Speakers who empower audiences to live their best personal and professional lives
Laura Best
Laura BestClaim to Fame: While I’d love to share a celebrity encounter, my claim to fame is all about our global community of Passion Seekers. Back in 2014, few were talking about “passion,” especially in the workplace, so Passion Collective was truly a pioneer in this space. The biggest “pinch me” experience was our Atomic Grants, which gave cash and coaching to people around the world. We received more than 10,000 applications from 50 countries and became one of the Top Grants for Women in the U.S. This was incredible and impossible without the community!
Proudest Moment: Seeing my book “Born to Buzz: How to Spark Your Passions (Without Quitting It All)” in my Mum’s hands in England was unforgettable. I wrote it for Passion Seekers around the world and to make her proud! Seeing the transformations in the room fills me with gratitude for how I’ve delivered for my clients, but I’m also proud of the audiences and how they’ve invested their time with me and the way I see them focusing on their passions, their path ahead. It’s truly a two-way street and absolutely fulfilling!
Enduring Message: You can do more of what lights you up, both at work and in life, while still caring for the people you love and lead. When we do this, everyone benefits, including the businesses we’re part of. Our passions aren’t selfish. In fact, they often help us give our best, whether that’s finding new motivation or a competitive edge at work, standing up for others or tapping into the creativity that makes us feel alive. Organizations that help their teams harness their passions will support both individual wellbeing and organizational success—and will be the ultimate winners!
Rita Goodroe
Claim to Fame: At 35, I went on 35 dates with 35 strangers in 35 days, not knowing them and letting each pick the adventure (and blogged about it). What I learned wasn’t about the men. It was about me! I was shrinking myself to be likeable, performing for approval instead of being real. Twenty-one dates later, on a trapeze, I let go of it, realizing impressive gets attention, but authentic builds trust. When you let go of the need for approval you move beyond impressive to influential. Now I work with organizations and professionals on that shift.
Proudest Moment: I left a 13-year law career to build my own coaching and speaking business with no clients, no roadmap and plenty of people who thought I was making a huge mistake. What I’m proud of isn’t surpassing my attorney salary in three months. It’s admitting I couldn’t do it alone. I built a community of entrepreneurs around me, founding the Women’s Business Garden, a place built on connection and service instead of competition and self. What started as a handful of women trading support over coffee grew into thousands of entrepreneurs worldwide showing up for each other. In 2016, that community was recognized by the United State of Women Summit, convened by the Obama White House. That recognition wasn’t really about me. It was proof that we are more powerful when we allow ourselves to be real together rather than trying to look impressive alone.
Enduring Message: As kids, we learn to read the room. We say the right things. We meet expectations. That’s the Approval Reflex kicking in and once it does, you’re performing instead of being real. And it works! That skill has helped many of us reach our goals. Performing might get you results, but it never brings real success. Because that type of success is never about what you do—it’s about who you are. We were most fully ourselves at age seven, before we learned to perform. But no matter how far you’ve drifted from that version of you, you can reclaim it. When you do, you stop performing for approval and start living with purpose. That’s when trust builds, connection happens and influence is created. Being impressive gets us in the room but influence gets people to follow us out of it.
Sabine Kvenberg
impactcommunicationcoaching.com/speaker
Claim to Fame: Anyone can hold a mic. I hold the room. Three decades on international stages as an actress and director taught me that a stage is a living thing—timing, silence, the story told just before the truth lands. Most speakers deliver content. I perform it and direct the audience through it, so they don’t just watch; they lean in. But entertainment that evaporates by the parking lot isn’t my craft. My audiences leave three things heavier than they arrived: moved by a story, taught a framework they’ll actually use and holding one bold move they’re ready to make Monday morning. They call me The Speaker’s Director. I don’t just own the room—I hand it back to everyone in it, braver than when they walked in.
Proudest Moment: My proudest moment wasn’t on my stage. It was watching someone step onto theirs. A client who once whispered “I’m not a speaker” walked out under the lights, told the story she’d hidden for years…and the room rose before she finished her last sentence. I stood in the wings—invisible, exactly where a director belongs—and watched a person become who she’d always been underneath the fear. That’s the whole reason I left my own spotlight: not to be seen, but to help others be unforgettable. Decades of performing taught me how to command a stage. That night taught me the deeper craft—handing someone the courage to command their own.
Enduring Message: You’re always on. Every meeting, every mic, every hard conversation—someone is watching and deciding. So, stop waiting to feel ready and step forward on purpose. That’s what I want people to remember: your voice was never the problem. The fear of using it was. Courage isn’t a personality trait some people are born with; it’s a bold move you make before you feel ready and then again and again, until it becomes who you are. I call it gumption—sacred whispers turned into bold moves. I’ve spent my life proving that an ordinary person with a true story and a little nerve can change a room, a relationship, a life. So whatever stage you’re avoiding—the boardroom, the client call, the kitchen table—get on it. The world doesn’t need you perfect. It needs you present.
Erick Rheam
Claim to Fame: For more than 12 years, I have partnered with associations, corporations, utilities, government agencies and educational institutions to deliver engaging keynote presentations and leadership development programs that inspire action long after the event ends. A bestselling author and Lead Coach for The Speaker Lab, I combine compelling storytelling with practical, research-based strategies that help leaders navigate change, strengthen resilience and lead with greater purpose. I have earned the trust of organizations seeking a speaker who delivers both an exceptional experience and measurable value.
Proudest Moment: It didn’t happen on stage—it came afterward. Handwritten notes, emails and conversations from audience members share how my message helped them see their lives differently. Hearing that my book “Rise Above Chaos” gave someone the courage to rebuild a relationship, become a better leader, navigate a difficult season or rediscover their purpose is the greatest reward of my career. While I am grateful for the recognition, the greatest measure of success is knowing my message created lasting change in someone’s personal or professional life. Those stories continue to fuel my passion and remind me why I step onto the stage every opportunity I get.
Enduring Message: My enduring message is that chaos is inevitable, but living in it is a choice. I help overwhelmed, busy professionals cut through the whirlwind so they can rise above the chaos, discover significance and live in peace. Through compelling stories and practical strategies, audiences rediscover their passion, redefine their purpose and leave with the courage to do something about it. More than anything, I want people to remember that a life of significance is built through intentional choices that align with their purpose—not by simply staying busy. When people gain clarity and begin living with intention, they don’t just become better leaders; they become better spouses, parents, friends and community leaders.
Lisa Ryan
Claim to Fame: I help organizations solve one of their biggest business challenges: keeping their best people. As the founder of Grategy, creator of Gratonomics, and Chief Appreciation Strategist, I show leaders how appreciation, recognition and meaningful communication create measurable business results. Gratonomics is the belief that gratitude isn’t just good manners. It’s good business. My programs combine practical strategies, humor, and real-world examples audiences can implement immediately. Whether speaking to manufacturers, healthcare professionals, associations or corporate leaders, my goal is simple: help people become the kind of leaders others want to work for because recognition costs nothing, but neglect costs everything.
Proudest Moment: My proudest moments don’t happen on stage. They happen months later when someone tells me what changed because of a conversation we started together. I’ve had leaders tell me employee turnover dropped after they began having stay interviews. Managers have shared stories of rebuilding trust with their teams through simple acts of appreciation. Audience members have written to say they repaired relationships at work and at home because they realized people need to know they are valued. Those stories mean more to me than awards or standing ovations because they represent lasting impact. If a keynote simply entertains, it’s forgotten. If it changes the way someone leads, listens or recognizes another person, that ripple continues long after the event is over. Knowing my work helps create workplaces where people feel seen, respected and inspired to stay is what I’m most proud of. It reflects the mission that has guided my work for more than two decades.
Enduring Message: I hope people remember that gratitude is a strategy, not just a nice idea. Employees don’t stay because of motivational posters or one-time recognition programs. They stay because they feel valued by the people they work with every day. I want audiences to leave believing they have more influence than they realize. A sincere thank you. A meaningful conversation. Asking someone what would make them stay instead of waiting for an exit interview. Those small moments shape culture far more than expensive initiatives. Whether organizations are navigating labor shortages, rapid growth or AI and automation, people still want to know their work matters. My message is that you can’t automate appreciation. The organizations that thrive in the future will be the ones that combine innovation with genuine human connection. That’s the work I encourage leaders to do every day.
Heather Younger
Claim to Fame: I am known for turning leadership from a title into a daily act of courage, care and steadiness. A leadership and workplace culture expert, keynote speaker, author and founder of Employee Fanatix, I have listened to tens of thousands of employee voices and turned those insights into practical tools leaders can use immediately. My superpower is helping people feel seen while showing them how to lead themselves and others through pressure, change, burnout and uncertainty.
Proudest Moment: After the applause, when someone walks up with tears in their eyes and says, “I needed that,” I am at my most proud. Transformation comes not because they heard a polished keynote, but because something inside them woke back up. They remembered their worth. They decided to ask for help. They chose progress over perfection. They realized caring for themselves is not selfish; it is leadership. While resilience in the moment is necessary, steadiness by design is what the world needs.
I am proud that my work has helped leaders close the loop, listen more deeply, communicate with more courage and create micro-moments of care that change how people experience work. I am also proud that audiences leave with language they can hold onto: I am golden. Values are my chisel. I can lead myself first. For me, the win is never just inspiration. It is movement. It is someone leaving the room lighter, clearer, braver and more ready to shine.
Enduring Message: People will remember that leadership starts in the mirror before it ever shows up in a meeting, a hallway, a boardroom or a patient room. They will remember that the world does not need them buried under clay, proving, performing, perfecting and pouring from an empty cup. It needs their gold. You are already worthy. Now lead from that place. Care for yourself so you can care for others. Listen long enough for people to feel heard. Let your values become more than decoration; let them become your chisel. Choose progress over perfection, grace over self-punishment and steadiness over pretending you are never shaken. People may forget a statistic. They may forget a slide. But they will remember the moment they decided, “I am golden and the world deserves my light.”
