Sharing expertise with multiple audiences.

Regularly leading workshops and presenting at a wide range of industry events, Lea is a sought-after public speaker on how to effectively start and grow a business across a myriad of industries. Lea’s expertise lends itself well to appearances as a keynote speaker, workshop leader, or panelist on the topics of:

  • entrepreneurship
    • starting a managing a successful small business
    • commercializing technology
    • growing the business
  • government grants and contracts
  • success

Examples of previous engagements Lea has been solicited to participate in include:

* Featured panelist for the interactive discussion, “Compliance from Day One to Closeout – Fraud, Waste and Abuse” at the National Conference for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. The compliance panel session held in Reno, Nevada, drew a capacity crowd of 200 individuals representing government agencies, service providers, lawyers, state auditors, venture capitalists, lenders, and small  businesses engaged in putting together grant proposals to secure state and Federal monies.

“We brought Lea into our executive group to get her bold perspective and outlook on business, executive communication and creative approaches for our clients. By popular demand Lea has been asked to come back and present some of her innovative advice to our six-figure executives in transition. I applaud her record of integrity and her work as an author. We are fans and we are excited to have Lea associated with our work at Career Pro Inc.” — John M. O’Connor, MFA, CCM, CECC, ABI
President, Career Pro of NC, Inc.

* Keynote speaker at the keynote address at the Obtaining SUCCESS! Take Action Now business conference in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Lea was invited to speak from materials from her book G.R.A.B.TM for Success – How To BE Successful Starting Today!

* Featured expert at a grants workshop hosted by the Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) in Durham, N.C. which was the culmination of a three-part program produced in partnership between the CED and the Small Business & Technology Development Center. Focused on starting and growing a company via local and federal grant funding, the program provided entrepreneurs with the relevant knowledge and resources needed to connect with local and federal granting sources and prepare a grant proposal. The grants workshop session featured one-on-one consulting sessions with expert grant writers and specialists such as Lea, who answered questions dealing with budgets, indirect rates, commercialization plans and compliance.

* Featured speaker at an Executives in Transition seminar organized by outplacement and career branding firm Career Pro in Raleigh, N.C. Lea lent her years of expertise in building operations for over 400 domestic and international business clients to the group, which consisted of over two dozen C-level executives seeking new positions and consultants who have decided to go into business for themselves rather than work for someone else.

* Presenter of “Writing Your Way to Success” at a meeting of the Triangle Business Women’s Group in Research Triangle Park, N.C. Lea’s topics included advice on how to attract customers via marketing, advertising, and public relations that highlights their expertise versus writing that sounds like a sales pitch.

* Leader of a half day workshop for small business grant recipients and a dozen private sessions with attendees invited by the Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) in Herndon, Va. The workshop provides a unique, integrated perspective on the strategic and transactional aspects of government funding assistance. The Virginia-based CIT asked Lea to provide one-on-one counsel on startup and business management issues such as accounting and grant applications to technology-based companies across a wide spectrum of industries such as green tech, defense, biotechnology and life sciences.

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