Speaking Testimonials

“Smiley was an outstanding opening keynote speaker for us. Smiley’s powerful and timely message around The Power of Human Connection and how to foster belonging in our associations and meetings, whether at the office or on Zoom, was a perfect fit. Not only were our event organizers talking about Smiley’s presentation throughout the Summit, but Smiley spent the rest of the day and evening connecting with our partners and sponsors. He stuck around for networking activities at the pool, attended a group dinner, and even got on stage during karaoke. In short, he showed up fully for PCMA and was a delight to work with.”

Meredith Rollins, Executive Director, PCMA Foundation and Chief Community Officer, PCMA

“Smiley’s talks were fun and insightful. He shared excellent stories and practical tips for our team on how to build human connections, support compassion and empathy in the hybrid world. Feedback from our global team has been incredibly positive. As a business partner, Smiley was top-notch. It was fun and easy to work with him. He took the time to understand our audience, objectives, and tailored his narrative to meet our needs. We’d love to work with him again.”

Veronica Rodriguez, Sr. Manager Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Xilinx

"Smiley helped our team come up with new and exciting ideas for how to recruit and retain top talent."

-Scott Leatherman, Vice President, SAP

“Smiley gave an incredible keynote and workshop at our annual ACAM-CEO Mindshare Retreat. His insights and perspectives left a lasting impact on the entire audience. Smiley's ability to connect with the audience and convey complex ideas in a relatable and practical manner was amazing. Not only that, Smiley took the time get to know our attendees and industry prior to the conference and gracefully address challenging and complex questions during his workshop. Our audience loved everything about Smiley's session and our attendees walked away with valuable tools to take back to their offices and implement immediately.”

-Andrea Daigle, Executive Director, ACAM-CEO

"Smiley delivered an incredibly impactful, insightful, and engaging opening keynote presentation for Anywhere Real Estate's Week of Understanding. There were so many great takeaways and we’ve received tremendous feedback. I was at a meeting this morning and some folks were quoting Smiley! Needless to say, Smiley made a huge impact through his words, and positive messages which he delivered with so much passion and conviction about the value of belonging and the power of human connection."

-Irlana Ho, Senior Manager, Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DEI) - Talent & Culture, Anywhere Real Estate Inc. 

"Smiley’s keynote received rave reviews from 200 HR leaders and Chief People Officers at our HR Leadership Forum. His presentation on Belonging in a Hybrid Workforce offered so many practical tools for all of us who are trying to reconnect and re-engage our people in the era of hybrid work. We are thrilled we invited him to keynote at HRLF.”

-Bonnie Bystrek, SPHR, Chief People Officer, Virtual, Inc., HR Executive Development Committee, HRLF

“Smiley hosted such a successful virtual session during our Career Week, with one of the highest viewerships ever for us, over 1000+ viewers! Thank you Smiley for actively playing a role in our efforts to create an environment where employees are inspired and challenged to do the best work of their career at NetApp.”

-Sarah Soriano, HR Program Manager, NetApp

“Smiley was the keynote speaker for Circa’s Diversity Symposium on Building Belonging in the Workplace. It was a fabulous event. We loved Smiley’s authenticity, evidenced-based data, vulnerability and energy.”

-Cathy Hill, Vice President Marketing & Product Management, Circa

“Smiley was a phenomenal keynote speaker for our organization’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Summit. The Technology Council of Central Pennsylvania aims to connect our regional technologists from diverse industries, backgrounds and experiences with opportunities to learn, collaborate and innovate and Smiley’s impactful message surrounding engaging multigenerational workforces was a huge hit with our event attendees! Not only did event attendees rave about Smiley’s presentation at the conclusion of the Summit, but attendees have carried Smiley’s message back to their respective workplaces and the conversations continue to morph into actionable steps. We would highly recommend Smiley to anyone looking for a mindful and engaging speaker.”

-Alexis Gosik, President & CEO, Technology Council of Central Pennsylvania

“Smiley is entertaining, high energy, engaging, motivational, thought-provoking, behavior changing and an expert on millennial workplace issues. His presentation was delivered with humor and authenticity. Smiley spoke at two HR Leadership events in the SF Bay Area and had stellar reviews.”

-Gina Ayllon, CAE, Executive Director Northern California, SHRM

“Smiley provided key takeaways on the cross-generational workforce and engagement for the future in a clear, actionable way. One of our best speakers on this topic!”

-Tina Marie Wehmeir, CMP, CAE, Chief Executive Officer, AMC Institute

“I just wanted to say THANK YOU to our Schwab Team for bringing SMILEY to us and everything was interesting, relatable and I loved his stories, tips and demeanor and message and want to buy his book too! VERY INSPIRING to share personally and at work!”

-Charles Schwab

“Your presentation on belonging in the workforce was phenomenal, and we received overwhelmingly positive feedback from our attendees. The information you shared was thought-provoking and will guide us as we move forward in equipping employees and leaders with the skills of today—and tomorrow—here at MetLife.”

-MetLife

“This was one of my best career days. So many employees felt extremely seen and inspired today. The message aligned perfectly with our strategy and values, and we had over 500 lines dialed in.”

-MassMutual

“Smiley’s presentation was informative and thought-inspiring, and his energy warm and inviting. We recommend Smiley's work to entrepreneurs and business owners alike.”

-EO New York

"If you’re looking for an inspirational millennial leader, don’t look any further. Smiley spoke at SAP’s biggest gathering of customers, influencers and business leaders and provided the audience with real insight and better understanding of what young people want from employers today. His work is relevant to young professionals seeking purpose in their careers, as well as companies looking to create positive work environments and increase their social impact." 

-Robin Meyerhoff, Global Communications, SAP

“Smiley delivered an engaging virtual talk on Public Speaking on live stream! With his practical, inspiring presentation, we would welcome Smiley back to Google for future sessions.”

-Bianca Fernandez, Google

"I first saw Smiley speak at Culture Summit, and knew he was the perfect person to speak to the rest of MailChimp about having a career with purpose. The office was buzzing all afternoon after Smiley's Coffee Hour talk. I was thrilled that we brought Smiley in to speak to our employees." 

-Ashley Wilson, Employee Engagement Specialist, MailChimp

"Adam’s presentation was insightful, engaging, and very well-received by all in attendance. He customized the content and delivery to our audience and offered real life examples of ways to empower millennial talent across sectors and industries. He provided ideas and takeaways that HR professionals would be able to implement at their companies right away. He is a pleasure to work with, and I wouldn’t hesitate to hire him again."

– Diana Childs, Equity Healthcare

Smiley was a great speaker! He was energetic, motivational, and was able to engage with a room of over 100 people of all ages and levels of experience. As a company that is scaling fast, it was great to have Smiley help us all think a little bit more about our individual sense of purpose and how we can most effectively collaborate across generational groups."

-Brett Chereskin, Chief of Staff to the Chief Revenue Officer, Affirm

"Smiley gave a standout keynote at our Vision Conference. The audience was very engaged and we received lots of positive feedback from our customers, partners and WorkForce employees about his presentation on millennials and the future of work.  Everyone wants meaningful and impactful work, beyond the millennial generation." 

-Denise Broady, Chief Marketing Officer, WorkForce Software

“Smiley was engaged by Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits - West Region, HR leadership team. The focus was on navigating inter-generational differences in the workplace as our talent landscape is shifting with incredible pace and intensity. The response was overwhelming positive and the team acquired practical and tactical recommendations for immediate implementation.  We look forward to a continued relationship and remain drawn to Smiley’s ability to connect with a diverse audience through his expertise and genuine approachability.”

-Suzi Potts, Director of Talent Acquisition/Diversity & Inclusion, Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits

Smiley’s dynamic presentation and enthusiasm brought energy to our company's annual meeting! His message centered around purposeful culture, the theme of our meeting.  Smiley provided specific examples and tangible takeaways which our team really appreciated. We saw great value in bringing Smiley in and thoroughly enjoyed getting to know him.

-Rhonda Ries, President, OsbornBarr

“After hearing Smiley’s presentation at another industry event, we invited him to join our annual RedBrick Health Client Summit. Both our clients and attending team members appreciated his fresh perspective and his energy—it was one of their favorite sessions of the day, and he was a dream to work with throughout the event.”

-Manda Bertrand, Marketing & Communications, RedBrick Health

“Smikey's talk on Engaging Millennials was a standout hit at PBWC. Dozens of attendees said Smiley left them inspired, with tangible takeways to empower their employees." 

-Stephanie Heishman, Program Director, Professional BusinessWoman of California

"Smiley's presentation about millennials in the workplace was incredibly popular and thought provoking for our customers, and created a lot of buzz here in Stockholm."

-Hala G. Asfar, Project Manager, IDG Stockholm