Esq.
Peter is a strategic thinker and empowering leader committed to helping others find opportunity for personal and professional growth. He began his career working as a police officer in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. A graduate from Mitchell-Hamline School of Law, Peter is now a licensed Attorney in Minnesota where he initially practiced as an Assistant County Attorney in Stearns County, Minnesota before starting his own criminal defense practice in the Twin Cities.
Peter’s professional path has afforded him the opportunity to hone unparalleled mediation and negotiation skills, while also developing a keen and unique understanding of the complexities of human emotion and stress-fed interaction. While his professional life has been spent in the criminal justice field, his real strength lies in his ability to empower individuals and teams to achieve success through adversity. In his instruction, Peter blends his anecdotal experience with psychological and biological principles to engage and motivate his audience to understand themselves and influence their outcomes.
Meet the Team
Jessie Szmanda, MA, LADC
Jessie is passionate about mental health and teaching others about the power and abilities they have within themselves. She holds a Masters degree in Counseling from Bethel University, is a pre-licensed practicing clinical counselor, and a licensed alcohol and drug counselor. Jessie knows how important it is to educate and empower everyone to understand their mental health, brain chemistry, and personal self worth. She practices her passion for mental health as a therapist with the Minnesota Department of Corrections.
Jessie is also a mother of 4. During her time in school she had 3 babies, and raised 4 children. Her dedication to the science of mental health played a critical role in her own life as she worked to balance her roles as mother, wife, and mental health professional.
Jessie believes knowledge is power! She has attended numerous training courses on the science of the stress response and brain chemistry. She is an expert at helping others understand the complex science behind the human brain.