All Topics in Phoenix

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  The Academic Journey: Helping Students Build a Clear, Confident Path from Middle School to College

  Michelle Smith, Founder and CEO, Independent Education Group

  TOPIC CATEGORY: Educational

  Today’s students face more academic choices — and more pressure — than ever before. Honors tracks, AP and dual enrollment courses, private and independent schools, extracurricular expectations, and increasingly competitive college admissions can leave families wondering: Are we making the right decisions at the right time? MORE >

  In this practical and empowering session, education consultant Michelle Smith, founder of Independent Education Group, guides Phoenix-area families through the full academic journey — from early planning in middle school to high school course strategy, leadership development, and thoughtful college preparation.

  Families will gain clarity on:
  • How to map out an intentional academic plan year by year
  • When to accelerate — and when not to
  • Choosing between public, charter, and private school
  pathways
  • Building strong transcripts without burnout
  • Balancing academics, activities, and well-being
  • Positioning students authentically for college admissions

  This talk helps parents move from uncertainty to strategy, ensuring students grow not only as strong applicants, but as confident, capable young adults. Ideal for families with students in grades 5–11.

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  Team Building

  Debbie Moore, Teacher, Mountain Ridge High School

  TOPIC CATEGORY: Educational

  Workshop Learning Objectives: Characteristics of effective teams • Four stages of team development • How individual differences and roles contribute to building a strong team Have practiced skills in: • Supporting team development through its formative stages • Constructive communication • Conflict resolution And will have discussed: • A vision of their ideal team • Principles and behaviors to guide team performance • A plan for monitoring progress toward achieving their vision
  MORE >

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  Surviving to Thriving: How to Find Peace in a Stressed Out World

  Dr. Benjamin Benulis, Doctor of Chiropractic, Create Health PLLC

  TOPIC CATEGORY: Health & Fitness

  Innovation and technology came with the promise of making our lives easier. But it seems as time goes on, things get more and more stressful. Life in the 21st century is very stressful for humans. Many people can find it extremely difficult to cope, and see their mental and often physical health suffer as a consequence. Many of the coping mechanisms people use are very short-term fixes that often make us worse in the long term. So how do we handle it? In this 30-45 minute talk Dr. Ben talks about how stress affects our nervous system and leaves the audience with real, practical, actionable tips that they can begin using immediately to experience more peace and well-being in both their mind and their body. MORE >

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  Success in Sales

  Dan McGinnis, Inspirational Speaker, The Pumpkin Man

  TOPIC CATEGORY: Business

  Becoming better than most in sales can give you the feeling of inspiration to where you can continue to grow at a higher level than most other sales people. It is simple but not always easy.

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  Stress Mastery: From Feeling Stuck to Feeling Free

  Sara Regester RN, BSN, NBC-HWC, Stress Mastery Expert, NBC-HWC, Directions 4 Wellness, LLC

  TOPIC CATEGORY: Self Improvement

  This interactive talk is offered in a workshop format where the participants learn specific strategies for presence, mindfulness and stress resilience so they can get out of resistance of that push-pull energy that keeps them stuck, distracted, procrastinating and uninspired and create the life that they desire. MORE >

  This program teaches how to create more confidence and courage to step into new opportunities for career, relationships and health in alignment with your authentic gifts and purpose so you can feel more energized, more focused and more fulfilled in your life.

  - Tips on how stay on your edge to create a successful life without wiping yourself out
  - Change how you think about stress and leverage it as an opportunity to learn and grow
  - Learn how you can meet stress with confidence and courage to respond to challenges successfully
  - Strategies to overturn your negative inner dialogue so you can turn up the volume to hear your wise intuitive voice
  - Be more present, mindful and neutral so you can creatively respond to your stress and stay out of emotional reactivity and energy loss
  - Be an Stress Responder and not a Stress Reactor
  - The secret to prioritizing competing priorities in a 24-hour day

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  Streets to Submarines to the C-Suite: What Four Decades of Unlikely Turns Taught Me About Resilience

  John Wiley, CEPA, CEO, Private Equity Strategist, Navy Veteran, Author, John Franklin Wiley

  TOPIC CATEGORY: Motivational

  By 15, John Franklin Wiley was on the streets. By 20, he was aboard a nuclear submarine. He went on to become a top income earner, a pastor, a CEO, and the founder of a nonprofit that turned an abandoned hospital into housing for homeless families. MORE >

  Along the way, he lost everything more than once and rebuilt every time. This isn't a rags-to-riches motivational speech. It's an honest, sometimes funny, deeply human look at what resilience actually costs and why the most important chapter of your life might be the one you haven't written yet.

  Your audience will walk away with:
  - Why resilience isn't about grit – it's about knowing when to pivot
  - The difference between surviving and rebuilding on purpose
  - How to find clarity in the middle of chaos

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  Stop the Sales Commodity Game Prospects Play!

  Mike Toney, Founder and President, Conquest Training Systems

  TOPIC CATEGORY: Business

  “But you are too expensive,” “I’ll get other bids,” “too busy right now,” are just some of the things prospects say when they play ‘Lets make you the Commodity’ game. In this session, Mike teaches audiences how to interrupt the thinking of the prospect to never compete on price or be treated like a sales pest instead of a sales person. MORE >

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  Steps to Take to Reinvent Yourself After …

  Joan Betsy Kurasch, Founder, The Silver Compass

  TOPIC CATEGORY: Self Improvement

  After a significant loss there exists an opportunity to reinvent yourself and create a new life that is both engaging and rewarding. Whether it is the loss of a job, a business failure, a divorce, a significant illness or a financial disaster, there exists the possibility for creating something new, something special. MORE >

  Having worked with people who are grieving for the future they had planned and that has now disappeared, this presentation was created to start the process of facing the dilemma of "What do I do next?"

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  Somewhere Between Madison And Davenport

  David Shulimson

  TOPIC CATEGORY: Self Improvement

  Somehow, I keep moving forward.

  I was diagnosed with depression more than a decade ago and my condition has worsened through the years. Despite increased and stronger dosages of anti-depressants, I began having suicidal thoughts. MORE >

  I had experienced a job loss, followed by bankruptcy and foreclosure. I then went through about a year of what's called "sheltered" homelessness. I began making progress until my world seemingly fell apart again, largely of my own doing. If I were to rank all of my calamities in order of severity, being homeless (again) wouldn't have even made the top three.

  Suicide moved from my "radar" to my "itinerary." I drove westward(ish) from where I was living at the time. Somewhere between Madison, Wisconsin, and Davenport, Iowa, I made the decision to remove suicide from my itinerary.

  I wish I could conclude my introduction with "And I've lived happily ever after." However, "stuff" continued to happen in my life. And "stuff" will always happen in my life. But I'm learning how to process and respond to "stuff."

  My topic is about my journey leading up to my decision to end my life, my decision not to end my life, and my decision to live my life. My life is far from perfect, but I've learned and I continue to learn how to move forward. I wish to share my story with those who may need to learn or re-learn how to move forward.

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  Solutions to Climate Change

  Gretchen Reinhardt, En-ROADS Climate Ambassador and Volunteer, Citizens' Climate Lobby

  TOPIC CATEGORY: Climate

  Engage your audience with a real-time policy simulator. This is a fun way to learn more about climate change issues, solutions, and the relative effectiveness of policy solutions. Can the audience solve the climate problem (stay below 1.5°C)? The audience chooses the levers they think will have the biggest impact and as a group we see what happens. The tool simulates their proposed solution(s) instantly in “real-time”. MORE >

  Climate Interactive and MIT Sloan have worked together to build a worldwide, science-based climate simulator. The audience is engaged to offer suggested solutions to slow climate change. This stimulates discussions as to why actions may or may not be as effective as expected. We’ll also share bipartisan actions that the US Congress is considering and evaluate what impact those actions are likely to have on climate change. Participants leave the discussion with new insights into policy approaches.

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