Our Team.
Our vision is to close the leadership gap through reclaiming what public speaking means to women everywhere.
How did our story begin?
After an extensive public speaking education and practicing public speaking for 8+ years, Stephanie spent time volunteering with local speech teams and scholarship organizations to help young women hone their skills. She coached more than 75 people over 4 years in a volunteer capacity.
Then, one evening, Miss Minnesota 2019, was a guest at a local scholarship competition Stephanie coached at. Her team watched 12 young women speak on stage without missing a beat. Impressed with their performances, her manager inquired about who coached them and asked if Stephanie would work with her too. Stephanie had her first client and Voices Who Will was born.
Why is this important?
First and foremost, everyone deserves to feel confident in their voice. But moreover, through studying communications and political science, and having extensive experience working in large corporations, we see the glaring need for more women voices across industries.
We know that roughly only
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21% of C-suite members are women (McKinsey & Company 2020),
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less than 30% of women make up the different levels of elected office (Rutgers 2022),
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about 20% of small businesses across the country are women-owned (Census 2021).
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While there are a variety of reasons these numbers are as low as they are, many can be addressed by instilling confidence in a woman’s voice to help her believe she can be at the top – and that begins with giving her the tools to find her voice in the first place.
What is different about our coaching style?
We know that the speech coaching market out there is slim and often, not individualized to the person learning the skill. While Dale Carnegie and Toastmasters can be great options, Stephanie's value proposition is helping her clients find their authentic, unique voice as opposed to conforming to the algorithm other coaching programs offer. "Voices Who Will" values understanding the client’s story, voice and style before jumping in to coaching.
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It truly is a journey - and one that we're on together. Let's be honest, public speaking is an unapproachable term. Most often, it’s associated with negative and unapproachable feelings - anxiety, nervousness, fear, nausea… in fact, year after year the headlines read “public speaking is society's number one fear.” This is why the clickbait articles reading “4 tips to becoming a better public speaker” don’t work - because before we even address the physical act of using your voice with the public, we need to understand our own relationship with our voice and reclaim the term public speaking to encompass the entire journey.
So, what does the journey look like?
That's the million dollar question - it's different for everyone. But to start, it looks like creating a space that you feel comfortable learning in. Whether that be an individual session, a group session, or an online course - it's up to you. But know that in every resource, we're there with you.
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From there, it's understanding your purpose. Whether that be representing your individual brand, your company's brand, your values, or something else, understanding your purpose and believing in it is the step that so many coaching programs miss.
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Then, we can look at the specific opportunity that is ahead of you, ensuring your talk is structured and organized, your delivery is clear and polished, and above all else, it's something you are proud of.