In the course of building out my travel and food site, Legal Nomads, I became a frequent public speaker, delivering both keynote talks that lean toward inspiration and thinking differently about the world, as well as in-depth workshops about the business side of brand-building in an online world, and storytelling to effect change. For list of press clips, please see here.
If you are interested in working with me, please email me directly about speaking, writing, and interview requests.
Selected Public Speaking Experience
- Speaker, Spinal CSF Leak: Bridging the Gap between Patients and Providers, November 2023
- Speaker, NAFSA: Association of International Educators Conference, “Standing Out in a Crowded Digital World: Telling Stories via Social Media” in Los Angeles, California
- Speaker, NAFSA: Association of International Educators Conference, “The Power of Story to Dissolve Bias and Encourage Global Citizenship” in Denver, Colorado
- Closing Keynote Speaker, Travel Bloggers Exchange Conference, “Why Travel Blogging Needs more Storytelling” (Summary here) in Bangkok, Thailand
- Keynote Speaker, The World Food and Tourism Summit, “Bloggers and Food Industry Stakeholders” in Estoril, Portugal
- Speaker, Travel Bloggers Exchange Conference, “Building a Business Beyond your Blog“, Lloret de Mar
- Speaker, Travel Bloggers Exchange Conference, “How to Turn Readers into a Thriving Community” Toronto
- Closing Keynote Speaker, Travel Bloggers Unite, Umbria, “Getting People to Listen to You Online”
- Speaker, World Domination Summit, Portland Oregon, on curation and social media strategy. (Summary here.)
- Keynote Speaker, The World Domination Summit, “On Taking Risks, Long-Term Travel and Finding your Path in Life” Portland Oregon
Video Clips of Speaking Experience
- On Living with a Persistent Leak, Spinal CSF Leak: Bridging the Gap between Patients and Providers (below):
- Why Travel Blogging Needs more Storytelling TBEX Bangkok
- On Passion, Risk and Travel, World Domination Summit keynote
- Video interview with Bloomberg Law for their Stealth Lawyer series, Bloomberg Law (below):
Speaking topics then and now
Before I sustained my spinal CSF leak, my most-requested topics were about community engagement, storytelling and effective use of narrative loops in brand-building, career breaks and digital nomadism, and how to travel with food allergies or travel through food.
Since 2017, however, those are no longer topics I actively write about or live and my speaking and podcasting experience has shifted to cover living with chronic illness, grief, and how to function when life changes drastically. I was surprised and grateful to have been recognized for my work in these areas when I was awarded with a Health Impact Award for 2023.
My spinal CSF leak has left me mostly unable to take on offers of public speaking, but I was able to speak at the Bridging the Gap conference, as noted above, in November 2023. I hope my health stabilizes enough that I can do more in the future.
