New Speakers
About
Laura Gassner Otting inspires people to push past the doubt and indecision that keep great ideas in limbo by helping audiences think bigger and accept greater challenges that reach beyond their current, limited scope of belief.
She delivers strategic thinking, well-honed wisdom, and perspective generated by decades of navigating change across the start-up, corporate, nonprofit, political, as well as philanthropic landscapes. Laura dares audiences to find their voice and generate the confidence needed to tackle larger-than-life challenges by helping them to seek new ways of leading, managing, and mentoring others.
Laura’s rebellious and entrepreneurial edge has been well-honed over a 25-year career that started when she dropped out of law school to join an unknown southern governor’s presidential campaign and ended up as a Presidential Appointee in Bill Clinton’s White House, where she helped shape AmeriCorps.
She left a leadership role as the youngest Vice President at a nationally respected search firm when she realized that her boss’s definition of success didn’t align with hers and, instead, founded and ran one of the fastest-growing search firms in the country, partnering with the full gamut of mission-driven executives, from start-up dreamers to scaling social entrepreneurs to global philanthropists. In 2015, Laura sold that firm to the team who helped her build it, both because she was hungry for the next chapter and because she held an audacious dream of electing our nation’s first female president. (Whomp whomp.)
Since that time, Laura has appeared regularly on Good Morning America and the TODAY Show, and her writing has been seen in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, HR Magazine. She is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of three books, including Wonderhell: Why Success Doesn’t Feel Like It Should… and What to Do About It, Limitless: How to Ignore Everybody, Carve Your Own Path, and Live Your Best Life, and Mission-Drive: Moving from Profit to Purpose. Her books have been translated into five languages.
Through her own commitment to give back, Laura has helped build a local Montessori school, co-founded a women’s philanthropic initiative, advised a start-up national women’s PAC, grew a citizen-leadership development program, and completed five charity-inspired marathons, projects emblematic of her passions and values. She’s turned on by the audacity of The Big Idea and that larger-than-life goal you just can’t seem to shake. She’s an instigator, a motivator, and a provocateur, and she’s never met a revolution she didn’t like, just ask her enduringly patient husband, two almost-grown sons, and troublesome puppy with whom she lives outside of Boston, MA.
About
David Gerard is Silicon Valley's premier mystery entertainer. Hix mix of mentalism and magic has taken him around the world, garnering standing ovations from the world’s most sophisticated audiences.
David’s background is what truly makes him unique. After a decade working in tech marketing (Google, Discord, and more) David understands the nuances of corporate life and the modern corporate audience. David also recognizes each unique and diverse corporate culture, which allows him to tailor his performance for each group. There is simply no other performer who has the corporate background and stage credentials of David Gerard.
David has performed for hundreds of companies across a variety of industries, and has entertained CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg, Brian Chesky (Airbnb) and Marc Benioff (Salesforce). He also toured with the Broadway show The Illusionists and has consulted on three seasons of America's Got Talent.
About
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About
Mandy Gill is a sought-after keynote speaker, helping leaders and their teams thrive through the face of uncertainty in the future of work by strengthening their ability to collaborate, build resilient relationships, and ultimately succeed greater than they ever thought possible.
For over a decade Mandy has studied what separates successful teams from those that simply aren’t. Drawing on her experience of building and scaling one of the world's most effective behavior change apps, Healthy Habits, Mandy has one of the world’s largest data sets focused on building resilience, modifying behavior, and maximizing positive results. She shares authentic parallels between the principles she uses to succeed while climbing some of the highest peaks in Nepal and around the world, along with running 100km trail marathons.
Mandy builds a compelling case for the uncontrollable environments in extreme adventure, and the ones that people face every day — at work, at home, and in their communities. In addition to having faced some of the most challenging environments in on the planet, Mandy has shared conversations with Lady Gaga and Rihanna while her career took shape in the broadcast world first, before branching off as a business builder, author, and highly respected international media personality. Mandy’s commitment to levelling the playing field and opening doors for women across the globe twice earned her a “Women of Distinction” award by the YWCA.
Jodi Glickman
Leadership & Communication Keynote Speaker, CEO of Great on the Job, Bestselling Author
About
Jodi Glickman is passionate about developing leaders— both seasoned executives and next generation talent.
As the CEO and founder of Great on the Job, Jodi and her team have reached hundreds of thousands of the brightest minds across corporate America and academia—working with many of the most influential organizations and iconic brands—counting LinkedIn, JP Morgan, Abbott, and Harvard Business School among their longest standing clients.
Jodi has appeared on the TEDx stage (Why You Should Stop Looking for Work You Love), she is the author of the critically acclaimed book Great on the Job, What to Say, How to Say It, The Secrets of Getting Ahead (St. Martin’s Press), and she is a writer for the Harvard Business Review.
Jodi regularly contributes to media outlets and her career advice hasbeen featured in the New York Times, USA Today, US News & World Report, Business Week, Fortune, Forbes, WSJ finance, CNN Money, Glamour, Shape, Real Simple, Chicago Tribune, Huffington Post, and many more.
Jodi is a former Peace Corps volunteer (Southern Chile) turned investment banker (Goldman Sachs) turned communication expert. She received her MBA from the Johnson School at Cornell where she was a Park Leadership Fellow and received a full-ride scholarship to business school.
Before turning to the world of finance, Jodi was a policy analyst at the U.S. EPA and did stints at the White House and Governor’s Office of Illinois. She has a B.S. in Social Policy, Magna Cum Laude, from Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy. She is a former member of the Northwestern University Council of 100, and a former board member of Readworks.org and Trustee of the Brooklyn Children’s Museum.
Jodi lives in Chicago, IL with her husband and three children. She enjoys hiking, biking and eating hot fudge sundaes, not necessarily in that order.
Risha Grant
Diversity & Inclusion Expert, Corporate BS Finder, International Speaker, Author and Consultant
About
An award-winning diversity consulting and communications speaker
Talks about: Diversity & Inclusion, Building an Inclusive Culture
Featured in Forbes, The Financial Times, Off Script, Bloomberg Media, Black Enterprise, Engage Magazine, Radioactive Radio, Take the Lead Radio
Past clients include: Discove, Samsung, Cox Communications, Wells Fargo, USAA Diversified Financial Group, Boy Scouts of America, U.S. Airforce, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder, University of Oklahoma
Motivated by her passion to correct societal “isms” like racism, sexism, classism and plain old stupidism, it is Risha Grant’s personal mission to expose the subtleties and values of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion while shining a light on the impacts they create. From her race, gender and lifestyle choices, to growing a small business and tackling economic, moral, and business issues, every area of her life intersects diversity.
Founder & CEO of Risha Grant LLC, an award-winning diversity consulting, communications and speaking firm, as well as an edgy, educational and motivational speaker, author Risha Grant uses honest, humorous, and vulnerable storytelling to motivate audiences to embrace the inner tough work of Radical Acceptance while honoring diversity, equity, and inclusion without evoking feelings of judgement or assigning blame.
These audiences have included Google, Levi Strauss, Nestle Purina, Xerox, YouTube, Procter & Gamble, Discover Card Financial Services, Samsung Electronics America, U.S. Airforce, U.S. Navy, Intuit, and Harvard University, to name a few. She’s also been featured in Forbes, Harvard Business Review, HR News, The Financial Times, Glamour magazine UK, Bloomberg Media, and Black Enterprise among others.
Risha has received numerous honors such as being named one of the Top 10 Most Powerful Women Leaders in HR by PeopleHum in 2021, 40 Top Women Keynote Speakers by Real Leaders, the NBA OKC Thunder Changemaker Award in 2020 among others.
In her no-holds-barred style, renowned diversity and inclusion thought leader Risha Grant teaches and empowers attendees about unconscious bias, micro-aggressions and other actions that perpetuate discrimination and inequality. Audiences leave with easily applied principles for finding respect, understanding and inclusion both personally & professionally.
About
Nikki Greenberg stands at the forefront as a world-renowned futurist and internationally acclaimed keynote speaker, specializing in the intersection of artificial intelligence, real estate technology, and innovation. Her dynamic and high-energy keynotes delve into the fusion of real space and cyberspace, emphasizing the transformative role of emerging technologies. Nikki's mission is to not only ignite inspiration about future possibilities but also to provide actionable insights on leveraging these advancements for business growth and success.
As a digital nomad with a versatile career spanning the US, Asia, and Australia, Nikki has excelled in various leadership roles, emphasizing innovation and cutting-edge design. She has made significant contributions as the Head of Technology Strategy at QIC, an Australian investment firm, revolutionizing a $17Bn AUM real estate portfolio with tech-driven strategies. Her tenure in New York involved spearheading innovation at Brown Harris Stevens, the leading private brokerage for luxury residential developments. In Australia, she played a pivotal role in designing transformative projects with Lendlease and Koichi Takada Architects.
Nikki's expertise and influence in PropTech and real estate innovation have been acknowledged through numerous awards, including being named a Top 9 Most Influential Woman in PropTech (2024), Top Real Estate Influencer (2023), and a ULI Global Luminary (2022). As a sought-after speaker, she frequently shares her insights on the tech-enabled future of the industry at prominent global real estate conferences.
Her leadership extends to serving as a co-chair of ULI New York’s Real Estate Technology and Innovation Council and founding Global Ambassador of Women in PropTech. Nikki's educational background includes Masters of International Business and Architecture from UNSW, Sydney.
Currently based in New York City, this Australian national is celebrated as one of the most influential voices in the realm of AI, real estate technology, and future-focused thinking.
About
CEO and founder of Student Maid, a cleaning company that has employed thousands of millennials and is known for building the next generation of leaders
Kristen talks about how to build a culture of belonging with multiple generations in the workplace, and how to deliver and receive criticism as a leader.
First TED Talk has received more than two million hits on YouTube
Past clients include: Apple, Burger King, jetBlue, Ohio State University, PGA Tour, Re/MAX
Kristen Hadeed believes that authentic, human leadership can change the world.
At 19, with hardly any leadership experience, Kristen started a cleaning business called Student Maid. She never expected it to be her career; it was simply a way to earn money while she was in college. But before she graduated, her company received a contract to clean hundreds of apartments—and it changed her path forever. Kristen hired a team of 60 people help her, and within days, 75% of that team quit. That’s when Kristen’s obsession with learning how to be a leader began.
Over the next 14 years, Kristen learned a lot by screwing up. But most importantly, she learned how to lead from her heart. Doing so helped her take Student Maid from a small cleaning company to a business known on a global scale for its culture of belonging, its focus on people, and its purpose of building leaders.
Today, Kristen spends her time helping leaders, teams, and organizations around the world embrace their humanity. She’s worked with just about every industry with one purpose behind it all: To build a better world through courageous, compassionate leadership.
Kristen’s work has been featured in news outlets including PBS, FOX, Inc., NBC, TIME, and Forbes. Kristen’s book, Permission To Screw Up, has sold more than 40,000 copies worldwide. Her first TED Talk has more than three million views on YouTube
About
Corinne Hancock is a globally recognized expert in building world-class leaders, effective teams, and cultural proficiency in chaotic environments. With over a decade of international aid and development experience working around the world developing bold leaders, building highly effective teams, delivering medical trainings and delivering medical care.
Corinne translates her expertise from working in chaotic environments into REAL RESULTS through EFFECTIVE and INTERACTIVE keynote presentations, corporate trainings and executive coaching, helping organizations and individuals THRIVE IN CHAOS.
Corinne Hancock is the former Director of Clinics and Training Programs for Project C.U.R.E., a global leader in bringing medical aid to low-income countries. She brought together multi-generational, multi-cultural teams to train leaders, open clinics and deliver medical care in some of the most remote locations on the planet. Corinne is a certified leadership coach and has worked on numerous contracts with the Department of State and Department of Defense, helping develop the next generation of African Leaders and improve health care systems in some of the most underserved, war torn parts of our world. She is now considered a leader in disrupting the model of aid in Africa. She regularly travels to countries across the African continent working with everyone from heads of state to tribal elders; from US Ambassadors to remote village community members. She challenges them all to create a better way to bring sustainable success to the areas that need it the most. She has worked in conjunction with several for-profit and non-governmental organizations to help them Thrive in Chaos.
Corinne is the Founder of The Curiosity Project, a nonprofit organization that provides health and entrepreneurial opportunities in countries where people have limited access to resources.
Stacey Hanke
Best Selling Author, Communication & Influence Strategist, Forbes & New York Times Contributor
About
Click Here to Watch Stacey's Virtual Presentation
Coming from an entrepreneurial upbringing, Stacey Hanke learned early on how we consistently show up and interact determines our success in our organizations and in our lives. Starting with a career in voice-over, she quickly realized how every word matters - every movement of your body matters and every sound you make matters (volume, tone and inflection). All of these combined determines who listens, who stays connected with you, who believes you and then acts on your recommendation.
Stacey then jumped into the corporate world as a trainer for Fortune 500 companies, training every possible topic from motivation to customer service to leadership. She traveled internationally researching the difference between a leader who is influential versus a leader who’s simply a good communicator.
Today, Stacey is the CEO of a highly sought-after consulting and training company where she mentors leaders who want to ensure their employees perceive them as an influential leader – those who are working towards a promotion – and sales professionals to ensure their message and style resonates with their clients.
As a thought leader she has been a featured guest on media outlets including: The New York Times, Forbes, Entrepreneur, Thrive, SmartMoney Magazine, The Economist and Business Week. Her client list is vast: FedEx, McDonalds, Google, Kraft Heinz, Nationwide, American Express, Discover and Oracle. Her knowledge leading diverse, high-level teams makes her a sought-after speaker and consultant and she has inspired thousands around the world through her ability to connect with an audience and one-on-one.
Her 19 years of studying influence across cultures and industries, leading large corporate teams makes her the perfect fit for organizations large and small who are ready to influence on a consistent basis. Clients hire Stacey because of her implementable strategies that help leaders get to the point, communicate with confidence and credibility, to build trust and deliver messages that drive action, creating lasting results.
Dr. Robyne Hanley-Dafoe
Best-selling Author, Award-winning Scholar, Inspiring Keynote Speaker on Resilience and Wellbeing
About
An educational behaviorist (one of very few in the world) and a globally recognized speaker and scholar, Dr. Robyne Hanley-Dafoe is also your friendly neighborhood scientist who makes life make sense! With a treasure trove of awards and a worldwide following, she's on a mission to empower audiences everywhere with practical strategies for fostering resiliency and making stress your ally, not your enemy.
Dr Robyne embodies her teachings by seamlessly blending real-world realities, rigorous research, and profound wisdom with her own personal journey. A mother of three teenagers, a high school dropout turned respected professor, author, entrepreneur and survivor of a life-altering accident, her life story exemplifies her unwavering dedication of spreading resilience. Dr Robyne proves that it is not just a theory, but a transformative skill set.
Known for her engaging delivery, Dr Robyne crafts experiences that integrate scientific research with inspirational narratives into actionable insights across diverse platforms. Her approachability and relatability shine through, inspiring individuals and organizations to face challenges with confidence.
Fueled by historical fiction, coffee, and an unwavering belief that better days are always ahead, Dr Robyne is here to show us that resiliency isn't just a concept— it's a skill set that transforms your work and life.
Heather Hansen
Keynote Speaker on Leadership & Sales, Best-selling Author & Award-winning Trial Lawyer
About
Heather Hansen knows how to build belief. She was a trial attorney for over 20 years and was consistently named one of the Top 50 Female Attorneys in Pennsylvania. She combines that experience with her psychology degree, her mediation training. and her experience as a TV anchor to help her clients build belief and advocate for their ideas, products and services.
For over twenty years Heather was a trial attorney. Her job was to help diverse groups of people believe in her case so that her client could win. She honed the tools for her clients to build credibility quickly so they could persuade diverse juries to see things from their perspective. Now she is sharing the tools with you.
Heather has worked with organizations like Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, Google, SavATree, the American Medical Association, Call Miner and LVMH to help them make the case for their services, products, ideas and their teams. She’s also shared these tools at Harvard Business School, Stanford Law School, The University of Pennsylvania and with audiences across the world.
Heather is the author of the best-seller “The Elegant Warrior: How to Win Life’s Trials Without Losing Yourself” and the host of The Elegant Warrior podcast. Heather’s latest book is Advocate to Win-10 Tools to Ask for What You Want and Get It.
Dan Heath
Co-author (with his brother Chip) of four New York Times bestsellers: Made to Stick, Switch, Decisive, and The Power of Moments A senior fellow at Duke University’s CASE center, which supports social entrepreneurs who are fighting for social good Named …
About
Co-author (with his brother Chip) of four New York Times bestsellers: Made to Stick, Switch, Decisive, and The Power of Moments
A senior fellow at Duke University’s CASE center, which supports social entrepreneurs who are fighting for social good
Named in 2013 to the Thinkers50, a ranking of the world’s most influential management thinkers
MBA from Harvard Business School
Dan Heath is the co-author, along with his brother Chip, of four long-running bestsellers: Made to Stick, Switch, Decisive, and The Power of Moments. The Heath Brothers’ books have sold over three million copies worldwide and been translated into 33 languages. Dan’s new book Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen was an instant Wall Street Journal bestseller, and it was included on “best books” lists from Apple, Amazon, the Financial Times, and others.
Dan is a Senior Fellow at Duke University’s CASE center, which supports entrepreneurs who fight for social good. He is an entrepreneur himself, having founded Thinkwell, an innovative education company that next year will celebrate its 25th anniversary. Dan was named in 2013 to the Thinkers 50, a ranking of the world’s 50 most influential management thinkers, and also to Fast Company magazine’s list of the Most Creative People in Business. He has spoken to teachers, police chiefs, U.S. senators, interior designers, Navy admirals, health care leaders, marketers, ministers, and countless executive teams, across 26 countries on 6 continents. (He’s still waiting for that invitation from Antarctica.)
Dan has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from the Plan II Honors Program at the University of Texas at Austin. One proud geeky moment for Dan was his victory in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest, beating out 13,000 other entrants. He lives in Durham, NC.
Devin Henderson
Award-Winning Entertainer & Motivational Keynote Speaker on Resilience
About
Successful companies are the ones who never stop striving for excellence. The way they accomplish this is maintain a culture that fosters a commitment to risk and perseverance. For many leaders, the past few years have thrown a number of challenges and roadblocks in their way and they are eager to embrace a new mindset that will help them and their employees to define and strive for the best, while confident that something greater is always possible.
Award-winning performer Devin Henderson brings an unforgettable experience of impact and inspiration and helps people and organizations take a break from the worries of the day while breaking free from their perceived limits. He helps them to discover practices for maintaining mental strength and resilience to realize their greatness like never before. As a mental strength keynote speaker, his presentations are thoughtfully designed to challenge participants to defy the impossible and inspire them to reflect on their own seemingly impossible goals while equipping them with the mindset that sometimes failure is actually just a fork in the road to achieving greatness.
Devin’s energy on stage is contagious and the audience learns how his own constraints became inspiration to innovate, dream bigger, and function better. He shares why it’s so important to embrace The Possibility Mindset and uncover the new levels of potential that are available to each of them. He reminds participants that achieving greatness in work and life requires commitment, risk, perseverance and that it’s a daily, on-going process. Devin’s keynotes are wildly successful since he shares his messages via a unique combination of magic, storytelling and audience interaction while guiding them to the realization that each can learn to define their own vision of new possibilities.
Resilience may be an overused word since the pandemic, but Devin gives it a fresh new perspective. His audiences leave armed with invaluable practices and insights for building a bulletproof spirit and unstoppable ambition. Setbacks are no longer viewed as failures, but rather stepping stones that can be used along the way to achieve unprecedented success.
About
Talks about how leaders and organizations can establish practices that lead to everyday brilliance.
Audiences leave with practical takeaways on how leaders can be become more creative in their day to day, and lead their teams to brilliance by peak performing cultures.
Todd Henry is a best selling author of three books, and an internationally renowned speaker across a variety of industries.
Past clients include: Cisco, IBM, P&G, Merck, Crayola, Estee Lauder, Mattel, Intuit and Kimberly-Clark.
For nearly 20 years, Todd Henry has equipped leaders and creative pros to become the most valuable person in any room.
He is the author of seven books (including The Accidental Creative, Die Empty, and Herding Tigers) which have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and he speaks internationally on creativity, productivity, passion for work, and generating brilliant ideas. Todd’s podcast Daily Creative has been downloaded more than 20 million times since 2005.
Over the years, Todd has developed a comprehensive framework that empowers leaders and creative pros to produce brilliant work in healthy teams that make a meaningful difference in the world. Through his keynotes and workshops, he shares practical strategies to help people and teams to be brave, focused, and brilliant every day.
Robert Herjavec
Inspiratonal Speaker, Best-selling Author, Founder & CEO of Herjavec Group and Leading Shark on ABC’s Shark Tank
About
Robert Herjavec a dynamic entrepreneur and leading Shark on ABC’s Emmy Award-winning hit show Shark Tank - is one of North America’s most recognizable business leaders. In 2003, he founded Herjavec Group, and it quickly became one of North America’s fastest growing technology companies. Today, Herjavec Group is recognized as a global cybersecurity operations leader - specializing in managed security services, compliance, identity services and incident response for enterprise-level leaders and their organizations.
Born in Eastern Europe, he arrived in North America on a boat with his parents - after escaping communism in the former Yugoslavia. From delivering newspapers, and waiting tables, to launching a computer company from his basement - his drive to achieve has led him to the fulfillment of a better life for himself and his family. Robert’s motivational business advice has received millions of impressions through TV, print, radio and digital media.
Robert's inspiring books all appeared on best-sellers’ lists:
- You Don’t Have to Be a Shark: Creating Your Own Success (St. Martin's Press, May 2016)
- The Will to Win (HarperCollins, Apr 2013)
- Driven (HarperCollins, Sep 2010)
Robert will engage and inspire anyone willing to keep up with the pace of change! Robert's fundamental guiding principles include "Today we do what others won’t, so that tomorrow we can accomplish what others can’t" - and "Constant Forward Momentum!"
Shama Hyder
A Visionary Strategist for the Digital Age, Best-Selling Author & CEO of Zen Media
About
Shama Hyder is a visionary strategist for the digital age, a web and TV personality, a bestselling author, and the award-winning CEO of Zen Media – a global marketing and digital PR firm. She has been named the “Zen Master of Marketing” by Entrepreneur Magazine and the “Millennial Master of the Universe” by FastCompany.com. Shama has also been honored at both the White House and The United Nations as one of the top 100 young entrepreneurs in the country.
Shama is the bestselling author of The Zen of Social Media Marketing, now in its 4th edition and Momentum: How to Propel Your Marketing and Transform Your Brand in the Digital Age. An acclaimed keynote speaker, Shama has delivered keynotes in over 20 countries and spoken for recognized brands including Movado, Prudential, Chase, Tupperware, and Inc 5000.
As a result of her success, Shama has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious Technology Titan Emerging Company CEO award. She was named one of the “Top 25 Entrepreneurs under 25” by Business Week in 2009; one of the “Top 30 Under 30” Entrepreneurs in America in 2014 by Inc. Magazine; and to the Forbes “30 Under 30” list of moversand shakers for 2015. LinkedIn has named Hyder one of their “Top Voices” in Marketing & Social Media for three years in a row. Her online videos were awarded the Hermes Gold Award for
Educational Programming in Electronic Media and most recently she was given the Global Empowerment award for Marketing and Technology by Anokhi Media.
As the CEO of Zen Media, she and her team help both B2B and B2C brands to make meaningful connections with the modern-day customer via influencer marketing, and experiential and digital storytelling — and then turn those connections into bottom line results. Notable clients include Chase Business, The US Navy, DFW Airport, Mary Kay, and Tupperware.
Omar Johnson
Culture, Diversity, Marketing and Branding Speaker, Former CMO at Beats by Dre, and Former VP of Marketing at Apple
About
Omar talks about how brands can use curiosity and creativity to create stand out brands that authentically connect with consumers.
Audiences leave inspired to think about branding from a new perspective that involves the consumer to drive exponential growth and sustainability.
Omar is the former Chief Marketing Officer at Beats by Dre and former VP of Marketing at Apple, and the creator of the Nike+ sports music platform, establishing Nike’s first revenue-generating relationship with record labels.
Past clients include: Nike, Coca-Cola, Kraft Foods and Campbell's Soup.
As the former Chief Marketing Officer at Beats by Dre and former VP of Marketing at Apple, Omar Johnson has created strong consumer connections with the brands he’s represented. He drove explosive growth at Beats, leading groundbreaking campaigns with celebrities such as LeBron James, Chris Rock, and Eminem – helping to take a $20 million company to a $1.1 billion dollar global icon and category leader.
Johnson drove explosive growth in the headphone category through groundbreaking campaigns including #ShowYourColor Solo Campaign, Powerbeats starring LeBron James and The Pills featuring Chris Rock and Eminem. He used “ambush marketing” and influencers to expand the brand—giving athletes and musicians free headphones at private company parties—which helped turn Beats into the headphone of choice for the best musicians and athletes in the world.
Previously, Johnson led innovative marketing programs for international brands such as Nike, Coca-Cola, Kraft Foods, and Campbell Soup. As an advertising lead at Nike, Johnson produced some of Nike’s most memorable TV commercials including “Rise,” starring LeBron James, “All Together Now,” featuring Kobe Bryant, and “The Most Valuable Puppets”.
Johnson also built the Nike+ sports music platform, establishing Nike’s first revenue-generating relationship with record labels. Johnson and his team created an industry-first sports music program with Universal, Interscope, Sony, Capitol, Def Jam and more than 25 independent labels. This collaboration sold +5 Million tracks and deepened the connection between music and sports.
Johnson is from Brooklyn, NY. He received a BS in Biology and Chemistry from Georgia State University and an MBA from Goizueta Business School at Emory University.
Kath Koschel
Founder, The Kindness Factory, Former Australian Cricketer, Triathlete and Motivational Keynote Speaker on Resilience, Teamwork & Change
About
A testament to the power of human spirit, Kath Koschel is a survivor who has overcome incredible odds and unimaginable tragedy to inspire ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Koschel is a former professional cricketer and Ironman competitor who’s world came crashing down when she broke her back twice in the span of five years and was told that she would never walk again. Instead, she faced the challenges head-on and defied all medical prognosis by teaching herself to walk again on three separate occasions. In the midst of these harrowing experiences, she believes she experienced two things in large amounts: adversity and kindness. After re learning to walk for the second time in her life, this realisation kickstarted a 2-month journey around Australia which relied solely on the kindness of strangers. No cash, credit card food or water – and no help from family or friends!
Driven by a passion to spread gratitude and kindness sin the world, she founded Kindness Factory™ with the goal of encouraging one million acts of kindness. To date, Kindness Factory has recorded over 7 million acts of kindness and is now a registered not-for-profit in three countries.
An internationally sought after speaker and author of Kindness the book, Kath has worked with some of the biggest and most well-known companies and brands in the world to help them achieve perspective, resilience, good culture and of course, kindness.
Dr. Jessica Kriegel
About Dr. Jessica Kriegel – Organizational Culture Expert and Leadership Strategist
About
Click Here to Watch Jessica's Virtual Video
Talks about creating intentional cultures within organizations to accelerate performance
Audiences learn a data-driven approach to developing a winning organizational culture using her Culture Equation model where strategy combined with 8 tangible and measurable ‘Culture Dynamic Drivers’ empowers everybody in the organization to deliver consistent results.
Chief People and Culture Officer at Experience.com; Author of Unfairly Labeled: How Your Workforce Can Benefit From Ditching Generational Stereotypes and the upcoming The Culture Equation
Past clients include: Amway, Bank of America, Canon, the Federal Reserve, Lockheed Martin, Toyota
For 15+ years, Jessica Kriegel has been guiding global, national, Fortune 100 and other organizations across finance, technology, real estate and healthcare industries on how to create intentional cultures that accelerate performance.
After she got her MBA and became a global consultant for a human capital management solutions provider, Jessica consistently saw highly-stressed leaders failing to deliver against lofty financial goals. She knew that if these leaders could transform their cultures, performance and profitability would follow. But, because culture is often viewed as ‘woo’ and an intangible, these leaders didn’t know where to begin.
So, Jessica set out on a personal mission to ‘quantify culture’.
Her doctoral research and consulting engagements with Oracle, Toyota, Lockheed Martin, Federal Reserve, and Bank of America to name a few, led to the Culture Equation - a tested model where strategy combined with 8 tangible and measurable ‘Culture Dynamic Drivers’ empowers your people to deliver consistent results.
Today, Jessica applies data-driven insights to dismantle the chaos of poor morale, low performance, and missed financial goals. CEOs lean on her to ask questions that their internal resources may be too afraid or unaware to ask, and get the results they need. Her unique ability to analyze organizations in qualitative and quantitative terms and create measurable growth across all levels has made her the go-to ally for global leaders and teams.
In April of 2021, Jessica joined the team at Experience.com as the Chief People and Culture Officer. Formerly SocialSurvey, Experience.com has built a custom Experience Management Platform (XMP) that helps companies collect and analyze feedback, drive employee behavior, improve customer experiences, and power business outcomes with automation. Her focus is on crafting an intentional culture that allows the company to execute on its strategy. Jessica is employing The Culture Equation, as well as the XMP’s real-time feedback from employees, to establish the ideal culture
About
Kim Lear is a writer, researcher, and the founder of Inlay Insights. She is known for skillfully weaving eye-opening statistics, insightful stories, and relevant case studies to make presentations come alive. Previously, Kim was the content director at BridgeWorks, a research firm dedicated to generational and millennial trends. Her undergrad research focused on baby boomers and longevity, and her post-grad work centered on millennials and social media trends. She is currently in her ninth year of a longitudinal study on leadership.
Kim was recently named one of today’s best speakers by Meetings and Conventions Magazine, and she appeared as keynote speaker before some of the most renowned companies in the world. She has received rave reviews from clients such as American Express, Cisco Systems, Deloitte, Disney, General Mills, LinkedIn, Mastercard, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Wells Fargo, and more.
In addition to speaking, Kim was head of research on the book Gen Z @ Work. She has written whitepapers on generational wealth transfer, retirement trends, and Gen Z’s impact on higher education. Kim is the writer of the popular Substack, Kids These Days. She has been featured on NPR and national publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, USA Today, and TIME magazine.
She is a highly sought-after generational expert and serves as an advisor to FORE, an AI startup focused on predictive analytics for attrition. She also volunteers for The 78 Cents Project, an organization dedicated to helping young women develop strong presentation skills.
When not delving into the minutia of human behavior, Kim can be found spending time with her husband and daughters in Minneapolis.
Chaunte’ Lowe
Motivational Olympic Medalist, American Record Holder, and TEDx Speaker on Helping Your Group Navigate This Challenging Climate
About
Chaunte' Lowe is the story of determination perseverance and strength. Not only is Lowe a mother of 3, a wife and a finance professional; she is also a professional athlete, an American Record Holder, a 4-time Olympian, a 3-Time World Championship medalist, and 12 times US National Champion.
When speaking she is true to how she performs. She is animated, entertaining and humorous. She dances and plays to the crowd as she shares her stories of beating impossible odds, time and time again. She possesses the ability to keep the group engaged and hanging on her every word or jump. Those who get a chance to encounter her leave inspired and motivated. Her infectious personality is electrifying. You can't help but leave an interaction with her with a winning, "I can do ANYTHING" attitude.
Lowe was able to realize her childhood dream of going to the Olympics at only 20-years-old, making her the first woman from Georgia Tech’s track and field team to become an Olympian. The following year, Lowe won silver at the 2005 World Championships to become the first American woman to win a world outdoor championships high jump medal since Louise Ritter won bronze at the inaugural event in Helsinki in 1983. Lowe is always a crowd favorite with impossibly defined abs, dramatic dance moves, and even the occasional backflip. Lowe graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in economics. In 2008 she represented her country again in the high jump at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Days after returning from the 2012 Olympic Games, started teaching trigonometry at Grayson High School in Atlanta. Married triple jumper Mario Lowe on August 21, 2005, and gave birth to daughter Jasmine in July 2007 and Aurora in April 2011 and Mario Josiah in 2013. Lowe has broken the American Record 3 Times and is the current indoor and outdoor American Record holder with 2.02m (6’-7.5”) and 2.05 (6’8.75”) meters respectively. In addition to her Olympic Games appearances, she has represented the United States on six world championship teams. The story is not over; she most recently represented the US in her fourth Olympic Games in the summer of 2016 and is showing no signs of stopping any time soon. Don't be surprised to see her jumping in her 5th Olympic Games in Tokyo the summer of 2020.
Campbell Macpherson
Global Change Expert and Motivational Speaker on Leadership and Change
About
Campbell Macpherson is an international expert on leadership and change with more than 25 years of experience in enabling leaders of organizations large to lead and delivery successful change, especially within the financial services.
He is an Executive Fellow of Henley Business School and delivers innovative workshops and programs for organizations worldwide on ‘leading change’, ‘embracing change’ and ‘leading with influence’, a global program designed to create your next generation of senior leaders.
His client list includes Singer Capital Markets, Central Bank of Hungary, CPA Australia, T Rowe Price (EMEA, APAC, USA), BNY Mellon Pershing, Insight Investment, Shoosmiths Law Firm, League Managers Association, Invesco, iPipeline, CIPD, UK Police, Endsleigh Insurance, Dentex, Mazars, International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds, M&A Advisor, Bibby Group, FS Forum, Concentra, St James's Place, Centaur Media, Real Estate Results Network, and Aviva.
His executive experience includes Senior Adviser to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Strategy Director of Zurich Life Emerging Markets, HR Director of Sesame (UK’s largest IFA Network, Founding Marketing Director of Virgin Wines, Head of Business for the AMP Group and Senior Manager (Change) at Andersen Consulting.
He was a multimedia pioneer in his native Australia and he began his lengthy list of careers flying jets (badly) in the Royal Australian Air Force.
Campbell is the award-winning author of three books to date: The Change Catalyst, about leading change, the 2018 Business Book of the Year; The Power to Change, about embracing change; and You: Part Two, thriving in the second half of your life. His fourth book, Transforming Olympus, a leadership fable featuring the Greek gods, is due to be published in 2024.
Campbell is based in the UK and can be found wherever in the world his clients need him to be.
Campbell Macpherson is an accomplished, entertaining and thought-provoking public speaker, an experienced Master of Ceremonies and a seasoned facilitator, in demand worldwide. In a world where 88% of change fails, Campbell helps organizations discover the essential ingredients to successful change.
About
Melissa Majors has spent 25+ years of her career optimizing the business impact of education, innovation, inclusion, and leadership. She started Melissa Majors Consulting to drive better strategic decision-making in these areas and works with organizations across the country to effectively measure their inclusion and diversity performance. She has extensive experience at Meeting Professionals International, Ellucian, and other organizations in improving profitability, boosting organizational performance, and optimizing inclusion strategies.
Melissa is the author of The 7 Simple Habits of Inclusive Leaders. In this book, she reveals how great leaders enjoy superior team performance and drives much higher profitability by incorporating inclusive practices. Her new book Help Them Thrive: Leadership Coaching for Humans Leading Humans is like having a leadership coach in the palm of your hands.
As a crowd-pleasing speaker who masters brain-friendly talks, Melissa engages her audiences and sparks not just inspiration but action as well. Founder of Melissa Majors Consulting, creator of in’klooded®, an inclusive strategic planning method that ensures all voices get heard, and Community Keynotes an inclusive process that draws out game-changing ideas ® a coaching program. She is an innovator and optimizer of education, inclusion, & leadership strategies. She has dedicated her career to maximizing the business impact associated with these areas of focus.
Melissa has been a force of change throughout her professional career. She has served on the board of The Propel Group DFW, as the Director of Global Education at Meeting Professionals International (MPI) where she used executive leadership to drive global education strategies and develop excellence in teams. She revamped the educational division to effectively serve 500k+ clients and strategic partners as the Director, Global Education Services at Ellucian.
Melissa has been featured in publications such as Forbes Magazine, Smart Meetings, The Meeting Professional, NorthStar Meetings Group's Eventful Podcast, The Event DR, and on the keynote stage at events such as Meeting Professional's International's WEC, Matthews Asia, Orthofix, Blue Shield of CA, State Street, Institute for Internal Auditors, and many more.
Melissa has a Bachelor of Business Administration and studied strategy and innovation at Harvard University.
Doug Manuel
About Doug Manuel – Performer, Social entrepreneur, Inspiring Speaker on Building a Culture of Collaboration: Doug Manuel is a speaker and performer specializing in fostering purpose driven engagement and collaboration. He has performed at TED Global a …
About
Doug Manuel is a speaker and performer specializing in fostering purpose driven engagement and collaboration. He has performed at TED Global and with Oprah, and for 3 decades he has been delivering interactive virtual and in-person programs for fortune 500 companies and leading business schools around the globe.
His clients include HBS, The World Economic Forum, LVMH, Google and literally hundreds of others. The foundation of his work draws on the timeless wisdom of rural Africa where he has traveled and lived for more than 25 years pursuing his passion for West African music and culture.
He is the creator of ‘Do You Speak Djembe?’ an award nominated stage show (Chicago JEFF Awards). An ex-BBC documentary producer of 8 years, he has recently returned to film making to produce a documentary for Netflix (BEATS AS ONE) about the cure to the loneliness and isolation epidemic. His not for profit ‘Lighting Up Lives’, encourages partnerships with rural villagers across West Africa inspiring and supporting local action to solve local problems putting words into action.
Amy Jo Martin
Founder and CEO of Renegade Global, New York Times Best-Selling Author
About
Amy Jo Martin has the proven ability to see the potential in individuals before they see it in themselves and her superpower is getting them to realize their potential and take immediate action. She is one of the world's leading human transformation experts.
A small town girl from Wyoming, and Renegade known for humanizing brands and reinvention, Amy Jo is the author of New York Times best-seller Renegades Write the Rules, Founder & CEO of multiple companies with 8-figure valuations, a keynote speaker, host of the top-ranked Why Not Now? Podcast, an educator, investor and board member with an online following of over 1 million people.
Amy Jo’s clients are reinventing the way they work and saving significant time, money and talent. Her client portfolio includes Dell, Hilton Worldwide, Nike, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Shaq and Google to name a few. Human transformation is an equal opportunity space. Amy Jo developed “The Renegade Way” for individuals, entrepreneurs, teams and companies of all sizes.
Not only a keynote speaker, as a renowned podcast host of more than 300 episodes, Amy Jo also has the unique talent of guiding thought-provoking conversations in front of live audiences as a moderator or panelist, and has done so at events for Apple, CES, FastCompany, SXSW, TechCrunch and many others.
Currently she’s the founder and CEO of Renegade Global, a human transformation company that unlocks positive disruption for both individuals and corporations. Amy Jo is the founder of Renegade Global Ventures, a fund focused on democratizing access to deal flow and the flow of capital by getting more Renegade women seats on the cap table.
Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Amy Jo worked for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns during the wild wild west days of digital and social media – there were no rules or regulations in place so she helped write the rules. She went on to found one of the first ever digital agencies, Digital Royalty, and pioneered personal branding online as we know it today.
Amy Jo resides in Austin, Texas with her son and two Aussie Shepherds.
About
Artist, Resilience Expert, Entrepreneur, Burn Survivor, Inspirational Storyteller
Keynote Speaker on Adversity, Change, Creative Thinking, Self-leadership, Burnout, Employee Retention, Elevating Company Culture — Reaching audiences in more than 75 countries.
Customization for Healthcare on Burnout, Patient Experience, and Retention.
Unforgettable stories packed with takeaways. Your audience will be forever changed.
Click Here to Watch Allison's Hybrid Presentation
While most speakers have a story to tell, there are a select few with one so impactful and poignant that the audience is forever changed. That is what happens when Allison Massari speaks. She has been named one of the Top Ten Best Motivational Speakers in North America by Meetings and Conventions Magazine and has forged her path to success with creativity, tenacity, and deep gratitude.
Having survived two devastating and near fatal car accidents, one where she burned alive and suffered severe burns on over 50% of her body, Allison views her experiences as a tremendous gift that allowed her to find strength and a fiery passion to reach pinnacle achievements both in business and personally.
Allison has dedicated her career to catapulting individuals and organizations toward total success, mastery, and fulfillment. As an international keynote speaker, executive coach, and interdisciplinary artist, Allison provides an exceptional blend of business acuity, clarity, creative perspective, and real understanding. Her highly effective methods have enabled her to form bonds as a trusted confidante to CEOs, executives and entrepreneurs.
As an international keynote speaker, executive coach, and award winning visual artist, Allison Massari ignites vitality, inspires confidence, and offers essential tools for self-mastery to audiences worldwide. Prepare to be inspired, moved, and energized. Prepare to be taken on a journey.
Mike Massimino
Former NASA Astronaut, NY Times Bestselling Author, Media & TV Personality; Columbia University Professor
About
Mike Massimino is a former NASA Astronaut, a New York Times bestselling author, a Columbia University professor, an advisor at The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, and a television personality.
A spacewalker on the final two Hubble Space Telescope servicing missions, Mike and his crews traveled faster (Mach 26) and higher (350 miles) than any other astronauts in the 21st century while increasing the discovery capabilities of arguably the greatest scientific instrument ever built by a factor of 100.
During the final Hubble servicing mission, Mike was faced with both success and life-threatening challenges as he performed the most intricate repair ever attempted in space. Mike set a team record for cumulative spacewalking time on a single space shuttle mission, was the last person to work inside of the Hubble Space Telescope, and was the first person to tweet from space. He persisted through three rejections over 7 years on his way to becoming an astronaut, including overcoming a medical disqualification by training his eyes and brain to see better.
Mike has made numerous television appearances and movie cameos, including a recurring role as himself on the CBS comedy The Big Bang Theory. He was featured in National Geographic Television’s One Strange Rock and in the Netflix series Worn Stories. Mike is a frequent guest on morning shows and late-night television including The Today Show, Good Morning America, and The Daily Show, and a guest expert on network and cable news including NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, and CNBC.
Mike’s first book, Spaceman: An Astronaut’s Unlikely Journey to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe, has received rave reviews and is a New York Times best-seller. His second book, Spaceman: The True Story of a Young Boy’s Journey to Becoming an Astronaut (for young readers) is a National Science Teachers Association 2021 Best STEM Book Winner.
In Mike’s new book, Moonshot: A NASA Astronaut’s Guide to Achieving the Impossible, he distills stories and insights from NASA into an actionable guide to accomplish your biggest goals. Mike reveals how to make possible the seemingly impossible—on Earth. Written with characteristic wit and a big heart, Mike identifies ten hard-earned lessons of spaceflight and his other life experiences.
Mike uses humor and his unique storytelling ability to inspire audiences to identify the passion in their work, to use teamwork and innovation to solve problems, to provide leadership in the face of adversity and crisis, and to never give up when pursuing a goal.
Heather McGowan
Top Futurist and Speaker on the Future of Work, Best-selling Author
About
Future-of-work strategist Heather E. McGowan helps leaders prepare their people and organizations for the Augmented Era– where the greatest competitive advantage comes from optimizing human performance. McGowan is a sense maker, a dot connector, a deep thinker, and a pattern matcher who sees things that others miss. Heather gives people the courage and insight that illuminates their path forward. She’s transforming mindsets and entire organizations around the globe with her message about how the next phase of work will focus on continuous learning, rather than simply learning once in order to work. Pulitzer Prize–winning NYT columnist Thomas Friedman frequently quotes Heather in his books and columns and describes her as “the oasis” when it comes to insights into the future of work. In 2020 Heather was recognized as one of the top 50 female futurists in the world by Forbes. Heather’s sessions help employees and leaders alike prepare for and adapt to jobs that do not yet exist.
McGowan has provided keynote addresses for audiences from start-ups to government organizations to universities to publicly traded Fortune 100 companies, including AMP Financial, SAP, Abbvie, Biogen, Fidelity, FIS, Mastercard, AT&T, Financial Times, Siemens, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Kaiser Permanente, JPMorgan Chase, Lockheed Martin, MassMutual, MetLife, Best Buy, Raytheon, The US Army, Accor Hotels, Paramount, Chevron, AARP, Zendesk, Tableau, Fidelity, de Beers, Professional Beauty Association, and The World Bank among hundreds of others.
Heather addresses audiences in person from small summits for C suite executives to large events in the tens of thousands. Her virtual talks have reached hundreds of thousands. Often quoted in the media, notably in the New York Times, McGowan served on the advisory board for Sparks & Honey, a New York–based culture-focused agency looking to the future for brands. McGowan’s academic work has included roles at Rhode Island School of Design, and Jefferson University, where she was the strategic architect of the first undergraduate college focused exclusively on innovation. From 2019-2022 Heather was appointed as a faculty member of the Swinburne University Centre For the New Workforce in Melbourne, Australia. In 2022, McGowan was awarded an honorary doctorate from Pennsylvania College of Art and Design in addition to earning her MBA from Babson College and her BFA in Industrial Design from Rhode Island School of Design.
McGowan is the co-editor and author of the book Disrupt Together: How Teams Consistently Innovate and a Forbes contributor. McGowan’s first book on the future of work, published in 2020: The Adaptation Advantage: Let Go, Learn Fast, and Thrive in the Future of Work, reached number three in business management books on Amazon and was named one of the best business books of 2021 by Soundview. McGowan’s most recent book The Empathy Advantage: Leading the Empowered Workforce published in March 2023 and is a finalist for the Next Big Idea Book Club and identified as a top ten business book to read in 2023 by Business Chief.
Brant Menswar
Speaker on Values Based Leadership, Rock Musician & Expert on Connection
About
Brant Menswar is a best-selling author, named one of the country's top speakers, and has helped more than 10,000 people discover their non-negotiable values. His keynotes transcend mere speaking and information-sharing to a powerful, moving conversation designed to re-engage even the most apathetic of employees. His books and podcast expand on his ground-breaking work around values-based leadership described as “disarmingly simple and incredibly powerful.”
Brant has helped to change what’s possible for industry-leading companies like Netflix, Verizon, Anthem, Microsoft, ESPN, Hilton, and dozens more. He is certified in the Psychology of Leadership from Cornell University and is on a mission to help organizations create a high-performing connected culture.
Passionate and engaging, Brant encourages audiences to discover their Black Sheep Values® and move forward with deliberate intention. His interactive and entertaining ways of defining what matters most enable audiences to develop the skills necessary to perform at the highest level.