I am a middle child and, if you are also a middle child, that’s all you need to know.  For those of you who are not middle children, the required role for a middle child is to facilitate peace and safety as a means of survival.  It provides the ultimate training in communication, facilitation, and conflict resolution.  As a middle child, I selected health care and clinical psychology for my formal education, ensuring that I would triumph with expanded skills for assessing challenges and identifying opportunities for change.  That semi tongue in cheek description points to my primary focus as a speaker - to provide a powerful catalytic environment in order to build dynamic, competent, thoughtful, collaborative and transformational leaders – no matter their job title. “Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.”  Karen Kaiser Clark

I have more than 25 years experience assessing needs, defining strategies, and implementing improvements.  Because of my breadth of experience working with nonprofit and profit organizations, large and small, I am able quickly understand the goals you wish the presentation to achieve, and can customize your presentation based on the specific goals, skills or needs of your group. 

Here’s what you can expect of me: 

• Interactive and learner-centered presentations that leave no one snoozing.
• Thought provoking ideas that are not just work candy, offering you new understanding, beliefs, skills, and commitment to take action in implementing your new ideas and fully committing to achieve your new ideas and plans.
• Reality based focus – We all live in a very real world with opportunities and challenges.  I focus on creating the knowledge and experiential opportunities you need to succeed at you highest possible level.
• Focus on integrating your new learning into action.  Hearing new information is only the first step, no matter how wonderful the presentation.  Gaining commitment to using new learning creates your best value.  Every presentation will include commitment to actions.

Areas of Expertise:

Leadership 
Creativity
Communication 
Motivation

Fees:

Keynote fee up to 90 mins: $1,500

Half day fee up to 3 hours: $2,500

Full day fee up to 6 hours: $ 3,500

Julie's Most Requested Programs:

Got Motivation?  Got Commitment?  Got Results?
For the first time, there are four different generations of people in the workforce, each with different motivations, work styles, and personal goals.   “DO MORE, faster, smarter, and better” has become the gold standard of organization excellence right along with “Employees are expendable”.   As a result, work can often feel like walking through a career and life survival minefield.  This interactive, light-hearted, and important presentation will help you manage the minefields while challenging you to become a true leader of your life.  We will explore the results that are most important to you – the ones that you are afraid to say out loud.   We will uncover the motivations that really get you moving, not just talking.  Finally, we will examine the power of real commitment in achieving your most important results. 

Conflict Remodel
Our personal and global world seems to be in a heightened state of conflict, with a dash of chaos thrown in.  Conflict is a result of differences – any kind if difference, from everyday annoyances to core value challenges.  In this presentation, we will examine the impact of how your unique life experiences have framed your response to conflict. You will also learn new skills that will allow you to remodel conflict chaos into commitment to strong, workable agreements. 

Mission Possible
So… what are you doing with the rest of your life?  The world provides you with a vast array of options, opportunities, and challenges, all leading directly to the need to make decisions about what we want to do.  Do you know what you want base on who you are?  Are you mostly making it up as you go along?  Creating your personal, team, or organizational mission provides you with a personal compass to sort your priorities and make clear and informed decisions.  Defining your mission can be your best competitive advantage.  

Creativity Unleashed
It seems like everything we have believed to be stable now seems to be unstable – including the financial world.  All the tried and tested strategies just might not work anymore.   What now?  What you need is a large dose of creativity.   This session will help you access your individual and team creativity, even when there seems to be no new options, plus provide easily accessible techniques to spark your creative options.  

Stressbusters:  Dealing With Conflict, Long hours, and anxiety
We are hardwired to experience stress, with varied reactions and behaviors.  How often to tell the outside world that you are “OK” and “I can handle this” when in reality you can’t imagine how you can handle anything more without disintegrating?  If your life feels just a bit out of control or exhausting, this presentation is for you.  You will uncover your personal “Top 5” stressors and your current responses.  They you will experience a variety of strategies to help you jettison negative or non-essential responsibilities with positive and supportive alternatives.    

Testimonials:

“I asked Julie to speak for an organization for which I belong and the feedback was outstanding. Comments reflected her ability to provide information that could be immediately applied in work situations, being “real-life” and practical, and giving new understanding and approaches to work issues.”, Becky Amble, President, Future Focus. 

“I never expected the level of interaction and engagement you were able to build with the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department participants.  I know the participants were less than enthusiastic with this part of the agenda, so I was blown away with you ability to get the group engaged.  That almost everyone was willing to stand and state their mission with pride, and some tears, to the rest of the group was a truly impactful for everyone.", Vicki Stute, Dowell Stute and Associates. 

"Thank you for your presentation entitled “Good to Great Teams” We appreciated your facilitation of a discussion that allowed the team to define what they do well.  That is helpful information to remind us what we should keep doing!   Your ideas for making the Board a stronger and more effective team will be useful information for years to come.  It was fun to watch a superior facilitator in action!", Virginia Barzan, C.A.E., Executive Vice President, Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians. 

"Thank-you for the class on Facilitation in the Workplace.  It has been one of the better classes I have attended in the last year.", Marlene Witucki Three Rivers Park District. 

“You made me think differently about being a leader.”

“I now feel confident to speak my truth in a conflict.”

“I was not enthusiastic to sit through your “Mission Possible” presentation, but it ended up being the best one of the day.”

“I loved your “Thinking Outside The Box” presentation.  My partners and I had a great time expanding our options – some funny, some crazy, and some really good!”, Anonymous

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