Your story will either be the ceiling to your growth, or the vehicle for it.

Keynotes and learning experiences that help leaders and rising professionals find their story and carry it forward with clarity and confidence.

Learning That Builds Clarity, Confidence, and Capacity

Story isn't just what you say. It's how people make sense of who you are, what you're building, and why it matters.

Nicole's speaking and learning engagements help audiences find the story they're already living, and the clarity, confidence, and capacity to carry it forward. This work draws on more than a decade of real experience training leaders and speaking to students, not abstract theory, and it's designed to meet audiences exactly where they are.

Each engagement is shaped around the room, the audience, the moment, and the outcome the organization actually needs.

This work moves people and gives them something to use. It's built for organizations who want their people to leave inspired and equipped to act, not one or the other.

About the Speaker

Nicole E. Kenney is a strategic storyteller and leadership trainer, and the founder of It Starts With Me. Her work has been featured in Fast Company, Fortune, the Chronicle of Philanthropy, and Time. She helps mission-driven leaders and rising young professionals find the story they're actually telling, then carry it forward with clarity and confidence. Over more than a decade, she's trained leaders and spoken to students across universities, city agencies, and youth-serving organizations, turning moments of self-doubt into moments of voice.

Types of Engagements

  • Keynote Addresses

    Thoughtful talks designed to invite reflection, challenge assumptions, and create shared understanding, grounded in real-world experience rather than abstraction.

  • Panels, Moderation & Focus Groups

    Skilled facilitation that supports focused, inclusive conversation, draws out diverse perspectives, and helps groups move toward insight and clarity.

  • Workshops & Learning Sessions

    Interactive learning experiences that build shared language, practical communication skills, and usable frameworks, designed for participation, reflection, and real-world application.

  • Signature Talks

    Topics are adapted to audience needs and organizational context and may include:

    Writing the Story as You Go

    On navigating an uncertain, non-linear path, drawn from her own winding professional journey.


    Finding Your Voice Before the World Hands You One

    On the fear behind public speaking, and what happens the moment someone stops performing confidence and starts owning presence.


    Nerves Are Energy, Not the Enemy

    A practical, human approach to networking that doesn't promise the nerves go away; it teaches you how to work with them.


    The Future Belongs to Leaders Who Know Their Story

    On the future of work, and why the leaders who thrive can tell a clear, aligned story about who they are.

  • Selected Speaking & Learning Engagements

    Nicole has delivered talks and facilitated learning experiences for a wide range of organizations and institutions, including:

    ✦ Association for Conflict Resolution
    ✦ National Bar Association – Women’s Law Division
    University of Pennsylvania Wharton School
    ✦ CoGenerate
    ✦ TEDx – How Aunties Changed My Life
    ✦ La Salle University
    ✦ BPHL Innovation Fest
    ✦ PECO
    ✦ Gaudenzia
    ✦ Smith College
    ✦ Providence College
    ✦ Church of Christian Compassion
    ✦ Christian Stronghold Baptist Church
    ✦ Washington, D.C. Congressional Briefing on Black Women and Girls’ Mental Health

  • How to Inquire

    Speaking engagements start at $5,000 and are customized based on audience, format, and goals. Download the speaker kit above for talk topics and details, or contact iswm@nicoleekenney.com to check availability.