Keynotes & Workshops
Optimism isn’t a pep talk. It’s a practice.
Telling people to stay positive is easy. Showing them what to do next is the work.
With candor and humor, Rya Hazelwood helps audiences face what’s real, challenge the stories keeping them stuck and move toward what could be better.
They leave with a direction worth believing in and a next step they can take.
From the breakfast table to the boardroom.
Keynotes & Author Talks
Make optimism your leadership superpower.
What does optimism look like when life is real and the answers aren’t easy?
Sometimes it looks like making a difficult business decision. Setting a boundary that holds. Pursuing something before you feel ready. And when you lead others, it means helping people see a way forward, understand their place in it and move together.
Rya builds the talk around four practices – believe in better, reframe the story, choose bravely and lead forward – and brings them to life through the stories that shaped them. A hospital room where she stopped waiting for someone else to change. A partnership she finally stopped shrinking herself to keep. Numbers that forced a decision nobody wanted. And a lizard in her garage she was briefly convinced was a dragon.
To put those practices to work, audiences apply Possibility, Purpose, People and Plan to a real challenge they walked in carrying.
They leave inspired and equipped, with a next step they can name.
Signature Keynote
Relentless Optimism for Life & Leadership
Author Talk
Relentless Optimism & Other Life Goals
Rebuilding and writing what comes next.
What happens when the life you worked so hard to hold together no longer fits the life you want to live?
This isn’t a book pitch. It’s a candid conversation about starting over.
In this personal talk based on her memoir-meets-guidebook Rya talks openly about what sits behind it: a marriage she kept trying to make work, a business she walked away from to protect her peace, and the gap between writing something honest and finding the nerve to publish it.
Audiences consider the narratives they’ve outgrown, the boundaries that protect what matters and the dreams that deserve an honest attempt.
Available as a presentation or a moderated conversation with audience Q&A. Format and length by arrangement.
Workshops & Custom Sessions
Either talk extends into an interactive session built around your event’s goals and what your people are actually facing. Participants apply Possibility, Purpose, People and Plan to a real challenge, then leave with named actions and commitments.
Sessions can serve as a deeper follow-up to a keynote, a standalone working session for a leadership team, or a collaborative discussion for a smaller group.
Our first Bookmark That! Author Series was incredible. I couldn't have asked for a better topic or author to kick things off. Rya's personal story is powerful, and how she connected it to living our daily lives struck a chord with me, and the many others who attended.
- Kim Miller
Founder of FemFoundry
In my line of work, I have the opportunity to work with many fabulous professionals. Without question though, Rya is in a class of her own. Besides being freakishly smart, Rya is kind, incredibly organized, thoughtful, supportive, responsive and everything that you could ever hope for ... To say that I loved my time working with her would be the understatement of the century. If you have the honor of working with Rya, you are in for a world-class experience.
- Shola Richards,
International Keynote and TEDx Speaker, Author of Civil Unity
I have known and worked with Rya for over 16 years and deeply value our professional relationship and more importantly, our friendship. Rya's determination and loyalty is second to none. She is passionate about her work, helps companies thrive and does it all from a place of service.
- Ashley Snyder
Principal at Cresa