Speaker
As a Speaker and Workshop Leader
I do more than present. I engage. I inspire. I am invested in the topic making an impact. When I speak, I present ideas that are meant to challenge traditional thinking and encourage the audience to wrestle with new possibilities. My facilitated discussions offer a dynamic frame for applying the topic immediately in ways that matter.
My presentations and workshops relate directly to each person as well as to the organization or group as a whole. Whether speaking to a board of directors, staff, a religious group, club, or academics, my presentations are fresh and dynamic and always engage the audience. My knowledge of these topics is rooted in psychology, mythology, business, communications, nonprofits, sacred studies, and decades of personal experience. More than just presenting ideas, I provide an environment for thought and discussion that transforms ideas into useful and relevant applications.
Contact me to discuss the needs of your organization and how I can help you communicate the ideas you value most.
Popular Topics
Our sense of home influences everything in both our personal and our professional lives. Since this is my primary research area, I have a vast array of presentations and workshops on this topic. Please visit my Home Matters page for a list of some popular presentations including: What Our Houses Revel About Us and the Principles of Home in the Workplace.
One of my personal favorites that is always a fun and illuninating workshop is Home and the Hero’s Journey: Understanding Home in Our Psyches and Personal Myths. Every hero journey begins and ends with home. Why is leaving home so important and what does it mean to return?
Applying the archetype of home to our work environment helps us understand what we need to be fully engaged and successful.
Creating spaces that reflect our personalities and needs is powerful for both children and adults of all ages. But how exactly do we do that? Where do we start?
The Hero Journey is a pattern first recognized and coined by Joseph Campbell in his seminal work The Hero With a Thousand Faces, published in 1949. This pattern appears in all mythologies and in our own lives as well, providing a valuable understanding to events we experience as well as a powerful framework in which to live our lives.
The Power of Myth is a presentation that explores the essence of mythology and the functions it serves. Additionally, viewing myth as metaphor and allegory for our experiences reveals a map for determining the outcomes we desire.
The Hero’s Journey: Accessing Your Inner Hero & Embracing Your Adventure is a workshop building on the The Power of Myth. Illustrated through popular stories and accentuated with exercises, the magical pattern of our individual lives is revealed to provide new insights into our experiences and shape our future.
Literature, film, TV shows, and even popular pastimes are all encased in classical mythologies. But what does that mean for us today, in modern society? I speak on a wide variety of mythological topics as they appear in popular culture and here are three of my favorites:
Aphrodite: Myth, Love, and Power re-examines the myths of Aphrodite as inspiration for responding to the subjugation of women.
Earth Mother and Sky Father This classic pairing shows up across cultures and mythologies, as well as in many popular movies. This presentation explores what it means to be partly human and partly divine and how this understanding shapes how we live in the world.
The Princess Bride: A Myth for Modern Times Rob Reiner’s 1987 film continues to rise in popularity with every passing year. What is it about this film that resonates so deeply with us? Examining each character, and in particular Westly, we discover a model for living as a hero in our lives and in the world.
I have studied religions seriously and in depth all my life, with a particular interest in Christianity and Judaism. After working as a volunteer for a nonprofit serving battered women and my own experience in an abusive relationship, I began focusing on how Bible stories profoundly impact how women of faith respond to abuse. Years of research and countless discussions with religious leaders has shaped a particular theme for presentations and workshops which I led at the Parliament of World Religions worldwide gathering in 2015 and again in 2018.
Bible Stories & Domestic Violence: Changing the Narrative and Empowering Battered Women shares new insights into several well-loved yet repressive Bible stories to vest women with power for personal and communal healing.
