Daniel Lewis, CITP
Owner/Speaker, Daniel Speaks
Agency: TA Speakers Management
Proudest Moment: One of the proudest moments of my life was being invited to serve His Royal Highness—now His Majesty King Charles III—during the 2017 Royal Tour to Canada. As a young entrepreneur from humble beginnings, it was a surreal and deeply humbling experience to represent my community and serve tea to royalty. It wasn’t just a moment of recognition, it was a reminder that purpose, passion and people-first values can open doors you never imagined knocking on.
Takeaways: I don’t want people to just learn something when I speak, I want them to feel something. My goal is to help audiences see themselves more clearly, lead more humanly and connect more deeply. Whether I’m speaking on customer experience, leadership or personal growth, I want people to leave with one loud, lingering thought: “I actually have what it takes.” Not because everything’s perfect, but because they’re willing to show up real. That’s where the magic begins.
Need to Know: Working with me is like ordering an espresso shot with extra soul. High energy, deeply personal and guaranteed to wake up the room. I show up early, stay late, love to shake hands and-or hug and I genuinely care about the impact off the stage just as much as on it. I’m low-maintenance, high-impact. No diva vibes, just a dude in a bowtie (sometimes) who’s here to connect, deliver the real and make your audience feel seen, fired up, and ready to lead with heart. I also love to have my videographer with me to capture the moments, the laughter, the connection and the overall vibe, and you’ll always see a event recap from our perspective days after the event.
Sarah Reuter
CEO, Experiences Elevated Consulting
Agency: Elevate Travel Co. & Experiences Elevated Consulting
experienceselevatedconsulting.com
Proudest Moment: Raising $100K for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) during a 10-week fundraiser that I was nominated to lead in 2019. Making an impact in others’ lives while experiencing the support of team members, friends, colleagues, clients and my family still brings me to tears. Having my son come up with me on stage to meet the kids (Ty and Piper) who were still going through treatments to help them stay in remission, was a moment I will never forget.
My team and I received the 2019 Woman of the Year Award at the annual gala, for raising the most money during the 10-week campaign. It changed all of our lives that night, in a room full of 1,000 people who attended the gala. Most importantly, the money we raised helped researchers find more cures and treatments for many types of cancers, something that unfortunately affects so many of us in some way, shape or form. I lost a business partner to Melanoma and many other family members to cancer. Since 2019, my friends and I have collectively contributed over $300,000 to help end cancer!
Takeaways: Every time I get the opportunity to speak, I ensure it’s mutually beneficial for all involved. The planners and stakeholders, who always have an important theme and message that needs woven in, as well as every single person in the room. My goal is for everyone to feel seen, heard, understood, uplifted, inspired and awakened. Oh, and one last thing, if we’re not having fun and bringing the joy while learning, then we’re missing the point!
Need to Know: Every experience is intentional, elevated and rooted in truth. Whether I’m speaking on stage, designing and orchestrating a sensory-rich event for corporate brands or guiding you through your next season of alignment (Revive & Thrive coaching program), my work is rooted in resonance, remembrance, and radical reinvention.
Darlynne Reyes Menkin MWBE
Owner and President, Out of the Ordinary Group & Team Adventures & Where You Want To Be Tours, Inc.
Proudest Moment: My proudest moment was creating and producing my first Health & Wellness Speaker Series. From developing the topics and then seeing it come to life, it was a very rewarding experience! I put a lot of heart into each session and what made the series stand out was the interactive component. In our “Eating Healthy” session, for example, we showed the audience how to make simple, delicious smoothies while in our second session, we taught breathing exercises to help with relaxation and focus. The tips were practical and easy to apply and gave people real takeaways they could use in their daily lives. Hearing how much the sessions helped them was extremely gratifying!
In my personal life, I recently had the opportunity to speak at an event where I shared what I would tell my younger self. In the audience were college students, including my two nieces, who are both quite shy. After my talk, they thanked me for being so candid. They shared that my honesty helped them realize that in life, you sometimes have to step out of your comfort zone if you want to grow. Just knowing that the message resonated with them, made all the difference!
Takeaways: If someone takes the time to hear me speak, I am always honored by that. No matter what the topic is, my hope is that the audience leaves feeling more empowered and inspired to live life to the fullest! I truly love lifting people up and bringing them to a better place, whether that means finding the courage to chase after a dream or taking that bucket list vacation. Life is short so whenever I get the opportunity to build someone up, I’m going for it.
Need to Know: I pride myself on working hard, doing the unexpected and going the extra mile for my clients,… all while doing it with a big smile on my face. Whenever a client asks me to speak at their event, I listen very carefully to their vision and then I ask myself “how can I take this to the next level?” As a former TV News Reporter, I learned a long time ago that everyone on the production team is important, whether it’s the cameraman, the producer or the sound tech. To me, everyone is important, plays a pivotal role and their opinions absolutely matter.
The Water Coolers
The Comedy Act That Sings
Proudest Moment: One that stands out took place at an employee recognition event. We were asked to follow our comedy show with a customized tribute honoring an employee who had been with the organization for 40 years and who had recently suffered a devastating loss. We created a fun song celebrating his time with the organization and led him through an audience of his colleagues who stood and cheered for him along the way. He was crying as they just showered him with affection and support and joined in on the chorus.
It was an exceptional testimony to a phenomenon we’ve witnessed many times–with music and comedy, you can open up unique connections between audience members that are difficult to achieve in any other way. There have been many highpoints for us, but this one is very special to us and represents why we do what we do–to build human connections.
Takeaways: There are 4 key messages about Great Performance that audiences take away, delivered using an uncommonly effective format.
- Our approach is built on something that sales guru Jeffrey Gitomer once said: “The end of laughter is followed by the height of listening.”
- So, following comedy about uncomfortable situations at work, our team delivers content about how as actors working in New York city, they tap the courage to put themselves on the line every day and perform at their highest level.
- After sending up the challenges of working on the team, they’ll share perspective on how they build trusting work relationships quickly.
- And after hilariously commenting on the literally endless interruptions in the modern workplace, our team helps audiences to see how much that is costing them, and how to manage it.
- Finally, we close with a customized song written just for the audience featuring their specific shared challenges to reinforce that despite all these challenges, they are already overcoming obstacles every day and doing great work.
Need to Know: Our session is really a full-on performance and works exceptionally well in a slot where a planner is seeking something high energy to focus and energize their audience.
As mentioned above, we create a fully customized song to close the session—that requires collaboration with the planner (and whoever they bring into the process), and we’ll create a draft and demo for them to review before the cast learns the song. This process generally takes about 4-6 weeks.
