Getting Real About the Speaking Business

Different paths. Same truth. The stage alone isn’t the business.

https://nsasocal.org/events/february-14-2026/

There are many legitimate ways to build a speaking business.
And yet, so many speakers quietly believe there’s only one “right” path…the one that looks loudest, fastest, or most impressive from the outside.

This conversation is an invitation to step out of comparison and into clarity.

In this session, you’ll hear from speakers and leaders who have built their businesses in very different ways: through keynotes, facilitation, coaching, academia, niche expertise, systems, visibility, and long-term partnerships. Some built their work on big stages. Others built it inside organizations, classrooms, or communities. All of them found models that actually work for their values, their energy, and their lives.

Together, we’ll explore what it really takes to build a speaking business you can sustain, scale, and embody without abandoning yourself in the process.

This is not a panel about hacks, hype, or chasing the next stage.
It’s a real conversation about:

• How people actually make money
• Where speaking fits inside a larger ecosystem
• What trade-offs are worth it (and which ones aren’t)
• How to build something that lasts longer than a season.

If you’ve ever wondered whether there’s a way to grow your speaking work that feels aligned, grounded, and genuinely yours…this conversation is for you.

Come curious. Leave clearer.

Meet our Panel:

Gregg Ward
The Facilitator / Trainer Revenue Engine

Gregg Ward is an award-winning, bestselling author, speaker, and executive coach who inadvertently discovered that his training and experience as a theater professional in New York and London was surprisingly helpful in developing leadership and communication training programs for industry and government. Although he’s a gifted speaker and storyteller with many unpaid and a few paid virtual and in-person gigs, facilitating interactive training is where he makes most of his revenue. While living in the UK doing theater, he also served as a journalist for BBC radio and various newspapers. These days, he’s based in San Diego, plays tennis as much as his body allows, and occasionally umpires Little League baseball.

Nick Demos
The Coach/ Keynoter Revenue Engine

Tony Award Winning Broadway Producer, Award winning filmmaker, and Story Coach Nick Demos connects with audiences by authentically and vulnerably sharing compelling stories. From challenging moments to phenomenal successes he offers teachings with truth and a keen sense of humor. He speaks for entrepreneurs, corporations and— despite being a highly sought after creative artist- has even been a speaker for financial advisors!

His work is in helping people tap into their innate creativity and share their stories so they can connect with their clients, customers, teammates and audiences.

Mary Poffenroth
Mainstage TED/TEDx Speaker, Professor, Cognitive + Behavioral Scientist

Dr. Mary Poffenroth is a scientist, professor, and fear expert who has spent her career researching how we can all live more courageously, every day. From being adopted at birth to being the first – and only – family member to attend college to her first day at NASA and beyond, Mary has dedicated her life to understanding how best to do scary things. Her work is consistently featured in prestigious print outlets like TIME magazine, Forbes, Science, Entrepreneur, the Wall Street Journal, Cosmopolitan, Newsweek, SUCCESS Magazine, SELF, Men’s Health UK, and Fast Company. Mary has a PhD in psychology as well as three master’s degrees (biology, psychology, science communication) and shares some of her best stories and strongest courage building, fear fighting neurohacks in her award winning book Brave New You: Strategies, Tools, and Neurohacks to Live More Courageously Every Day  (Hachette, October 2024).

Hilary Bilbrey
Integrator + Moderator

Hilary brings energy, empathy, and a touch of playfulness to everything she does, creating meaningful connections with audiences and teams alike. As a dynamic speaker, facilitator, and executive coach, Hilary draws on her extensive experience helping leaders and organizations unlock their potential.

With a background in talent development, positive intelligence, and emotional resilience, Hilary has worked for over two decades guiding teams to move from conflict to collaboration, from stress to success, and from surviving to thriving. As the Director of Membership, Hilary leverages her passion for fostering connection and growth to create a community where members feel valued, inspired, and equipped to lead with purpose.

 https://nsasocal.org/events/february-14-2026/