New Speakers
Alan Stein, Jr.
Speaker, Author, and former basketball Performance coach on helping business leaders create high-performance cultures
About
Alan Stein, Jr. teaches proven strategies to improve organizational performance, create effective leadership, increase team cohesion and collaboration, and develop winning mindsets, rituals, and routines.
In his corporate keynote programs and workshops, Alan shares real-world lessons, illustrated by powerful stories, so that every audience can immediately put new ideas into action. He has a passion for helping organizations create high-performance cultures, and his clients include American Express, Pepsi, Under Armour, Starbucks, Charles Schwab, Orange theory Fitness, and numerous college athletic programs such as Penn State Football and UConn Men’s Basketball.
An acclaimed basketball performance coach, Alan spent 15 years working with the highest performing athletes on the planet (including NBA superstars Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, and Kobe Bryant). He transfers that knowledge to reveal how leaders and teams can utilize the same approaches in business that elite athletes use to perform at a world-class level.
The strategies from Alan’s book, Raise Your Game: High Performance Secrets from the Best of the Best, are implemented by corporate teams and sports teams around the country. His inspirational words are featured on a 12-foot mural outside the Penn State Football Training Center, so that players run past it on the way to practice every day.
Robert Swan
Renowned Polar Explorer & Transformational Leader in Sustainability
About
With his presence and integrity, accomplishments and reflections, Robert Swan has an extraordinary ability to inspire and motivate audiences worldwide. Having experienced leadership and team cooperation in some of the world’s most hostile environments, Robert applies the leadership lessons he has learned to inspire bold management practices and effective communication styles. Robert’s talks are thrilling, uplifting and stimulating – all while fostering courage, vision and teamwork. His core themes are inspiration, leadership and future thinking for business, society and the environment.
30 years ago, French ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau gave Robert Swan a 50-year mission to save Antarctica from the realities of climate change. The 2041 Foundation was founded and through perseverance and dedication, Robert has helped inspire the next generation of leaders to take responsibility for their life paths.
As the founder of the 2041 Foundation, Robert has dedicated his life to the preservation of Antarctica and the planet through promoting renewable energy and sustainability to combat the effects of climate change.
Robert Swan has been working side-by-side with his son Barney for the past 5 years. On January 15th 2018 at the South Geographic Pole, the baton was passed onto Barney Swan, who, on that day, became the first person in history to journey to the South Pole powered entirely by renewable energy. This incredible feat marked the launch of CLIMATEFORCE, a 7 year campaign to remove 326 million tonnes of CO2 out of the atmosphere through effective solutions and education to encourage personal leadership in our carbon neutral future. CLIMATEFORCE continues to build on the 2041 legacy through action and personal leadership today and in the future.
This is not only an incredible story about a father and son, it is a legacy story of Robert Swan and the 2041 Foundation and their unstoppable commitment and leadership to preserve this earth for generations to come.
Simone Sweeney
Former Fortune 100 Executive, Keynote Speaker on Marketing and Retail
About
Simone Sweeney is a globally recognized retail strategist and executive coach with over 25 years of experience shaping some of the world’s most iconic retail brands—including Apple, The LEGO Group, and Motorola. A visionary leader with a rare blend of creative insight and operational rigor, Simone helps businesses reimagine what’s possible in physical retail—and then delivers it, at scale.
With a career spanning more than 60 countries, Simone has led retail expansion and transformation for multinationals across North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. At Apple, she spearheaded consumer engagement and experience strategies for over 100 stores across 11 countries, driving market-leading product launches and new store openings. At LEGO, she masterminded the global retail development strategy, scaling the brand’s store footprint to 1,000 locations and pioneering immersive in-store concepts that fueled rapid growth and brand love—particularly in key markets like China, the Middle East, and Mexico.
Simone’s work at Motorola saw her launch over 400 branded stores and shop-in-shops across 18 countries, while managing field merchandisers and marketers in 28 markets. She truly understands the complexity of delivering best in class brand and product engagement while maintaining consistency and maximizing revenue. Her career is a masterclass in strategic execution, local market adaptation, and the power of in-store storytelling to drive consumer loyalty.
Today, Simone combines her retail expertise with her passion for leadership and human development. As an executive coach and consultant, she partners with organizations to not only build compelling retail programs—but also to grow the people who lead them. Her keynotes weave together insights on global retail trends, innovation, and leadership—leaving audiences inspired and equipped to evolve.
Hamish Taylor
Award-winning CEO and Global Keynote Speaker on Entrenching the Customer in the Heart of All Activities by Creating The Customer Promise
About
Hamish Taylor has a CV that the Times describes as “takes some beating.” His energetic, thought-provoking and humorous keynotes are based on a rare combination of real stories - and a fantastic ability to inspire audiences with tailored advice and practical tools. Regularly featured in broadcast media, today Hamish acts as an advisor to some of the world’s largest companies (and even Governments) - assisting with specific innovation projects, customer focus and/or people leadership.
Hamish is an award-winning CEO whose career has taken him from the international consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble, consultancy firm Price Waterhouse and British Airways - to become CEO of the channel tunnel railway Eurostar, and then CEO of Sainsbury’s Bank… all before he was 40! In all cases, he left behind a record of significant business growth triggered by a willingness to challenge the normal way of doing things - so much so that his advice and assistance is now sought by organizations all over the world in many different industries.
As the self appointed “chief dumming down officer” in each of his roles, his approach is simple - but highly effective in delivering breakthroughs.
- The first thing that has to change is the way you look at your customers (both internal and external) - if you look at your customers the same way, you will get the same answers and keep doing the same things
- Secondly, you need to use your customer insights to create a new leadership tool - a simple “customer promise” as a platform for ALL future activity that puts customer benefit at the heart. Your customer doesn’t care about what you do, but about how they benefit as a result of what you do - so use this as your key purpose
- Thirdly, you must look to other environments and industries if you want breakthrough ideas - for product, service, process, leadership and much more. The Inspired Leaders Network dubbed Hamish the “Master thief” due to his track record in this area
- Concentrate your major energy on changing the way you engage with the team that will deliver the customer promise
Hamish’s keynotes will demonstrate the major breakthroughs that can be achieved by changing your approach. Hamish’s message can be tailored to a variety of topics and levels within an organization.
About
Jason Tharp is an inspiration expert, best-selling author, and illustrator who inspires audiences to embrace their authentic selves and collaborate towards success. With a focus on leadership and self-leadership, Jason's dynamic speeches share his personal journey of overcoming impossibles, such as brain cancer, obesity, negative self-talk, and self-doubt. His books, including "The Best You!" and "It's Okay To Be A Unicorn!", promote self-leadership, inclusivity, creativity, and self-acceptance.
Renowned for his interactive speaking style and impactful leadership advice, Jason has delivered numerous keynotes since 2015, providing audiences with a blueprint to break their own impossibles. His speeches emphasize teamwork and self-leadership, creating a bridge of empathy through vulnerability. Jason has worked with successful organizations like Better Business Bureau, Novocure, Sonova, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, NRG, Best Buddies, and MacMillan, and has been featured on major media outlets such as CNN, MSNBC, USA Today, Washington Post, The Hill, HuffPost, CBC, and The Independent. Jason has also written many op-ed pieces for numerous media outlets.
Speech Thomas
2x Grammy Award Winning founder & lead singer of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT
About
Speech was born Todd Thomas in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The youngest of parents Robert & Patricia Thomas. He grew up on two sides of life: the ghetto of Milwaukee (one of the nation’s roughest cities for African Americans) and (Wauwatosa) Milwaukee’s suburbia. Speech learned how to draw from the pains and beauty of both. He would absorb the plights of his people and the retreat of a middle-class black boy in a primarily white neighborhood. He lost his grandmother to a heart attack and his older brother, Terrence Thomas to an Asthma attack within the same week, and through spirituality, learned to recalibrate his inner anger through dynamic music. To celebrate the lives of those he lost, he coined his sound “life music”. Speech wrote the hit song Tennessee as a dedication to his grandmother and brother. In the early nineties, Speech and his mother started the Terrence Thomas Scholarship and to date, the scholarship has raised over a million dollars helping young black students further their educations.
Speech started and produced the hip-hop group, Arrested Development. Based in Georgia, from humble and rural beginnings; they became a pioneering force in the music world. Arrested Development received two Grammy Awards (Best new artists & Best rap single 1993) for the album, 3 years, 5 months, and 2 days in the life of…” Their second album “Zingalamaduni” was met with critical acclaim and was also nominated for a GRAMMY award.
In 1995, the group disbanded and Speech signed a solo record deal with EMI. His first single “Like Marvin Gaye Said” shot to #1 on the Japanese Tokio 100 charts for 7 consecutive weeks. Speech has released 5 solo albums since, all of which have spawned Top 10 hit singles in Japan. His album “1998 Hoopla” and Spiritual People” (2000) were certified gold. “Spiritual People” was awarded the Best black music album of the year 2000 by the acclaimed ADLIB magazine. Speech supported each album with sold-out tours.
Speech has also toured as a solo performer with the United States Vice President Al Gore, First Lady Hillary Clinton, Herbie Hancock, Chaka Khan, Youssou N’dour, James Brown, Parliament-Funkadelic, Jason Mraz, Hootie & the Blowfish, and The Roots.
In 2020 Speech partnered with Resonant Pictures and Pipeline Entertainment to release the full-length documentary “16 Bars” where Speech goes into a maximum security jail to write music with inmates. This stirring documentary has won numerous film festival awards and is now available through Lightyear Entertainment on streaming platforms worldwide
Tamsen Webster
Tamsen Webster – Selected for 2022 Thinkers50 Radar, Best-selling Author, Keynote Speaker on Communication: Turn Ideas Into Action Great ideas don’t create change unless people believe in them. Tamsen Webster helps leaders turn complex ideas into clear …
About
Tamsen Webster - Selected for 2022 Thinkers50 Radar, Best-selling Author, Keynote Speaker on Communication:
Great ideas don't create change unless people believe in them.
Tamsen Webster helps leaders turn complex ideas into clear, compelling messages that build buy-in and inspire action. Drawing on more than 25 years in message strategy and change communications, she gives audiences practical frameworks for communicating ideas in ways people understand, believe—and remember.
Why Book Tamsen Webster?
Tamsen doesn't simply teach people to communicate better. She shows leaders how to build a case for change that audiences can believe in.
Her experience spans major organizations including Harvard Medical School and Fidelity Investments, as well as advising entrepreneurs through Harvard Innovation Labs and the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship. She also spent more than a decade as an Idea Strategist for TEDxCambridge and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar in 2022.
What Makes Tamsen Different?
- A practical approach to building buy-in for change
- More than 25 years of message strategy experience
- Creator of the Red Thread® framework
- Two-time bestselling author
- Deep expertise in storytelling, persuasion and change communication
- Actionable frameworks audiences can use immediately
Why Is Tamsen Right for Your Audience?
Tamsen is particularly effective for organizations where leaders need people to understand, support and act on new ideas.
Book Tamsen when your audience needs to:
- Communicate change more effectively
- Build stronger buy-in for new ideas and initiatives
- Turn complicated messages into clear, compelling stories
- Influence without relying on pressure or manipulation
- Help people understand why change matters
- Move audiences from agreement to action
Audience Takeaways
Attendees will leave:
- Better able to build a persuasive case for change
- Equipped to make complex ideas easier to understand
- Clearer about why some messages inspire action while others fail
- Ready to connect new ideas to beliefs audiences already hold
- Able to create messages people remember and repeat
- More confident turning ideas into lasting action
Keynote Programs
Say What They Can't Unhear: How to Inspire Change That Lasts
Tamsen reveals why traditional approaches to change often struggle and shows leaders how to build messages around beliefs, identity and stories that people already understand. Audiences learn practical principles for creating change that lasts rather than generating temporary agreement.
The Logic of Belief: How to Make Inaction Impossible
Every decision involves an internal argument. Tamsen shows audiences how to structure the reasoning behind an idea so clearly that people can see why taking action makes sense. Her Core Case and If–Then–Because–And frameworks give leaders practical tools for building agreement, understanding and action.
The Red Thread®: How to Find and Tell the Story of Your Ideas
Tamsen teaches audiences how to uncover the essential story behind an idea and communicate it in a way others immediately understand. Participants learn the five building blocks of a powerful message and how to adapt that story for different audiences, formats and situations.
Why Contact The Sweeney Agency Now?
The right speaker must do more than deliver a great presentation. Their message needs to connect directly to what your organization wants people to think, believe or do differently.
Contact us to:
- Confirm Tamsen's availability and current fee
- Identify the keynote that best supports your objectives
- Discuss customization, workshops and event format
- Determine how her message can connect directly to your organization's change or communication challenges
- Receive comparable recommendations if another speaker may be a stronger fit
Is Tamsen Right for Your Event?
Tell us about your audience, the change you're trying to create and what you want people to think, feel or do differently. We'll provide an honest assessment of Tamsen's fit, confirm availability and fees, and help you determine the best program for your event.
Contact The Sweeney Agency to discuss booking Tamsen Webster.
Bill Weingartner
Principal Consultant of The Table Group, Speaker on Leadership & Teamwork
About
Bill Weingartner brings a unique perspective and wealth of experience to the challenge of building healthy organizations and high performing teams. Interacting closely with The Table Group since 2013, he has had the great privilege of working regularly and directly with Pat Lencioni to positively impact organizational culture and health within hundreds of non-profits across North America. As a Principal Consultant, Bill delivers high-impact sessions that generate relevant and immediate outcomes for leaders of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations.
Bill works regularly with leadership teams in quickly and effectively applying the concepts captured in all of Pat Lencioni's books, always ensuring that consulting sessions, speeches, and workshops are practical, engaging, and actionable. His clients span a broad spectrum of various industries, including financial services, health, medical, and service outreach organizations.
Bill’s 32 years of experience split between corporate America, small business ownership, philanthropy, and organizational health training underlies and drives his success as a consultant with The Table Group.
John Winsor
Innovator, Entrepreneur, Author and Speaker on The Future of Work
About
John Winsor is an entrepreneur, thought-leader and global authority on the future of work, open talent and remote work. John’s ideas, expressed through his writing, speaking, and the companies he’s built, have placed him at the intersection of innovation, disruption and storytelling.
John is currently the executive-in-residence at Harvard Business School’s Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard (LISH), which studies AI and Workforce Transformation strategies, and founder and CEO of Open Assembly, a company that provides content, community, and strategic advising to organizations, people, and platforms to co-create the future of work.
Recently, he has been leading a global industry coalition made up 4000 global leaders in the open talent and innovation industry to start a non-profit trade association, The Center for the Transformation of Work with the goal of Transforming work for a billion people by 2025.
In his past life, John was the chief innovation officer of Havas, when Havas purchased his open advertising agency, Victors & Spoils, in 2015. Winsor founded V&S after introducing the advertising world to the practice of co-creation in his role as vice president and executive director of strategy and innovation at Crispin, Porter + Bogusky. Winsor had merged his company Radar Communications, the world’s leading open strategy and research company, with CP+B back in 2007. Other companies Winsor founded include Sports & Fitness publishing, sold to Conde Nast, and the Gravity Games, sold to NBC.
Winsor’s new book, “Open Talent: Leveraging the Global Crowd to Solve Your Biggest Challenges,” published by Harvard Business Press, comes out in the fall of 2023.
Winsor’s is also the author of “Beyond the Brand,” “Spark,” “Flipped,” and the best-selling “Baked In,” winner of the 2009 800-CEO-READ Business Book Award in marketing. Winsor is also an advisor to the Digital Initiative at Harvard Business School, and a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review, The Guardian, Forbes and Digiday.
Winsor was an early digital nomad. Twenty years ago, he found a satellite dish, mounting it on his house in a village in Mexico and connecting in illegally to a network in Canada to communicate with the world. He has also worked on his skiing, surfing and climbing exploits from Fiji to Alaska.
About
Cassandra Worthy: Keynote Speaker on Change, Leadership & Transformation | Founder of Change Enthusiasm® | Bestselling Author
Turn Change Into Your Competitive Advantage
What if your people didn't just cope with change—but learned how to use it as fuel for growth?
Cassandra Worthy is a bestselling author, leadership expert and highly engaging keynote speaker on change, transformation, resilience and workplace culture.
Why Book Cassandra Worthy?
Cassandra tackles one of the biggest challenges facing organizations today: change fatigue.
Most people understand that change is necessary. The challenge is getting them to embrace it rather than resist it.
Cassandra gives audiences a practical framework for recognizing the emotions that surface during disruption and turning those emotions into productive action. Rather than simply telling people to “embrace change,” she shows them how to do it.
Her keynotes are energetic, interactive and highly actionable—making Cassandra an excellent choice when you want people to leave the room thinking differently, feeling energized and ready to move forward.
What Makes Cassandra Worthy Different?
- Creator of Change Enthusiasm® — a distinctive methodology for navigating change
- Real-world corporate experience — understands transformation from inside major organizations
- High-energy delivery — dynamic, engaging and memorable on stage
- Emotion meets action — helps people understand their response to change and do something productive with it
- Immediately actionable — practical strategies audiences can apply right away
- Relevant at every level — connects with executives, managers and employees
- Customizable — Cassandra can align her message with your organization's specific transformation or change initiative
Why Is Cassandra Right for Your Audience?
Cassandra is an outstanding choice when your organization needs people to move beyond change resistance and actively participate in what's next.
She is particularly effective for leadership conferences, corporate meetings, sales kickoffs, association conferences and organizations undergoing transformation, restructuring, rapid growth or cultural change.
Book Cassandra when your audience needs to:
- Embrace rather than resist organizational change
- Navigate uncertainty with greater confidence
- Turn change fatigue into forward momentum
- Build greater resilience and adaptability
- Take ownership of their response to disruption
- Lead teams more effectively through transformation
- Strengthen engagement during periods of uncertainty
- See opportunity where they previously saw disruption
Audience Takeaways
Attendees will leave:
- Understanding why change triggers powerful emotional responses
- Able to recognize the signals that influence their reactions to disruption
- Equipped with practical tools for navigating uncertainty
- Better prepared to turn difficult emotions into productive action
- More resilient and adaptable when circumstances change
- Ready to take greater ownership of their response to transformation
- Energized about their ability to influence what happens next
Cassandra Worthy Keynote Programs
Change Enthusiasm®: Harness the Power of Emotion to Fuel Transformation: What if the emotions people experience during change could become fuel for moving forward?
Cassandra introduces audiences to her signature Change Enthusiasm® methodology, showing them how to recognize the emotions associated with disruption and consciously use those signals to make better choices.
Instead of treating difficult emotions as something to suppress, audiences learn how to use them as information—and transform uncertainty into growth, resilience and action.
Ideal for: Organizational transformation, leadership conferences, corporate meetings and organizations experiencing significant change.
Leading Through Change: Successful transformation requires more than a new strategy. It requires leaders who understand how people actually experience change.
Cassandra helps leaders recognize the emotional side of transformation and gives them practical strategies for guiding teams through uncertainty.
Leaders learn how to create greater trust, maintain engagement and help their people move from resistance toward ownership and action.
Ideal for: Executive meetings, leadership development, management conferences and transformation initiatives.
Building a Change-Ready Culture: Change isn't an occasional event anymore. It's an everyday reality.
Cassandra challenges organizations to move beyond simply managing individual change initiatives and instead build cultures where adaptability becomes a competitive advantage.
Audiences learn how to develop the mindset, behaviors and emotional awareness required to respond more effectively when disruption arrives.
Ideal for: Culture, innovation, transformation and future-of-work events.
Why Book Cassandra Worthy Through The Sweeney Agency?
Cassandra Worthy's energy and Change Enthusiasm® methodology make her a compelling choice for organizations experiencing transformation—but the real value comes from matching her message to the specific change your audience is being asked to navigate.
The Sweeney Agency can help you:
- Confirm Cassandra Worthy's availability and current speaking fee
- Determine which Cassandra Worthy keynote best fits your audience
- Discuss customization around your organization's change initiative
- Coordinate format, timing and event logistics
- Compare Cassandra with other leading change, leadership and motivational speakers
Is Cassandra Worthy Right for Your Event?
Tell us what's changing in your organization—and how you want your people to respond.
We'll help you determine whether Cassandra is the right fit, confirm availability and fees, and make the booking process simple.
Contact The Sweeney Agency 1-866-727-7555 or [email protected] for more information on this speaker.
Penny Zenker
Leadership Keynote Speaker, Bestselling Author, and Productivity Expert
About
Penny Zenker (AKA “The Focusologist”) is a sought-after international leadership speaker, 2x bestselling author, and former C-Suite executive of a global top-five research company. Over the past three decades, she has built and sold multiple multimillion-dollar companies—including an award-winning tech firm she founded.
Throughout her career, Penny has been responsible for hundreds of employees and millions of dollars in turnover, initiating huge organizational changes and business turnarounds to service their competitive advantage. She has worked with countless CEOs, leaders, and teams to develop the strategies and critical skills needed to create healthy cultures, huge profits, and sustainable growth.
Today, Penny speaks to organizations around the world about how to navigate change, challenge, and uncertainty with greater ease, creativity and focus. She helps people and companies reach their potential and achieve seemingly impossible goals. Penny has shared her expertise with industry giants like Deloitte, Pfizer, SAP, Samsung, and NASA, and been featured by NBC News, ESPN, FORBES, INC., and many more.
She has written two best-selling books: The Reset Mindset (USA Today Best Seller, Success Magazine Top 10 Business Books), redefining our approach to how we work, live, and lead, and The Productivity Zone to help people stop their tug of war with time. Her popular TEDx talk, The Energy of Thought has surpassed one-million views worldwide. And her podcast, Take Back Time, ranks in the top 2% worldwide, reflecting her commitment to helping others regain control of their focus and achieve peak performance.