OUR TEAM

FOUNDER

Steve Bauer

Career:

• Founder, Strategist and Facilitator – Tier 1 Group, Inc., 2009 – present
• Founder and Facilitator – The Preeminent Growth Collaborative, 2015 – 2018
• Founder and Lead Consultant – The Referral Academy, 2007-2009
• Vice President Client Services – The Three Marketeers, 1993-2009  
• Credit Officer and Team Lead, CIT Group, 1986-1993 

 Education:

• Villanova University, M.B.A.                     
• Bucknell University, BA in Economics
• Germantown Friends School, Class of 1980

 Civic Leadership (current and prior):

• President, Entrepreneurs Roundtable, The Union League of Philadelphia
• Executive Committee, The Business Leadership Forum, The Union League of Philadelphia
• Chair of Business at Daybreak, The Union League of Philadelphia
• Founder and Past President, Rotary Club of Chestnut Hill, PA
• Assistant Governor, Rotary District 7450
• Scoutmaster Emeritus, Boy Scout Troop 177, Wyndmoor, PA

Steve Bauer is an entrepreneur, strategic advisor, skilled facilitator and provocative thinker.  He founded Tier 1 Group in 2010 as a platform for delivering high impact growth solutions to small and mid-size organizations.  Steve possesses a unique ability to synthesize concepts and paradigms into frameworks for understanding obstacles and making strategic choices. 

Steve’s frameworks are rooted in the building of community.  He believes deeply that both success and joy happen when we are in meaningful relationship with others – in community.  He is blessed to have been mentored by his father Leigh, an attorney and top-rated Wharton professor, as well as his father-in-law Ken Erdman, a CLIO award-winning target marketer.  Both helped Steve develop his ability to think differently and reveal what truly matters  

PARTNER

Sixtus Oechsle

Career Highlights:

• Tier 1 Group – Strategist, Advisor, Communications Catalyst
• Shell Oil Corporation – multiple executive positions, including Executive Director of Corporate Identity, with responsibility for defining corporate communications strategies and implementation of communications standards.
• Hexcel (Composites Technology) – Director of Research; National Marketing Manager
• Oberheim (analog synthesizers) – President/CEO

Areas of Study:

• Executive MBA, University of Houston
• Gestalt Institute
• Power Presentations – trained and coached under Corporate Presentations Coach and best-selling author Jerry Weissman

Sixtus Oechsle’s background is as uncommon as his name. Like his surname, his CV conveys a blend of creativity, uniqueness and accomplishments. Sixtus is a passionate entrepreneurial leader with a unique depth and breadth of executive, management and industry experiences.

As Director of Research at Hexcel Corporation, he attained multiple patents in areas of biomedicine and industrial polymers.  Following his time at Hexcel, Sixtus spent 11 years at Shell Oil in a variety of roles, including head of M&A and Executive Director of Corporate Identity.  It was during his time at Shell Oil that Sixtus realized that poor communication was the cause of many problems in the corporate world, and improving communication became his passion. He also began to focus on the role of culture in corporate environments – from highly profitable acquisitions focused on cultural fit to the development of high-performing teams – and the importance of individuals becoming self-aware of their behavioral impact as team members.

MARKETING & ACCOUNTING

Beth Bauer

Beth Bauer is President of The Three Marketeers, Inc., parent company of Tier 1 Group. Beth is responsible for the back-office operations of Tier 1 Group, including oversight of Marketing, Personnel and Accounting.

Beth’s entrepreneurial roots are in the Advertising Specialty/Promotional Products industry, having spent 22 years managing a successful and award-winning promotional products distributorship.

After earning a BA in Business Administration from Gettysburg College, she joined The Three Marketeers as an Account Manager, and eventually took over the role of President. Her career in target marketing and entrepreneurial management has honed her skills in building and maintaining client and vendor relationships, project management, copywriting and editing, and understanding how an audience will hear a message.