I care. A lot.

I often get asked if I still get nervous before my events.

The simple answer is yes, always.

Because I care.
A lot.

I care because I want to connect, and I know that it is only through connection that we all heal.

Some events give me an extra nervous belly, though.

Like when I’m doing a new talk or workshop or when I’ve been told the participants may not be super open to the work. That second one is an assumption that thus far has always been wrong for the record.

Or events like yesterday.

An opening keynote for an organization filled with people familiar with the work, many of them facilitators or trainers themselves.

It feels like extra pressure, I suppose.

First, if you’ve heard me speak before, you know an hour keynote for me is not enough time. I’ll ask for more when we’re planning, I’ll make an hour work, I will use every single second of it, and most likely, the feedback you’ll get is that they wished it was longer.

Second, teaching others who care as much as I do, if not even more, about learning and development of their team and who are often headed back to the decision makers at their orgs to ask them to bring me in to teach courage means I want to serve you very well.

And yesterday was that extra nervous day for me, being the opening keynote for the Association for Talent Development (ATD) – St. Louis Chapter Learn Conference.

It was truly an incredible day. I got to meet so many of you in person for the first time. Thank you for being all in, for your encouragement, and for your incredible connection.

Thank you, Jessica Mader and Janessa Toro, PhD, and the entire planning committee for trusting me to begin your day. I LOVED being with you all.