Real Stories. Actionable Insights.
Inspiration that Sparks Momentum
No stale topics or abstract theories here. With 20 years of in-the-trenches experience as a two-time bootstrap entrepreneur, I turn real stories into insights your audience can use immediately.
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Stories & Insights that Make a Difference
As a speaker, my strengths are engaging your audience into stories that foster creativity, innovation, and critical thinking.
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Previous 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.
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Thanks again for your presentation. Many people commented yours was the best we’ve ever had!
Stephanie Denny, Event Organizer