MotiveX is a team of experts specializing in motivation, engagement, and talent development. Born out of a need for evidence-based solutions to boost sales engagement, productivity, and retention, we started our journey in 2015. With a unique approach that quantifies motivational gaps linked to productivity and turnover, we offer concrete insights tied to your key performance indicators, eliminating guesswork.
Our innovative ROI Simulator turns insights into tangible outcomes by visualizing the impact of addressing motivational gaps on your bottom line. We provide science-backed, tailor-made solutions by blending our extensive knowledge with cutting-edge tools. Partner with MotiveX to unlock the power of motivation, enhance team engagement, increase productivity, and achieve sustainable success.
© 2023 MotiveX
Matt currently serves as President & Head of Motivation Science at MotiveX. Matt leads the development of our motivation solutions portfolio, strategic partnerships and consulting activation. Matt founded MotiveX in 2015 because of his passion for behavioral science and lack of industry solutions to drive sustainable behavior change.
Prior to MotiveX, Matt was a top producer and strategic consultant in enterprise engagement and performance improvement. Matt’s clients included GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Pfizer, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Shire Pharmaceuticals (now Takeda), Endo Pharmaceuticals, AmerisourceBergen, Johnson & Johnson and DuPont. Matt has a BA in Management from Gettysburg College and MBA from Pennsylvania State University.
Livia Maria Macedo stands out as our People Innovation Strategy Leader, embodying dynamism, and forward-thinking leadership. With an impressive portfolio spanning 23 years, Livia has collaborated with global Fortune 100 & 500 companies at critical stages of growth and innovation, addressing highly specialized talent challenges.
Drawing from her vast expertise in Clinical, Education, and Organizational Psychology, Livia crafts creative, evidenced-based solutions tailored to the unique demands of heavily regulated markets, as well as matrixed and cross-functional teams. Her innovative approach has positioned her as a true career chameleon, adapting and thriving in diverse professional landscapes.
Livia’s ultimate passion lies in enabling the aspirations and career goals of others, a joy that drives her both in and out of the workplace. Based in Pittsburgh, PA, she further contributes to her community as an elected board member and NGO founder. Beyond her professional commitments, Livia embraces her role as a dedicated volleyball mom, adding a personal touch to her remarkable profile. Her balanced blend of professional acumen and personal dedication makes her an invaluable asset to our leadership team.
As Co-Chief Talent Scientist at MotiveX, Katina Sawyer, Ph.D. leverages her consulting experience, as well as her academic knowledge of motivation and engagement, to design and validate motivation assessments. By balancing academic knowledge with practical applications, she supports the team in delivering high-quality, effective, user-friendly solutions to drive employee and sales engagement.
Katina joined the MotiveX team because of her passion for talent management, leadership, and motivation. In her prior experiences consulting for companies like Corporate Executive Board (formerly SHL), her clients such as Kraft, Pfizer, Carl Zeiss, UGI, and Hertz often lacked solutions for increasing engagement. She witnessed a need in the marketplace for an assessment that would truly help leaders understand their direct reports and create more enriching and meaningful workplaces for employees worldwide.
MotiveX provides the perfect blend of psychological science and applied practical knowledge. Katina is an assistant professor of management at the University of Arizona. Over the years, Katina has published numerous peer–reviewed articles and book chapters about talent development, leadership and various ways of driving employee engagement. Katina holds a dual-Ph.D. in Industrial Organizational Psychology from The Pennsylvania State University. She received her B.A. in Psychology from Villanova University.
As Co-Chief Talent Scientist at MotiveX, Christian Thoroughgood, Ph.D., utilizes his wealth of expertise as an industrial-organizational psychologist to design and validate assessments and other talent management solutions.
Christian joined MotiveX because of his background and interests in employee selection and assessment, motivation, and leadership. In designing employee assessments, performance management systems, and assessment centers for various organizations, such as Johnson & Johnson, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Aerosoles, UGI Corporation, and Penn State University, Christian understands the challenges that all employers face when seeking to better select, assess, motivate, engage, and retain their employees.
Christian is an Assistant Professor at Georgia State University in the Graduate Programs in Human Resource Development. He holds an M.S. and Ph.D. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology (with an emphasis in research methods and statistics) from The Pennsylvania State University and a B.A. in Psychology and Economics from The University of Maryland, College Park.
Christian has published over twenty peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters in the field of Industrial-Organizational Psychology and presented his research at various academic conferences, including the Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology (SIOP) and the Academy of Management. His research has also gained media attention from various outlets, including The Washington Post, Bloomberg Business Week, The Atlantic, Psychology Central, Live Science, and Buzzfeed.
Joe is an accomplished pharmaceutical, technology, and healthcare executive focused on research-based solutions, public and HCP training and education, and health equity initiatives. He founded his latest company, Social Health Research (SHR), on the premise that every American, regardless of age, sex, gender identification, or skin color, deserves an equal chance to be as healthy as possible. Joe’s vision for SHR combines community engagement, research, data analysis, technology, and innovation to define barriers to healthcare, identify unmet community needs, and create efficient bespoke solutions.
Joe has founded three other successful pharmaceutical, consulting, and data and technology companies, including Advanced Health Media (acquired by IQVIA in 2018). He began that grassroots start-up in a spare bedroom of his partner’s house and turned it into a $450M enterprise. His ability to craft solutions, motivate teams, and create effective management processes has resulted in successful partnerships with dozens of medical device and bio-pharma companies, including 18 of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies. Joe holds a BA in Management from Gettysburg College.
Kim is an experienced finance professional with deep subject-matter-expertise in ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) and its importance to how companies operate. As an early implementor, Kim was instrumental in building a sustainable and impact investing platform for Bank of America wealth management clients. Additionally, she has worked with teammates to develop ESG frameworks to aide clients and financial advisors through the sustainable investment process. More recently Kim is a member of the Bank of America Global Environmental Group engaging teammates and corporate clients on the Bank’s global environmental sustainability strategy, including business integration, financing, and other investments. In particular, she works closely with leaders across the enterprise to steward Bank of America’s environmental, social and governance initiatives including the goal to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions financing activities before 2050.
With over 25 years of investing and finance experience, Kim has worked in some of the largest financial services firms on Wall Street. The last 15 years have been focused on ESG. The combined experience of ESG and working closely with sales professionals/leadership will bring valuable insights to the MotiveX strategy.
Kim earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Gettysburg College, Gettysburg PA. Personally engaged in her communities, she volunteers for numerous organizations supporting environmental and social equality activities.
Brian Bules is the CEO and Founder of Breakthrough Business Strategies and Solutions (BBSS). BBSS partners with its clients from all industries to accelerate their strategy development and execution by providing guidance, advice, insights, and planning. This includes consulting services to large and small organizations concerning their business, products, services, people, technology, and growth plans.
Brian has gained diverse international experience throughout his career. After serving in multi-disciplinary roles and leadership responsibilities with Goodyear and GlaxoSmithKline, Brian launched BBSS in 2022. Brian earned a Mechanical Engineer degree from Georgia Tech and an MBA in International Business and Finance from Case Western Reserve University. During his career, he honed his management and innovative leadership skills in many disciplines including Finance, Engineering, Procurement, Operations and HR. He has led both US-based and international teams to exceed goals often in partnership with supplier partners of materials, consulting, talent services, and technology solutions. Brian’s professional passion is driving positive changes in how organizations and people engage, grow, and contribute to high-performing businesses and customer success.
Brian has served as a Non-Executive Board Advisor to Armstrong Craven which provides talent market insights, candidate sourcing and executive search to their clients globally. He is a Global Board Member to HRO Today which is the premiere HR services industry association for providers and practitioners throughout the world. He co-chairs HRO Today’s Global Industry Standards and Practices Committee. He is also a strategic advisor to Semper Virens Venture Capital which invests in innovative companies focused on future workforce solutions and practices. Brian looks forward to working with MotiveX to leverage growth potential of customer organizations and individuals through their motivational blueprints and aligning intrinsic motivations.
