What Tero does

Tero International, Inc. is a privately held corporate training and executive coaching firm headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, founded in 1993 by Rowena Crosbie in Earlham, Iowa. The company specializes in interpersonal skills development for executives, managers, and professionals, delivering customized corporate training, executive and professional coaching, public workshops, and modular 90-minute Tero Clinics across topics including leadership, communication, selling, DEI, influence, hiring, and personal effectiveness. Tero serves five named verticals — Business & Industry, Healthcare, Government, Education, and Non-profit — and has reached a graduate base spanning more than 40 countries, with training delivered on-site or at its Des Moines Learning Center in 12 countries.

The company's core technology stack is built around established third-party assessment instruments (Everything DiSC, MBTI, Leadership Practices Inventory, SOCIAL STYLE, Intercultural Developmental Inventory) integrated with proprietary curriculum developed at an average of 55 research-and-design hours per hour of training delivered. The proprietary Tero Cards assessment tool — a card-sort game designed with Miami University Ohio's Armstrong Institute — provides a differentiated gap-analysis surface. Tero employs a distinctive team-based delivery model with two or more certified trainers under exclusive contract per engagement, supported by third-party outcome validation through a long-standing partnership with Drake University statisticians since 1998.

Tero's business model is professional services, with quote-based pricing for customized corporate engagements (leadership development priced at approximately $4,500 per participant), multi-month executive coaching engagements, pay-as-you-go Tero Clinics and public workshops, and one-time book/product revenue from the award-winning "Your Invisible Toolbox" ecosystem. Go-to-market is sales-led and referral-driven, supplemented by SHRM conference keynotes and a content presence across YouTube, blog, and newsletter channels. The company is bootstrapped and founder-led, with no disclosed external funding or M&A activity and a headcount in the 11–50 range.

Name

Tero

Legal name

Tero International, Inc.

Website

https://tero.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Tero International is a privately held, founder-led corporate training and executive coaching firm specializing in interpersonal skills development, serving enterprises, healthcare, government, education, and non-profit organizations worldwide through customized workshops, coaching, and modular Tero Clinics.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Des Moines

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Corporate Training Programs: Customized on-site or at Tero Learning Center workshops for organizations. Programs cover communication, leadership, presentation skills, DEI, and more. Pricing is quote-based and customized per engagement.
2. Executive Coaching: One-on-one coaching programs including Executive Coaching, Professional Coaching, Specialty Coaching, and Virtual Coaching. Delivered by certified coaches using a team-based approach with a Head Coach and subject matter experts. Subscription-style engagement typically spanning 3-6 months.
3. Tero Clinics: 90-minute interactive virtual workshops covering topics including Leadership, Communication, Selling, Personal Effectiveness, Influence, Diversity/DEI, and Hiring. Available as standalone registrations or bundled with larger programs.
4. Public Workshops: Open-enrollment workshops available to individuals. IMPACT: How To Speak Your Way To Success is a two-day interactive workshop. Other topics available publicly through the public workshop registration system.
5. Your Invisible Toolbox Book and Products: Award-winning book 'Your Invisible Toolbox: Technological Interpersonal' available on Amazon. Companion YouTube show and card deck product. The book received 7 awards.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Tero International provides customized corporate training programs, executive and professional coaching, and modular 90-minute virtual clinics focused on interpersonal skills, leadership development, communication, presentation, sales, hiring, and DEI. The company delivers on-site workshops at client locations globally and at its Des Moines Learning Center, supported by proprietary assessments (Tero Cards) and third-party instruments (Everything DiSC, MBTI, LPI, SOCIAL STYLE, IDI). It also sells the award-winning 'Your Invisible Toolbox' book and companion media products.

Product overview

Tero International is a corporate training company offering a comprehensive suite of professional development services built around interpersonal skills training. The portfolio consists of training programs (IMPACT Presentation Skills, Leadership Academy, Healthcare Academy), coaching services (Executive, Professional, Specialty, and Virtual Coaching), and Tero Clinics—a modular 90-minute interactive learning system covering Leadership, Communication, Selling, Personal Effectiveness, Influence, and Hiring topics. Supporting these core offerings are the proprietary Tero Cards assessment tool, an Assessment Center featuring industry-standard instruments (Everything DiSC, MBTI, LPI, SOCIAL STYLE, IDI), and the award-winning Your Invisible Toolbox book and media brand. Tero's research-intensive approach involves 55+ hours of development per training hour, with customization integrated into all services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• IMPACT: How To Speak Your Way To Success A two-day interactive public workshop on presentation and communication skills focused on public speaking, body language, and impactful presentation delivery, available as a public enrollment offering and as a customized corporate program.
• Executive Coaching Programs One-on-one coaching service for executives and senior leaders, delivered by a team of certified coaches to develop interpersonal and leadership skills with measurable outcomes (6x average ROI per ICF-cited data).
• Professional Coaching Programs Personalized one-on-one coaching programs designed for leaders, managers, and top performers seeking professional development through individualized coaching sessions.
• Specialty Coaching Individualized coaching tailored to professionals with specific professional development goals outside the standard executive and professional coaching tracks.
• Virtual Coaching Remote one-on-one coaching delivered virtually, enabling Tero's coaching methodology to reach individuals regardless of geographic location.
• Tero Clinics 90-minute interactive virtual workshops covering Leadership, Communication, Selling, Personal Effectiveness, Influence, Diversity/Equity/Inclusion, and Hiring topics, available as standalone registrations or bundled with larger programs.
• Leadership Academy Custom-designed leadership academies built for client teams, providing tailored curriculum to develop leadership capabilities, including the option to anchor programs in the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) five practices framework.
• Healthcare Academy Industry-specific training academy tailored for healthcare professionals and healthcare organizations, addressing interpersonal and leadership skills in a healthcare context.
• Tero Cards Proprietary online card-sorting assessment tool that identifies training and development gaps, available in individual and organizational versions to determine top professional development priorities.
• Tero Assessment Center Centralized assessment administration service offering Tero Cards and third-party instruments (MBTI, Everything DiSC, Leadership Practices Inventory, SOCIAL STYLE, IDI) for use in workshops and coaching.
• Public Workshops Open-enrollment in-person workshops available for individual registration, providing individual access to Tero's training methodology without organizational sponsorship.
• Keynote Presentations Inspirational keynote presentations delivered by Tero's certified trainers for client meetings and conferences.
• Your Invisible Toolbox Book and Companion Card Deck Retail book product 'Your Invisible Toolbox: Technological Interpersonal' authored by Rowena Crosbie, paired with a companion YouTube show and physical card deck, sold via Amazon and serving as a brand entry point to Tero's broader training ecosystem.

Quantifiable outcome

• Training moved participants from 50th to 96th percentile on communication skills; 50th to 100th percentile on leadership; 50th to 96th percentile on personal effectiveness; 50th to 92nd percentile on self-esteem
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• Everything DiSC (Wiley)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTero International is an 'Everything DiSC Authorized Partner.' The company offers assessment administration, customized workshops, private coaching, and Tero Clinics using the DiSC portfolio of instruments. The partnership provides access to Everything DiSC Workplace and other DiSC-based assessment tools for Tero's training programs.
• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) - CPP/Journey管理coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTero uses the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment instrument in its workshops and coaching sessions. MBTI is founded on Carl Jung's work and was developed by Katherine Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers. CPP is the publisher and distributor of MBTI.
• Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) - Kouzes and PosnercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTero uses the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI), a 360-degree assessment instrument from Kouzes and Posner's research spanning 40+ years. The LPI measures five leadership practices: Challenging the Process, Inspiring a Shared Vision, Enabling Others to Act, Modeling the Way, and Encouraging the Heart.
• SOCIAL STYLE - Tracom CorporationsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerTero uses the SOCIAL STYLE interpersonal effectiveness model and assessment tool. The model describes four styles (Driving, Expressive, Amiable, Analytical) and measures Versatility — a predictor of business success beyond style.
• Intercultural Developmental Inventory (IDI)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerTero uses the Intercultural Developmental Inventory (IDI), developed by Dr. Mitchell Hammer and Dr. Milton Bennett. The IDI measures intercultural sensitivity based on Bennett's Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) for cross-cultural competence training.
• Drake University (Dr. Jim Veale and Dr. Tom Westbrook)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSince 1998, a professional statistician from Drake University in Des Moines (Dr. Jim Veale, Statistics) along with the head of Adult Learning from Drake University (Dr. Tom Westbrook) have been consulted to analyze and interpret training outcome data. This partnership provides third-party validation of Tero's training results and measurement methodology.
• Miami University Ohio - Armstrong Institute for Interactive Media StudiessecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe online game version of Tero Cards was designed and developed with the assistance of the staff and students of the Armstrong Institute for Interactive Media Studies at Miami University of Ohio. This academic partnership contributed to the development of Tero's proprietary assessment tool.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Dale Carnegie Training: Dale Carnegie is a direct peer — a long-established (1912) global training franchise specializing in interpersonal skills, leadership, presentation, and communication training for professionals, delivered via in-person and customized corporate programs similar to Tero.
• FranklinCovey: FranklinCovey is a direct peer — it provides leadership development, effectiveness, and interpersonal skills training built around proprietary frameworks (e.g., 7 Habits, 4 Disciplines of Execution), sold to enterprise clients via customized engagements and assessments, mirroring Tero's model.
• The Ken Blanchard Companies: Blanchard is a direct peer — leadership and management training provider built on Ken Blanchard's research, offering customized corporate leadership programs and coaching that closely parallels Tero's Leadership Academy and executive coaching tracks.
• Crucial Learning (formerly VitalSmarts): Crucial Learning is a direct peer — it offers corporate training in communication, influence, and leadership skills (Crucial Conversations, Crucial Influence) with both training and certification programs, addressing the same interpersonal-skills pain points as Tero.
• Wilson Learning: Wilson Learning is a direct peer — a global provider of sales, leadership, and interpersonal effectiveness training with research-validated assessments (similar to Tero's use of DiSC, MBTI, LPI, SOCIAL STYLE) and customized corporate engagements.
• Center for Creative Leadership (CCL): CCL is a direct peer — a globally recognized leadership development organization offering executive coaching, leadership academies, and research-validated programs that overlap directly with Tero's Leadership Academy and executive coaching offerings.

Broad incumbents

• DDI (Development Dimensions International): DDI is a broad incumbent — a large, established talent management and leadership development provider offering assessment centers, leadership training, and coaching at greater scale than Tero, competing for similar enterprise training budgets.
• AchieveGlobal: AchieveGlobal is a broad incumbent — a longstanding global corporate training provider covering sales, service, leadership, and interpersonal effectiveness, with broader product scope than Tero but serving overlapping enterprise customers.

Emerging players

• BetterUp: BetterUp is an emerging player — a digital-first coaching and leadership development platform with scaled tech-enabled delivery, targeting the same enterprise soft-skills training budget as Tero but with a fundamentally different (self-serve, app-based) delivery model.

Others

• Heidrick & Struggles (Leadership Advisory): Heidrick & Struggles' leadership advisory practice is an adjacent player — it provides executive coaching and leadership assessment/development services targeted at the same C-suite and senior executive buyer that Tero's coaching practice addresses, though as part of a broader executive search franchise.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/terointernational107
• Xx.com/terotrainers
• Facebookfacebook.com/terointernational
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tero-international-inc.

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Tero