Keynote Speeches
Stephanie’s speaking style is equal parts heart and grit. With a blend of humor, candor, and hard-won wisdom, she invites audiences to rethink what resilience, authenticity, and leadership really look like in the face of real-world challenges.
Drawing from nearly three decades as a lawyer and executive advisor, as well as from deeply personal challenges, Stephanie delivers talks that are emotionally resonant, immediately actionable, and deeply human. Her keynotes don’t just inspire; they transform the way people lead, connect, and live.
Signature Keynotes
These are Stephanie’s signature keynotes, but no two audiences are alike. Every keynote is adaptable to your audience and goals, ensuring a message that resonates deeply and leaves a lasting impact.
The Art of Fearless Living
What would your life look like if you stopped waiting for permission? In The Art of Fearless Living, Stephanie challenges audiences to strip away the expectations, roles, and fears that keep them small.
Ideal Audiences:
Leadership and professional development conferences
Women’s empowerment and employee resource groups
Organizations focused on personal growth, authenticity, or resilience
What You’ll Take With You:
How to recognize the subtle ways fear shapes your decisions
Practical tools for moving from self-doubt to self-trust
Why authenticity is magnetic and how to harness it
How courageous choices lead to greater personal and professional fulfillment
Empathy as a Leadership Superpower
Stephanie blends insights from her 26-year career advising executives with real-world stories of leadership done right—and wrong—to reveal why empathy is the key differentiator for resilient, future-ready teams.
Ideal Audiences:
Corporate and association leadership events
HR, DEI, and culture-focused programs
Teams navigating change, burnout, or disconnection
What You’ll Take With You:
How to build trust and psychological safety through empathetic leadership
The difference between sympathy, empathy, and enabling
How empathy strengthens accountability, creativity, and collaboration
Actionable ways to lead with compassion without losing authority
The Strength You Didn't Choose: A Journey of Grace, Growth, and Resilience
Some strength is chosen. Other strength is forced upon us. In this deeply moving keynote, Stephanie shares her journey through unimaginable loss—the death of her son, Jordan—and the transformation that followed. Her message isn’t about “moving on” but about moving forward with grace, courage, and purpose.
Ideal Audiences:
Conferences or organizations focused on resilience, well-being, or mental health
Audiences facing personal or professional adversity
Nonprofit, faith-based, and healthcare communities
What You’ll Take With You:
A reframed understanding of resilience as growth through challenge
The role of grace and self-compassion in healing and leading
How to support others through grief and transition
Hopeful reminders that meaning can be rebuilt, even after devastation
The Freedom of Letting Go: What Control is Costing You
We’ve been taught that control equals success. But holding on too tightly can lead to burnout, frustration, and fear. In The Freedom of Letting Go, Stephanie reveals what happens when we loosen our grip and trust the process instead of trying to manage every outcome.
Ideal Audiences:
Corporate leadership and women’s conferences
Audiences struggling with burnout, change, or uncertainty
Professionals seeking more balance and clarity in work and life
What You’ll Take With You:
How the need for control masks fear—and how to release it
The link between surrender and freedom in leadership and life
Strategies to embrace uncertainty with confidence and grace
Practical ways to lead and live with more peace, clarity, and impact
The Power of Intervening With Kindness
A single act of kindness can change a day, a direction, or even a life. In this keynote, Stephanie shares how small interventions rooted in empathy and compassion can create ripple effects of connection and healing. Drawing from research on human behavior and her own experiences founding Gilly’s Friends, a nonprofit born from the loss of her son Jordan, she shows how choosing kindness isn’t just moral—it’s strategic.
Ideal Audiences:
Corporate and association events focused on culture, inclusion, or mental health
HR and leadership summits emphasizing empathy, engagement, and belonging
Nonprofits, educators, and community organizations
What You’ll Take With You:
How everyday acts of compassion can interrupt cycles of disconnection and despair
The neuroscience and psychology behind kindness as a performance multiplier
Practical strategies to create more caring, connected teams and workplaces
A renewed understanding that kindness isn’t weakness—it’s courage in action