Motivation & Inspiration
Everyone stutters ; I just do it when I speak I’ve had a severe stutter my whole life, and in a way…you have too (more about that later). The basic act of speaking that 99% of the population takes for granted was mission impossible to me. I avoided speaking every time that I could. Think […]
Embracing the Change
As a speaker, actor, and singer-songwriter in order for me to have risen to each perspective stage in my career, I had to embrace the change. What you are looking for is also looking for you. Whatever stage you are at right now in life, please know that you are not alone. Please stay encouraged […]
I Quit!
“Letting go has nothing to do with “quitting.” Ask yourself, “Am I sticking it out, or am I staying stuck.” You know yourself best. —Alex Elle Your gift will make you quit. Did I sink your boat? Did I rock your world? Did I at least make you think twice? You have heard the words […]
Overcoming Obstacles With Grit
By: Saul Flores As a first-generation college student, my parents experienced the difficulties that most migrant families endure after journeying to the United States. They juggled multiple jobs to ensure that bills were paid on time. They worked late nights to afford groceries at the end of the week, and even took long commutes to […]
Discovering My Why
By: Chevara Orrin The most two important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why – Mark Twain I spent years contemplating my “why.” For many of us, understanding our life’s purpose is constant evolution. Our journeys are often complex and filled with both triumph and […]
Inspiring stories from fearless students.
By: Darryl Bellamy Jr. Yes, I get the opportunity to travel to campuses and talk to students about pushing through fear, but in my quiet moments, in the moments where it’s just me reading the fears I collected or reading a fearless story about how an audience member was able to overcome an obstacle; I […]
24 Hours to Live
By: Darryl Bellamy Jr. Each year, thousands of students begin college afraid about what’s to come. Somehow, they think that they’re the only one feeling scared and nervous about what’s next, afraid of failure, and not entirely confident in their abilities. After reading 5,553 fears (and counting), If I had 24 hours to live and […]
How Does one find their life’s Passion? By Serving Others
By: Andrea Mosby Now-a-days we are asked to volunteer for many different things from serving at food banks to walk-a-thons to participating in breast cancer awareness events. All of which are important, but while volunteering, we volunteer mechanically without thought just to get it over with. To Volunteer is to give of one’s self and to truly find […]
Leaders Leave a Legacy
Treasures Buried Deep Within
By: Kinja Dixon, CAMPUSPEAK Speaker Have you ever thought? “If only that person knew what they were capable of?” or better yet “Am I on track to be all that I am capable of?” I have asked these two questions many times during my 39 years of being on this earth, but about a decade […]
Overcoming Adversity: From Foster Care to Yale
Trigger warning: This article includes some of the speaker’s life experiences that are graphic and violent in nature. By: Rodney Walker, CAMPUSPEAK Speaker As a former ward of the State of Illinois, I am privileged to be where I am today. Of the nearly 400,000 youth in foster care, less than a quarter will go on […]
3 Things We Can Learn From Students’ Secret Fears
What if you could jump into your students’ minds and see what is preventing them from being the person they aspire to be? For the past few years, I’ve collected thousands (and still collect) thousands of students’ fears as a way to connect and speak specifically to their internal struggles with the hope that it […]
Few Talk, Many Affected: Changing the Culture About Men’s Mental Health
Dr. Kevin Snyder has presented over 1,150 programs in all 50 states and has been with CAMPUSPEAK for over a decade. He’s also a former Dean of Students, an author with a best-selling book, and a professional speaker with a wealth of unique expertise both in Student Affairs and in corporate America. We sat down […]
My Biggest Takeaways as a Non-traditional College Student
By: Ethan Fisher, CAMPUSPEAK Speaker It seems like college was only a short time ago. College was a part of my life for over a decade – and no – I’m not a doctor. In 1998, I started my freshman year, and I didn’t graduate with my first bachelor’s degree until 2010. I received my […]
Letting Go to Get Everything
The more I have learned to LET GO, the more life fulfillment I have received. As I look back on the life lessons I experienced over the years, the Law of Detachment is one of the most valuable principles that I practice daily. The Law of Detachment enables a person to maximize growth within the […]
The Secret the Universe Wants You to Know
Want to know how to create the best life you can live? Sure, you do. We all do. Let me fill you in on a little secret that the universe and life are working diligently to show us all the time. There is a way to get whatever we want in life, to achieve the […]
Why The Best Students Seek Out Good Friction
If you’re striving to make progress on anything meaningful in your life, what you need most is something we all tend to avoid. Good friction. What is good friction, exactly? It’s another way to describe getting real, constructive feedback that asks the tough questions, helps us find our footing so we can get traction, and pushes […]
3 reasons the girl who has been single forever will become the best girlfriend.
Check out Shinjini Das’ latest article about how the single life can mean more meaningful relationships later. 3 Reasons the Girl Who has Been Single Forever Will Become the Best Girlfriend To learn more about Shinjini visit: campuspeak.com/das
I spent 24-hours of my honeymoon playing soccer with Syrian refugees.
Ethan Zohn won a million dollars on the TV show Survivor and put the money to good use. As a philanthropist, entrepreneur and college speaker, Ethan dedicates his time to helping others in need and educating his audiences on how they can make a difference. Read his most recent article about how he and his wife […]
Building a legacy through leadership and service.
Service is an integral part of leadership. Not only do student leaders have the opportunity to inspire and guide their fellow students. They can also model the importance of serving our communities, and giving to those in need. Someone who modeled this for me was my mother. Here is a story about her: It was […]
I cannot make you change. But I can change me.
“If only my spouse/child/parent/boss would change…” To focus our attention on what we can’t control produces suffering. You and I have limited resources. We have finite time, energy and attention. When we expend those resources on what is beyond our control, suffering ensues. That suffering is a sign. It means we’re out of […]
Leadership Misconceptions: How Extraordinary Leaders Inspire and Lead Differently
Leadership is… action, not position. transformation, not a transaction. influence, not management. a verb, not a noun. Whether I am speaking to student audiences or corporate organizations, the challenges and frustrations I hear leaders talk about have common threads. The seasoned executive and department manager are very likely dealing with many of the same […]
How law imitates life (from Life as a Courtroom)
As I have discovered, practicing law can be an all-encompassing profession. The law literally affects everything around us. It naturally follows, then, that I often use the law to make larger points about life. With the foregoing in mind, here are a few ways that the law imitates life. Passion Makes for a […]
Farewell, President Obama. Hello, President Trump? Hmm… Are we still having Black History Month?
The 2016 Presidential Election will go down in history as one of the most divisive elections of all time. No matter who won the election, a major portion of the United States population was not going to be happy with the outcome. Like him or not, Donald Trump is the new President of the United […]
Avoiding Ethical Negligence
If you were walking down the street, and you saw someone lying on the ground in obvious distress that you did not cause, would you help that person? As an attorney, I am often presented with the question of whether something being contemplated is “legal.” The definition of legal is “something that is permitted by […]
5 Secrets of a Go-Getter Girl
As we look forward to ushering in 2017, several goals and aspirations are in the rearview mirror. Some fulfilled dreams, some unfulfilled. Some exceeded goals, some not so much. Some incredible highs, some backbreaking lows. The go-getter girl in us reflects on the happenings of the past year, and she feels rejuvenated and incredibly […]
Build a purpose-driven career
Adam (Smiley) Poswolsky is the author of The Quarter-Life Breakthrough, a bestseller and #1 top-rated job-hunting book on Amazon. His next book will be published by Perigee (Penguin Random House) in 2016. He has inspired young professionals and entrepreneurs to find fulfilling work as director of community engagement for the Hive Global Leaders Program, […]
The DNA of Extraordinary Leadership: An interview with Dr. Kevin Snyder
Whether he’s speaking to college students or corporate executives, Kevin Snyder engages and entertains audiences by sharing powerful lessons of leadership inspiring them to think bigger, overcome adversity and work together to achieve common goals. Kevin has presented over 1,150 programs in all 50 states and has been with CAMPUSPEAK for nearly a decade. He’s […]
Live Your Life
When Jon Blais was 33, he was diagnosed with ALS and given 2-3 years to live. Devastatingly, he had to give up his teaching job along with his passion for teaching children with learning disabilities. Though his future was grim, Jon made the choice to “live fully” and dedicated his life to raising awareness […]
I Play the Tuba. And I Still Win at Life
There’s nothing valuable about being normal. “Normal” is easy. Normal can be found everywhere. If you could find a diamond just by walking down the street, it wouldn’t be worth nearly as much. The same principle applies to people. Sometimes we have to face the difficult reality that, at some point, we’re all just trying […]
Female Friendship: It Really Is Worth the Investment
I have been lucky to call Dr. Lori Hart my friend for more than twenty years. We are probably the most unlikely people to have been friends. Lori and I think differently, we approach situations differently, and we just sometimes see the world differently. Our friendship is one of the greatest gifts we have been […]
Finding peace, joy, and gratitude
As I have gotten older, my focus in life has changed a bit. I care more now about my family, friends, community, and work than I have in the past. I not only care about my professional success, but about the happiness that success brings to others. In my work I spend a great deal […]
Maximize your time during winter break
The holidays are upon us and we know that some well deserved rest and relaxation lies ahead. I get it, I really do. You’re tired. You’re done. You’re a car that’s been burning on all cylinders for months on end and thousands of miles. You can smell the bitterness of burning rubber and there’s steam […]
Face your fears
I was five, and was going swimming with my father. Every afternoon that summer, my family would visit our neighbor’s pool, but today was different. This was the day I would jump off the diving board. I had been dreaming of this for months, but I still felt scared. Two weeks earlier, I had split […]
What can you do today that will move you closer to your dreams?
When your alarm goes off each morning, you wipe the sleep out of your eyes, roll out of bed, and have a choice to make. Either you can choose to use your time and effort that day to move closer to your dreams, or you can choose to stay right where you are – coasting […]
Five ways to survive change
We are all looking for love. We all want to belong, to create a life of meaning, to change the world for the better somehow. We all want to know that we matter. For us to do the great things we plan to do in this world, we have to grow and we have to […]
The secret to overcoming your quarter-life crisis
A few years ago, I was stuck in a very brutal quarter-life crisis. I didn’t like my job, I didn’t like the city was living in, and I felt hopeless and depressed. I was spending a lot of time on Facebook, overdosing on FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), worrying about what all my friends were […]
The millennial myth
I recently read an article written by a millennial named Sierra. The article started like this: “Dear baby boomers and Generation X, quit telling us we we’re not special. Believe me, we know.” I started really thinking about what Sierra said. I’m a millennial myself, and I want to make it clear that I’m not […]
Vision, belief, and action: The keys to leadership
It was 1952 and Florence Chadwick was attempting to swim the 26 mile trek from Catalina Island to the California shore. As she began, she felt determined and strong. Everything was going as planned. Fifteen hours later, however, a storm rolled in, and so did her stress. She became confused and disoriented. Believing she could […]
The power of gratitude
It was August and I was listening to my 99 year old friend Victor Tynes sing “What A Wonderful World.” I sat in awe as his smooth tenor voice sang every word with conviction and heart. One year shy of 100 and he sounded like a professional performing in a jazz club. Early in Victor’s […]