How I Became a Professional Keynote Speaker

I’ve lost count of the number of times people have reached out to me to ask me how I got into keynote speaking as my career, so I wanted to write this blog post as a way to share a bit about my journey and what I’ve learned along the way.

For starters, if you’d asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up when I was a kid, anything remotely related to performing on a stage was off the table. I was shy, guarded and reserved. I wanted to be a doctor, nutritionist, writer or psychologist. At one point, I even wanted to be a mathematician.

My journey to becoming a full-time keynote speaker and leadership trainer has been a bit unconventional, and it’s taken a long time and a lot of hard work to get here.

I’ve gotten to where I am through a combination of pursuing what lit me up, saying yes before I was ready, going where I was invited, doing the hard work of healing, putting in hundreds upon hundreds of reps, seeking feedback constantly, investing tens of thousands of dollars into myself and my learning and development, hiring coaches and therapists, having a tremendous amount of faith, and being willing to take risks.

It has taken years and years of hard work.

To start, I didn’t get into this field intentionally. I was raised by two entrepreneurs and grew up watching Oprah and listening to my dad’s Tony Robbins CDs, so I had a possibility and entrepreneurial mindset from a very young age.

I studied psychology as an undergraduate student, and I started working on research projects with a Sociology professor my freshman year. That collaboration eventually led to me being invited to present our research at the Eastern Sociological Society Conference in NYC when I was a junior in college. I said yes. That was the first time I ever spoke at a conference. I probably interacted with a dozen people total and was in a side room that most people never walked into. But it was a start.

When I graduated from college, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, but when I stumbled upon the field of corporate wellness in 2007, I leaned in. It combined my background in psychology with my interest in and passion for nutrition and wellness with my dad’s influence of working with companies on leadership and workplace culture. I became an intrapreneur, which basically means that I made up my job title (Wellness Coordinator) and tasks (which made me feel like I had the freedom of an entrepreneur), but I was paid consistently and didn’t have to take all the risks (especially financial!) that come with being your own boss.

When the recession hit, I almost lost my job, so I found other ways to be resourceful. I was one of the youngest employees at my company and realized no one had trained anyone about how to optimize the use of Microsoft Outlook, Excel or PowerPoint. To be honest, I didn’t know much more than the average person about them either, but I knew we could be using them better, so I offered to teach training classes to our employees. I researched the top tips and tricks and put together trainings for my coworkers. That was the beginning of me getting into training but in a really small and simple way.

Within a year, I started attending national conferences in my industry, so I could learn from other thought leaders and network with other people doing what I wanted to be doing.

The Lesson? Go to events to hear other people speak. Notice what it is about their style or approach that you like and dislike. It’ll help you figure out what kind of speaker you want to be.

Within two years, a client of ours, who was the Human Resources leader at her company, reached out to me to ask me to deliver a guest lecture for her HR Master’s degree students. They had a unit on workplace wellness, and even though I wasn’t even 25 years old and had only been in my field for a few years, I said “yes.” To top it all off, she said she could pay me $75. I couldn’t believe it! Someone was going to PAY me to speak?? I prepared more for that class than for just about anything I had done in my career up to that point.

I was asked to come back and speak several times, and I looked forward to each opportunity. I noticed how much I enjoyed speaking but wasn’t doing it in my regular job at the time.

The Lesson? Say “yes” before you’re ready, no matter how low the fee or how small the audience or the opportunity. Everyone has to start somewhere.

I started organizing health fairs for clients of our firm, and, in addition to booking all of the vendors, I would always attend the fair, mingle with people, and man a booth, usually on a wellness-focused topic. I found that I enjoyed having conversations with people as they walked by and teaching them things that could help them in their lives and with their health.

I frequently attended webinars in the corporate wellness industry and connected with thought leaders in the space. I started sharing what we were doing at our company and started getting asked to serve on webinars and panels to share what we were doing.

I went back to school in 2009 to get a Master’s degree in Health Science, became a health coach in 2013, started a health and wellness blog in 2014, and got certified in Culinary Nutrition in 2015. I pursued training in workplace culture coaching and my company supported me to pursue those trainings and to keep attending national conferences each year. In the midst of all of that training and learning, I experienced a transformation in my physical health. After a lifetime of dealing with ear infections, sinus infections, bronchitis, and acid reflux, I discovered that changing my diet could help me heal and feel better than I ever thought possible. I became fiercely passionate about using food as a tool for healing, and I couldn’t help but share what I learned.

I reached out to and started partnering with local organizations that shared my passion for health and nutrition. I would work a full day at work and then go home, pack up my kitchen, and spend the evening teaching group cooking demonstrations, sometimes not getting home until 10pm, working 14-hour days.

But I loved it. I loved the autonomy I had and the creativity I got to tap into. I loved teaching people. I loved sharing stories. I loved speaking.

The Lesson? Invest in yourself and notice what lights you up. The stories of our greatest challenges often serve as the foundation for the work we will do, what we will speak about, and how we will help other people.

Clients asked me to speak at their leadership offsites and lunch and learns. Sometimes, I was speaking to a room of only five people, but I knew those five people deserved for me to show up with everything I had, just as I would show up for a room of 50 people.

I started getting invited to speak at local Human Resources events and co-led my first event of that kind in June of 2015. I showed my company how me speaking at these places could help us differentiate ourselves in our industry, since our competitors weren’t doing it, so I applied to speak at other places. I started applying for well workplace and top workplace awards for our company and other awards that recognized leaders in the wellness industry, and we started getting regional and national recognition.

In 2015, I was named the #1 Health Promotion Professional in the United Stated by the Wellness Council of America (WELCOA), and that put me on the map at a national level. I asked if I could deliver a motivational speech as part of my award acceptance, and they made time for it in the agenda. I prepared for those 10 minutes more than I’d prepared for any speaking opportunity before, and I spoke without notes to a room of 400 of my peers. I was nervous, but I was excited, too. As I walked off the stage, the President of the company commented, “That was incredible. We should have her speak at the conference next year.”

On the flight home, I wrote in my journal, “I will speak at WELCOA next year.”

A few months later, they reached out to me, and they asked me to be one of the keynotes at their conference the following spring. They were looking for someone who had a non-prescriptive approach to nutrition, and they liked my personal story and how vulnerable and relatable I was in my approach. I was (by far!) not the most qualified person to give that speech - a nutritionist, dietitian, or nurse might have been the more obvious choice - but I decided that if they thought I could do it, then I should think I could do it.

The Lesson? Don’t say what everyone else is saying. Be willing to be different. Be a storyteller and invite people into your journey in a way that they can see their own. Be willing to be honest about what everyone thinks but no one says.

I prepared for and rehearsed that speech for months. I wanted to make sure I knew it inside and out. I rehearsed it in front of groups of people and speakers who had way more experience than me. I got valuable feedback that I took to heart. I did it, and I asked for it to be recorded, so I could go back and watch it after the fact.

I kept applying to speak at events. I continued putting in my reps delivering lunch and learns, HR talks, and cooking demonstrations at companies. I got in hundreds and hundreds of reps.

In the spring of 2017, I burned out and was diagnosed with Epstein-Barr Virus, an acute form of mono. I was not okay. The breakneck pace I’d been on for so many years literally made me sick. But it was also a gift because burning out made me realize that I wasn’t fulfilled in my job, not as much as I knew I could be. I was limited with what I could do because of what the type of person in my role as the Director of Wellbeing was expected to do.

The Lesson? Sometimes what feels like a roadblock could be a detour leading us to a path we might not have pursued if we hadn’t been stopped.

In the summer of 2018, I was at a conference and was introduced to a guy who spoke professionally. I asked him to recommend a book I should read to learn more about the industry. He recommended Steal the Show by Michael Port and told me that Michael and his wife, Amy, ran a professional speaking program called Heroic Public Speaking in the Philadelphia area. (If you’re looking for a less expensive speaker course option, specifically for female speakers, check out this one).

I bought the book on Amazon that night, and my October, I was attending one of their in-person trainings. It was at that event (they no longer hold large live events), that I realized I needed to pursue further training to make speaking my full-time career. The cost of the program was more than I paid for my Master’s degree and more than I had paid for any car, but I felt compelled to sign up for it. I called my husband, who is a teacher, and asked him, “Do you trust me?” because I was about to empty out 90% of our savings account to pay for the program. He was supportive, so I signed up.

Over the next eight months, I worked with writing coaches, speaking coaches, performance coaches, improv coaches, and vocal coaches. I LOVED it. I couldn’t wait to go to the in-person trainings and work on my craft. I was still working full-time and continued to speak at conferences, but the more immersed I got in the speaking world, the more I wanted to stay there and not do anything else.

By the spring of 2019, the program was wrapping up, and I was growing restless and knew I was approaching a transition point. I had taken an assessment called the Harrison Assessment with a coach and therapist, and I’ll never forget what she said when I walked into her office:

“After reviewing your results, I’m trying to understand how you are possibly working for someone else.”

My own coworkers were asking me when I was going to leave to do my own thing. I became increasingly frustrated at work and felt like I was being underutilized. The more time I spent with a community of other speakers, the more I realized it was time to do the thing I was so afraid to do for so long but that I knew was inevitable. I didn’t have a formal (or informal) business plan, but, by that point in time, I’d been speaking for a decade and had enough feedback and experience to trust that I had what it took to do it full-time.

So, in September of 2019, I left my full-time job to pursue speaking and training and became my own boss. A handful of companies had reached out to me to speak at their events, and I had a few residual gigs from my former employer that gave me something to start with, but leaving a full-time 6-figure job was scary, especially since I am the primary earner in my family.

The Lesson? Sometimes you have to take BIG risks that makes you incredibly uncomfortable if you really want to do the thing you say you want to do.

The journey since then hasn’t been easy. At the start of 2020, I only had two speaking gigs booked for the year, and I felt scared. But I was determined to figure it out, so I started reaching out to anyone in my network to tell them what I was doing and asked them if they know anyone who could benefits. Sometimes I spoke for free or for close to free just to get exposure. I did that a lot initially, but, four years in, I get to choose when I do it. I still speak for free or at a reduced fee sometimes, if the opportunity is strategic. I continue to learn and stay curious along the way.

What has helped me be successful amid all of this are a few things: my continued pursuit of learning and excellence (always exploring how I can get better), asking for feedback after every single speaking engagement and integrating what’s useful into future engagements, being relevant and speaking about topics that people are struggling with or challenged by, being engaging and energizing (people often hire speakers for their energy, relatability, engagement, and how they make people feel), and being an honest and inviting guide for people, coming alongside them to offer insight, validation and support, instead of trying to impress them with my knowledge. I also see a therapist regularly and work with a business coach, so I continue to do my deep, internal work, which helps me to be even more honest, effective, and impactful from the stage.

Most of my business now comes through people who hear me speak at an event, through referrals or through repeat business from clients who have hired me in the past. I’m starting to do more outbound outreach and have started working with a few speaker’s bureaus, but it feels good to know that most of the work is coming to me organically as a result of years and years of doing the hard work and honing my craft.

Since starting my own business, I’ve been through so many challenging experiences that have knocked me down (some, literally), but what I’ve discovered through it all is that the people who want to make something happen figure out how to make it happen.

If you’re just getting started, figure out what you want to talk about and why that topic matters to you. Start keeping track of interesting stories in a story bank that you can draw on in the future. Be willing to invest in yourself and your training. Hire coaches. Do the deep work of healing with a therapist to uncover what will likely be your richest content. Check out the books listed under Personal Growth and Courage in this reading list I put together.

Look into opportunities to speak within the industry you have the most experience in. Write articles for their publications. Contribute thought leadership. Offer to moderate a panel or serve on a panel. Offer to speak for free and ask for recommendations, referrals or video footage in exchange for the unpaid gig. Speak at Chambers of Commerce or at local chapters of industry associations in your area. Check out the books on public speaking at the bottom of this reading list.

But, most importantly, if you really want to do this work, just get started.

Here are a few more lessons to send you on your way:

Be willing to roll up your sleeves and do the work.

Invest in yourself and your growth and development.

Put in the hours. Put in the reps.

And ask for feedback along the way.

Do not despise these small beginnings.

Everyone has to start somewhere.

You never know what big opportunities these seemingly small beginnings might lead to one day!