Keynote Speaking · Women, Identity & Transformation
Every transition has a room between. This is how you navigate through it.
High-achieving women rarely struggle with ambition. They struggle in the space between who they've been and who they're becoming: a career that no longer fits, an identity in flux, a life stage demanding to be met with intention instead of endurance. Dr. Nicole Yeldell Butts speaks to women's audiences about how to move through that threshold with clarity and agency, drawing on the same research-backed insight she brings to organizational change, applied here to the most personal transition of all: becoming.
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From Playing Small to Unapologetically Thriving
The threshold between the identity you've outgrown and the one you haven't fully claimed.
Many accomplished women reach a point where the version of themselves that got them here no longer fits, but the next version hasn't fully arrived. Drawing on her award-winning book, Nicole helps women recognize where they're still playing small, why it happens even to the most successful women, and how to step fully into who they're becoming.
Audiences leave with:
- Language for the threshold between who they've been and who they're becoming.
- A clear way to recognize where they're still playing small.
- The SHIFT framework as a practical path toward thriving on their own terms.
The Room Between
What the space between endings and beginnings is actually teaching you.
Every meaningful transition, chosen or unexpected, visible or invisible, has a space between what's ending and what hasn't yet begun. Most women either hold on to an identity they've outgrown or lose themselves in the uncertainty. Nicole shows audiences how to stop rushing through that space and start learning from it, so they come out the other side more whole, not just further along.
Audiences leave with:
- Permission to stop rushing through transition and treat the in-between as meaningful.
- Recognition of the two ways women get stuck: holding on too long or losing themselves in the uncertainty.
- A way to move through transition with intention instead of endurance.
Unmuted
Claiming your voice to advocate, negotiate, and lead with power.
After years of meeting other people's expectations, many accomplished women realize they've become skilled at being what others need and quiet about what they want. Nicole explores what it takes to tell the truth about who you are now, reclaim your voice, and move through self-doubt with confidence, so you can advocate for yourself, negotiate for what you're worth, and lead on your own terms.
Audiences leave with:
- Language for the ways they've learned to stay quiet or small.
- Practical tools for moving through self-doubt with compassion and confidence.
- Proactive language for advocating for themselves and the value they bring.
Each keynote is tailored to your audience and event theme.
What Event Organizers and Attendees Say
"The session gave me a moment to reflect on the person I am and how I lead... The practical tools helped me move through doubt with compassion and confidence... What a practical and impactful day we had!"
Where Nicole Has Spoken
- American Council on Education (ACE) Women's Conference
- The Ebell of Los Angeles
- The Wilfandel Club
Who Books This Track
Women's leadership conferences, professional associations, corporate women's events and employee resource groups, women's retreats, and universities.
The Book Behind the Keynotes
SHIFT: A Transformational Journey from Playing Small to Unapologetically Thriving guides high-achieving women through the space between who they've been and who they're becoming. Award-winning and bestselling, it's available for bulk orders and event book signings.
Explore the Book →Beyond the Stage
Nicole is the founder of The Room Between, a platform, podcast, and community for high-achieving women navigating life's major transitions, giving audiences a way to continue the conversation long after the event.
Visit The Room Between →