Name: How I Left Big Tech to Start on My Own and Find Work/Life Harmony
Start: 2024-03-20T18:00:00Z
End: 2024-03-20T18:00:55.000Z
Location: BrightTALK
Rating: 4

The world's largest online visibility bureau for female subject matter experts

Ambitious women innovators don’t need to choose between careers, passions, or skills—they can strategically leverage them all to build resilient, sustainable, and creative careers in complex times. This interactive session, led by Olympian-turned-life design strategist, speaker, and edupreneur Jessica Tudos, introduces the Portfolio Mindset—a framework for transforming diverse skills and passions into strategic advantage. 

Through storytelling, reflection, and practical exercises, participants will learn:
- How to map their strengths, align passions with opportunities, and navigate non-linear paths with confidence. 
- Actionable strategies to accelerate innovation, maximize impact, and design careers and lives that are unique to each person.

The Portfolio Mindset Advantage: Leveraging Multiple Passions for Maximum Impact

Women are living through a moment defined by uncertainty—global instability, shrinking protections, burnout, and an economy that keeps shifting under our feet. Scarcity thinking naturally rises in these moments: fear of losing relevance, opportunity, or security. In that headspace, women often turn on themselves or each other.
This fireside chat reframes that instinct. Using the lifeboat metaphor drawn from my book From Sabotage to Support and my Cultural Agility work, we explore how women can resource themselves differently—how to choose what gets thrown out, what stays, and who they want in the boat as they navigate dark waters. The conversation will show that abundance is not a mindset alone; it’s a practice that transforms how we lead, collaborate, and support one another.

Key ideas we'll cover:
- Why scarcity thinking shows up even among the most accomplished women.
- How systemic and cultural narratives fuel competition and self-doubt.
- The "lifeboat" exercise: what women must release, what they must protect, and how to row in rhythm instead of chaos.
- How abundance shows up in global contexts when women choose solidarity over survivalism.
- Practical shifts: language, habits, and interactions that move women toward collective power.
- How to sustain abundance when everything around you feels like contraction.

What's in Your Lifeboat? Moving from Scarcity to Abundance and Surviving Dark Times

Creating consistent social media content can feel like a full-time job. Many small business owners get stuck posting one piece at a time, which leads to wasted hours, inconsistent branding, and marketing burnout. This workshop teaches a simple, repeatable system for batching content inside Canva so participants can create weeks of on-brand posts in just one session.
Skills gained:
1. Content Planning & Organization: Learn how to brainstorm, group, and outline content for maximum efficiency.
2. Canva Design Efficiency: Master shortcuts and template systems that save hours of design time.
3. Scheduling & Consistency: Build a workflow that keeps your brand visible and active across platforms.

Key Takeaways:
- Participants will learn how to organize their content ideas into a structured batching system.
- Participants will discover how to design branded templates in Canva that streamline future content creation.
- Participants will explore scheduling strategies to stay consistent without the daily stress of posting.

How to Batch Social Media Content Using Canva

Maria Franzoni will discuss her book, ‘The Bookability Formula.' This book is rooted in the 80/20 principle and based on analysing real booking data. Top speakers share four traits: they’re relevant, known, memorable and easy to work with. These qualities, amplified by value and tempered by ego, drive bookings. You’ll learn how to treat speaking like a business, not a hobby, and how to build a sustainable, rewarding career. It’s direct, practical and from a booker’s perspective. If you’re ready to become more bookable and earn more for your expertise, you’re in the right place.

The Bookability Formula: What the 1% Most-booked Speakers Do (and You Can Too)

We will discuss "identity as a holistic lens." What makes up your personal brand and identity? Our panelists will share their own experiences dealing with gender and cultural biases in work environments, differences in leadership style based on cultural values, and how they rose through the chaos.

You will learn: 
- Self-advocacy strategies
- The importance of DEI in the workplace
- How to bring your personal brand outside of the workplace and use it authentically.

Women in Leadership: Identity as a Superpower

From the time we are girls, women are taught to use language that diminishes our power and confidence. We repeat what we have heard all our lives. It’s time to change that. Instead, we can and should own every room and stand in our power!
Virtuoso communicator Helen Jonsen presents these important strategies and shares tips and tricks to make you memorable from her years interviewing bold-faced names and coaching speakers at every level on television, on stage, and in person.
Takeaways:
- Own the room: start with a strong, memorable introduction
- Create your passion statement for every opportunity
- Be a Q&A powerhouse: Ask and answer every question with confidence

Excuse Me! I am Speaking! From Girl Talk to Woman Talk

Every leader has a bold move waiting inside them—the book, the pivot, the conversation, the risk. But fear, old stories, and uncertainty keep it locked away.

In this session, Paige Williams, transformational coach and author of The 12 Creative Keys™, will guide you through a powerful process to uncover the bold move you’re avoiding, rewrite the story that’s holding you back, and take one aligned action toward it.

You’ll walk away not with more theory, but with clarity and courage to move today—not someday.

Three Takeaways for attendees:
Name Your Bold Move — Identify the action you would take if fear weren’t in the way.
Rewrite the Story — Spot the limiting story you’re telling yourself and learn how to shift it.
Take Aligned Action — Leave with one concrete next step that matches your values and moves you forward.

One Bold Move: Courage, Story, and Aligned Action for Leaders Who Won’t Wait

In this fast-paced and informative talk, Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith educates and encourages audiences with her approach to burnout prevention, change management, personal well-being, and success. Whether addressing corporate audiences, motivating your team, speaking to young professionals, or leading workshops around personal development, Dr. Saundra provides actionable steps that can be implemented immediately. 

You'll walk away with an understanding of:
- The real reason why professionals are chronically tired despite getting the requisite amount of sleep 
- The 6 other types of rest available to live your best life

The Real Reason Why We Are Tired And What To Do About It: The 7 Types of Rest Framework

Public speaking is more than just a passion or a hobby for everyone — it can be a business, or support your existing business. In this introductory session, we’ll explore the various ways speakers build revenue-generating businesses or support their current business. From keynote speaking and corporate training to digital courses, books, and brand partnerships, we’ll unpack the most common speaker business models and what it takes to make them work. Whether you're just starting out or looking to shift from free gigs to paid opportunities, this presentation will help you understand the options available—and how to choose the model that aligns best with your goals, skills, and audience. 

You'll walk away with an understanding of:
- Various revenue paths
- Ways to identify your ideal business model
- How other speakers get compensated for their time

Speaker Business Models

Stories are the foundation of your presentations and you need the most effective building blocks to create memorable speeches. In this mini-workshop, you'll learn how to tell your story without getting lost or losing your audience. You'll learn a quick method for framing your stories that helps you present content that sticks and helps with audience recall of your material.
Storytelling and speaking expert Bridget K. Brown works with executives and professional speakers to create effective presentations and employ story and improv-based speaking strategies.

A Story Workshop: Mapping Your Story

In today’s competitive market, standing out and establishing authority is more crucial than ever. Discover how writing a best-selling book can serve as the ultimate business card, setting you apart as an expert in your field. This talk will guide you through the transformative power of authoring a book, showing you how to leverage this tool to increase your visibility, impact, and income. Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting out, learn the strategies to make your book a reality and use it to propel your business to new heights.

The audience will learn:
- The Benefits of Writing a Book
-  How to Leverage Your Book for Visibility
- How to Make Your Best-Selling Book A Reality
- How You Can Work with Seema

The Ultimate Business Card: Grow Your Income & Impact with Your Best-Selling Book

In today's unprecedented times, diversity, equity and inclusion is more important than ever. Join us for a discussion with Bobbie Carlton, the founder of Innovation Women and Tom Bechtold, the Digital Event Director at SecureWorld to highlight the importance of getting different perspectives, voices and ideas at conferences, events and beyond.

Ask an Event Manager: Driving DEI - Why We NEED Diverse Speakers

Join us for lessons from an FBI Hostage Negotiator to Lead, Influence and Connect like never before. 
In this engaging session, you'll dive into the powerful listening techniques used in hostage negotiation, transforming the way you lead, influence, and communicate under pressure! Unlock the secret weapon of actual listening and gain the ultimate edge. 

Discover and Master: 
(1) How to listen at an elite level. Not active listening, but actual listening. 
(2) How to be trusted and liked. You don’t have to like them back. 
(3) How to gather intelligence without asking questions. So, they tell you all you need to know. 
(4) How to state what you think is really going on. Without causing offense. 
(5) Three things you can say that produce amazing results.

Unlocking the Power of Listening: Lessons from an FBI Hostage Negotiator

Let’s face it. Most technical or scientific presentations are dry, dull and even painful.

As a professional woman in the STEM field, how do you present technical topics, make them fresh and exciting so that your listeners value, trust & respect your ideas and perspectives?

The answer is to make what you’re presenting so captivating & compelling that it keeps them at the edge of their seats, no matter how technical your topic is.

When you join me in this virtual talk, you will receive methods that I’ve shared in training over 30,000 career professionals in 30 cities internationally so you can influence with impact.

In this fun and interactive session, you will:

* Receive 3 well-tested practical tools that you can use immediately in your very next meeting or technical presentation that brings LIFE to even the driest topics.
* Understand the 3 most common mistakes that make a technical presentation a total “snooze-fest” AND what to do instead so you leave your listeners wanting more.
* Discover a profound bonus method that the pros use to ensure that you can win over your audience no matter how technical or bland your topic is.

Tantalizing Technical Talks: How to Make Complex & Bland Topics Captivating & Compelling

As an executive coach, Jessica Cumming helps women and organizations build stronger, more confident leaders. 
As the CEO and Founder of JC New Beginnings, Jessica has had to navigate the challenges of building her business from the ground up. Join us for a discussion of strategies and tips she has cultivated to help her boost the marketing and promotion process for her speaking and consulting business - particularly with the support of Artificial Intelligence.

AI Support for Your Social Media

Most leaders are running on autopilot, just trying to keep up and hoping they're not falling behind. Authentic leadership comes from curiosity about what everyone else is missing. It's about asking questions that make you stop and think.

Marie has built her career by seeing what others don't and asking questions no one else thinks to ask. As a 2x founder, AI2030 Lead, and startup advisor, she has raised over $2M, scaled communities of 25K+ members, and partnered with brands like Nasdaq and LVMH.

In an AI-driven world, think differently and learn how to build solutions that turn overlooked problems into a new revenue stream. This workshop will give your audience practical, no-fluff strategies to rethink how they’re using AI and curiosity to get ahead.

Attendees will learn to:
1. Be the Sharpest, not the Fastest: Marie will show you how to slow down and notice what's being overlooked so you can make curiosity-driven strategic moves instead of just fast ones.
2. Design Strategies That Don't Get Copied: Instead of relying on best practices, build approaches that fit your unique vision and context. Learn how to integrate AI insights with human intuition to develop solutions that are distinct and unique to you and your brand.
3. Use AI to Create, Not Just Automate: Most businesses use AI to tweak what they already do. Marie will teach you how to use AI to find new customer needs, create new revenue streams, and design the future with more thoughtful questions, sharper insights, and curiosity-driven strategies.

The Curiosity Edge: How to Stay Ahead in an AI-Powered World

Almost every website is leaving money on the table, either in missed opportunities for new products, services or other revenue sources, for reaching new target markets, or in wasted money and resources. These insights are often far from obvious and can only be found using web analytics.  

Philippa will show you how to make full use of the diamond mine that digital analytics can be – in English and free of technical jargon! Learn how using these tools can grow your business, and how you can discover key nuggets of relevant actionable information without going into data overwhelm.

Attendees will learn:
1. The Metrics that Matter - how (and why) to prioritise the metrics that can impact your online business results today.
2. Plugging the Leaks - how to look for places where you may be losing valuable visitors or opportunities.
3. Secrets of your Site Search - why your own search engine is such a valuable market research tool, and how to use it for business growth.

Website Wealth – Finding the Hidden Gems

Did you know most business owners are unknowingly losing leads, missing sales, and failing to capitalize on repeat business opportunities? This workshop will help business owners understand how small, intentional tweaks to your customer journey can lead to significant growth and transformation for their business. This session is ideal for entrepreneurs, service providers, and business owners who are ready to streamline their processes, maximize opportunities, and build a business that thrives.

In this talk, you will learn to:
- Shift from Surviving to Thriving: Discover how small, impactful changes in your approach can lead to sustainable growth and long-term success.
- Attract the Right Leads with Ease: Learn to create lead generation strategies that naturally draw your ideal clients to you, eliminating the constant hustle for sales.
- Turn Clients into Raving Fans: Implement strategies to wow your customers post-sale, fostering loyalty, repeat purchases, and referrals.
- Leverage Automation to Scale: Save time and energy by automating your customer journey while maintaining a personal touch.

Building Your Perfect Customer Journey - Taking Your Business from Surviving to Thriving

Katie is the founder of Serious Moonlight Consulting. After spending 15 years at Google as a Head of Sales, Katie has moved on to help a variety of startups, retailers and individuals untangle and demystify their sales and marketing processes.

In this talk, you will learn:
- The decision-making process involved with starting your consulting practice.
- Top tips to set yourself up for success.
- Achievements unlocked after 2 years in business.

How I Left Big Tech to Start on My Own and Find Work/Life Harmony

Public Speaking

Entrepreneurs

Sales Coaching

Marketing

Sustainable Growth

Women In Tech

Startups

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How I Left Big Tech to Start on My Own and Find Work/Life Harmony

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About this talk

Innovation Women