The Alternative Board Ventura County

Diane Knudsen is Co-Owner of WBBS and The Alternative Board (TAB) in Ventura County, together with her husband Mark Knudsen.  Diane brings a rich practical background of business ownership and commercial banking, that includes specialties in financial/cash flow management and business forecasting and strategy. As our TAB Boards come together monthly, Diane’s expertise combines with the business owner Members for a rich discussion of people, processes and tech that are fundamental to success of running a business, regardless of industry...such a great pool of wisdom!

Business Ownership can be a very isolating experience. Even when ownership is shared, the available sounding board can be finite and strained. Most Board of Directors for privately held businesses lack diversity and outside expertise, sometimes consisting only of family members. Having lived this for 20+ years running the media agency with Mark, a wider advisory circle where ideas can be presented, challenged and refined stood out as so meaningful to Diane! TAB Board discussions have a singular agenda: The success of every member. The built-in component of peer accountability means problems get solved, new initiatives take shape, and meaningful change happens.

Diane combines her desire to connect with local business owners with a curiosity about local programs and funding sources for small businesses. She has found that, too often, the business owners who can most benefit from grants and other local support are so caught up in the day-to-day process of running things, they miss these opportunities altogether. She works tirelessly to be an effective mouthpiece for programs available in Ventura County, so available funds find worthy recipients.

Diane and Mark were fortunate to find themselves in the right place at the right time in their 20+ years owning and running a media agency.  Their particular advertising niche rode a wave of huge market success. As that market evolved, it came time to scale back that organization and consider new opportunities. They wanted their time and effort to have meaning. The mission of Wealth Building Business Solutions met the platform of The Alternative Board, and has grown to become an incredibly enriching experience for Mark and Diane, and the many Members in the TAB Ventura family!

The Knudsen’s have raised their family in Southern California and, while running their businesses, have been deeply involved in the community through church service and youth volleyball programs, with each having held leadership and coaching roles that have impacted the lives and futures of youth and adults alike. Their new chapter as Grandparents has blessed them with greater understanding – the desire for life balance only increases with age!

Diane earned a BS in Economics, with an emphasis in Business from UCLA. 

As Co-Owner of TAB Ventura County with his wife and best friend Diane Knudsen, Mark brings a broad wealth of experience from over two decades as founder and President of a top media buying agency specializing in direct response television, social media and radio. With over 30 years history in the competitive media and advertising industry, Mark became a skilled negotiator and managed hundreds of millions of dollars of media contracts which generated over a billion dollars in client revenue.

Mark has now combined his 30+-year professional career with a passion for coaching. Mark has led and mentored athletes at all levels - from youth, to High School, to College, to Professional and Olympians – and has celebrated with his teams a host of championship titles including Sectional and National titles at the high school level, and National titles in both the club and collegiate level, and podium finishes on the World Tour. His high school coaching performance captured, and still holds, the California state record for most consecutive league wins at 112 spanning over a decade.

The highly effective peer advisory board strategy, along with the proven proprietary analytical and strategic planning tools available through The Alternative Board provide the perfect vehicle to bring his experience in business and coaching together to help business owners connect their personal vision with their business vision, and keep them aligned in order maximize both satisfaction and success. StratPro ignites Marks fire for optimizing a team dynamic, and Leadership Training completes the package as Mark is able to train and guide participants to a level of performance they didn’t know was possible

A lifelong Southern California resident, Mark was raised in Ventura County, and graduated with a degree in Psychology from UCLA.