Our Team
Our team is dedicated to creating Decker’s communications experience for our clients:
- Our Program Leaders are the best in the industry – they deliver consistently superior quality programs every day that continually exceed our client’s expectations.
- Our sales professionals are consultative in their approach to ensure that programs are designed for maximum impact for each client.
- Our office staff brings it all together for and end-to-end seamless experience.
Karen Habegger
Program Leader
Karen loves being a Program Leader for Decker! She considers it a privilege to be a catalyst in people’s growth and is passionate about seeing participants transform in just two days. Her background in human resources at Gap Inc and Gensler Architecture has helped shape her philosophy of experiential learning. She finds her job rewarding because people get to practice and see immediate results. Karen received a BA in Psychology from Lafayette College and puts it to good use everyday.
Originally from Minneapolis, Karen decided to pack up her bags in 1994 and follow her childhood dream of living in San Francisco. An adventurer at heart, she takes every opportunity possible to travel, especially to beach destinations. Next on her must-visit list: Greece and Bermuda.
Allie Khalatbari
Program Leader
Allie joined the firm to become a Program Leader in order to help business professionals transform into more effective communicators. She said was sold on the Decker Method when she first attended the program back in 1999.
Prior to joining Decker, Allie spent more than a decade in the premier buy and sell-side financial boutiques encompassing: Institutional Sales, Trading and Research as Senior Equity Product Manager, Principal, and Managing Director. Her motto has always been “A good stock is a good stock story—you have to know how to tell it!”
Allie holds an MA in Speech Communications from Cal State University, Hayward and BA in Rhetoric from University of California, Berkeley. On her time off, Allie prides herself in being a soccer mom to both her eight year old daughter and husband in Marin County.
Terry Lee
Director of Business Development
In this selling role, Terry uncovers communication needs and challenges in various companies and business categories, and offers Decker solutions that can meet those needs. He feels strongly that Decker is the preeminent communications training and consulting company in the business, and our clients share that feeling through the relevant, usable results they experience.
Terry has been in sales and sales management for practically all of his 35 years in business. Having graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in English, he realized the importance of solid communication in selling – and all aspects of business – and has a great deal of enthusiasm for “spreading the Decker word.” He is one of seven children, and is proud to be a husband, father and very active in the Big Brother Big Sister organization.
Maria Ralph
Program Leader
Maria joined Decker to increase the effectiveness in personal and professional communication for individuals looking to be influential in all their interactions. Prior to Decker, Maria worked as a Marketing and Sales Director across various industries to design, develop and implement go-to-market strategies and early adopter customers. She has worked with notable companies such as Monster Cable and Skire Inc. Maria also spent more than three years in various consulting and training positions for clients such as Nike and Eastman Chemical. Maria holds an MBA from San Francisco State University and a BA in Industrial Design from California College of Arts.
Maria lives and breathes communications – even outside of Decker programs. She and her husband Jeff raise their two children to be bilingual in Russian and English. Maria is also well versed in the language of wine and loves making recommendations – especially to our program participants.
Celeste Steenburgh
Office Administrator
Celeste is the glue that holds the Decker office together. She works magic behind the scenes as the single point of contact for end-to-end program execution. As a result, participants experience a seamless program, helping them fully commit to honing their communication skills. Celeste holds a BA in Speech and Communication from San Francisco State University and took her degree into the working fields of hospitality, media, and now brings her communication skills to Decker.
Celeste has spent the majority of her life in the Bay Area and recently made her first major life purchase on a home in the North Bay.
Domini Tarman
Program Leader
As a Decker Program Leader, Domini thoroughly enjoys the rewards of helping people feel more comfortable with their communications and speak more effectively. The most rewarding part of her job is receiving the many emails from participants after completing Decker programs sharing their new success stories.
Domini has a BA from University of Southern California in Public Relations and Marketing. She spent over 20 years in sales management with American Express, EMC and Dun & Bradstreet. It is the knowledge from this experience that she feels adds a special touch to the programs, along with some hilarious stories of mishaps.
She and her husband, John, have two grown children, Aimee and Brandon and are diehard college football fans. Having grown up in a family of eight children Domini learned early on how to get her way with her communication, which she currently uses today.