Thanks to our people, our team really is greater than the sum of its parts

Bill Scheidt
Managing Partner

Before becoming the Managing Partner of Sewa Beats, Bill spent a total of one year and a half living, working, and studying music in Africa.  His first trip to Africa was as the leader of an ecology research project he designed to study a population of giraffe in a national park.  It was then that he first fell in love with Africa, its music, and its people.

Regularly returning to study music, Bill learned Swahili, volunteered to teach English in a rural school, and worked on local community outreach initiatives.  He later went on to become an instructor at the world’s first international academy of West African drumming, and a close personal student of legendary Master Drummer Mamady Keita.

With the help of Bill’s directorship, Sewa Beats has delivered corporate programs in 19 countries, 7 languages, and reached more than 300,000 participants around the world.  Sewa Beats’ clients include organizations such as BMW, Pfizer, Wells Fargo, Hewlett Packard, and Capital One.

Today, Bill is based in North Carolina, taking advantage of living between the mountains and the ocean to pursue his love of outdoor sports.  When he’s not mountain biking or hiking, he can be found spending quiet time with family.  For him, Sewa Beats is a way of paying forward the many gifts that have come out of his time in Africa and are an expression of his commitment to making a difference in the world.

What’s the most inspiring thing about Sewa Beats?
“It’s head and heart together – it’s research-backed and uplifting at the same time. It’s business-focused we’re making a global difference – the programs happen in the context of the business world but have a far-reaching personal and social impact”

What’s your personal mission?
“My mission is to have an impact on the organizations and people that make a difference in today’s world. My mission is to connect people to themselves, and to each other. I believe by changing the way companies approach success, we can change the way people think about themselves and others. Employees can start to understand their true purpose and reach their full potential – both at work and in their personal lives. I envision the world moving towards being a global human community.”

What’s the most important thing you’ve learned during your time at Sewa Beats?
“You can’t give what you don’t have. You have to live it and be it. It all comes from you. The external results we generate are a direct result of our internal growth.”

Deborah Peyton
Lead Facilitator

Deborah Peyton came to Sewa Beats with over 20 years of corporate and organizational experience in the areas of leadership, change management, facilitation, and sales and marketing. She heard the call of West African drumming 10 years ago, and since that time has facilitated and played drums for companies, organizations and performance groups across the US.

Deborah’s mission is to share her enthusiasm for drumming in a manner that energizes, connects and inspires individuals, organizations and companies to strive toward their own definition of success. She brings a high level of professionalism, authenticity, energy, and fun to her facilitations. Deborah believes that a hands-on group experience can “drum in” organizational messages, philosophies, and goals and provide a lasting and transformative experience to company members.

A retired Army Officer, Deborah spent over 20 years in the Federal healthcare, logistics and procurement management. She also spent six years as a successful Executive Federal Sales Manager for Henry Schein, a Fortune 500 company. For the past 11 years Deborah has provided Federal business and contracting consulting to help companies grow their Federal business. Her diverse experiences allow her to effectively connect and communicate across all levels of an organization.

Deborah has trained in Group Facilitation Methods and Dispute Resolution to improve her facilitation skills. Her drum facilitation training has been under the guidance of some of the top professionals in the industry to include Bill Scheidt, Jim Donavan, Arthur Hull, and Frank Thompson. She is also a graduate of a residential, one-year, Drum Instructor Training Program through the TTM Djembe Academy.

Michael Taylor
Lead Facilitator
Michael Taylor (aka “Taylor) came to Sewa Beats with years of experience in the corporate world, having worked as both an IT trainer and independent IT consultant. He has since facilitated programs for Sewa Beats throughout North America, South America and Oceania. With his extensive corporate and musical background, he delivers impactful programs that are relevant and substantive, as well as energetic and engaging.

After leaving the IT world, Taylor re-started his career path by studying music at the world’s first international academy of West African Drumming, with Grand Master Drummer Mamady Keita. After travelling to Africa a number of times, he achieved the degree of TTM Djembe Academy Senior Instructor. Since then he has performed, taught or facilitated drumming programs on every continent except Antarctica.

Whether it is as a facilitator, educator, or performer, Taylor brings a unique perspective to his craft. With the combination of a unique ability to communicate, engage audiences and promote learning, combined with a broad range of life and professional experience, he focuses on the relationship between the individual and the metaphor of music. This has led to an overall philosophy that seeks to find where one’s own personal pulse lies in relation to the collective pulse. By way of traditional West African or non-traditional styles, Taylor demonstrates the metaphor of music in everything he does.

Glenn Gautier
Executive Producer
As Sewa Beats’ Executive Producer, Glenn works with clients to create experiences that drive business results. His style fosters collaboration and creates a “can-do” culture. He typically works with C-suite on strategic agenda design for global summits, product/business launches, sales, leadership and training events for multi-national corporations and associations. In addition to 30 years crafting experiential programs, Glenn produces media and directs audio visual equipment to deliver immersive experiences.