Speaking

Empower Your Audience to Unlock New Levels of Impact

As an event organizer for social entrepreneurs, visionary leaders, and changemakers, you need a presenter who not only speaks to your audience’s unique pain points and challenges but also offers practical tools and insights. As a speaker, my goal is to challenge, motivate, and empower your audience to translate their vision for positive change into action.

My presentations are designed to challenge social entrepreneurs and visionary leaders with the reality that at the highest level of performance, easy answers don’t work. Those seeking to reach exceptional levels of performance must first be effective leaders of themselves.

Drawing on words of courage and power, words of encouragement and support, I’ve energized audiences across the globe with presentations on unconventional thinking. These powerful talks always tie back to self-leadership, a prerequisite for effecting transformational change, by weaving in the critical leadership capacities of Mindset, Courage, Resilience, and Innovation.

By turning the lens inward for audiences, my presentations help spark action that drives impact.

Book Shawnette as the keynote speaker for your next event. Learn more about her signature talks below.

Looking to Build Resilience
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Keynote #1: Looking to Build Resilience? Spoiler Alert: Start With Shifting Your Mindset!

The current economic, social, and political uncertainty has given rise to a greater focus on Resilience. While more discourse about resilience is valuable and necessary, much of it often focuses on resilience as something to be acquired. This perspective overlooks an opportunity for a paradigm shift that decisively intervenes at an earlier stage: Mindset. This engaging talk uses a case study and a framework of mindset and resilience to challenge current discourse around resilience. Shawnette’s engaging delivery integrates questions that invite personal application of the content and empower attendees to begin to design new possibilities.

Those in attendance will:

  1. Learn a framework for resilience that empowers leaders to see new possibilities
  2. Deconstruct and understand the power of "yes, and.." for leaders navigating uncertainty
  3. Explore 2 distinct mindsets and the role they play in a leader's ability to drive results
The Inner Game of Entrepreneurship
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Keynote #2: The Inner Game of Entrepreneurship: Shifting the Paradigm to Prioritize Unconventional Journeys for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurship is often seen as the vehicle for innovation and disruption. Yet, the conditions within the entrepreneurial ecosystem often do not support the desired innovative outcomes. This talk explores how the entrepreneurial ecosystem thinks about the entrepreneurial journey and advocates for a paradigm shift.

Those in attendance will:

  1. Explore the conditions that contribute to successful innovation
  2. Examine the current state of the entrepreneurial ecosystem
  3. Identify the possibilities presented by a paradigm shift in how the entrepreneurial journey is conceived
Discover How Detachment Can Empower Your Ledership
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Keynote #3: Discover How Detachment Can Empower Your Leadership

The power of detachment holds powerful insights for leaders navigating the increasingly complex landscape of the 21st century. While striving to build the best team, scale, and deliver the impact they are seeking, leaders consistently operate in ambiguous environments. These environments can elicit behaviors (conscious and unconscious) that sabotage the leader’s efforts to build a successful venture.

Detachment, an often-misunderstood concept, offers a lens through which one can increase objectivity, unlock greater potential, and further cultivate and unleash the strengths of those they lead. This talk will explore 3 specific ways that practicing detachment supports the development of better leaders.

Those in attendance will:

  1. Understand what attachment and detachment are and how they impact leadership
  2. Learn three ways to identify/observe attachments
  3. Learn how to practice detachment as a leader

Past audiences include

From live to virtual venues, I help mobilize leaders to disrupt the status quo by first disrupting themselves.

Watch Video Clips
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“Really enjoyed some time today in conversation with hundreds of Kraft Heinz employees across the globe during this month’s installment of the #LearnLikeAnOwner Speakers Series #hereatkraftheinz.

Shawnette spent time with us discussing the power of moving from a resistance mindset to an acceptance mindset. She challenged us to examine how our mindset, our actions and the results of our actions can help us to investigate our need for resilience– both in our personal and professional lives.

Thank you, Shawnette, for spending time with us this week! I loved your stories and found your approach to investigating how we can right-size our need for resilience thought provoking. Exploring the ways in which we can "Yes, And" in any situation was also a helpful reminder.”

 

– Ekpedeme “Pamay” Bassey,
Chief Learning & Diversity Officer at KraftHeinz

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“Shawnette's speech was superb, and we had over 150 people learn about the power of detachment. Personally, I can't wait to trying out this new perspective. Some quotes from the participants: "transformative", "this is really going to help me", and "so inspiring." Thanks so much, Shawnette!”

– Megan Oxman,
Head of EU Credit Payment Products at Amazon

What do I talk about?

My presentations are designed to help social entrepreneurs, emerging disruptors, and ESG-focused executives navigate the complex challenges of the 21st century. Grounded in the common threads of our daily lives, these talks focus on the mindset and capacities that shape our ability to do transformative work from the inside out. 

Participants leave these presentations with a new framework, questions, and tools for exploring the mindsets and paradigms that shape how they lead themselves and others.

Topics Include:

  • Innovation: what's holding you back?
  • Mindset and the power of acceptance
  • Cultivating the courage to navigate change
  • Resilience in the face of adversity
  • Emotional self-regulation
  • Detachment and how it empowers leaders
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From organizational workshops and festivals to corporate breakout sessions, I’ve connected quickly and deeply with a variety of audiences. I truly enjoy presenting to social entrepreneurs, emerging disruptors, and visionary executives who are transforming the way organizations think about and deliver on ESG.

My presentations are perfect for:

  • Early-stage (beyond product-market fit) social entrepreneurs aiming to become better leaders
  • Startup incubators and accelerators looking to level up their leadership content
  • Social entrepreneurs and executives who are open to self-discovery as a way to deliver more impactful solutions

What event attendees say

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“There are a lot of leadership coaches and training sessions. Shawnette's work differs in that you walk away feeling energized because she focuses on bite-sized topics and provides ways to implement immediately for results.”

– Rosemary Herhold, Divisional ACOO, Duke Health Technology Solutions

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“As always, Shawnette delivers and leaves you with an Aha! moment.”

– Ekiti Lowe, Director of Finance

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“I left empowered that I can apply concepts to promote positive change in my organization.”

– Sean W., Communications Manager

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“Shawnette understands her audience and delivers relevant content in a way that holds one’s attention.”

– D.B., Duke Health Technology Solutions

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“Shawnette gave me insight in training that I didn't realize I needed! I learned how connected my body is to my everyday thinking..”

– LaDonna Worrell, Sr. Director, Duke Health Technology Solutions

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“This workshop was just what our team needed. It gave us an opportunity to learn about our response to stressful situations and how to lower that stress. Have already used what I learned a few times this week alone.”

– C. B., Tech Industry

Would you like me to speak at your next event?

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Note: I took the photograph above while hiking in Torres del Paine in Chile’s Patagonia region in 2019.