See the advantage already inside your business.
I bring 20+ years of business strategy, pattern recognition, and real-world experience to keynotes and workshops that help leaders see what they may be too close to see, challenge assumptions, and make better decisions about what deserves attention next.
My sessions are practical, story-driven, and designed to get people thinking, talking, and applying what they learn.
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FLAGSHIP KEYNOTE
The Advantage Hiding in Plain Sight
Learn how to identify and leverage what your business already has and build a smarter strategy around it
Most businesses don’t have a shortage of ideas, tactics, opportunities, or advice on how to grow! They have a much bigger problem:
How do you know what actually deserves your attention? Your resources? Your time?
You have to know what your real advantages are… and two decades of experience have told us they’re most often already inside your business.
They may live in your expertise, capabilities, standards, your relationships, reputation, customer experience, perspective, processes… or some combination of strengths you’ve stopped noticing because they feel ordinary to you.
The question is can you recognize what is genuinely valuable, support it with evidence, and deliberately build around it?
YES. YOU CAN.
IN THIS KEYNOTE
I introduce audiences to the thinking behind The Advantage Code™, a strategic framework designed to help businesses see what they may be too close to see and make better decisions about what deserves their time, money, and attention.
Through real business stories, practical examples, and questions that challenge conventional thinking, I’ll show why growth does not always require more marketing, more tactics, or more activity.
Sometimes the smartest move is to see more clearly what is already there…
AUDIENCE TAKEAWAYS
Why leaders often overlook some of the most strategically valuable things already inside their business
The difference between simply being different and having an advantage you can actually use
How to recognize hidden strengths, underused assets, and evidence that may point to greater opportunity
Why tactics cannot solve every growth problem, especially when the real issue sits further upstream
A clearer way to decide what deserves attention, investment, or testing next
Questions leaders can bring back to their teams to make stronger strategic decisions
Available as a conference session, breakout, or customized presentation.
BEST FOR:
Business owners, founders, leadership teams, entrepreneur communities, economic development organizations, chambers, associations, and professional groups.
The BrandStrengths Spotlight Map™ Workshop
What is genuinely valuable about your business… that you may be overlooking?
The BrandStrengths™ Spotlight Map is a visual strategic tool designed to make the most important truths about a business easier to see and use.
In an interactive workshop, participants begin identifying the strengths, standards, capabilities, stories, and other sources of value that may be hiding in plain sight.
Depending on the format and length of the session, participants may explore questions such as:
What does our business do unusually well?
What do customers consistently value?
What do we take for granted because it feels normal to us?
What evidence supports the strengths we believe we have?
What could we build, improve, or activate from what is already here?
What deserves our attention next?
Shorter sessions introduce the thinking and begin the discovery process.
Deeper intensives allow businesses or leadership teams to go further and develop a more complete strategic foundation.
Available as: Workshop, facilitated session, half-day intensive, or customized team experience.
Zero-Pressure Persuasion
Sell without scripts, pressure, or awkwardness
Selling does not have to mean convincing someone. It doesn’t have to mean talking endlessly or “serving” them until they finally say yes.
My approach to sales starts with one objective in mind:
Alignment.
What does the buyer actually need?
What are they trying to solve?
What matters to them?
And does what you offer genuinely fit?
In this practical, conversational session, I help founders, experts, service providers, and professionals rethink the sales conversation around better questions, deeper listening, and clearer alignment.
Audiences explore:
Why explaining more does not always help you close
How to listen for the real need behind the stated request
Why good sales conversations often feel more like problem-solving
How to ask better questions without sounding scripted
How to recognize alignment without manipulating the buyer
How technical experts and reluctant sellers can use strengths they already have
Best for: Founders, consultants, service providers, sales professionals, technical experts, and business development teams.
Available as: Keynote, breakout, workshop, or team session.
Past Speaking & Workshop Engagements
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The Strengths-Based Future City
Building the Future with Talent
Client:
Gilbert Mayor, Town Council & Office of Economic Development
Gilbert, Arizona is one of the fastest growing cities in the nation.
With tremendous growth comes equal responsibility:
How do you ensure future generations will have a stable, thriving economic climate in which to live, work, and grow?
Research shows an engaged workforce doesn’t just strengthen businesses, it fuels economic prosperity at a city and state level.
The key is in leveraging human talent.
But how do you do that at scale?
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I asked:
How could an initiave in Rhode Island (which grew its economy by an estimated $112M within three years) be replicated within the Town of Gilbert?
What does that look like when the next generation’s values, priorities, and definitions of work are rapidly changing?
And how can the Town position itself to support the future of business and community growth?
Part speaking engagement, part hands-on workshop, this interactive day provided a demonstrated approach to strengths-based development and future-focused economic strategy.
Key Takeaways:
Discovery of individual strengths among participants.
Identification of how those strengths function within current roles and teams.
Application of strengths to improve collaboration and productivity in the workplace.
Integration of strengths into future vision-planning and strategy for the Town’s long-term growth and economic positioning.
Turning Technical Talent into Business Growth
Drupal Conference | Denver
Drupal is an open-source web platform trusted by many organizations, such as government agencies and enterprise-level companies.
Many agency owners start as developers. They love solving technical challenges, but often struggle with the sales, marketing, and brand side of growth.
And their sales teams are often comprised of former tech experts, as well.
This session introduced a completely different approach to selling - one that helps people close without forcing them to become “salespeople.”
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I posed the question:
How can we help tech experts leverage their natural strengths and problem-solving to drive growth authentically… and without the stress?
As Peter Drucker famously said:
“Most people think they know what they are good at. They are usually wrong… And yet, a person can only perform from strength.”
I shared the story of an established digital marketing agency whose founder passed away suddenly. The company was - overnight - left without its primary sales and marketing force.
At first, two gentleman in the process of purchasing the agency considered closing the doors. Instead, they decided to see how far they could get by shifting roles a bit.
I coached each member through the transition, including a senior developer who stepped up as the new sales lead.
By identifying his natural talents and learning to translate his technical expertise into clear client value stories, he not only kept the agency alive… he helped it grow.
That same agency is thriving today, and that same developer eventually went on to focus exclusively on business development.
Tech experts already excel at analyzing complex problems and delivering solid, scalable solutions.
Learning how to use those same strengths in persuasive communication is an art and a skill that can be learned.
We wrapped up with actionable ways to build stronger client relationships and a framework to help prospect visualize their own success.
Building a Strengths-Based Business
Client:
Alt Summit | Palm Springs
For an audience of small-business owners and entrepreneurs, I created a hands-on session exploring how natural talents show up inside a business and how those strengths can be used more deliberately.
Rather than another sit-and-take-notes conference session, participants did a mini self-assessment on their natural talents, then reflected on their strengths, ideas, and business decisions in handmade journals they created.
The result was a strategic session designed to create both insight and space to think… with a tangible asset to take home and continue the reflection.
Build Your Brand Boost Your Business
Sola Salons
I co-led an interactive workshop for franchise owners, salon owners, med spa professionals, and estheticians focused on building stronger businesses and more memorable brands.
The session included discussion, exercises, reflection, and practical ideas participants could apply immediately.
Participant feedback included:
“This made me really think about who I am and why I started my business. I needed this!”
“I needed this to see where I want to go with my business, and how I’m going to get there.”
“This was an eye-opener! Now I know how to show before and after results in a way that makes clients more comfortable, and helps me gain more exposure.”
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Thanks again for your presentation. Many people commented yours was the best we’ve ever had!
Stephanie Denny, Event Organizer