Top 102 CEO Speakers
- By Aaron Peterson
- Nov 22, 2023
A chairman of the entire organization, CEO for short, takes control of an entire company. The CEO’s role is to guide the company’s employees and ensure the company does everything possible to keep clients, stakeholders, and customers happy. A CEO keynote speaker or presentation lead must thrive in this role. It’s a leading reason why a CEO must be an effective communicator.
CEO speakers need to get an audience’s attention quickly and completely. It’s their role to inform, encourage, and inspire. You want the audience to talk away having learned important information and putting that information to use. Any of our top 102 CEO speakers are excellent at talking with authority and emotion, as they have grown their companies to new heights through exceptional leadership.
You may not know Marc Randolph by name, but you’ll know who he is. He’s the first CEO and co-founder of Netflix. Since then, he’s founded six more startups, including Looker Data Sciences, which Google acquired. He shares his insights as a CEO on his podcast “That Will Never Work” and is an investor and judge on Entrepreneur’s “Elevator Pitch” web series.
She’s the first African-American woman to found a multi-billion-dollar company. The ActOne Group is a staffing and workforce solutions company that operates in more than 32 countries. As the CEO, Janice Bryant Howroyd guided her company to a membership in the UNGC and 2021 Silver Awarded Ecovadis Sustainable Corporation level.
3. Chris Barton
You’ve likely used the app that Chris Barton developed. He’s the founder of the song identifier Shazam. Apple acquired Shazam for $400 million. He also helped out in the earlier developments of both Dropbox and Google’s Android Partnerships and the search algorithm. Today, he’s the founder and CEO of Guard, an AI system that detects drownings before they occur.
4. Daymond John
Daymond John is the founder and CEO of FUBU, a fashion pioneer with more than $6 billion in sales. He built that company in his mom’s basement. You may best know him from his time on the business reality show “Shark Tank.”
Most people know the name Kevin O’Leary from his appearances as Mr. Wonderful on “Dragons’ Den” and “Shark Tank.” He co-founded Special Event Television and was the founder and CEO of Softkey, which acquired The Learning Company in 1995 before selling to Mattel in 1999. He’s founded several businesses since, including O’Leary Ventures and O’Leary Funds Management LP.
Whitney Johnson is the CEO of Disruption Advisors, a company Inc. 5000 named “one of the fastest-growing private companies in America.” She also co-founded the Disruptive Innovation Fund, a company that invested in the $8 million seed fund round for Coupang, a company now worth more than $25 billion.
Jonas Kjellberg founded or helped grow many businesses over the years, including Campuz Mobile and Optimal Telecome, and Jonas was CEO and partner of Wyatt Media Group. He founded Player.io, which was sold to Yahoo, and was managing director for Skype. He shares his insights as a founder and CEO with audiences around the world as a keynote speaker or lecturer at Stanford University and the Stockholm School of Economics.
Jamie Kern Lima co-founded IT Cosmetics in her home and grew it into a popular skincare and makeup brand that sold to L’Oreal for $1.2 billion. She’s the first female brand CEO in the 100+ years of L’Oreal’s history. Jamie's the ideal female CEO to book to talk to your women-owned business.
9. Vineet Nayar
Vineet Nayar served as the CEO of HCL Technologies for six years before moving to his current role as founder and CEO of Sampark Foundation. During his tenure at HCL Technologies, revenues grew by 6x. He’s been a Fortune Magazine “Executive Dream team” selection and Foreign Policy Magazine “Global Thinker.”
10. Ian Siegel
Ian Siegel founded ZipRecruiter in 2010 and is still the company’s CEO. He’s also held leadership roles with CitySearch, Pictage, Rent.com, and Stamps.com. Ask him about his talk on the use of AI to modernize recruiting practices.
11. Josh Linkner
Five tech companies have grown under Josh Linkner’s expert guidance as founder and CEO. This includes Detroit Venture Partners, a venture firm that specializes in early-stage tech firms, and Platypus Labs, an innovation research, consultancy, and training firm.
12. Dag Kittlaus
Dag Kittlaus recently was the co-founder and CEO of Viv Labs, a tech firm that plans to make it possible for everyone in the world to talk to just about anything. Before this, he founded Siri, which was acquired by Apple in 2010. He’s now the CEO of Riva Health, a digital cardiology tech platform that’s starting its focus on exact blood pressure measurements for optimal care of heart disease.
13. Lisa Bloom
Lisa Bloom is the founder and lead attorney for her civil rights law firm, the Bloom Firm. She’s a noted speaker with many appearances on CBS News, CNN, and others. She’s represented some high-profile cases, including the first child sexual abuse case against the Roman Catholic Church, sexual harassment complaints against Bill O’Reilly, and one of the sexual assault lawsuits against Bill Cosby.
For eight years, Frits Van Paasschen was the CEO of Starwood Hotels and Resorts. He was the CEO at Coors Brewing Company for three years and worked his way to Nike’s President of Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. He’s held many executive roles over the years and specializes in helping a company with strategic direction.
15. Shama Hyder
Entrepreneur Magazine calls her “the Zen Master of Marketing.” Shama Hyder is the CEO of Zen Media, a global marketing and digital public relations firm. She’s won several awards during that time, including the “Technology Titan Emerging Company CEO” and “Hermes Gold Award for Educational Programming in Electronic Media.”
16. Suneel Gupta
He’s the CEO of RISE, a wellness company focused on helping people build beneficial, productive habits for their work and personal lives through emotional resilience and engagement. Suneel Gupta specializes in finding ways to boost energy, improve professional and personal goals, and avoid burnout.
17. Liz Wiseman
Liz Wiseman is the CEO of the Wiseman Group, a leadership research and development firm boasting clients that include Apple, Disney, Facebook, Google, X, and many others. Before this, she was the Vice President of Oracle University. She frequently lectures at BYU and Stanford University.
18. Dirk Ahlborn
After specializing in investments and founding several alternative energy and interior design companies, Dirk Ahlborn was at Girvan Institute of Technology, an incubator and accelerator for early-stage high-tech companies, including Advanced Turbine Designs. He’s built impressive skills in app development, SEO, and online marketing. He’s been involved in distribution, production cost control, product design, management, sales, and customer service. All of this brought him to his current role as founder and CEO of JumpStarter.
19. Arlene Dickinson
“Dragons’ Den” is Canada’s version of “Shark Tank.” Both shows are regionalized versions of a Japanese show “The Tigers of Money.” Arlene Dickinson has been on “Dragons’ Den” for all but three seasons. In addition to her skill in helping start-ups, she’s the General Partner for District Ventures Capital, a venture capital fund specializing in food and health companies. Her skills in leadership roles brought her to win the “Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Award” and recognition as Canada’s “Most Powerful Women Top 100 Hall of Fame.”
20. Ken Schmidt
Ken Schmidt’s career started in 1985 when he helped Harley-Davidson with media relations and business strategy. He worked his way to the role of director until leaving in 1997 to become an owner of VSA Partners. He sold his portion of the business in 1999, founded Ken Schmidt Company, and co-founded Torque Sessions Leadership Training. He also hosts the podcast “Tailgating With Geniuses,” a discussion with professionals and CEOs on leadership, success, and the challenges they’ve faced.
21. Ed Mylett
Ed Mylett grew up knowing that when he entered the working world, it would be for himself. He wasn’t going to be like his dad who worked hard to help someone else achieve their dream. Ed achieved that by founding The Ed Mylett Show, a management consulting showbiz firm in Laguna Beach. As the founder and CEO, he’s an expert on topics like a mindset that helps you achieve your dreams.
22. Kim Perell
In her time, Kim Perell has inspired thousands of employees, sales reps, and executives. She’s an angel investor, entrepreneur, and CEO. She was the CEO of Amobee and founded Frontline Direct, a company that first sold to Adconion where she remained the CEO, and then to Amobee where she was named president and then CEO. After leaving that role, she mentored entrepreneurs and founded 100.co, a product and brand development company.
23. Lavinia Errico
What do Equinox Fitness, First Point Partners, and the Inside Out Movement have in common? Lavinia Errico made them all huge successes. She and her brothers founded Equinox Fitness together and sold it for millions. It was at that point that Lavinia realized she had much more to give and set out on a new path to rebrand and rebuild herself to live a values-grounded life in a competitive environment.
24. Joel Manby
In more than 25 years, Joel Manby has been the CEO of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, Herschend Family Entertainment (Dollywood and the Harlem Globetrotters), and Saab Automobile USA. In addition to being a CEO speaker, he also helps companies transform their work culture and business performance.
25. Marita Cheng
She was the youngest inductee for the Member of the Order of Australia in 2019. Marita Cheng earned this honor as the founder and CEO of Aubot, a telepresence (Teleport) robot for children with cancer. The robot attends classes in a way that the child can be part of the activities and classes from a hospital bed. The robots are also used for the elderly and in offices and museums. Marita is also the founder and executive director of Robogals Global specializing in introducing girls to engineering.
26. Mick Ebeling
He’s the founder and CEO of Not Impossible, a firm that uses technology and social innovation to change people’s lives. He believes in “commit, then figure it out.” Under Not Impossible, Bento was born, which uses a simple text to send prepaid healthy meals from nearby restaurants to those experiencing food insecurity. No one goes hungry and food waste diminishes. Mick is a 2x SXSW “Innovation of the Year” award winner, 2x Tribeca “Disruptor Innovation” winner, and The Nantucket Project fellow.
27. Raj Sheth
After gaining his Entrepreneurship and Finance degree, Raj Sheth worked for EMC Corporation for three years. He left that position to found a classifieds portal for Asian residents. Four years later, he launched Recruiterbox, growing quickly to have a customer base of 3,000. That success brought him to purchase FlyData. After rewriting the software, he sold it to a competitor for three times what he paid.
28. Charlene Li
Charlene Li was the founder and senior fellow at Altimeter, a disruptive analyst firm that sold to Prophet in 2015. Today, she’s an author and regional member of YPO, a network of CEOs from around the world. Her specialty is leading a business in the ever-changing digital age.
29. Magie Cook
Dr. Magie Cook is the founder and CEO of Maggie’s All-Natural Fresh Salsas & Dips. It’s a company she grew to a multi-million-dollar business with reach across 38 states in only four years. To reach this point, she overcame a lot, including a tragic injury that ended her chance to play professional basketball and homelessness. After a friend entered her into a salsa competition, her life changed. She took an $800 gift and grew her business into a company that sold to Campbell’s Soup for $231 million.
30. Scott Klososky
Scott Klososky is the founding partner of Future Point of View. His role is to teach how humanity and digital transformations connect using his HUMALOGY® scale and the Rivers of Information® process. He also established a framework to help businesses with organizational strategies using a process he calls “The High Beam.” Scott also co-founded Alkami Technology that’s now worth $3 billion and has hundreds of employees.
31. Peter O. Estévez
Peter O. Estevez created “The Five Pillars to an Abundant Life,” which guides people to move from a state of survival to one of productivity. He’s also the co-founder of EXCELENTE, an empowerment movement. He’s been a partner in many companies over the years, especially those in the energy, gas, and oil sectors.
32. Linda Bernardi
Linda Bernardi is the co-founder and CEO of the AI company XdMind Inc. She is a firm believer that the best ideas are the ones that people feel are too crazy to work. She works hard to find innovation in the digital workplace and loves to share what she's learned with her audience.
Jonathan Reckford is the CEO of Habitat for Humanity International, a role that landed him the 2020 “Golden Halo Award.” If you’re not familiar with Habitat for Humanity, it’s a non-profit that renovates, builds, or preserves homes for people in need. Prior to that rule, he held leadership roles at Best Buy, Disney, and Marriott.
34. Tom Koulopoulos
He’s the founder and chairman of Delphi Group, a think tank named one of the “Fastest-Growing Private Companies” by Inc. Magazine. Tom Koulopoulos is also the founding partner of Acrovantage Ventures, an investment firm specializing in early-stage tech startups.
Kim Walsh Phillips founded Powerful Professionals, a business coaching and education company. She’s worked with powerhouses like Kevin O’Leary and Tony Robbins and has coached and talked to some of the biggest companies in the world. One thing that sets her apart is that she’s a self-made millionaire who doesn’t have an MBA.
36. Randy Hetrick
Randy Hetrick has completed a lot in his life. He is a 14-year Navy SEAL officer who created the Suspension Trainer® when he was on deployment. Using his ingenuity, he created the equipment he needed to stay in shape using a jiu-jitsu belt and parachute webbing, which led to his role as founder and CEO of TRX. As a CEO, he’s grown his business into one of Outside Magazine’s “Best Places to Work” and Inc. Magazine’s “500 Fastest Growing Companies.” In addition to being the company’s CEO, he hosts the TV series “Sweat Inc.” and is an operating partner of Equity38.
37. Mark Coopersmith
He founded WebOrder, which was acquired by Google, and is a Fortune 500 global executive. Mark Coopersmith has launched divisions of companies like Sony. Mark is also an entrepreneurship professor at UC Berkeley, which has led his students to launch more than 100 ventures. His mission is to “help you challenge the status quo and drive change to your advantage.”
38. Christina Qi
Christina Q is the CEO of the market data platform Databento. Before that, Christina founded Domeyard LP, which specialized in high-frequency trading with trades of up to $7.1 billion per day. Domeyard is a business she founded from her college dorm room using just the $1,000 she had to her name. Her success led to her being a leader on HFT and a popular CEO speaker.
39. Radha Agrawal
She’s the co-founder, Chief Community Architect, and CEO of Daybreaker, a global dance, music, and wellness movement that’s reached close to half a million people around the globe. Before that, Radha Agrawal co-founded, sold, and invested in several other businesses, including THINX and Super Sprowtz.
40. Tan Le
Tan Le is the CEO of EMOTIV, a neuroinformatics company focused on an interface between the brain and the computer. One of the company’s products is a non-invasive “brainwear” device that reads and interprets brainwaves to allow for the control of virtual objects with your thoughts.
41. Joey Gonzalez
Joey Gonzalez is a prominent CEO in the fitness world as the CEO of Barry’s, a cardio and strength interval workout that changed the face of fitness. North Castle Partners awarded Joey with the “CEO Award of the Year” in 2018 and “Greater Los Angeles’ Entrepreneur of the Year” in 2020.
42. Arvid Ali
You’ve heard of the Wolf of Wall Street? His real name was Jordan Belfort and Arvid Ali was president of Jordon’s corporations. Arvid is also a former Global Managing Director for Olympian Shaun White. After retiring at the age of 26, Arvid created the largest non-profit in history and became the CEO of the Hiring Strategy Group. In addition to these accomplishments, he’s an advisor to the U.S. State Attorney General.
43. Dan Seewald
Deliberate Innovation is a corporate innovation advisory firm run by CEO Dan Seewald. Dan also co-founded the women’s health and wellness start-up, LiviWell. He used his expertise as the head of the World Wide Innovation group at Pfizer to accomplish everything he’s done. Some of his popular CEO keynote presentations include topics like risk-taking, leading innovation, and never-ending learning.
44. Steven Bartlett
He’s the CEO of The Social Chain, a global team that leverages media, technology, and insights into brand building. He built The Social Chain and The Media Chain from his bedroom at the age of 22 and took them public within five years with a valuation of £200 million. As a CEO, he’s a believer that taking risks is an important part of growth.
Shabnam Mogharabi was co-founder and CEO of SoulPancake, a company she founded with actor Rainn Wilson to create positive, socially-conscious human connections videos. She reached this point after being the youngest editor-in-chief in Hanley Wood Business Media’s history and being one of the youngest winners of the Jesse H. Neal Award.
46. Subir Chowdhury
Subir Chowdhury is one of Thinker 50’s “50 Most Influential Management Thinkers in the World.” He’s the chairman and CEO of ASI Consulting Group, LLC, and through his work there, he’s developed a long list of clients including Bosch, Daewoo, Ford, GM, Hyundai, Kia, Procter & Gamble, Xerox, and others. He also established the Subir & Malini Chowdhury Foundation to help the less fortunate, a non-profit organization that’s donated millions to educational institutions.
Kaihan Krippendorff started his career at McKinsey & Company and left that to found his own company Outthinker, a growth strategy and innovation consulting firm. His company has generated more than $2.5 billion in revenue for companies like Citibank, L’Oreal, Microsoft, and Viacom. Kaihan also went on to create the Outthinker Strategy Network, a network of chief strategy officers that are exclusively from companies with more than $1 billion in revenues.
48. Daniel Burrus
Over the years, Daniel Burrus has founded six businesses, and he’s the CEO of Burrus Research, a research and consulting firm focusing on global advancements in technology. He also established “The Hard Trend Methodology” and the “Anticipatory Organization Business Model,” which are both used by companies around the world.
49. Daniel Kraft, MD
Dr. Daniel Kraft is a specialist in healthcare innovation, biomedical research, and clinical practice and has held several leadership roles. He’s been a faculty chair at Singularity University since 2008 and is the founder and chair of Exponential Medicine, a program that explores the use of developing technology in the world of biomedicine and healthcare. Dr. Kraft also founded Digital Health, IntelliMedicine, and RegenMed Systems. The FDA-approved MarrowMiner, a device that uses minimally invasive techniques to harvest bone marrow, is another of his creations.
50. Denise Hamilton
Denise Hamilton is the founder and CEO of WatchHerWork, a digital learning platform for female professionals. She strives to empower people to close the gender gap, become allies, and resolve conflict while understanding and respecting each other’s differences.
51. Juliet Funt
Juliet Funt is the founder and CEO of her self-named boutique efficiency firm. Her firm, the Juliet Funt Group, has worked with Anthem, Costco, National Geographic, Pepsi, Sephora, and many others. She’s a CEO speaker specializing in taking a tough-love approach.
52. Jeb Blount
He’s the founder and CEO of Sales Gravy, and that makes Jeb Blount a leading speaker on emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills in dealing with customers. His talks cover necessary CEO skills like inspiring others to follow your leadership and developing an “unstoppable mindset.”
53. Trixy Castro
Trixy Castro founded Genesis Capital, LLC in 2007, and at the time, all she started with was a phone, a desk, and her vision. She was determined to establish a new form of capital using the skills she’d gained in banking. She built her company providing assets to real estate professionals in need of financing for acquisitions. By the time she sold the company to Goldman Sachs in 2018, she’d become the founder and CEO of a company that originated more than $2 billion in loans every year. She also founded Genesis Auctions in 2011 and sold that to Fidelity National Title in 2017. She’s continued to create new companies since, including a mobile veterinary clinic and the Aureus Finance Group.
54. Ron Insana
Ron Insana is the co-founder and CEO of Contrast Capital Partners, an investment advisor firm. In addition, he’s the founder and CEO of a film and TV production company, Insana Entertainment Group. As an expert business leadership speaker, he provides his audience with the guidance and tools they need to protect their company, grow, and navigate the changes along the way.
55. Courtney Lynch
Courtney Lynch transitioned from nine years with the Marine Corps to a law degree and managing the sales team for Rational Software. She founded Lead Star, a global development consulting firm. She’s won a National Stevie Award for “Best Female Entrepreneur,” and Business Week featured her as a leadership expert.
Margaux Avedisian is responsible for relaunching the first American Bitcoin exchange in 2012 and co-founded two more. From 2016 to 2018, she was the executive VP of the Transform Group. Today, she’s the co-founder and CEO of Beyond the Runway, which provides online shoppers with a virtual platform for trying on outfits. She strengthens connections between industry leaders and entrepreneurs in her talks and podcast “Burning Bridges With Margaux.”
57. Kent Clothier
Kent Clothier is the president and CEO of Real Estate Worldwide, a real estate education company. He also owns and runs 1-800-SELL-NOW, Find Cash Buyers Now, Find Motivated Sellers Now, and Find Private Lenders Now. In his time as CEO, he’s purchased and flipped or wholesaled more than 2,300 properties.
58. Dethra Giles
For more than 20 years, Dethra Giles has worked hard to normalize DEI in the workforce. She’s given four TEDx talks and is one of Engagedly’s “Top 100 Influences for Outstanding Contributions Towards Promotion a Culture of DEI.” She’s the CEO of ExecuPrep, a global performance optimization consulting firm.
59. Rodney Woods
He’s the founder, board chairman, and CEO of Diversity in Promotions, Inc. Rodney Woods excels in helping develop minority and women-owned businesses in need of help with business development, diversity programs, outreach, and contract compliance. Diversity in Promotions, Inc. has helped companies like Adidas, Converse, and Victoria’s Secret PINK.
60. Brendan Egan
When the market crashed in 2008, Brendan Egan became a day trader and grew his personal trading fund. A year later, he launched LearnToTrade, a highly-rated price action trading course. He sold that company in 2012, a year after he graduated from college. He founded Simple SEO Group, a digital marketing agency offering website and app design and development, digital marketing campaigns, and consulting. As Simple SEO’s CEO, he’s worked with more than 500 clients. He and John Shegerian, a long-time friend, launched the startup investment company and incubator, B.J. Industries, in 2013. Finally, Brendan is also the co-founder and chief technology and marketing officer of Engage, adding to his experience launching, running, and turning companies into major successes.
61. Bernice Chao
Zambezi is a female-owned marketing agency, and Bernice Chao is the company’s Head of Integrated Creative. She’s worked on campaigns for Chime, Google, HBO, Shopify, and several others. In addition to that leadership role, she’s the co-founder of Asians in Advertising and hosts the Asians in Advertising podcast.
62. Jake Olson
After losing both eyes to a rare form of cancer, Jake Olson achieved his goal of playing college football. He was the first completely blind football player in college football history. He’s continued his journey and co-founded Engage and is a busy entrepreneur and motivational speaker. His specialty as a business leader lies in creating an inclusive culture and building strong teams.
63. Celeste Headlee
Headway DEI is a non-profit working on bringing racial equality and equity to journalism and media. Celeste Headlee is the CEO of Headway DEI and also serves on the National Center for Race Amity’s board. Her TEDx Talk “10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation” has had more than 26 million views.
64. Brent Gleeson
This former Navy SEAL is the founder and CEO of TakingPoint Leadership, a management consulting firm focusing on progressive leadership development, building high-performance work cultures, and business transformation. Entrepreneur Magazine named him a “Top 10 CEO” in 2013, specifically because of his unique, effective approach to team building.
65. David Greene
David Greene is a former police officer turned host of the real estate podcast BiggerPockets. He’s the CEO of The David Greene Team and has won multiple awards for industry excellence. He specializes in helping agents excel in building their own real estate businesses.
66. Barb Stegemann
After her best friend was wounded in Afghanistan, Barb Stegemann founded The 7 Virtues, a company designed to help a war-ridden nation rebuild. The business she started in her garage is now an award-winning social enterprise sold through Sephora in the U.S. and Canada. She’s the first woman from Atlantic Canada to land a venture-capital deal on “Dragons’ Den” and went on to be named one of WXN’s “Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women.”
67. Laura Dixon
Laura Dixon is the founder and president of Pro Sports Assembly and Long Game Ventures. She worked her way to these leadership roles after being the head of external relations for Spurs Sports and Entertainment. Her expertise as a founder and CEO is in leadership and inclusivity.
68. Mike Saunders
Mike Saunders excels in social media strategies and digital marketing. He’s helped create and launch a number of global start-ups and he’s built digital strategies that drive growth. Mike’s been the CEO of Digitlab since 2011 and a CEO keynote speaker since 2009.
69. Bea Kim
Using her coaching accreditation from the International Coaching Federation, Bea Kim is a life and executive coach who helps working professionals and parents develop purpose and find fulfillment. In addition to her coaching work, Bea is the co-founder of Awaken, a provider of DEI education programs, and she’s an angel investor specializing in finance, tech, and media.
Galit Ventura-Rozen is a commercial real estate broker who founded and is CEO of Commercial Professionals, a company that’s sold more than $700 million in Las Vegas in the past 25+ years. She’s won several awards including “Top 100 Real Estate Agent,” “2023 Women of Impact Honoree” from The Shade Tree, and “Woman of Distinction Award for Professional Services” from the National Association of Women Business Owners. In 2020, she co-founded Everyday Women, an organization designed to support women entrepreneurs and professionals.
71. Jake Plummer
Jake Plummer played for the NFL from 1997 to 2006. After retiring from the NFL, he founded a mushroom farm where he grows lion’s mane, oyster, and shitake mushrooms. He’s also dabbled in real estate development and sports broadcasting to hone his skills as a business professional and entrepreneur.
72. Vivienne Ming
Dr. Vivienne Ming started six start-ups and held the role of chief scientist for two more. She launched Socos Labs, a self-proclaimed “Mad Science Incubator,” where she strives to find answers to difficult problems. She’s also the co-founder and chief scientist at Dionysus Health, where she finds ways to use machine learning to ease the health effects of chronic stress.
73. Timothy Chou
Timothy Chou is one of six people in history to be a president at Oracle. In his time, he grew the cloud business from scratch. He started at Tandem Computers and contributed to several start-ups after that, including WebEx. After he retired from Oracle, he founded the first course on cloud computing at Stanford University. Most recently, he came out of retirement to work with Dr. Anthony Chang on the Pediatric Moonshot, a program to help reduce healthcare inequality and healthcare costs for children.
74. Anthony Frasier
Anthony Frasier is the founder and CEO of ABF Creative, a podcast network and production company that won a Webby Award. He brought 10 years of experience as a producer at NPR. Since launching ABF Creative, the children’s audio content has had more than 5 million streams and downloads.
75. Jay Baer
He’s a Hall of Fame keynote speaker specializing in marketing innovation and customer experience. Jay Baer has gained his expertise by founding five companies that achieved millions in sales and revenues. He’s the founder of Convince & Convert, a strategy consulting firm that owns the world’s top content marketing blog and podcast. Ask him why a great strategy as a CEO is to “Hug Your Haters.”
76. Daniel Newman
Daniel Newman is the CEO of Broadsuite Media Group and the co-founder and principal analyst at Futurum Research. He thrives at analyzing how technology and people work together and can accomplish amazing feats as a team. He’s ranked in the top 5 of ARInsights “Worldwide Technology Analysts.”
Her grandmothers taught her to have “high standards and a big heart.” She uses those lessons as the founder and CEO of Olive & June, a nail salon specializing in luxury nail care at an affordable price. Sarah Gibson Tuttle left her role at JP Morgan & Morgan Stanley to create her boutique nail salon and turned that into a line of products and polishes that allow people to have salon-quality nails at home. She’s an Inc. Magazine’s “Female Founders 100” and has won awards from Allure, Elle, Good Housekeeping, and several others.
78. JM Ryerson
He’s created and sold three businesses and is the co-founder and CEO of Let’s Go Win, a firm designed to improve leadership, workplace culture, and team performance. JM Ryerson is also the host of the “Let’s Go Win” podcast and has more than 20 years of experience in building and leading strong teams.
Socialfly is a digital marketing agency specializing in the use of social media to connect with women. It’s a company Courtney Spritzer helped create, and she’s the CEO, too. She and her partner, Stephani Cartin, have created and implemented social media campaigns for more than 200 companies and brands, including Discovery, the Girl Scouts, and Slimfast. She’s also the creator of DigiCards and WorkRobe and won New York’s “Smart CEO Brava Award.”
80. Stephanie Cartin
Stephanie Cartin left her corporate career to launch Socialfly, a social-first influencer agency. She’s also the co-founder of Markid and Entreprenista Media. As if running these companies isn’t enough, she’s also the co-host of the Entreprenista podcast and helped write “Like, Love, Follow: The Entreprenista’s Guide to Using Social Media to Grow Your Business.” Her skills as a CEO led to her winning New York City’s “SmartCEO Brava Award.”
81. Bradley Schurman
He’s the founder and CEO of The Super Age, a global strategic research and advisory firm that focuses on changing demographics in an aging population. Bradley Schurman has also been the co-founder and managing partner of EconomyFour, where he specialized in global business development and was Director of Global Partnerships and Engagements for AARP.
82. Jyllene Miller
Jyllene Miller established the Different by Design™ and Reimaging Everything XC brands for Concentrix, a company where she is the Executive VP of Global Marketing and Emerging Business. She was key to growing Concentrix from a $50 million to a $5 billion industry. Before this, she was the VP of Strategy and Enterprise Development for Verizon Business Innovation Group, Senior VP of Sales and Business Development for TTEC, Executive VP of Sales and Marketing at Arete Sleep Health, and VP of Sales at Insight. She’s thrived and accomplished a lot in the executive leadership roles she’s held.
83. Lora DiCarlo
Lora DiCarlo is the founder and CEO of her namesake brand of women’s sexual wellness products. Her company started with a flagship product developed in a partnership with the Oregon State University’s Robotics and Engineering Lab, and it won an award in robotics that was quickly taken away after being labeled “obscene.” She fought to have sexual wellness included under the wellness categorization, which opened the door to sexual wellness products and technology included at the CES. She’s taken that product and grown her company into one that reached $13 million in sales in just two years.
84. Andre de Castro
Andre de Castro is the founder of Blockchain of Things, Inc. and helped with the development of his company’s key product, Catenis®. It’s a product that helps corporations and developers integrate Bitcoin blockchain into their applications. In addition to his work running Blockchain of Things, Inc., he’s worked with the FinCEN division of the U.S. government to draft clear cryptocurrency policies.
Dr. Daniel Gartenberg holds a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology and is an adjunct assistant professor at Penn State. He built a company specializing in sleep and the use of technology to help improve personal and professional efficiency. He gave a TED talk on sleep health that has more than 5 million views, and Dr. Gartenberg built a sleep and wellness platform, SleepSpace.com, that gets plenty of traffic.
She’s the founder of Dream Big Toy Company, best known for the Go! Go! Sports dolls, books, and apps. Jodi Bondi Norgaard created her company after shopping with her daughter and finding it impossible to find dolls with realistic proportions and interests beyond make-up and fashion. She built her company and her products were launched in Walmart in 2015. She’s also a founding member of The Brave Girl Alliance, a think tank for girl empowerment.
87. Alyssa Petersel
Alyssa Petersel is the founder and CEO of MyWellBeing, a platform that connects people with the best therapist or mental health coach for their needs. Sometimes, the therapist you need isn’t your first or second choice, and MyWellBeing.com makes it easy to find the person who helps the most.
88. Emily Vavra
Emily Vavra created the “ItsEmily Method,” an online training program to help people achieve success by developing their skills. Her method has helped more than 145,000 people around the world. Her CEO insights and knowledge make her one of our most popular and recognizable speakers.
90. Darren Heitner
Darren Heitner is the founder of Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C. He’s represented many MLB and NFL players, including Jose Bautista, Brandon Marshall, and Andrew Wiggins. Being an attorney specializing in sports contracts is one of his roles, but he also created the Sports Agent Blog in 2005. He currently writes for Above the Law and shares his insights on sports business and sports law on CBS News, CNBC, and ESPN.
91. Jenna Ahern
Jenna Ahern started her career in SEO working for three Google Premier Partners, Autotrader, and KBB. She moved to Guardian Owl Digital in 2016 and has helped grow the company’s clientele, revenues, and accolades.
92. Caroline D’Amore
Caroline D’Amore moved from working in her dad’s pizza restaurants to becoming the founder and CEO of Pizza Girl, Inc. The organic pasta sauce company’s products are found in more than 700 grocery stores on the West Coast. The pandemic knocked her down, but she bounced back up and relaunched her company at the end of 2021. Pizza Girl, Inc. is her passion and the reason she’s a sought-after CEO speaker.
93. Gina Rivera
Gina Rivera is the founder of Phenix Salon Suites, the only salon suite company to ever be named to Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top 500 Franchise List and recently made it into the top 25 companies. It has more than 250 locations across the U.S. In addition to her role as the founder and CEO of Phenix, she hosts the annual Lifestyle Professionals “Gina’s Education Experience.” She also opened her own production company with four syndicated TV shows in the works.
94. Annu Khot
Annu Khot founded Sociale Dispensary in 2019, an employee-owned business specializing in cannabis products that are developed or created by female and minority-owned companies. It’s her goal to help others work for themselves as a CEO instead of working for a company. In 2023, she was named one of the “Top 50 Women Leaders of Illinois” and received the “Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Award.”
Inc. Magazine named Sharmi Albrechtsen one of 2021’s “Female Founders 100.” She’s the founder of SmartGurlz, a robotics company offering robots and action dolls that encourage girls to learn coding. Her CEO talks specialize in embracing STEM, diversity, leadership, business strategy, and team building.
96. Ted McKenna
He’s the author of “The JOLT Effect: How High Performers Overcame Customer Indecision” and a founding partner of DCM Insights. He’s an expert in a CEO’s role in improving customer service using AI/ML models. Prior to his company DCM Insights, Ted McKenna held leadership roles in other businesses like CEB, Russell Reynolds, and Tethr.
97. Glenn Akramoff
Akramoff LLC specializes in revitalizing municipal government workplaces and returning a human touch to the roles within as happy workers have satisfying home lives, and that’s the key to keeping happy workers. Glenn Akramoff is the founder and CEO of this company and honed his skills as seasonal maintenance to a city manager before founding his own company that specializes in helping others develop human-centered workplaces.
98. Darren Shaw
He’s the founder of Whitespark, a web design and development firm that specializes in helping small businesses rank in local results. It’s a company with 35 employees and more than 150,000 customers. As the CEO of this long-running company, Darren Shaw is an expert in following your passions to grow a company that delivers a lot.
Eddie Reynolds has founded and led several CCTV lighting companies as their CEO. She’s been in video security for more than 25 years. She’s currently the CEO of Ilumnar, a company that provides lighting for big names like Arecont Vision, Digital Watchdog, Johnson Controls, and Sony.
100. Hannah Ubl
Hannah Ubl is the co-founder of Good Company Consulting, a firm that shows companies how to treat employees like people with unique needs and interests rather than names in the employment files that are one-size-fits-all workers. Using her insights, companies like Cisco Systems, PPG, and Sodexo have changed the way they work.
101. Jack McGuiness
With 35 years of experience, Jack McGuiness went from serving with the U.S. Army to serving as a COO at a managing consulting firm for 13 years. He was also the CEO of a contract packaging company. In 2009, he joined a classmate and formed Relationship Impact, a consulting firm to help CEOs build strong leadership teams.
102. Petra Velzeboer
Petra Velzeboer is the CEO of PVL, a mental health consultancy. She specializes in the events and topics that impact managers, employees, and C-Suite leaders. It’s her goal to help people understand how to navigate the changing work environment.
When you need a true leader with experience running a thriving business, any one of our 102 CEO speakers is a great choice. Use Engage’s platform to find the perfect speaker for your next presentation or event.
