Ideas on power, ownership, and what comes next
Articles and notes on expertise, communication, and the rooms shaping what comes next.
How do I find paid speaking engagements?
This is one of the questions I get asked most.I could just say search Google or LinkedIn, ask AI, buy a list ...Thanks for reading The Repositioning by Kelly Charles-Collins, Esq.! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.But if I did that Id be doing you a disservice.Because the reality is, finding paid engagements is less about the engagement and more about you.Here’s what I mean. Many of you…
Read →70% Are Just Clocking In: The Hidden Cost of a Workforce That Doesn’t Feel Heard
A note from me: I founded the Octagon Experts Bureau to put the sharpest experts in front of the rooms, stages, and teams that need them. Mimi Nicklin is one of them, and the insights below are exactly why.In the United States, only about 28 percent of the workforce is engaged. In the United Kingdom, the figure drops to around 9 percent. Whether you lead ten people or ten thousand, the math is the same: most of your…
Read →I Said I Hated Sales. My Sister Called Me Out.
I used to say I hated sales.I don’t do numbers. I don’t love selling. I’m not a salesperson.My sister would hear me and remind me that I’d been selling for years.“You stood in front of juries,” she told me. “You stood in front of judges. You had to sell your client’s story so they would rule in your client’s favor.”I had never thought about my legal career that way.Subscribe nowSales wasn’t…
Read →Why I Invited White People to Talk About George Floyd
George Floyd was murdered on my son’s birthday.That detail made an already horrific event land even closer to my body.My son had also been victimized by police. I knew the fear, anger and helplessness that come with realizing how quickly someone you love can become another hashtag. I’d spoken about bias before the world watched a police officer kneel on George Floyd’s neck. My TEDx talk had been shaped, in part, by…
Read →When Being Easy to Find Was No Longer Enough
My first speaking clients found me.That is the truth.I didn’t build my early business by sending hundreds of cold emails or mastering a complicated outbound system. I had told people I was becoming a speaker. I’d positioned myself around unconscious bias. Then a cultural moment created urgent demand for exactly that work.My topic did much of the prospecting for me.People were searching, and my positioning helped…
Read →I Thought Replacing My Salary Was The Goal
For years, I said some version of the same thing whenever numbers entered the conversation.I’m a lawyer. I use words. I strategize. I don’t do numbers.It sounded almost charming when I said it.It was an expensive way to think.When I became a full-time entrepreneur, I knew how to serve clients. I could speak, train, advise and deliver. I’d invested in positioning, branding and professional development. I had coaches,…
Read →New perspectives, straight to your inbox
Ideas on power, ownership, and what comes next, delivered quietly. Read everything on Substack →