KEYNOTE SPEAKER · STORYTELLER · FOUNDER OF STUPENDOUS LOVE
HEATHER WOOD
Joy and pain can sit side by side.
Choosing joy anyway is a practice.
REAL LIFE. REAL LEADERSHIP. Real talk.
Heather's life hasn't followed the script, and she's done some of her best living in the messy middle. She brings that to the stage with honest stories, unexpected humor, and ideas your people can actually use the next morning.
96%
of 194 surveyed attendees
called her talk inspiring
RECENTLY ON STAGE
Solvay Union Free School District Onondaga County Public Libraries LeadHERship
40 Under Forty, CNY Business Journal Outstanding Young Professional, New York Credit Union Association
01
Loving the Thing I Never Thought I Could
Finding joy, peace, and possibility when life doesn't go
as planned.
→
Servant Leadership
02
Better leadership begins with how we show up for
people.
→
SIGNATURE
TALKS
PERSONAL GROWTH · RESILIENCE
Stupendous Love:
LOVING THE THING I NEVER THOUGHT I COULD
Finding joy, peace, and possibility, even when life doesn't go as planned.
We don't always get to choose what happens to us. Loss, disappointment, anger, and circumstances beyond our control can leave us feeling trapped in a life we never wanted. But what if freedom isn't about changing what happened? What if it's about changing our relationship with the life we're living?
Read more about this talk +
KEYNOTE 01
30–90 MIN
Through deeply personal storytelling, unexpected humor, and honest reflection, Heather explores the freedom that becomes possible when we stop letting our hardest experiences dictate everything we're allowed to feel, pursue, and enjoy. This isn't about denying sadness, excusing what happened, or pretending hard things are secretly gifts. It's about recognizing that pain and joy can coexist, and that loving the life we're living doesn't require loving everything that happened in it. Freedom isn't the absence of hardship. It's the possibility of living fully, even in its presence.
AUDIENCES LEAVE ABLE TO
Reclaim the choices still theirs
Recognize what remains within their power, even when circumstances can't be controlled.
Let joy and pain coexist
Experience what's good without denying, minimizing, or comparing what's hard.
Practice three small rebellions
Refuse to wait for rescue. Claim every shred of joy. Choose the lobster roll.
Move forward with intention
Unexpected circumstances don't erase what's good. Keep noticing it, choosing it, and living it.
IDEAL FOR
Conferences, women's leadership events, schools and districts, staff development and wellness days, community organizations, and any audience navigating change or a life transition.
AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP · EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Stupendous Love:
SERVANT LEADERSHIP
Previously presented as Lead with Heart, Not Armor
Better leadership begins with how we show up for people.
AI, automation, and rising performance demands are reshaping how work gets done. None of it removes the need for human leadership. It makes it matter more. Drawing on 23 years leading teams in financial services, Heather offers a practical way to build trust, strengthen teams, and lead through change without losing sight of the people doing the work.
Read more about this talk +
Through her See • Serve • Strengthen framework, Heather challenges leaders to recognize what their people need, remove barriers to success, and create environments where people build capability, ownership, and confidence. This isn't about choosing people over performance. It's about how responsible, people-centered leadership strengthens both.
AUDIENCES LEAVE ABLE TO
See
Spot assumptions, recognize meaningful individual contributions, and get curious before jumping to conclusions.
Serve
Use authority, influence, clarity, and accountability responsibly, for people and for purpose.
Strengthen
Build capability, ownership, and resilience without equating growth with promotion.
Apply
Use a simple three-part decision process in real leadership moments.
IDEAL FOR
Leadership conferences and summits, credit unions and financial institutions, manager development, HR and people teams, and organizations navigating change.
Here's how we can work together
DIFFERENT ROOMS.
Different conversations.
Some of the best conversations don't fit neatly into a keynote. Heather builds the experience around your audience, your goals, and your event theme.
talk
Keynotes, your way
Either signature talk, tailored to your theme, your people, and the time you have.
Workshops & breakouts
Hands-on sessions where people practice the ideas, not just hear them.
try
Fireside chats & panels
Moderated conversations and panels that leave room for real questions.
chat
Hi, meet Heather
She's lived the messy middle.
More than once.
Heather didn't learn resilience from a book. After an unimaginable personal loss in 2023, she took what life taught her about love, choice, connection, and courage and turned it into Stupendous Love: a philosophy for living and leading, built for everyday life rather than highlight reels.
She also spent 23 years in financial services leadership, including three consecutive Assistant Vice President appointments, leading real people through change, growth, and hard decisions. When she talks about leading through complexity, she's done it at work and at home.
A life you love isn't something you find. It's something you live.
A NOTE FROM HEATHER
I never planned to love this life. Some of it I would never have chosen. But I've learned that joy and pain can sit side by side, and that choosing joy anyway is a practice, not a personality trait. That's what I bring to every room: real stories, a few laughs, and something you can use on Monday morning.
Heather
No perfect-life formulas. No leadership theater. Just honest conversation and ideas worth putting into practice.
96%
of attendees called her talk inspiring
★★★★★
Real and raw
and relatable.
“Heather was real and raw and relatable. She challenged us to think and reflect in our own situations without condemnation.”
VERIFIED ON TALKADOT straight from the audience
194
audience responses across 3 recent events
95%
called it relevant
93%
called it actionable
“It was a reminder that in leadership and in life to just be a good human and show unwavering kindness.”
Ashley Wicks
Delmonico Insurance Agency
“I love her perspective of not looking at it as a loss but instead of what I had, and what I had made me the mother I am today.”
Lisa
Attendee
“A great reminder to live life in the present. Life gets too busy and it’s too easy to get wrapped up in things that are not important. Be intentional with your time and take the trip!”
Sara
Attendee
Ratings and quotes from verified audience feedback collected by Talkadot.
Bring Heather to your event
The best talks start
long before the stage.
Heather takes time to understand your audience, your goals, and the experience you want people to walk away with. Every engagement includes real preparation, event and audience research, and tailoring to the talk or format you choose.
Conference, leadership summit, staff day, school program, community event, or something entirely different: if you're not sure what fits, that's what the first conversation is for.
Heather personally replies to every inquiry, usually within 1–2 business days.
HOW BOOKING WORKS
01
Send an inquiry
A few details about your event, your people, and what you're hoping for.
02
Talk it through
A real conversation about your audience and the experience you want to create.
03
Research and tailoring
Heather studies your event and audience and shapes the talk to fit the room.
04
Show up and deliver
An experience your people carry with them long after they leave.