High-Impact Keynotes That Inspire Audiences and Equip Leaders

Burnout is Costing You Millions. Psychological Safety is the Cure.

Christi Venable transforms workplace culture for Fortune 500s and inspires global audiences on the big stage. Whether you need a strategic partner for leadership retention or a high-octane keynote to anchor your conference, Christi delivers.

Keynote Speaker | AI Consultant | Workplace Culture Strategist

Christi on Midday Maryland Explaining,

Why Workplace Wellness is a Leadership Strategy.

Transformational Insights for Your People. Unmatched Energy for Your Stage

Christi doesn't just deliver data, she delivers an experience. With a background in building multi-million dollar firms and a stage presence that Captain Michael T. Jones of the MPD describes as 'unmatched energy that commands the room,' Christi ensures your attendees stay off their phones and in their seats.

Burnout is high. Engagement is low. And leaders are under pressure.

Across industries and roles, people are navigating stress, change, and uncertainty often without the tools or support they need.

When psychological safety is missing, communication breaks down, trust erodes, and performance suffers.

When people feel safe, valued, and empowered, everything changes.

That’s the shift Christi helps audiences make.

The SMILE™ Keynote Experience

A proven framework that creates meaningful moments on stage — and lasting impact beyond the event.

The SMILE™ Framework is Christi Venable’s signature keynote experience designed for conferences, leadership summits, and corporate events. It blends psychology, leadership insight, and real-world application to help audiences understand how safety, communication, and empathy drive performance, engagement, and well-being.

Audiences leave feeling inspired.
Leaders leave equipped.
Organizations see the difference

THE SMILE™ FRAMEWORK

😌 S — Safety First

Psychological safety is the foundation of trust, innovation, and performance. Christi helps audiences recognize how fear and stress show up at work — and how leaders can create environments where people feel safe to speak up, contribute, and grow.

👂 M — Mindful Communication

Every culture is shaped by everyday conversations. Audiences learn how mindful communication builds connection, reduces conflict, and strengthens trust — even in high-pressure environments.

❤️ I — Inclusion & Impact

When people feel they belong, they perform better. This pillar connects inclusion to engagement, collaboration, and meaningful impact across teams and organizations.

💡 L — Leadership with Empathy

Empathy isn’t weakness — it’s a leadership advantage. Christi shows leaders how to lead with compassion while maintaining clarity, boundaries, and results.

🚀 E — Empowerment in Action

Insight alone doesn’t create change. Christi closes with practical, actionable strategies audiences can apply immediately — empowering leaders and teams to sustain growth long after the keynote ends.

AUDIENCE TAKEAWAYS

After this keynote, audiences will:

Feel energized, validated, and inspired

Gain practical tools they can use immediately

Understand how their behaviors impact culture and performance

Walk away with clarity, confidence, and renewed purpose

IDEAL FOR:

Conferences & Leadership Summits

Corporate & Executive Events

Healthcare & Education Conferences

HR, DEI, and People-Focused Events

Organizations navigating change, burnout, or growth

Executive Leadership

Christi equips executives with the tools to prioritize self-care and stress managment, foster engagement, strengthen emotional intelligence, and cultivate psychologically safe workplaces, ultimately building a more productive team.

Let’s create people leaders who cultivate a workplace of success, resilience, and growth.

Team Transformation

Christi empowers teams to effectively manage stress, establish healthy boundaries, boost confidence, and prioritize mental wellness, fostering a more balanced and productive work environment.

Psychological safety drives up creativity, productivity and improves well-being that increases the bottom line.

Whether you are planning an intimate executive retreat or a 5,000-person national convention, Christi Venable delivers the perfect blend of clinical expertise and high-octane inspiration.

MEET CHRISTI

Christi is an award-winning Keynote Speaker, Business Owner, AI Consultant, Workplace Wellness Strategist, Author, Licensed Therapist and Certified Gallop Strengths Finder Coach specializing in psychological safety, leadership, and well-being.

She's the Founder of SMILE Therapy Services, a multi-million dollar business that she managed to build from the ground up.

Known for her ability to read a room and connect quickly with diverse audiences, Christi delivers engaging, relatable keynotes that balance inspiration with practical application. Her work helps leaders create cultures where people feel supported, empowered, and motivated to perform at their best.

Why Book Christi??

The Expert Your Leaders Need. The Energy Your Stage Deserves.

The Problem:

$322 billion lost annually due to burnout-driven turnover

63 percent more sick days taken by burned-out employees

1.5 to 2 times the annual salary to replace every lost employee

87 percent of disengaged employees are looking to leave

As an award-winning Workplace Wellness Strategist and Licensed Professional Counselor, Christi Venable brings more than just a speech, she brings a transformation your attendees need to conquer the problem.

Clinical Depth: Grounded in psychological safety and mental health expertise.

Executive Experience: Insights from a founder who built a multi-million dollar firm from the ground up.

Commanding Presence: A "Speaker of the Month" winner known for keeping audiences engaged and inspired.

Trusted by Industry Giants and Government Leaders Alike

Allow Christi To Make Your Workplace Psychologically Safe!

Now more than ever employees are looking for workplaces that makes them feel safe to be their authentic selves.

Statistics on the importance of making the workplace safe and less stressful

- Here are a few:

$322 billion lost annually due to burnout-driven turnover
63 percent more sick days taken by burned-out employees
1.5 to 2 times the annual salary to replace every lost employee
87 percent of disengaged employees are looking to leave

If your numbers are looking anything like this, you need Christi!

Keynote Speaker | Licensed Professional Counselor

FEATURED 2026 KEYNOTES: THE AI MINDSET

The Human Side of AI: Leveraging Technology to End Burnout and Reclaim Excellence

In an era of "always-on" culture, we aren't just facing a workload crisis—we are facing a cognitive crisis. Artificial Intelligence is often framed as a threat to our jobs, but for the forward-thinking leader, it is the ultimate antidote to burnout.

In this high-impact keynote, Licensed Professional Counselor and Leadership Expert Christi Venable flips the script on the AI conversation. Moving beyond the hype, Christi demonstrates how AI can be utilized as a strategic mental health tool to automate the mundane, reduce decision fatigue, and free up the "emotional bandwidth" required for true leadership.

Key Takeaways:

Overcoming Tech-Anxiety: Shift from a fear-based "replacement" mindset to a growth-based "augmentation" mindset.

Cognitive Offloading: Identify low-value tasks for AI delegation to free up emotional bandwidth for leadership.

The EQ-AI Synergy: Using technology to enhance human connection and workplace communication.

The Emotionally Intelligent AI: Leading High-Trust Teams in a Digital-First World

As AI takes over the technical "doing," the value of a leader shifts entirely to the human "being." In an automated world, Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is no longer a soft skill, it is your only competitive advantage.

Christi Venable bridges the gap between high-tech efficiency and high-touch leadership. This keynote is designed for organizations that are integrating AI but want to ensure their culture doesn't become "cold" or "robotic." Christi teaches leaders how to use AI to enhance, not replace, the human connection, ensuring that psychological safety remains the foundation of a tech-forward workforce.

Key Takeaways

Building Digital Trust: Strategies for maintaining psychological safety when teams are worried about automation and job security.

AI-Enhanced Communication: Using tech tools to better understand team sentiment and prevent the "miscommunication burnout" common in hybrid/digital roles.

Leading the "Hybrid Mind": Managing a workforce that is split between human intuition and machine-generated outputs.st employee

Keynote Speaker |AI Consultant| Licensed Professional Counselor

Praise for Christi Venable, NCC, LPC

Catherine Miller,

D.C. Government

"Christi’s energy is unmatched. She keeps the audience engaged, informed, and inspired!"

Chris & Sue White,

Global Event Partners

"Her keynote transformed our leadership approach, making wellness a priority."

VIEW CHRISTI'S SPEAKER ONE SHEET

VIEW CHRISTI'S MEDIA KIT

How Christi Can Transform Your Workplace Culture, Keynotes, and Breakouts

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT KEYNOTES

Christi helps organizations transform their leaders into people-first leaders who foster psychological safety, resilience, and high-performing teams. Through her engaging and actionable trainings, Christi equip leaders with the skills to communicate effectively, set healthy boundaries, navigate difficult conversations, and support employee well-being. Christi's approach blends emotional intelligence, workplace wellness, and leadership development to create a culture where employees feel valued, motivated, and empowered to succeed. Let’s build a leadership team that drives success by putting people first.

SIGNATURE KEYNOTES

Putting Your Oxygen Mask On First To Become An Effective Leader : This workshop aims to shed light on the critical role of self-care in effective leadership for leaders. Drawing upon research-backed strategies and practical insights, this session will explore how prioritizing self-care can lead to enhanced leadership capabilities, improved decision-making, and overall organizational success.
Creating Psychological Safety In The Workplace: The Key To High-Performing Teams: Psychological safety is the foundation of high-performing teams. When employees feel safe to speak up, share ideas, and take risks without fear of judgment or retaliation, innovation and collaboration thrive. This workshop equips leaders and teams with the tools to foster a psychologically safe workplace, where trust, inclusivity, and open communication drive engagement and productivity.
The Emotionally Intelligent Leader: Mastering Self-Awareness, Empathy, and Influence: Great leadership isn’t just about strategy—it’s about understanding and managing emotions to inspire, motivate, and connect with others. This interactive workshop helps leaders enhance their Emotional Intelligence (EQ) to improve decision-making, communication, and team dynamics.

TEAM WORKSHOPS AND TRAINING

Self-Care & Stress Management
Building Your “Resiliency Muscle”
Implementing Work-Life Balance
Cultural Competency & Unconscious Bias
Mental Health Spot-Checks
Leading From Your Seat
Managing Emotions During Uncertainty
Leveling Up Your Customer Service Skills

Christi facilitates workshops of all sizes. These intimate sessions allow employees to process current events that are affecting their mental wellbeing and ultimately, their ability to perform as their best self within the workplace.

SCHOOL DISTRICT TRAININGS

Christi partner's with school districts to prioritize the mental health and wellness of their staff. Christi's tailored training programs are designed to reduce burnout, build emotional resilience, and cultivate a culture of well-being across school communities. She offers trauma-informed professional development for educators and mental health teams, equipping them with practical tools to support students while managing their own emotional health. Christi's goal is to empower school staff with strategies that promote psychological safety, enhance team collaboration, and foster a sustainable, supportive environment for both educators and students alike.

Trauma Informed Classrooms
Managing Student Behaviors with Empathy
Effectively Managing Secondary Trauma: Building Resilience and Emotional Well-Being.

Additional Powerful Keynotes, and Breakout Sessions

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT KEYNOTES

Christi helps organizations transform their leaders into people-first leaders who foster psychological safety, resilience, and high-performing teams. Through her engaging and actionable trainings, Christi equip leaders with the skills to communicate effectively, set healthy boundaries, navigate difficult conversations, and support employee well-being. Christi's approach blends emotional intelligence, workplace wellness, and leadership development to create a culture where employees feel valued, motivated, and empowered to succeed. Let’s build a leadership team that drives success by putting people first.

SIGNATURE KEYNOTES

Putting Your Oxygen Mask On First To Become An Effective Leader : This workshop aims to shed light on the critical role of self-care in effective leadership for leaders. Drawing upon research-backed strategies and practical insights, this session will explore how prioritizing self-care can lead to enhanced leadership capabilities, improved decision-making, and overall organizational success.
Creating Psychological Safety In The Workplace: The Key To High-Performing Teams: Psychological safety is the foundation of high-performing teams. When employees feel safe to speak up, share ideas, and take risks without fear of judgment or retaliation, innovation and collaboration thrive. This workshop equips leaders and teams with the tools to foster a psychologically safe workplace, where trust, inclusivity, and open communication drive engagement and productivity.
The Emotionally Intelligent Leader: Mastering Self-Awareness, Empathy, and Influence: Great leadership isn’t just about strategy—it’s about understanding and managing emotions to inspire, motivate, and connect with others. This interactive workshop helps leaders enhance their Emotional Intelligence (EQ) to improve decision-making, communication, and team dynamics.

TEAM WORKSHOPS AND TRAINING

Self-Care & Stress Management
Building Your “Resiliency Muscle”
Implementing Work-Life Balance
Cultural Competency & Unconscious Bias
Mental Health Spot-Checks
Leading From Your Seat
Managing Emotions During Uncertainty
Leveling Up Your Customer Service Skills

Christi facilitates workshops of all sizes. These intimate sessions allow employees to process current events that are affecting their mental wellbeing and ultimately, their ability to perform as their best self within the workplace.

SCHOOL DISTRICT TRAININGS

Christi partner's with school districts to prioritize the mental health and wellness of their staff. Christi's tailored training programs are designed to reduce burnout, build emotional resilience, and cultivate a culture of well-being across school communities. She offers trauma-informed professional development for educators and mental health teams, equipping them with practical tools to support students while managing their own emotional health. Christi's goal is to empower school staff with strategies that promote psychological safety, enhance team collaboration, and foster a sustainable, supportive environment for both educators and students alike.

Trauma Informed Classrooms
Managing Student Behaviors with Empathy
Effectively Managing Secondary Trauma: Building Resilience and Emotional Well-Being.

The Refreshing SMILE: A Transformative Self-Care Workbook

Be Present, Be Well, Be Whole

By: Christi Venable

Looking for a powerful add on to Christi's Keynotes? Add on her transformative self-care workbook for every attendee. Allow your attendees to rediscover their self-care, restore their balance, and enhance their well-being with The Refreshing Smile Workbook—your all-inclusive guide to holistic wellness.