Speaking
I came into the world with my fist out first. I've been telling that story ever since and it moves rooms.
Born at 23 weeks, weighing less than a pound, I wasn't supposed to make it. The doctors spoke in percentages. My family was prepared for the worst. But the first thing that entered the world was my fist.
That's where my talk begins. It's not where it ends.
Born Fighting is a keynote about resilience that isn't built on willpower or grit-your-teeth clichés. It's about what actually carries people through uncertainty and why the feeling of being "behind" is so often the start of a different kind of strength. I take audiences through the five movements of my own story and hand them something they can use in their own.
Who I speak to
NICU and healthcare audiences. For the nurses, doctors, and families who live in the space between statistics and hope, I'm living proof of what's on the other side of those percentages. I speak to conferences, hospital teams, and family events sometimes to honor the work, sometimes to give exhausted caregivers a reason to remember why they do it.
Young adults and students. For the rooms full of people quietly convinced everyone else got a head start graduations, campus events, student groups I name the thing they're feeling and show them it isn't a flaw to fix. You're not behind. You're becoming.
What your audience leaves with
A story they won't forget, first of all. But underneath it: a new way to think about setbacks, a language for resilience that doesn't ask anyone to pretend they're fearless, and the practical truth that you can keep moving before the certainty arrives. People come up afterward they always do and tell me which part was about them.
Formats
Keynote — [30–45 min], for conferences and large events
Workshop — [60–90 min], interactive, for teams and smaller groups
Fireside / panel — happy to join a conversation rather than lead one
Virtual or in person. I travel from southern Arizona and work with budgets of all sizes, reach out and let's talk.
Let's talk
If you're planning an event and this sounds like the message your audience needs, I'd love to hear about it.