Steve has earned high praise for his highly collaborative style and working closely with clients to seamlessly customize his content to the messaging goals for each event.
“Steve Pemberton was one of the most incredible speakers I have ever had the pleasure of hearing.” – Marketing Brand Manager, Cyracom
“By far, he has been the best speaker we have ever had for our annual kickoff.” – Heart of Illinois United way
“Steve spoke very well and hit it from a very personal place. We broke all our fundraising records and exceeded our goal – so I’m happy!” – The Children’s Trust
SPEAKING TOPICS
From Labels to Experiences
After growing up in foster care, Steve Pemberton has never cared for labels. Pemberton discusses how the conversation on diversity should move away from a sole emphasis on classifying people by their visible characteristics to focusing on who they are and the life experience they bring. Pemberton will outline how this approach brought increased shareholder value to Monster and Walgreens and how any company can shift their paradigm by getting the most out of their employees, which in turn increases customer engagement, company morale, focused company strategy and top-line revenue.
Discovering New Strengths in Existing Talent to Maximum Performance
After growing up in foster care, Steve Pemberton has never cared for labels. Pemberton discusses how the conversation on diversity should move away from a sole emphasis on classifying people by their visible characteristics to focusing on who they are and the life experience they bring. Pemberton will outline how this approach brought increased shareholder value to Monster and Walgreens and how any company can shift their paradigm by getting the most out of their employees, which in turn increases customer engagement, company morale, focused company strategy and top-line revenue.
The heartfelt story of how Steve as an orphan boy defies seemingly impossible odds, navigating a foster care system, all while trying to solve the mystery of his own identity and destiny. Learn how Steve overcame his circumstances, how he went on to become a Fortune 50 executive and how his life experience impacts his views today on business and life.
Life Experience Marketing
Pemberton discusses how to develop products/services, offer a customer service experience and market business in a way that reflects the lifestyles of consumers. Pemberton shares his own life experience, his keys to implementing technology that pulled people from all areas of life while at Monster and how Walgreens revolutionized their stores to ensure they reflect the vast diversity of their customers’ lives. Pemberton also shares ways to understand consumer behavior in context, including where in the process customers are interacting and why.
Pemberton shares stories and lessons on how to navigate adversity, coming from the “everyday hero.” These are people Steve has met in his life that, in the face of difficulty, they show humility, strength, courage and perseverance. The very idea of “hero” needs to be fundamentally revisited. We call the wrong people heroes. Heroes are also in the “everyday person”, and these people do everything in their power to serve their country and take care of themselves and their families. There are life lessons to be learned from these people and their stories, those whom do not necessarily fit America’s ideas of a traditional hero. Steve discusses who these every day American Heroes are, and how we can learn from their character and their values.
One America: The Micro Cultural Changes to Bring the “United” back into U.S.
A cultural change needs to occur to bring the “united” back to this country, creating a national “One America” ideology that fosters an attitude and mindset of revolution, a shift that will return us to faith and service, and therefore “Country” and “United”. This topic would be appropriate for non-profit organizations where Steve tells his stories of how people can unite as one to overcome impossible odds.
Testimonials
"You could hear a pin drop as Stephen spoke. He told his compelling story while incoporating humor, emotion and seriousness throughout. He made sure to mention specific names of people in the audience and incorporated them into his presentation. He was a phenomenal speaker with a truly inspirational story and we could not have asked for more."
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–Jonathan's Place
"Steve was a fabulous addition to our event. He spoke from the heart and did an extraordinary job of connecting his story to our mission and work. He could not have been more gracious to our many guests who wanted to talk and have their book signed, as well as to our students who he so smoothly worked into his remarks. He implored our audience to take action and to do something to lift our youth. We could not ask for more."
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–Gary Comer Youth Center, Chicago, IL
Steve Pemberton was one of the most imcredible speakers I have ever had the pleasure of hearing. Not that I ever doubted you – you set the expectation pretty high. But he blew any expectation I had away entirely! His message of a ​diverse world fit in perfectly with our programming, and his personal story had the audience in tears and standing ovation at the end. I'm glad we had the books ordered, because everyone wanted to meet him and thank him afterward. He is the nicest guy too. I got to spend a few minutes with him before the event and I thoroughly enjoyed talking with him. All in all, he was the best keynote speaker we could have gotten, and I was sincerly praised for it. Thank you for your incredible recommendation. I really appreciate your expertise and insight for our event needs."
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–Marketing Brand Manager, Cyracom