Empowerment Talks

Representing While Underrepresented: Excelling as the Only One

Being the only one at work can be isolating to the point that you don’t get your best work done. Women, people of color, LGBTQ+ professionals and others often find themselves excited for their first day at work not realizing there aren’t others like them around. This workshop will help you excel as the only one. Using neuroscience and performance science concepts, you will leave with an action plan and confidence that you can survive and thrive as the only one.

Breaking through as One of the Few

How do I break through as one of the few? You may be one of the few women, people of color, LGBTQ+ professionals or others in your organization but that doesn’t dull your unrelenting drive to excel in your organization. And, it shouldn’t. How exactly do you break through as one of the only few? In this talk/workshop, you will learn winning strategies to help you break through as one of the only few. You will also get to practice all of the strategies.

Purpose and Paycut Don’t belong in the Same Sentence

Are you living your life purpose? When most people answer that question, they acknowledge they are not living their purpose. But, they have an invalid excuse, they don’t want to take a pay cut. What if I told you that purpose and pay cut don’t belong in the same sentence? In this talk you will realize your life your purpose and learn to focus on what you will gain, not what you will lose by living your purpose. By the end, you will agree that purpose and pay cut don’t belong in the same sentence.

Leadership, Equity and Inclusion Talks

Leading Below the Surface: How to Build Real (And Psychologically Safe) Relationships with People Different from You to Transform Your Workplace, Community and Life

A compelling reason why organizations can’t figure out how to achieve long-term diversity, equity and inclusion is because humans don’t naturally migrate towards building real relationships with people different from ourselves. Neuroscience explains why. Psychology explains why. So, how can you better connect and create a more welcoming environment for people different from you in your workplace? In this talk/workshop, you will learn natural techniques to help you organically connect with others that are different from you. You will also learn about structural changes and science-based strategies that you can apply to build the equitable culture that you have always wanted.

Coaching People Who Are Different From You

Do you find yourself coaching people who are different from you? Perhaps they are of a different age, race, gender, or sexual orientation. As coaches, we pride ourselves on asking questions and listening so being different shouldn’t matter, right? Well, not exactly. We are still human. This interactive session will focus on the human side of coaching. You will specifically learn how our implicit bias and blindspots may interfere with us building the most trustful coaching relationships possible with clients that are different from us.

In addition to what was mentioned above, participants will learn:

• Why coaching people different from oneself is a vital skill
• A history of diversity, equity, and inclusion approaches and why these approaches have failed in organizations
• Common missteps that humans take when interacting with people different from ourselves, and how to recognize and avoid these missteps.
• What coaches need to know about anti-racism

Leading People That Are Different From You

In an ever-changing world, leading now heavily involves doing so with others that are different from you. Without even knowing it, we tend to favor those similar to us. How can we recognize our biases and become exceptional leaders, especially amongst those that are different from us? In this talk, you will learn how to recognize biases and take actions to be extraordinary leaders of others who are different from us.

Oh Sh*t: Leading With Confidence When You Have No Idea What’s Going On

Maybe you are a natural badass or maybe you got your foot in the door of a quickly growing organization. Either way, you continue to get promoted before you are ready. But, imposter syndrome is real and, deep down, you feel like you have no idea what’s going on. How do you lead with confidence even when your inner critic says you are not ready? In this talk you will learn just that – how to lead when you have no idea what’s going on. Using science-based strategies, you will return to the office reinvigorated and ready to lead.

How to Be an Exceptional Ally

One of the most accessible ways to champion marginalized groups is to be an ally, not just any basic ally, but an exceptional ally. Research shows that most people overestimate the degree to which they are a true ally to others. You may think that you are accepting but, when the rubber meets the road, many of us don’t truly stick our necks out to speak up and champion others. In this talk, you will learn three ways to become an exceptional ally and will leave inspired with valuable approaches that you can immediately put into action.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Where Do We Go From Here? 

Companies have been discussing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for some time now. But with the recent rise of the anti-racism movement, is DEI enough? What is the relationship between DEI and anti-racism? Do we need to start all over?

In this talk, you will learn more about the history of DEI, where we are today and where it’s going. Your organization will also get an overview of some actions it can take to stay up to date. Participants will leave this session informed, and inspired to take action.

Three Tactics to Inspire Senior Leaders to be more Involved in DEI Efforts

We are in a pivotal time in history. In the middle of a pandemic, millions of Americans watched George Floyd being mercilessly killed on television. This incident was followed by protests and, eventually, the rise of the Anti-Racism movement. With the “race stigma” now eliminated, many organizations want to step up their DEI approaches. They want to move beyond episodic DEI events, and business resource groups, to efforts initiated and led by senior leaders. So, how can you get senior leaders more involved in your organization’s DEI efforts? In this session you will learn how to:

• Apply three simple tactics to inspire senior leaders to participate in and lead DEI efforts
• Move beyond episodic DEI to cultural DEI
• Respond to dissenting opinions in senior leadership
• Gain confidence with asking senior leaders to be more involved
• Articulate a clear, concise and engaging business case for change