December 29, 2025 • 44 mins
Episode Summary
In this engaging episode, host Katrina van Oudheusden welcomes Amber Daughn, founder of Women on Stage Collective, a speaker development company empowering women. Together, they explore the journey of women entrepreneurs, emphasizing the importance of authentic female voices in business and public speaking. From the challenges of starting a business to the nuances of building strong, nourishing relationships in business, Amber shares her insights and experiences, offering a fresh perspective on women's roles in the speaking industry.
Key Discussion Points
Katrina's passion for women in business and productivity.
Amber's introduction and the importance of Women on Stage Collective.
Challenges Amber faced in building her company and the importance of relationships in business.
The unique approach of Women on Stage: crafting a woman's unique voice and presence in public speaking.
Importance of community building and collaboration among women leaders.
Overcoming self-doubt and the undervaluation of women's natural abilities and skills.
Using women's natural rhythm and energy cycles to enhance productivity and public presentation.
Guest Bio
Amber is the founder of Women on Stage Collective, a company dedicated to reshaping the speaking industry for women through her signature stagecraft method. With over 15 years in the events industry, she is passionate about helping women refine their voice and plant their flag in the speaking field. Her holistic approach integrates personal authenticity with professional strategies to craft impactful speakers.
Recommended Resources & Links
Women on Stage Collective: Explore our site and free group via the website
Stagecraft Challenge: A free five-day live training beginning in January 2026 to help women start their journey in public speaking. For a complimentary seat, connect via the Facebook Group.
Join us for what promises to be an insightful conversation on the shifts taking place in female entrepreneurship and public speaking. Dive into the world of authentic communication and collaboration with Katrina and Amber, and find how you, too, can elevate your voice and presence in your industry.
Thanks for listening! If you are enjoying our podcast, leave a comment below. We love hearing from our fans and other female entrepreneurs! We are collaborating to make business better for every woman! Feel free to share this podcast on your favorite social platform. And if you are listening on any of the podcast platforms, we would love it if you could post a 5-star review. Please, help us get our message out! Together, we discover how each woman has the power to unlock another woman when we are open about what we are redefining as women in business.
About Your Host: Katrina van Oudheusden
Former Chef at Walt Disney World® Resort, Restaurateur, Speaker, and CEO of Truth Bomb Marketing. Katrina is a sought-after consultant for small business growth among female entrepreneurs.
She created a revolutionary business training method called ‘CreatHER™ Business Rewire’. Weaving together time, money, and business growth by preventing burnout and strengthening female leadership skills.
Alongside the CreatHER™ Planner, women are finally experiencing less stress in all areas of their lives. When the focus begins with HERself, women discover a freedom to dream big, increase revenue, and design a marketing strategy that works for them.
CreatHer Money Revolution Summit:
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Yeah. Well, welcome to this
conversation you just walked into here.
I did she really say that we like to be in the middle of a
conversation when I hit that record button because I want you
to know that we're real women here having this conversation.
And I'm super excited because asyou know, for those women that
are going through and building businesses, one of the big
(00:21):
things I'm passionate about as your host, Katrina Vonat Houston
is really walking women through the process of time and
productivity and how to scale and build your business within
your rhythm. And what I brought when who I
brought on today is actually Amber when I love this
conversation because Amber and Iconnected and collected right
out of the gate. We, we are so much in line.
(00:41):
We are both really passionate about helping women and we have
the same viewpoint in a lot of respects and on how business
gets run by women and really different ways that we need to
approach it as women. So who is Amber?
This is the great question. So I'm going to read a quick
little short bio about her, right?
She's the founder of Women on Stage Collective.
It's a speaker development company built by women for
(01:04):
women. And why is that important?
And I'll, I'll get to that in just a moment because there's a
big reason why that's super important.
Through her signature stagecraftmethod, Amber helps establish
women leaders, refine their voice, craft their message, and
stepped into the next level visibility as a bookable, not
(01:26):
just sellable, but bookable, credible speaker, right.
Her work bridges the deep identity deep.
Her work bridges deep identity clarity with the strategy and
presence required to lead A room.
Actually, women are doing a really good job of stepping it
up. But what we're not doing is
leaving the room. So I can't wait for it, right?
So it's not just speak to a room, it's actually leading that
(01:48):
room, leading that conversation.And for so long, we thought it
was the men that had the power in the room.
Women, let me tell you things are shifting she's a she's
collaborated with over 15 industry experts to create
holistic approach that blends both the personal truth
performance craft and professional level deliverables
right and that's important to understand because selling from
(02:10):
stage is its own work of art right Amber's.
Clients don't just. Find their voice.
They truly own it. So Amber, thank you so much for
being here and being in this conversation with me because man
on man, Justin Jared intro alone, there's like about 1000
different directions we know in this conversation.
(02:30):
Absolutely I'm I'm super excitedand soaked to be here.
I've every time we've connected I have very much so enjoyed
exploring all all the things. Yeah.
So let's talk about first and beginning that part of that
introduction. This is women speaking, women
speaking in crafted messages from women, by women, for women.
(02:51):
Why is that such an important element that our listeners and
our audience needs to hear? So it's, it's kind of an
interesting thing. Like I come from about 15 years
or so in the events industry andI've been doing it from a lot of
different angles. So I have been the person
booking speakers, I have been the speaker, I've been the
(03:13):
organizer of the event, I've done all of these different
things. And over that entire period of
time, there were some conversations that I just kept
seeing happening. That one drove me a little
Batty, especially as a woman. And two were just a pain point
(03:33):
that was so clear to me that I just was crazy that nobody else
was seeing it. And that specifically was that
so much of everything in the world, but also so much of the
events industry and any male dominated industry is designed
and made for men. So the stage presence that
(03:57):
you're told to do, the way that you're told to lead the, you
know, like all of these different aspects are all taught
by men and done by men and work for men, which is great for men.
But for US women out there, sometimes being big and loud and
(04:17):
having a lot of ego isn't reallysomething that works for me or
that matches for me and for mostwomen out there.
So I decided it was really easy to solve this because there's so
many amazing, brilliant, impactful women out there,
experts in their fields, everything like this, and who
(04:38):
are very able to teach women andhelp women to get in touch with
their own way of doing it. So it's not just by women for
women, it's also for you. Like that's a big part of.
So like I try and avoid the whole authenticity.
Yeah, it's starting to be over you.
(05:01):
It's starting to be overused andeverything else.
It's like, and I, I think we overuse it for women
specifically because we know we wear these masks.
We. Mainly know that we're putting
on this makeup to to mask and emotion.
We're putting on this hat that we're wearing.
We're the businesswoman. Then I'm the mom and then I'm
the wife and then I'm the sisterthat like we have all these
(05:23):
different masks And sometimes the woman behind the mask, the
US, the, the her is the one thing that feels lost.
And especially when taking the stage and being the voice,
there's so much, oh, you got to work a certain way.
You got to walk a certain way. You have to hold this position
for so long. You know, pause here.
(05:45):
You know, there's this, this sense of just not being in your
natural flow because it feels very staged in a lot of ways.
Exactly where it's like it's a performance.
And I mean, you kind of, you saythat and you think of it, right?
Yeah, it makes sense. You're on stage, you're
performing. That's not actually what
resonates, what connects, what engages, what like leads.
(06:08):
And if you can't find or are being taught ways that just
don't that feel like a performance and don't feel like
just walking up and being yourself and being amazing,
that's that's a problem. So I decided let's not teach
that. Let's instead teach how to how
(06:29):
to come at it from a woman's perspective, and how to come at
it from not just any woman's perspective, but you as a
woman's perspective. Yeah.
So let's talk a little bit aboutthe development of this business
because one of the things around, did she really say that
as our audiences, women in business, they're wanting to
learn like, OK, Amber, how did you get this business started?
(06:50):
Like how like in that respect, like what have been some of the
challenges you faced in setting up this type of business?
Yeah, absolutely. This is it's kind of a perfect
time. So I have a couple of other
businesses that are also a bit more mature and developed, but
Women on Stage collective is very young.
So it's only about a year old where.
(07:13):
So this is actually the exact way and moment that I'm I'm sort
of in with women on stage collective.
So in launching and building it is the very first kernel of it,
right? It came from my zone of
influence, my area of genius. And so it was very much like a
(07:36):
labor of love and a calling in that sort of way.
And therefore it's something that occupied my time and my
brain without ever like necessarily having to feel like
I was working at it. And therefore, I was having all
of those conversations and thosevalidation conversations that
(07:57):
are so important in the early stages of business and business
launching. So that's something that has
been a super big focus with me is actually building a community
and a supportive space for womenand especially in the category
(08:18):
of business that I'm in. I think you, Katrina, are also
in this sort of space. So like that would be, you know,
any kind of community builder, thought leader, content creator
even, or you know, any, any of those types of things where
you're, you're having to put intentionality into your
community. That's where I focus.
(08:40):
So I've spent, I spent probably more time than most people would
in that space where I'm connecting with people, I'm
hosting like get togethers, I'm doing things like that.
And that was where a lot of the the beginning style of the
business comes from. And then from that point, once
(09:02):
that community has built it, I have taken a very community
first approach to growing and scaling.
So the core community that I've been able to magnetize and sort
of draw in has been where I havemanaged to build.
So it was collaborative in the creation as well as sort of
(09:24):
community based collaboration inthe scaling of the business as
well. And I love that because we
talked about that in the beginning, right?
And this kind of ties into a little bit of that relationship
conversation we were talking about also is that, you know,
there's so many ways to start a business.
And I think really at its core, what you've done, Amber, is the
essence of being a female entrepreneur.
(09:45):
A lot of times we go in with this intent to do it as a solo
entrepreneur, right? We're just going to do it
ourselves or we're going to pushthrough, we're going to figure
it out. But there's a beauty and an
elegance and almost an ease whenthe with how you just described,
kind of like, all right, well, Istarted like intentionally
networking, right? Started intentionally finding
individuals, relationships, women I wanted to connect with
(10:07):
and then started building community around that.
So I think in that respect, and I see she's nodding her head
like, yeah, this is, you know, it's a it's a real easy
conversation. It doesn't feel like it's pushed
or forced, right? It feels like it's a natural
state of the evolution of your business.
And then what you've done, if I'm not mistaken, in some ways
(10:27):
you've already started the the buying process because you
cultivated the relationship and then this the the ask in the
receiving of a money exchange. It's probably a little bit
easier. It doesn't feel so forced.
Could. You absolutely that's so that's
one of those things where I think a lot of specifically
(10:48):
women, but any entrepreneur has often times, especially if you
don't come from like a entrepreneurial background or
like if this is your first go round on that having those money
conversations and like when do Iask when do I finally get to
make some money is such a critical point.
(11:12):
And yes, that's very much so theway that really kind of it's
always worked for me in businessis first the conversation first,
the like the customer 1st and the like that.
All of those things establish the, the want, the need, the
desire, the painkiller kind of moment.
(11:33):
And then that's when you don't even really have to push like
you're not hard selling in any way.
You're just naturally saying, well, I have this.
It is exactly what you have saidyou wanted.
Do you want it? And by and large that sort of
what has been like true for me in selling the program as well
(11:55):
as selling this business and various other things is that
it's not, it's not a hard sell at all.
It's not even a sell conversation.
It's just a. Request.
It becomes a request. It's like.
Them wanting it, Yeah. They requested for me, they're
like, do you have something likethis that I can get from you?
Can I work more with you? Like it's a natural ask instead
of a hey, buy this thing from mekind of a thing.
(12:19):
And it's a total, you know, it'sthe other side of the
relationship, right? We talked about the, you know,
relationship, relationship, relationship economics is one of
them. You're right.
It's like the exchange. And, and I have heard, honestly,
Amber, it's been crazy. I've talked to women throughout
the decades and I've even met some extraordinary,
(12:40):
extraordinary men. You have said women are the best
communicators. They build through collaboration
and they'll keep a business going long after because of the
relationships that they make with vendors, with people with
like they get to know The Who they are, their family.
So let's talk a little bit aboutthat relationship building.
(13:02):
Yeah, this is actually a really interesting thing that I have
have seen come up and sort of evolve over time.
You said it, the relationship economics.
And I think this is one of the things that you and I have
talked about before is that there is this weird dichotomy of
(13:22):
responses to that even just those words.
And that is a concept which I think is really fascinating is
because. You said even to me, you're
like, some people don't like this word.
I'm like, but that's exactly what it is like.
It is relationship economics like come on, let's let's honor
the conversation we're having so.
Yeah. So absolutely.
(13:44):
I think it it all starts in in that relationship for sure.
So. How, how do you then come
across, I guess with the world of AI is?
Not a relationship. I just went down this road.
Don't ask me why, but I'm now down this road with you.
Absolutely. So what I find really
fascinating is 1. I do think that AI and a bunch
(14:09):
of the LLMS like catchy PT and things like that, especially if
you are more one of those like 60 plus percent of the users
that are using voice mode for AI, it can feel very much like a
relationship. It can feel very much like those
sorts of things. However, in my opinion, this is
(14:32):
not an actual true relationship.I think that artificial
intelligence cannot replace thatcore component of human to human
right. This is, I've, I've been calling
it human intelligence, but it's this relationships are based on
and, and especially from my world, relationships are based
(14:55):
on that connection, that relatability, right, That trust,
the like all of those different things that go into it that are
intangible in a way that like anartificial intelligence could
never reproduce. It can.
It's more of an echo chamber. You know, it's like an echo
(15:17):
chamber with a search browser. So that isn't.
She's dead on for all this is the audience.
She's Amber is dead on. It is literally an echo chamber.
It is not a communication. It is not something that feels.
It is not something that has empathy for you.
It's programmed to respond with empathy, but it is not
(15:37):
empathetic. Exactly.
And that empathy, like you said it is that women, women are
widely accepted. There's I could give you a bunch
of different studies about this.I'm a nerd, so please, please
excuse when I make reference to all kinds of things like
academic Y that's just me being me.
(15:59):
But women are better communicators.
Women are better relaters. And as a result of that higher
emotional intelligence and higher ability to communicate
and relate, they are more relatable, which is takes brings
it into that whole leadership position.
Like women as leaders are the most collaborative and the most
(16:25):
like relatable. So people feel connected and
feel drawn to them. So like I, I use the term a lot
magnetized. And I think that this is
something that especially women thought leaders are amazing at
is they are who they are. They are true to their core and
they communicate, hyper communicate, perhaps over
(16:47):
communicate for some. However, the effect is
inclusion, the effect is collaboration.
And so no matter where you are at in a hierarchy, you, when you
are in a woman's team, you know you are going to be included and
you feel an actual connection, You feel a relationship, which
(17:09):
is absolutely the gold standard to me.
And I agree and then like everything you said, I've said
I've I've experienced it myself,even as a leader.
There's never been anyone at a hierarchy in my world.
We're all have an input into this.
Doesn't matter if I like, I've all used the kitchen, right?
Didn't matter if you were the dishwasher, the server, the cook
(17:30):
in the back, the the manager, the guy that was in the
receiving. The thing was when you got us
all into the room, we all had a different perspective that
served the integrator good. Yeah.
It didn't matter where you were in that kitchen and what
position you held you, you saw something that potentially had
an impact on the customer, had an impact on the environment for
(17:53):
their own safety and sanity. And I think when you open that
door and you said it, instead ofsaying, well, only these level,
you know, C level suite people get access, when you open the
door fully, you get a totally different and collaborative
experience that betters every element of work, society, money,
(18:13):
you name it, it all plays in there.
And I think when you talk about,you know, we as women do have a
much more inclusive leadership role.
We don't speak to people. We include people.
And I think when you're talking about what you've designed, you
know, one of the things that I was going through in your, you
know, show notes of the, it's like, do we, you know, we talked
(18:34):
about this a little bit getting paid to speak, right?
And so when you talk about relationships, that's very
transactional. That's very much, I'm going to
say something. You're going to pay me for this.
But that's not really even even in the world of speaking and in
the world of being a woman, whatwe really want, we want to be
(18:56):
something else. So let's talk about that for a
moment because this all ties together.
This might seem, I know, like we're around about instead, but
we're literally weaving this conversation together because
they're all elements of who we are as women.
Absolutely this. This transactional like moment
as well as the concept. This is something that I've seen
(19:18):
so many different women strugglewith is owning their expertise
and their value and claiming theopportunities is it's something
where women and I. This is not to exclude or say
anything about the fact that there are a huge amount of
(19:39):
external factors that do presentbarriers and obstacles.
However, one of the main obstacles that do happen for
women is actually ourself. We get in our own way on this
so, so often and it comes up in places like that, right with the
(19:59):
like, for instance, getting booked and paid to speak or
really any service based offering is, is a similar thing
where women get hung up on feeling like it's transactional.
When we are relational interactors.
We are, we want, we're nurturing.
I mean, not all of us are nurturing.
Like I'm not a mother, but I. You're hold on, I'm going to
(20:23):
stop you right there because thenurturing isn't reserved just
for another person. I would look at even from your
business perspective, you're nurturing a community of women.
You're nurturing another area. So it's not that you're not
nurturing. Nurturing is the ability to care
for another person to the extentof watching them succeed and
grow. And it doesn't always mean
(20:44):
child. It could mean your sister, it
could mean your best friend, it could be another woman out
there. So I will, I will challenge you
Amber and say yes, you are nurturing.
Well, thank you. I, I will accept that challenge
and I will own own that word. I think it is something that's
that's very true for many women is, is that we have that, that
(21:09):
impulse to to caregive. And I think that it we get hung
up on putting a price tag on caregiving because it's, it's
supposed, you know, it's supposed to be altruistic or
something. Yeah, we're doing, we're doing
it for for the good of whatever.Yeah, for the good of anything
(21:34):
at all. But where we stop is
understanding that a couple of different things.
One, other people have a monetary value that they do
assign to that, to your expertise, to your skills, to
your time, to all of these different things.
And then two, where we have, we as women will undervalue and
(22:00):
hesitate around money, whereas the other option men do not.
They fully expect to be paid in,in those moments and in those
times. And they have a very firm number
and they have and they stand firm in it and they fully expect
to get it. I want that, that confidence for
(22:23):
women as well, like, and that's where I like, that's what I
think is sort of lacking, I guess in, in that is anchoring
into the value that you are providing and anchoring in and
owning your expertise and what you're offering to the world.
Whatever your business is, whatever your flavor is, right?
(22:45):
And being able to, to confidently and calmly present
that and be like, yes, I this, Icost $10,000 to speak.
There you go. That's that's a full stop
statement. It is and I think so many times,
and I hear women say this too, to say this also.
(23:06):
It's just what I naturally do. They, they don't expect to get
paid for something that just comes naturally to them.
And yet at the same time, it's funny, if you look around us,
there are some things that naturally come to men that they
get paid for also. And they've learned to put a
price on that. And so there's this sense that
we've downplayed and, and I willtell you that over it's
(23:27):
centuries of training, it's centuries of conditioning, it's
it's ancestrally dated back throughout whatever.
I know what we're up against. I mean, honestly, when you can
tell women that you know, do youremember the time back in 1978
when it was the first time you could open a checkings account
as a woman without having your husband's signature 1978?
(23:48):
It's insane. So less than 50 years ago, we've
actually been able to control our money.
So one thing I I will say is that sometimes we bump up
against getting paid what we're worth because we've never
really, our mothers haven't had that experience, our
grandmothers haven't had that experience.
So generationally, you are the first women that are taking the
stage asking for what you're asking, setting a setting the
(24:13):
stage, just to put it that way, setting the stage and for what's
to come, what's possible, right?And what you're and who you're
working with. Amber, I think these women, if
you can impart on them, and I know you do, that they are
really setting the greatness of what does a female speaker look
like? What does the female stage look
like? What does it look like to,
(24:34):
instead of just speak to an audience, include the audience
and really get that engagement? Because that's one of the big
things I'm hearing is that we want an engaged audience with
us. We don't just want to speak to
them, we want them like engage with us.
So share a little bit of how your program like teaches women
to create that type of engagement in their speaking and
what they're building. Yeah, absolutely.
(24:56):
So that's 100% true. Like this is one of the key
things like I call them key speaker metrics and where like
this has actually been somethingof a problem in the events
industry and like over over timethat I have seen throughout my
(25:17):
career. I am not the only one saying
this either. Is that audience satisfaction,
engagement, and actionable? Remember ability for a really
awkward word, You know what I mean?
The retention of the informationlike can it be actually
actionable? Do you implement it or is it
(25:37):
just something that comes in then goes back out again?
Exactly. These are the kind of key areas
where speaking is falling flat. And pretty much every arena,
like it doesn't matter what typeof event, it doesn't matter.
This is not even just in events,but well, let's, let's just
let's stay, stay in our lane andtalk about events.
(26:01):
So this is something I've actually started doing a keynote
all about this. Women are literally built and
designed with born in like and trained skill sets to address
each of those things. Women get higher audience
satisfaction when they are on stage and like like literally
(26:22):
and events overall with a 5050 or better balance to the the
speaker line UPS, they actually events get higher audience
satisfaction higher exceptionally higher engagement
for women speakers versus male speakers and they get women and
(26:44):
this is 1. I absolutely love women's voices
are tonality and vocal range actually increase semantic
encoding. So yes, it's crazy.
There's like so many studies about it.
I'll I'll send them over to you.It's this is where I tell, I
told you, I'm a nerd. So this is something where we
(27:08):
are actually built just like women are built to be able to
achieve all of these different things.
So taking that as like our starting point, you asked about
how we are building or increasing or doing things in
state and women on stage collective.
So we have two different programs designed for two
(27:30):
different sort of category or levels of speakers.
We have women who are still developing their signature talk
and message. And then we have more
established speakers who are looking to go to the next level,
really dive into the thought leadership and start being those
vocable speakers more of like a speaker production experience,
(27:53):
if you will, both of these address and go through the
process of this holistic experience.
So I, I have, I said in the beginning that I do, I'm a very
big collaborator and I am also not really a believer in guru
ISM. So I'm not the end all be all.
(28:15):
I do not know everything that and I think it's, I'm just going
to call it a mistake for people to present that as the way, like
the way and whatnot. So what I've done is I activated
my own network, right? I live and do relationship
economics. So I canvassed my large and
(28:36):
amazing network of women expertsand I brought them in.
So we cover every different aspect.
It's like a 360° dive into all the things that make you a
amazing public speaker. So we do development of your
signature, your signature talk, which is a deep dive into kind
(28:57):
of those, what you were saying earlier, where women say, well,
it just comes naturally to me and so I don't want to be paid
for it or I don't think to be paid for it.
We actually do a deep dive into what your superpowers are, what
your lived genius is like, whereyou have actually created
expertise and we craft it into impact, impact statements and
(29:20):
take it into your ultimately your signature talk.
So each of the women come out ofour programs with a signature
talk that only they can give. It is their unique expertise,
their unique message, and we really try and help women anchor
into that and that experience while also, oh, go ahead.
(29:41):
No, no, go, continue because this is interesting.
I'll make a note to myself. Keep going.
Well, also what we do, so first we get that signature talk.
Once we have the signature talk,then we dive into more of the
like stage craft components where we're working on delivery,
we're working on non verbal communication, we're working on
(30:01):
like non scripted and live interactions and we're helping.
So not everything is going to beevery woman's issue.
However, what we do is we offer basically about a month per kind
of area of time and we deep diveinto each of these subjects.
We have a vocal authority coach.We've got all of these various
(30:23):
different aspects to really get the whole view lens and dive in
and work on whatever your specific growth edge is.
So by the end of our programs and the experience, not like
depending on which one you're doing, right, there's going to
be different actual endpoints. And I'm happy to go into a whole
(30:44):
bunch of details on that, but. I want them wanting more Amber.
I want them wanting more don't get.
It yeah, keep. Them wanting more.
This is a tease. OK, just a tease.
So that's your taste, but that'sthat's the approach and that's
what we're doing is we're takinga holistic lens, providing women
expertise and perspectives. And then the last component that
(31:07):
is I think absolutely necessary and it's crazy that I don't see
it more is we do peer support. So you actually get to practice
your talk inside of your ten person cohort with your peers.
So there is monthly peer feedback iteration.
So you're getting practice, which is it's insane that so
(31:30):
many people don't get practice on public speaking or on any
like if you were going to go andpitch investors, right?
You need to practice that pitch and you need to practice it in a
space where it's like, it's not your romantic partner and it's
not your mom, right? You need to practice it with
someone that is in the space, operating in that space and can
(31:51):
give you structured and organized feedback.
So that's the other kind of key component.
And I'll bring this over to food.
So as a chef, right, whenever wehad to, you know, if we were
applying for a new position or anew job within Disney at the
time, the chefs always had to create a meal.
So what do you think we did? We went to our chefs and we
tested and we had them all tastesomething because they're the
(32:14):
ones getting feedback. If I took it to my friends and
family, they would all say, oh, this is awesome.
But I need that critical culinary perspective, viewpoint
of presentation that I'm not going to get from just the
average person. So what you're saying, Amber, is
like, this is your opportunity to really fine tune it.
And not only do you get to fine tune it, but those giving
feedback get to fine tune their feedback.
(32:36):
So it's like a it's a give and take.
For. Everybody that's in that cohort
and that that's in that intimate10 group, because now you're,
you're getting your supporting, your cheering each other on and
you're celebrating each other, which I think is often missing
because it feels like such a solo, you know, moment.
But really what you're bringing to the table here, and I hope
what my audience is hearing is that you're the collaborator and
(32:58):
you're creating those collaborative experiences and
really embodying what that lookslike for women.
So thank you for leading and modeling this in this world of
speaking because it's still until now it has been a missing
and you're like one of the firstwomen that I've really talked
with that's bringing this more holistic approach to it.
So thank you for that. Absolutely.
(33:19):
It's, it's my pleasure. It's very much so one of those
If you want it, build it. And I will share this too.
And I think it's interesting because we're both working with
women to kind of at a different side point.
I work with women really in thatproductivity and I was talking
with with a lady, a friend of mine and she was like, you know,
(33:40):
I do speaking engagements. She goes typically when I do my
speaking engagements. She's also someone that's aware
of her natural 28 day cycle. So she knows her and Freudian
rhythm. And typically she tries to
schedule her speaking engagements during the top half
of her and Freddian rhythm because that's when she has the
most communication skills. But this particular event she
(34:01):
scheduled or happened that she got accepted for, it was right
before her. It was at the end of her ludial
beginning of her menstrual, which is a totally different
energy for women. And it was interesting when I
was chatting with her because she's like, I recognize I was
going to be on stage in front ofa, you know, a couple 100
people. I had to add more rest in.
(34:21):
I wasn't trying to do the higherlevel of thinking.
She goes, my presentation was going to have a different energy
level. It was going to have a different
energy presented. But what was fascinating, she
said she's like, when I delivered that presentation in
that phase of my cycle. Well, it wasn't at like the high
end, like raw, raw cycle that wetypically see from a stage.
It was more of a softer, leaner lean in.
(34:43):
She goes. I had more people come up to me
and connect because I was right in that energy phase for myself.
So I, I'm curious because I loveone of the things that you said
was like, we spend a month in each one.
And I think as a woman, we need that month time to really
process, go through the different energy stages, going
through the different tasks thatare aligned with each one of
(35:05):
those steps that you have them go through.
Because that deepens our understanding and gives us that
confidence to really radiate andnot radiate, be radiant.
That's the word I was looking for in our presentation.
So I just want to just really acknowledge you for that because
I think that's a unique space that you're building in.
(35:26):
And I don't know if I said anything that you have heard or
haven't heard before, but that'swhat kind of popped up in my
head over here. Well, this is one of the reasons
why I'm very excited to bring you in for my community to talk
about this about the creator planner and for like about the
the flow and the rhythms that are unique for women in terms of
(35:48):
like work and productivity, because this is something that
like I have only sort of. Edges.
Yeah, it's like I've, I've felt around the edges of it.
I I notice it's, it's like in a dark room and I'm bumbling for
the light switch. I'm like, I know this is here.
There's something here. And when we first spoke and you
(36:09):
started saying these like sayingthings like you just said where
I'm like, yes, that makes so much sense.
And that's the type of like expertise and insights and
understanding that I really try to bring in for the women in the
community is, is understanding that and customizing that,
(36:31):
right? And like acknowledging the fact
that as women, this is somethingthat it happens, it happens in
our bodies, it's gonna affect everything.
Like there, there's gonna be a moment you might.
Bleed on stage because if you'renot paying attention to it, all
of a sudden you're like, oh, crap, right.
And so there's also being bodilyaware because that is one of the
(36:54):
things as a woman that you and I've heard speakers say this,
they're like, yeah, I got off stage and I was, you know,
bleeding. And so we better have this
honest conversation. As well, it is part of our.
First things. Yeah.
See, so to kind of just wrap up the the part of this
conversation too, during this podcast, you know, did she
(37:14):
really say that is kind of our signature line in here.
It's about bold things. So has there ever been a moment
where you've talked with a female or you've been in an
event and you said something andthey all just kind of looked at
you? Like, did she just really say
that you have a moment that you can share with our audience?
I actually the my favorite thing, it doesn't involve
(37:38):
conversations with women, OK? It involves conversations with
men. And this is something because
this I come from male dominated industries and often times I'm
on these conference calls or in front of men and dealing with
big, strong, powerful men, right?
(37:58):
And I have had this conversationmore than once and I continue to
say it and hold this space for it where I've got all of these
men and all of these speakers and everyone.
And we're all standing around orlike I'm with the organizers and
we're, we're talking about, you know, who, who won the the
contest. And every single time I predict
(38:19):
it, I say women are going to winas best speaker.
And every single time, every single man argues me, they say,
no, that's not true. They don't win.
You know, like La La la. Every single time I have said
it, women won, not only won, butswept.
(38:42):
I'm rocking out Amber saying that like.
Dancing a little happy dance over here on my side, so yes.
So it doesn't sound as shocking out of context, but it is that
women will win best speaker. I can.
See that? That's my Did she really say
that? Yeah.
Did she really say? Because you'll be talking to
guys and you're saying, hey, this is what's so?
(39:04):
And they're like, she's, they'retheir little lady.
Like that's gonna be great. That's not what's gonna happen.
We know better. And then all of a sudden it's
like, how did you know? Kind of a moment.
Yeah. Exactly that's that's my My
Oracle moment. I like it.
That's the amber moment, that's what.
We do. That's the Amber moment.
That's the way we just light youup.
(39:25):
It's the cautionary. You gave caution.
I'm going to play at the yellow.I'm going to be like, Amber
cautioned you and you didn't know, but she slammed on the
green light. Like, there we go.
All right, So how how does our audience connect with you?
What's the best way? What is something that you want
to gift them to help them take action?
Because we don't want them just to hear you, but we want them to
be able to connect with you. Absolutely.
(39:46):
So there's a couple of differentways to kind of find and dip
your toe in the water of the Women on Stage Collective.
There's a public free Facebook group called the Women on Stage
Collective Facebook group. It's pretty easy to find.
Links will be down in the show notes.
Don't worry, links will. Be down in the show notes.
So come in there and every week inside of that group, we
(40:09):
actually release a weekly speaker tip and exercise.
So if you are still in the earlystages, this is a great place to
just start working on not being necessarily on stage, but any
form of public speaking. So these tips are there's a
bunch of different things, but they can help you lead better
(40:31):
meetings. They can help you have better
tour guide. Yeah, anything for?
Webinars, Better online coaching, better everything.
Like dear Lord, learn to speak. And so that's a free resource
that is available every week andgives people a little little bit
of a fun blip there. I also am willing and happy to
(40:56):
offer a free seat in our Stagecraft Challenge that will
be starting at the beginning of January 2026 and that's usually
a paid challenge. However, for your audience I'm
happy to offer free seats for this.
It's a five day live training virtual which is all around
(41:21):
figuring out your message and learning a short blip of
storytelling and a talk spark activity.
So it's just the very tip of theiceberg to experience and start
practicing what it is to do the stagecraft method and work in
the Women on stage collective world.
(41:44):
Yep, definitely want to be part of your world.
Now you've got me curious and I'm just sitting over here as
the host. So I feel like we're going to do
a lot more together, Amber, thanwe possibly know because there's
a lot of collaboration. We're both from the hospitality
industry. We both love people.
We've come on it from two different sides.
So let's let's continue working together and having this
conversation because I think forall our our audience and our
(42:05):
listeners, you know, there is something in there when no
matter where you're at in your business, if you can learn to
speak up, present, sell, pitch. It's all wrapped around what
Amber has building, right? That ability to speak, to raise
your voice, to connect to your audience.
We've been taught throughout a lot of the bro marketing era how
(42:28):
to pitch on a webinar, but thereis something very unique about
embracing it as a woman and understanding your strengths,
your tonalities, how to use yourvoice and the different
vibrations like Amber just taught me that show up in our
being able to connect to our audience.
So I'm excited. I will say whatever you do,
(42:49):
connect with Amber. That's that's my big right.
Learn from her. We will definitely be you'll
hear us probably she'll be back on this podcast, I'm sure next
year as we continue to develop our relationship and continue
talking about this. Because I do know and I've had a
lot of people talk to me and say, Hey, would you consider
being a speaker? Would you go on stage?
(43:10):
And I've danced around everybody.
But there's something magnetic and attractive about Amber.
And I think it's because she's in her true authentic self and
it really is collaboration instead of trying to get you
one-on-one. It's not a bro marketing
approach. It is a very softer, more
elegant, but yet more powerful approach that you bring to the
(43:31):
table. So thank you for that, honestly.
Absolutely. I very much so appreciate that,
that perspective and that shout out.
And I am also 100% here for moreconversations.
Yeah, I have enough. I'm in.
OK, well, for everybody, the show notes have all the details.
(43:51):
Connect with Amber, get to know her, get inside the collective,
take her up onto the free Facebook group.
Most likely you're going to see me in there too, because now I
just found out about it and we're going to be having a lot
of fun. So thank you, Amber, for joining
us for really giving a differentperspective and a different
twist on this and what you're building and how you've been
(44:12):
building it as a female businessowner.
I love it. I can't wait to chat some more.
So for all my listeners, you know the deal.
You heard it first on. Did she really say that?
And you absolutely want to stickaround for our next episode.
Talk to y'all soon. Bye everyone.
Yeah. Well, welcome to this
conversation you just walked into here.
I did she really say that we like to be in the middle of a
conversation when I hit that record button because I want you
to know that we're real women here having this conversation.
And I'm super excited because asyou know, for those women that
are going through and building businesses, one of the big
(00:21):
things I'm passionate about as your host, Katrina Vonat Houston
is really walking women through the process of time and
productivity and how to scale and build your business within
your rhythm. And what I brought when who I
brought on today is actually Amber when I love this
conversation because Amber and Iconnected and collected right
out of the gate. We, we are so much in line.
(00:41):
We are both really passionate about helping women and we have
the same viewpoint in a lot of respects and on how business
gets run by women and really different ways that we need to
approach it as women. So who is Amber?
This is the great question. So I'm going to read a quick
little short bio about her, right?
She's the founder of Women on Stage Collective.
It's a speaker development company built by women for
(01:04):
women. And why is that important?
And I'll, I'll get to that in just a moment because there's a
big reason why that's super important.
Through her signature stagecraftmethod, Amber helps establish
women leaders, refine their voice, craft their message, and
stepped into the next level visibility as a bookable, not
(01:26):
just sellable, but bookable, credible speaker, right.
Her work bridges the deep identity deep.
Her work bridges deep identity clarity with the strategy and
presence required to lead A room.
Actually, women are doing a really good job of stepping it
up. But what we're not doing is
leaving the room. So I can't wait for it, right?
So it's not just speak to a room, it's actually leading that
(01:48):
room, leading that conversation.And for so long, we thought it
was the men that had the power in the room.
Women, let me tell you things are shifting she's a she's
collaborated with over 15 industry experts to create
holistic approach that blends both the personal truth
performance craft and professional level deliverables
right and that's important to understand because selling from
(02:10):
stage is its own work of art right Amber's.
Clients don't just. Find their voice.
They truly own it. So Amber, thank you so much for
being here and being in this conversation with me because man
on man, Justin Jared intro alone, there's like about 1000
different directions we know in this conversation.
(02:30):
Absolutely I'm I'm super excitedand soaked to be here.
I've every time we've connected I have very much so enjoyed
exploring all all the things. Yeah.
So let's talk about first and beginning that part of that
introduction. This is women speaking, women
speaking in crafted messages from women, by women, for women.
(02:51):
Why is that such an important element that our listeners and
our audience needs to hear? So it's, it's kind of an
interesting thing. Like I come from about 15 years
or so in the events industry andI've been doing it from a lot of
different angles. So I have been the person
booking speakers, I have been the speaker, I've been the
(03:13):
organizer of the event, I've done all of these different
things. And over that entire period of
time, there were some conversations that I just kept
seeing happening. That one drove me a little
Batty, especially as a woman. And two were just a pain point
(03:33):
that was so clear to me that I just was crazy that nobody else
was seeing it. And that specifically was that
so much of everything in the world, but also so much of the
events industry and any male dominated industry is designed
and made for men. So the stage presence that
(03:57):
you're told to do, the way that you're told to lead the, you
know, like all of these different aspects are all taught
by men and done by men and work for men, which is great for men.
But for US women out there, sometimes being big and loud and
(04:17):
having a lot of ego isn't reallysomething that works for me or
that matches for me and for mostwomen out there.
So I decided it was really easy to solve this because there's so
many amazing, brilliant, impactful women out there,
experts in their fields, everything like this, and who
(04:38):
are very able to teach women andhelp women to get in touch with
their own way of doing it. So it's not just by women for
women, it's also for you. Like that's a big part of.
So like I try and avoid the whole authenticity.
Yeah, it's starting to be over you.
(05:01):
It's starting to be overused andeverything else.
It's like, and I, I think we overuse it for women
specifically because we know we wear these masks.
We. Mainly know that we're putting
on this makeup to to mask and emotion.
We're putting on this hat that we're wearing.
We're the businesswoman. Then I'm the mom and then I'm
the wife and then I'm the sisterthat like we have all these
(05:23):
different masks And sometimes the woman behind the mask, the
US, the, the her is the one thing that feels lost.
And especially when taking the stage and being the voice,
there's so much, oh, you got to work a certain way.
You got to walk a certain way. You have to hold this position
for so long. You know, pause here.
(05:45):
You know, there's this, this sense of just not being in your
natural flow because it feels very staged in a lot of ways.
Exactly where it's like it's a performance.
And I mean, you kind of, you saythat and you think of it, right?
Yeah, it makes sense. You're on stage, you're
performing. That's not actually what
resonates, what connects, what engages, what like leads.
(06:08):
And if you can't find or are being taught ways that just
don't that feel like a performance and don't feel like
just walking up and being yourself and being amazing,
that's that's a problem. So I decided let's not teach
that. Let's instead teach how to how
(06:29):
to come at it from a woman's perspective, and how to come at
it from not just any woman's perspective, but you as a
woman's perspective. Yeah.
So let's talk a little bit aboutthe development of this business
because one of the things around, did she really say that
as our audiences, women in business, they're wanting to
learn like, OK, Amber, how did you get this business started?
(06:50):
Like how like in that respect, like what have been some of the
challenges you faced in setting up this type of business?
Yeah, absolutely. This is it's kind of a perfect
time. So I have a couple of other
businesses that are also a bit more mature and developed, but
Women on Stage collective is very young.
So it's only about a year old where.
(07:13):
So this is actually the exact way and moment that I'm I'm sort
of in with women on stage collective.
So in launching and building it is the very first kernel of it,
right? It came from my zone of
influence, my area of genius. And so it was very much like a
(07:36):
labor of love and a calling in that sort of way.
And therefore it's something that occupied my time and my
brain without ever like necessarily having to feel like
I was working at it. And therefore, I was having all
of those conversations and thosevalidation conversations that
(07:57):
are so important in the early stages of business and business
launching. So that's something that has
been a super big focus with me is actually building a community
and a supportive space for womenand especially in the category
(08:18):
of business that I'm in. I think you, Katrina, are also
in this sort of space. So like that would be, you know,
any kind of community builder, thought leader, content creator
even, or you know, any, any of those types of things where
you're, you're having to put intentionality into your
community. That's where I focus.
(08:40):
So I've spent, I spent probably more time than most people would
in that space where I'm connecting with people, I'm
hosting like get togethers, I'm doing things like that.
And that was where a lot of the the beginning style of the
business comes from. And then from that point, once
(09:02):
that community has built it, I have taken a very community
first approach to growing and scaling.
So the core community that I've been able to magnetize and sort
of draw in has been where I havemanaged to build.
So it was collaborative in the creation as well as sort of
(09:24):
community based collaboration inthe scaling of the business as
well. And I love that because we
talked about that in the beginning, right?
And this kind of ties into a little bit of that relationship
conversation we were talking about also is that, you know,
there's so many ways to start a business.
And I think really at its core, what you've done, Amber, is the
essence of being a female entrepreneur.
(09:45):
A lot of times we go in with this intent to do it as a solo
entrepreneur, right? We're just going to do it
ourselves or we're going to pushthrough, we're going to figure
it out. But there's a beauty and an
elegance and almost an ease whenthe with how you just described,
kind of like, all right, well, Istarted like intentionally
networking, right? Started intentionally finding
individuals, relationships, women I wanted to connect with
(10:07):
and then started building community around that.
So I think in that respect, and I see she's nodding her head
like, yeah, this is, you know, it's a it's a real easy
conversation. It doesn't feel like it's pushed
or forced, right? It feels like it's a natural
state of the evolution of your business.
And then what you've done, if I'm not mistaken, in some ways
(10:27):
you've already started the the buying process because you
cultivated the relationship and then this the the ask in the
receiving of a money exchange. It's probably a little bit
easier. It doesn't feel so forced.
Could. You absolutely that's so that's
one of those things where I think a lot of specifically
(10:48):
women, but any entrepreneur has often times, especially if you
don't come from like a entrepreneurial background or
like if this is your first go round on that having those money
conversations and like when do Iask when do I finally get to
make some money is such a critical point.
(11:12):
And yes, that's very much so theway that really kind of it's
always worked for me in businessis first the conversation first,
the like the customer 1st and the like that.
All of those things establish the, the want, the need, the
desire, the painkiller kind of moment.
(11:33):
And then that's when you don't even really have to push like
you're not hard selling in any way.
You're just naturally saying, well, I have this.
It is exactly what you have saidyou wanted.
Do you want it? And by and large that sort of
what has been like true for me in selling the program as well
(11:55):
as selling this business and various other things is that
it's not, it's not a hard sell at all.
It's not even a sell conversation.
It's just a. Request.
It becomes a request. It's like.
Them wanting it, Yeah. They requested for me, they're
like, do you have something likethis that I can get from you?
Can I work more with you? Like it's a natural ask instead
of a hey, buy this thing from mekind of a thing.
(12:19):
And it's a total, you know, it'sthe other side of the
relationship, right? We talked about the, you know,
relationship, relationship, relationship economics is one of
them. You're right.
It's like the exchange. And, and I have heard, honestly,
Amber, it's been crazy. I've talked to women throughout
the decades and I've even met some extraordinary,
(12:40):
extraordinary men. You have said women are the best
communicators. They build through collaboration
and they'll keep a business going long after because of the
relationships that they make with vendors, with people with
like they get to know The Who they are, their family.
So let's talk a little bit aboutthat relationship building.
(13:02):
Yeah, this is actually a really interesting thing that I have
have seen come up and sort of evolve over time.
You said it, the relationship economics.
And I think this is one of the things that you and I have
talked about before is that there is this weird dichotomy of
(13:22):
responses to that even just those words.
And that is a concept which I think is really fascinating is
because. You said even to me, you're
like, some people don't like this word.
I'm like, but that's exactly what it is like.
It is relationship economics like come on, let's let's honor
the conversation we're having so.
Yeah. So absolutely.
(13:44):
I think it it all starts in in that relationship for sure.
So. How, how do you then come
across, I guess with the world of AI is?
Not a relationship. I just went down this road.
Don't ask me why, but I'm now down this road with you.
Absolutely. So what I find really
fascinating is 1. I do think that AI and a bunch
(14:09):
of the LLMS like catchy PT and things like that, especially if
you are more one of those like 60 plus percent of the users
that are using voice mode for AI, it can feel very much like a
relationship. It can feel very much like those
sorts of things. However, in my opinion, this is
(14:32):
not an actual true relationship.I think that artificial
intelligence cannot replace thatcore component of human to human
right. This is, I've, I've been calling
it human intelligence, but it's this relationships are based on
and, and especially from my world, relationships are based
(14:55):
on that connection, that relatability, right, That trust,
the like all of those different things that go into it that are
intangible in a way that like anartificial intelligence could
never reproduce. It can.
It's more of an echo chamber. You know, it's like an echo
(15:17):
chamber with a search browser. So that isn't.
She's dead on for all this is the audience.
She's Amber is dead on. It is literally an echo chamber.
It is not a communication. It is not something that feels.
It is not something that has empathy for you.
It's programmed to respond with empathy, but it is not
(15:37):
empathetic. Exactly.
And that empathy, like you said it is that women, women are
widely accepted. There's I could give you a bunch
of different studies about this.I'm a nerd, so please, please
excuse when I make reference to all kinds of things like
academic Y that's just me being me.
(15:59):
But women are better communicators.
Women are better relaters. And as a result of that higher
emotional intelligence and higher ability to communicate
and relate, they are more relatable, which is takes brings
it into that whole leadership position.
Like women as leaders are the most collaborative and the most
(16:25):
like relatable. So people feel connected and
feel drawn to them. So like I, I use the term a lot
magnetized. And I think that this is
something that especially women thought leaders are amazing at
is they are who they are. They are true to their core and
they communicate, hyper communicate, perhaps over
(16:47):
communicate for some. However, the effect is
inclusion, the effect is collaboration.
And so no matter where you are at in a hierarchy, you, when you
are in a woman's team, you know you are going to be included and
you feel an actual connection, You feel a relationship, which
(17:09):
is absolutely the gold standard to me.
And I agree and then like everything you said, I've said
I've I've experienced it myself,even as a leader.
There's never been anyone at a hierarchy in my world.
We're all have an input into this.
Doesn't matter if I like, I've all used the kitchen, right?
Didn't matter if you were the dishwasher, the server, the cook
(17:30):
in the back, the the manager, the guy that was in the
receiving. The thing was when you got us
all into the room, we all had a different perspective that
served the integrator good. Yeah.
It didn't matter where you were in that kitchen and what
position you held you, you saw something that potentially had
an impact on the customer, had an impact on the environment for
(17:53):
their own safety and sanity. And I think when you open that
door and you said it, instead ofsaying, well, only these level,
you know, C level suite people get access, when you open the
door fully, you get a totally different and collaborative
experience that betters every element of work, society, money,
(18:13):
you name it, it all plays in there.
And I think when you talk about,you know, we as women do have a
much more inclusive leadership role.
We don't speak to people. We include people.
And I think when you're talking about what you've designed, you
know, one of the things that I was going through in your, you
know, show notes of the, it's like, do we, you know, we talked
(18:34):
about this a little bit getting paid to speak, right?
And so when you talk about relationships, that's very
transactional. That's very much, I'm going to
say something. You're going to pay me for this.
But that's not really even even in the world of speaking and in
the world of being a woman, whatwe really want, we want to be
(18:56):
something else. So let's talk about that for a
moment because this all ties together.
This might seem, I know, like we're around about instead, but
we're literally weaving this conversation together because
they're all elements of who we are as women.
Absolutely this. This transactional like moment
as well as the concept. This is something that I've seen
(19:18):
so many different women strugglewith is owning their expertise
and their value and claiming theopportunities is it's something
where women and I. This is not to exclude or say
anything about the fact that there are a huge amount of
(19:39):
external factors that do presentbarriers and obstacles.
However, one of the main obstacles that do happen for
women is actually ourself. We get in our own way on this
so, so often and it comes up in places like that, right with the
(19:59):
like, for instance, getting booked and paid to speak or
really any service based offering is, is a similar thing
where women get hung up on feeling like it's transactional.
When we are relational interactors.
We are, we want, we're nurturing.
I mean, not all of us are nurturing.
Like I'm not a mother, but I. You're hold on, I'm going to
(20:23):
stop you right there because thenurturing isn't reserved just
for another person. I would look at even from your
business perspective, you're nurturing a community of women.
You're nurturing another area. So it's not that you're not
nurturing. Nurturing is the ability to care
for another person to the extentof watching them succeed and
grow. And it doesn't always mean
(20:44):
child. It could mean your sister, it
could mean your best friend, it could be another woman out
there. So I will, I will challenge you
Amber and say yes, you are nurturing.
Well, thank you. I, I will accept that challenge
and I will own own that word. I think it is something that's
that's very true for many women is, is that we have that, that
(21:09):
impulse to to caregive. And I think that it we get hung
up on putting a price tag on caregiving because it's, it's
supposed, you know, it's supposed to be altruistic or
something. Yeah, we're doing, we're doing
it for for the good of whatever.Yeah, for the good of anything
(21:34):
at all. But where we stop is
understanding that a couple of different things.
One, other people have a monetary value that they do
assign to that, to your expertise, to your skills, to
your time, to all of these different things.
And then two, where we have, we as women will undervalue and
(22:00):
hesitate around money, whereas the other option men do not.
They fully expect to be paid in,in those moments and in those
times. And they have a very firm number
and they have and they stand firm in it and they fully expect
to get it. I want that, that confidence for
(22:23):
women as well, like, and that's where I like, that's what I
think is sort of lacking, I guess in, in that is anchoring
into the value that you are providing and anchoring in and
owning your expertise and what you're offering to the world.
Whatever your business is, whatever your flavor is, right?
(22:45):
And being able to, to confidently and calmly present
that and be like, yes, I this, Icost $10,000 to speak.
There you go. That's that's a full stop
statement. It is and I think so many times,
and I hear women say this too, to say this also.
(23:06):
It's just what I naturally do. They, they don't expect to get
paid for something that just comes naturally to them.
And yet at the same time, it's funny, if you look around us,
there are some things that naturally come to men that they
get paid for also. And they've learned to put a
price on that. And so there's this sense that
we've downplayed and, and I willtell you that over it's
(23:27):
centuries of training, it's centuries of conditioning, it's
it's ancestrally dated back throughout whatever.
I know what we're up against. I mean, honestly, when you can
tell women that you know, do youremember the time back in 1978
when it was the first time you could open a checkings account
as a woman without having your husband's signature 1978?
(23:48):
It's insane. So less than 50 years ago, we've
actually been able to control our money.
So one thing I I will say is that sometimes we bump up
against getting paid what we're worth because we've never
really, our mothers haven't had that experience, our
grandmothers haven't had that experience.
So generationally, you are the first women that are taking the
stage asking for what you're asking, setting a setting the
(24:13):
stage, just to put it that way, setting the stage and for what's
to come, what's possible, right?And what you're and who you're
working with. Amber, I think these women, if
you can impart on them, and I know you do, that they are
really setting the greatness of what does a female speaker look
like? What does the female stage look
like? What does it look like to,
(24:34):
instead of just speak to an audience, include the audience
and really get that engagement? Because that's one of the big
things I'm hearing is that we want an engaged audience with
us. We don't just want to speak to
them, we want them like engage with us.
So share a little bit of how your program like teaches women
to create that type of engagement in their speaking and
what they're building. Yeah, absolutely.
(24:56):
So that's 100% true. Like this is one of the key
things like I call them key speaker metrics and where like
this has actually been somethingof a problem in the events
industry and like over over timethat I have seen throughout my
(25:17):
career. I am not the only one saying
this either. Is that audience satisfaction,
engagement, and actionable? Remember ability for a really
awkward word, You know what I mean?
The retention of the informationlike can it be actually
actionable? Do you implement it or is it
(25:37):
just something that comes in then goes back out again?
Exactly. These are the kind of key areas
where speaking is falling flat. And pretty much every arena,
like it doesn't matter what typeof event, it doesn't matter.
This is not even just in events,but well, let's, let's just
let's stay, stay in our lane andtalk about events.
(26:01):
So this is something I've actually started doing a keynote
all about this. Women are literally built and
designed with born in like and trained skill sets to address
each of those things. Women get higher audience
satisfaction when they are on stage and like like literally
(26:22):
and events overall with a 5050 or better balance to the the
speaker line UPS, they actually events get higher audience
satisfaction higher exceptionally higher engagement
for women speakers versus male speakers and they get women and
(26:44):
this is 1. I absolutely love women's voices
are tonality and vocal range actually increase semantic
encoding. So yes, it's crazy.
There's like so many studies about it.
I'll I'll send them over to you.It's this is where I tell, I
told you, I'm a nerd. So this is something where we
(27:08):
are actually built just like women are built to be able to
achieve all of these different things.
So taking that as like our starting point, you asked about
how we are building or increasing or doing things in
state and women on stage collective.
So we have two different programs designed for two
(27:30):
different sort of category or levels of speakers.
We have women who are still developing their signature talk
and message. And then we have more
established speakers who are looking to go to the next level,
really dive into the thought leadership and start being those
vocable speakers more of like a speaker production experience,
(27:53):
if you will, both of these address and go through the
process of this holistic experience.
So I, I have, I said in the beginning that I do, I'm a very
big collaborator and I am also not really a believer in guru
ISM. So I'm not the end all be all.
(28:15):
I do not know everything that and I think it's, I'm just going
to call it a mistake for people to present that as the way, like
the way and whatnot. So what I've done is I activated
my own network, right? I live and do relationship
economics. So I canvassed my large and
(28:36):
amazing network of women expertsand I brought them in.
So we cover every different aspect.
It's like a 360° dive into all the things that make you a
amazing public speaker. So we do development of your
signature, your signature talk, which is a deep dive into kind
(28:57):
of those, what you were saying earlier, where women say, well,
it just comes naturally to me and so I don't want to be paid
for it or I don't think to be paid for it.
We actually do a deep dive into what your superpowers are, what
your lived genius is like, whereyou have actually created
expertise and we craft it into impact, impact statements and
(29:20):
take it into your ultimately your signature talk.
So each of the women come out ofour programs with a signature
talk that only they can give. It is their unique expertise,
their unique message, and we really try and help women anchor
into that and that experience while also, oh, go ahead.
(29:41):
No, no, go, continue because this is interesting.
I'll make a note to myself. Keep going.
Well, also what we do, so first we get that signature talk.
Once we have the signature talk,then we dive into more of the
like stage craft components where we're working on delivery,
we're working on non verbal communication, we're working on
(30:01):
like non scripted and live interactions and we're helping.
So not everything is going to beevery woman's issue.
However, what we do is we offer basically about a month per kind
of area of time and we deep diveinto each of these subjects.
We have a vocal authority coach.We've got all of these various
(30:23):
different aspects to really get the whole view lens and dive in
and work on whatever your specific growth edge is.
So by the end of our programs and the experience, not like
depending on which one you're doing, right, there's going to
be different actual endpoints. And I'm happy to go into a whole
(30:44):
bunch of details on that, but. I want them wanting more Amber.
I want them wanting more don't get.
It yeah, keep. Them wanting more.
This is a tease. OK, just a tease.
So that's your taste, but that'sthat's the approach and that's
what we're doing is we're takinga holistic lens, providing women
expertise and perspectives. And then the last component that
(31:07):
is I think absolutely necessary and it's crazy that I don't see
it more is we do peer support. So you actually get to practice
your talk inside of your ten person cohort with your peers.
So there is monthly peer feedback iteration.
So you're getting practice, which is it's insane that so
(31:30):
many people don't get practice on public speaking or on any
like if you were going to go andpitch investors, right?
You need to practice that pitch and you need to practice it in a
space where it's like, it's not your romantic partner and it's
not your mom, right? You need to practice it with
someone that is in the space, operating in that space and can
(31:51):
give you structured and organized feedback.
So that's the other kind of key component.
And I'll bring this over to food.
So as a chef, right, whenever wehad to, you know, if we were
applying for a new position or anew job within Disney at the
time, the chefs always had to create a meal.
So what do you think we did? We went to our chefs and we
tested and we had them all tastesomething because they're the
(32:14):
ones getting feedback. If I took it to my friends and
family, they would all say, oh, this is awesome.
But I need that critical culinary perspective, viewpoint
of presentation that I'm not going to get from just the
average person. So what you're saying, Amber, is
like, this is your opportunity to really fine tune it.
And not only do you get to fine tune it, but those giving
feedback get to fine tune their feedback.
(32:36):
So it's like a it's a give and take.
For. Everybody that's in that cohort
and that that's in that intimate10 group, because now you're,
you're getting your supporting, your cheering each other on and
you're celebrating each other, which I think is often missing
because it feels like such a solo, you know, moment.
But really what you're bringing to the table here, and I hope
what my audience is hearing is that you're the collaborator and
(32:58):
you're creating those collaborative experiences and
really embodying what that lookslike for women.
So thank you for leading and modeling this in this world of
speaking because it's still until now it has been a missing
and you're like one of the firstwomen that I've really talked
with that's bringing this more holistic approach to it.
So thank you for that. Absolutely.
(33:19):
It's, it's my pleasure. It's very much so one of those
If you want it, build it. And I will share this too.
And I think it's interesting because we're both working with
women to kind of at a different side point.
I work with women really in thatproductivity and I was talking
with with a lady, a friend of mine and she was like, you know,
(33:40):
I do speaking engagements. She goes typically when I do my
speaking engagements. She's also someone that's aware
of her natural 28 day cycle. So she knows her and Freudian
rhythm. And typically she tries to
schedule her speaking engagements during the top half
of her and Freddian rhythm because that's when she has the
most communication skills. But this particular event she
(34:01):
scheduled or happened that she got accepted for, it was right
before her. It was at the end of her ludial
beginning of her menstrual, which is a totally different
energy for women. And it was interesting when I
was chatting with her because she's like, I recognize I was
going to be on stage in front ofa, you know, a couple 100
people. I had to add more rest in.
(34:21):
I wasn't trying to do the higherlevel of thinking.
She goes, my presentation was going to have a different energy
level. It was going to have a different
energy presented. But what was fascinating, she
said she's like, when I delivered that presentation in
that phase of my cycle. Well, it wasn't at like the high
end, like raw, raw cycle that wetypically see from a stage.
It was more of a softer, leaner lean in.
(34:43):
She goes. I had more people come up to me
and connect because I was right in that energy phase for myself.
So I, I'm curious because I loveone of the things that you said
was like, we spend a month in each one.
And I think as a woman, we need that month time to really
process, go through the different energy stages, going
through the different tasks thatare aligned with each one of
(35:05):
those steps that you have them go through.
Because that deepens our understanding and gives us that
confidence to really radiate andnot radiate, be radiant.
That's the word I was looking for in our presentation.
So I just want to just really acknowledge you for that because
I think that's a unique space that you're building in.
(35:26):
And I don't know if I said anything that you have heard or
haven't heard before, but that'swhat kind of popped up in my
head over here. Well, this is one of the reasons
why I'm very excited to bring you in for my community to talk
about this about the creator planner and for like about the
the flow and the rhythms that are unique for women in terms of
(35:48):
like work and productivity, because this is something that
like I have only sort of. Edges.
Yeah, it's like I've, I've felt around the edges of it.
I I notice it's, it's like in a dark room and I'm bumbling for
the light switch. I'm like, I know this is here.
There's something here. And when we first spoke and you
(36:09):
started saying these like sayingthings like you just said where
I'm like, yes, that makes so much sense.
And that's the type of like expertise and insights and
understanding that I really try to bring in for the women in the
community is, is understanding that and customizing that,
(36:31):
right? And like acknowledging the fact
that as women, this is somethingthat it happens, it happens in
our bodies, it's gonna affect everything.
Like there, there's gonna be a moment you might.
Bleed on stage because if you'renot paying attention to it, all
of a sudden you're like, oh, crap, right.
And so there's also being bodilyaware because that is one of the
(36:54):
things as a woman that you and I've heard speakers say this,
they're like, yeah, I got off stage and I was, you know,
bleeding. And so we better have this
honest conversation. As well, it is part of our.
First things. Yeah.
See, so to kind of just wrap up the the part of this
conversation too, during this podcast, you know, did she
(37:14):
really say that is kind of our signature line in here.
It's about bold things. So has there ever been a moment
where you've talked with a female or you've been in an
event and you said something andthey all just kind of looked at
you? Like, did she just really say
that you have a moment that you can share with our audience?
I actually the my favorite thing, it doesn't involve
(37:38):
conversations with women, OK? It involves conversations with
men. And this is something because
this I come from male dominated industries and often times I'm
on these conference calls or in front of men and dealing with
big, strong, powerful men, right?
(37:58):
And I have had this conversationmore than once and I continue to
say it and hold this space for it where I've got all of these
men and all of these speakers and everyone.
And we're all standing around orlike I'm with the organizers and
we're, we're talking about, you know, who, who won the the
contest. And every single time I predict
(38:19):
it, I say women are going to winas best speaker.
And every single time, every single man argues me, they say,
no, that's not true. They don't win.
You know, like La La la. Every single time I have said
it, women won, not only won, butswept.
(38:42):
I'm rocking out Amber saying that like.
Dancing a little happy dance over here on my side, so yes.
So it doesn't sound as shocking out of context, but it is that
women will win best speaker. I can.
See that? That's my Did she really say
that? Yeah.
Did she really say? Because you'll be talking to
guys and you're saying, hey, this is what's so?
(39:04):
And they're like, she's, they'retheir little lady.
Like that's gonna be great. That's not what's gonna happen.
We know better. And then all of a sudden it's
like, how did you know? Kind of a moment.
Yeah. Exactly that's that's my My
Oracle moment. I like it.
That's the amber moment, that's what.
We do. That's the Amber moment.
That's the way we just light youup.
(39:25):
It's the cautionary. You gave caution.
I'm going to play at the yellow.I'm going to be like, Amber
cautioned you and you didn't know, but she slammed on the
green light. Like, there we go.
All right, So how how does our audience connect with you?
What's the best way? What is something that you want
to gift them to help them take action?
Because we don't want them just to hear you, but we want them to
be able to connect with you. Absolutely.
(39:46):
So there's a couple of differentways to kind of find and dip
your toe in the water of the Women on Stage Collective.
There's a public free Facebook group called the Women on Stage
Collective Facebook group. It's pretty easy to find.
Links will be down in the show notes.
Don't worry, links will. Be down in the show notes.
So come in there and every week inside of that group, we
(40:09):
actually release a weekly speaker tip and exercise.
So if you are still in the earlystages, this is a great place to
just start working on not being necessarily on stage, but any
form of public speaking. So these tips are there's a
bunch of different things, but they can help you lead better
(40:31):
meetings. They can help you have better
tour guide. Yeah, anything for?
Webinars, Better online coaching, better everything.
Like dear Lord, learn to speak. And so that's a free resource
that is available every week andgives people a little little bit
of a fun blip there. I also am willing and happy to
(40:56):
offer a free seat in our Stagecraft Challenge that will
be starting at the beginning of January 2026 and that's usually
a paid challenge. However, for your audience I'm
happy to offer free seats for this.
It's a five day live training virtual which is all around
(41:21):
figuring out your message and learning a short blip of
storytelling and a talk spark activity.
So it's just the very tip of theiceberg to experience and start
practicing what it is to do the stagecraft method and work in
the Women on stage collective world.
(41:44):
Yep, definitely want to be part of your world.
Now you've got me curious and I'm just sitting over here as
the host. So I feel like we're going to do
a lot more together, Amber, thanwe possibly know because there's
a lot of collaboration. We're both from the hospitality
industry. We both love people.
We've come on it from two different sides.
So let's let's continue working together and having this
conversation because I think forall our our audience and our
(42:05):
listeners, you know, there is something in there when no
matter where you're at in your business, if you can learn to
speak up, present, sell, pitch. It's all wrapped around what
Amber has building, right? That ability to speak, to raise
your voice, to connect to your audience.
We've been taught throughout a lot of the bro marketing era how
(42:28):
to pitch on a webinar, but thereis something very unique about
embracing it as a woman and understanding your strengths,
your tonalities, how to use yourvoice and the different
vibrations like Amber just taught me that show up in our
being able to connect to our audience.
So I'm excited. I will say whatever you do,
(42:49):
connect with Amber. That's that's my big right.
Learn from her. We will definitely be you'll
hear us probably she'll be back on this podcast, I'm sure next
year as we continue to develop our relationship and continue
talking about this. Because I do know and I've had a
lot of people talk to me and say, Hey, would you consider
being a speaker? Would you go on stage?
(43:10):
And I've danced around everybody.
But there's something magnetic and attractive about Amber.
And I think it's because she's in her true authentic self and
it really is collaboration instead of trying to get you
one-on-one. It's not a bro marketing
approach. It is a very softer, more
elegant, but yet more powerful approach that you bring to the
(43:31):
table. So thank you for that, honestly.
Absolutely. I very much so appreciate that,
that perspective and that shout out.
And I am also 100% here for moreconversations.
Yeah, I have enough. I'm in.
OK, well, for everybody, the show notes have all the details.
(43:51):
Connect with Amber, get to know her, get inside the collective,
take her up onto the free Facebook group.
Most likely you're going to see me in there too, because now I
just found out about it and we're going to be having a lot
of fun. So thank you, Amber, for joining
us for really giving a differentperspective and a different
twist on this and what you're building and how you've been
(44:12):
building it as a female businessowner.
I love it. I can't wait to chat some more.
So for all my listeners, you know the deal.
You heard it first on. Did she really say that?
And you absolutely want to stickaround for our next episode.
Talk to y'all soon. Bye everyone.
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