Kelly McDonald
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Most Popular Programs
People spend money on what they care about. Show your customers and prospects how you fit into what they need and what they value, and they’ll show you the money. By recognizing people’s differences and just tweaking your product, message, approach or marketing efforts to reflect their values, you‘ll get the business.
When working with people who are not like you, friction can arise. How do you work alongside someone who may be quite different from you, respect those differences and be effective in your role? This session takes the topic of work and leadership to a new place – one that is getting more attention every day and will continue to do so.
Not a bunch of theory, this session provides specific, actionable, no-cost tactics that you can implement immediately. When it comes to talking about race at work, attendees will move from “uncomfortable and unsure” to “confident and empowered”, using proven tools that get real results. And that’s language everyone values.
Kelly McDonald is considered one of the nation’s top experts in diversity, equity & inclusion (DE&I), leadership, marketing and sales to people “not like you”, consumer trends, and leveraging the customer experience. Kelly is a four-time bestselling author and renowned professional speaker. She is also the founder of McDonald Marketing, which has twice been named one of the “Top Ad Agencies in the U.S.” by Advertising Age magazine and ranked as one of the fastest-growing independently-owned companies in the U.S. by Inc. Magazine.
She has been featured on CNBC, in Forbes magazine, BusinessWeek, Fast Company, and on SiriusXM Radio.
Her client experience includes iconic brands such as Toyota, State Farm, Nike, Harley-Davidson, Miller-Coors and Sherwin-Williams, Great Clips and NASA. Kelly's four business best-sellers have all been published by Wiley and the titles are: It's Time to Talk About Race at Work; How to Work With & Lead People Not Like You; How to Market to People Not Like You; and Crafting the Customer Experience for People Not Like You.
Kelly is originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. She now lives in Denver, Colorado. When she’s not speaking and traveling for business, she enjoys boxing (yes, actual boxing – not kickboxing!) and shopping for high heels.
Fee Range
$20,000 - $20,000
Expertise
Collaboration Diversity Leadership
Attributes
Fluent in English
Gender
Christianity
Lit Learning
See what has us thinking, connecting, and growing right now.
How to Work With and Lead People Not Like You" provides strategies for effectively collaborating with diverse teams to improve communication, trust, and productivity. Addressing differences in generation, culture, race, gender, and more, the book guides readers on finding common ground and resolving hidden conflicts. It helps individuals overcome discomfort and hesitation when working with those unlike them, providing tools to communicate, motivate, and inspire collaboration. The book emphasizes constructive conversations, offers practical advice for handling offensive remarks, and teaches ways to turn diversity challenges into opportunities for synergy and success within today's diverse workforce.
Buy Now"It's Time to Talk about Race at Work" offers actionable strategies for increasing diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Author Kelly McDonald addresses the need for creating a fair and equitable workplace that fosters productive conversations around race. The book provides a roadmap for businesses to recognize diverse talent and overcome blind spots that may hinder people of color. It emphasizes practical steps to initiate difficult conversations, offers the STARTING Method for effective diversity efforts, and helps address challenges that arise during the process. Suitable for all organizational sizes, the book guides leaders and employees alike toward creating a more inclusive work environment.
Buy Now"How to Market to People Not Like You" challenges the conventional approach to marketing by advocating for a focus on customer values over demographics. The book suggests that targeting individuals who differ from the core audience can expand business and profits. It emphasizes the importance of understanding the needs and values of diverse customer groups to engage and connect with them. By adopting this approach, businesses can tap into unfamiliar market segments, enhance customer engagement, and ultimately boost market share. The author's experience in the advertising industry lends credibility to the strategies outlined in the book.
Buy NowExpertise You Can Trust
“Kelly’s enthusiasm was contagious and her message was very well received by our audience of utility industry attendees. She was very relatable and left our customers energized and ready to apply techniques to relate to all customers into the work they do every day. We would highly recommend Kelly for any event.”
"Thank you again for speaking to the CFS team at our annual meeting at Reunion Resort in Orlando! Feedback was incredible. We loved your energy, humor, candor and content. So relevant and straightforward. You had our group totally engaged and inspired."
“Our Townhall was a success and we’ve had glowing reviews of Kelly! She exceeded expectations. I think this presentation has increased the self-awareness of our employees on how they affect the customer experience and the topic in general. With our increased corporate focus on customer experience, Kelly’s presentation set the stage nicely for our 2016 initiatives”
“Kelly, You challenged and educated the audience in a way to cause participants to really think about how they were doing business and with whom they were doing business. Thank you for being real and for presenting data driven information in a very enjoyable way."
“Kelly gave an outstanding presentation at our summer meeting in June. She engaged the attendees in a way I have never seen before and the session was standing room only. Not only is she an incredible speaker, but she is such a pleasure to work with. She really goes out of her way to make the whole experience memorable and enjoyable for everyone involved.”
“Thank you for the wonderful presentation you made at our Annual CPCU All-Industry Day event. Everyone I’ve spoken with has stated that they were very impressed with your energy and keen insights. We couldn’t have had a better speaker to cap off our event.”
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