Who do you speak to and what do you speak about?
I talk to kids about conservation and the way they can get involved. I go to a lot of schools, but I also talk to a lot of adults, seniors, and I’ve even talked to some college kids, about how they can get involved in conservation and how they can make a difference no matter how old or how young they are.
I know you’ve been speaking on this for a while, which is amazing since you’re 15! So what was happening with regard to your speaking business that made you say, “I want to join The Speaker Lab and take this to the next level”?
I wanted to get more speaking engagements. I wanted to speak more and I wanted to know how to get paid for that, and start a business. Then I found out about The Speaker Lab, and when I did some research on it, I decided it’s a really good tool and a really good resource to have.
It’s helped me improve my speaking and get paid.
As you did the SPEAK Framework, what were some of the things that really stood out to you? What are some key takeaways that you got from the program?
There are a lot of good things in there – how to speak, how, again, to start a business out of it because that’s what I wanna do – besides photography, I want to do speaking and I’ve seen so many amazing people that do that and I’ve been inspired by them.
Also, I’ve learned how to be better at speaking because before I would repeat myself a lot. I’ve found a bunch of different things in the SPEAK Framework that I still use.
How was the coaching experience for you?
That was probably my favorite part – learning from other people. It was fun and I got one-on-one experience personalized for me, and that was helpful.
Yes, those connections are so important, especially for someone like you who’s had a lot of experience already – you’ve done speaking before, so you were coming in with something already established, but then you get to have coaching, where we can tell you how to tweak things, grow your business, modify your approach of prospecting, and all that so you can take things to the next level.
What have been some of your results or standout moments for you as a speaker since doing the program?
Well, I definitely got a lot more speaking gigs. I was able to speak at the World Wildlife Conference in South Dakota. That was a really big and fun one. That was awesome.
I’ve been to South Dakota, but going again to speak was amazing and I’ve been able to speak to so many amazing people, all around the world.
Can you tell us more about that conference?
It’s a youth conference – at least the part that I spoke at. So there’s this person that was running the youth part and they wanted people like me to come and speak to the actual youth. There’s youth there, but they were 24 into their thirties, which isn’t youth in my opinion.
So I was talking to kids my age and she contacted me and I just went out there and talked and it was awesome.
I know you’ve been speaking a while. How does it feel to just be up on there knowing that you’re getting to share your message with people?
It feels amazing just spreading the message of conservation and loving our planet. That’s the main thing for me; it’s not about the recognition. It’s about getting my message out there and changing the world.
I can tell you genuinely care about that. You’ve been doing conservation projects for such a long time already!
For eight years.
That’s amazing!. We need people doing that. Well, what’s your new normal looking like? How has your life changed since being a lot more intentional around the business aspect?
Day to day, it looks like contacting people a lot. There’s a lot of different things that go into my day-to-day speaking. I also do a lot of interviews, like this. I go on the news. I speak at schools, I do that a lot. It depends on the day. Staying busy.
I just recently had a new documentary made about me, so that is two documentaries now, and we’re working with a new company to make a third one.
Incredible! Who would you recommend to the Speaker lab and why?
People who want to speak and get their message out there, but they don’t know how to speak or what to do. I recommend those people and I’d say it’s just an amazing resource for anybody who wants to grow their speaking business.
Where do you see yourself as a speaker and say 5 or 10 years, what would be the dream?
Well, there’s this conference we go to every year – the Southeastern Wildlife Conference, and I love going there. There are so many amazing people that speak there. My friend Forest Delante, he’s speaking this year – It’s actually two weeks from now.
It’s one of my dream places to speak. I want to do a keynote there, hopefully.
I’ve introduced people, but I’ve never done my own keynote there so I would love to do that.
Well you’ll have to circle back when you book that gig. Is there anything else you want to share while we’re on the call?
To any kids that want to speak, just remember that no matter how old or how young you are, you can make a difference.
Kids may be a small part of the population, but we are 100% of the future..