Two Keynotes,
One Message.
We are the answer we've been looking for.
“But… I don’t have a choice!”
If I had a dollar for every time I've heard someone say that, I could give away choices for free!
But, behind every "I don't have a choice" is someone who feels trapped in their career and what they thought success was supposed to look like. While this trap has different symptoms–disillusionment, burnout, chronic health issues–the cause is always the same: we've been taught to choose someone else's version of success instead of our own.
After spending more than twenty years following someone else's rules and living in the "I don't have a choice" loop, I did something crazy: I walked away from all of it.
The career, the job, the house, and everything in it.
I started travelling the country in an RV with two teenagers, two dogs, and, yes... two rats (we listen, we don't judge).
While on this wild adventure, I discovered something incredible.
I could do so much more with so much less.
At the end of grueling days that would have destroyed the old me, I had energy to read and write and laugh and create.
I started studying why.
Stack the Deck emerged from everything I learned in that process.
It is a system that shows you–no matter where you are in your career–how to take each card you're holding and play it with the intention necessary to create a life you love. Even better: you don't have to follow in my crazy footsteps and sell everything you own.
This talk is funny, enraging, poignant, and life affirming. You'll never again look at the 52 weeks you get to play each year without choosing to play them with intention and, most importantly, to have some fun doing it.
If your members are ready to rewrite the rules of the game, bet on themselves, and win when it matters, book "Stack the Deck" and I'll deal you in!
This talk is perfect for:
Students, high-school & college, who are ready to make the best possible play as they step into the next chapter of their lives.
Mid-career professionals looking to get the most out of their next career move.
Aspiring entrepreneurs who know they need to pursue the dream inside them.
Stack the Deck:
Rewrite the Rules, Bet on Yourself, Win When it Matters
Fredrich Schiller once said that, “Art is the daughter of Freedom.”
I like to think that before Freedom was forced to behave, he too was an artist. And, if we work together to help Freedom find his way back to that artistry, we will be able to create a world in which real justice is not just in our imaginations, but in our lives.
The world is in crisis.
Authoritarian regimes are on the rise;
historically marginalized communities face increasing challenges to their existence;
and institutions we've relied on are incapable of meeting the moment.
In times like these, the creative, the non-conformist, the "artist" of society has always lead the way.
Crayons before Constitutions inspires leaders to build communities that cultivate that artistry. Taking audiences on an artistic tour through the history of justice, Crayons illustrates how overdependence on institutions weakens our ability to create just societies as it draws on the arts to demonstrate how to creating something new.
Crayons shows how art and training in the arts—disciplines that demand discomfort, disagreement, and disruption—forces engagement with unique perspectives allowing us to develop the moral courage necessary to see the world differently. Audiences leave understanding how art is essential in giving freedom the inspiration it needs to flourish. Crayons challenges leaders to embrace that artist's mindset and to cultivate it within their communities.
If your organization is ready for permission to color outside the lines, book Crayons before Constitutions and reimagine what real justice looks like.
This talk is perfect for organizations that want to:
Re-energize members, volunteers, and communities who have grown exhausted by being asked to do more with less.
Emerge from underneath layers of bureaucracy and move forward with purpose that fuels their passion.
Reignite donors and supporters with story-driven message that inspires giving to programs that cultivate an artist's mindset.