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Speaking That Sticks With You

Nicole Van Valen helps leaders trade burnout for presence, and performance for something deeper: joy, integrity, and real connection.

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Why Book Nicole?

Nicole Van Valen doesn’t deliver keynotes. She delivers perspective shifts.

A Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), Society for Human Resource Management – Senior Certified Professional (SHRM–SCP), and CEO of Keane Insights™, Nicole brings 20+ years of experience across healthcare, behavioral health, and entertainment to every stage.

She’s coached leaders through burnout, cultural strain, and organizational change, long before it became trendy. She’s helped Fortune 500 teams reconnect to what really drives performance: presence, recovery, clarity, and joy.

And now?

She brings Joy Powered Performance™ to audiences ready to lead differently.

Whether it’s a corporate retreat, leadership summit, legal association, or wellness event, Nicole leaves every room clearer, lighter, and more connected to what really matters.

AS SEEN ON CBS NEWS, SUCCESS MAGAZINE, AND MORE.

Ready, Set, Go Registered Framework

KEYNOTE TOPICS

Joy Powered Performance™ equips leaders to perform under pressure while preserving team capacity, focus, and engagement.

01

Joy-Powered Performance™

How to Lead with Energy Under Pressure

Most leaders are praised for pushing through. Nicole teaches them how to reset forward.

This keynote is a powerful reframe for high-achievers who want to protect their energy, without sacrificing results.

Audience Outcomes
  • Spot what drains vs. sustains your performance
  • Shift from reactive to regenerative leadership practices
  • Use the Ready, Set, Go® framework to reset under pressure
  • Build energy rituals that increase presence, clarity, and calm
Best For
  • Leadership retreats
  • Healthcare & high-burnout industries
  • HR and people-focused conferences
  • Women in leadership events

Joy-Powered Performance™

For Future-Ready Leaders

AI is moving fast. But emotional intelligence moves people.

Nicole gives leaders a Joy Powered Performance® playbook to thrive in fast-paced, tech-saturated environments.

Audience Outcomes
  • Use AI as a tool, not a replacement, for leadership
  • Track burnout risk with The Joy Index® and resilience signals
  • Strengthen core HI skills: presence, discernment, regulation
  • Bridge AI dashboards with emotionally intelligent decision-making
Best For
  • CHRO & HR strategy events
  • Future of work / tech-transformation conferences
  • Culture, performance, and well-being summits
  • Leadership teams navigating change

02

03

Joy Powered Performance: Executive Edition

For C-Suite Leaders (+)

Lead the organization’s nervous system.

Nicole equips senior leaders with a research-backed approach to sustaining clarity, presence, and performance at scale.

Audience Outcomes
  • Strengthen executive resilience practices
  • Lead high-stakes environments with clarity
  • Regulate energy and decision-making under pressure
  • Improve organizational performance through presence and recovery
  • Strategic offsites focused on resilience and performance
Best For
  • C-suite leadership teams
  • Executive retreats
  • High-growth or high-change organizations

Lead the Room:
Joy Powered Teams

For Team Leaders (+)

Managers set the tone. This session turns “joy” into team-level behaviors, improving emotional regulation, communication, and sustainable performance.

Audience Outcomes
  • Increase psychological safety and cohesion
  • Strengthen team-level communication under pressure
  • Translate joy into rituals, rhythms, and everyday habits
  • Equip managers to model emotional agility and energy hygiene for their teams
Best For
  • Team leaders
  • Mid-level managers
  • Organizational culture initiatives
  • Departmental offsites

04

05

Joy Is Your Edge: Build Your Founder/Leader OS

For Emerging Leaders & Entrepreneurs (+)

Don’t inherit a burnout playbook. Nicole gives rising leaders a personal operating system rooted in presence, joy, and sustainable ambition.

Audience Outcomes
  • Build an internal OS for clarity and energy
  • Make decisions without chaos or reactivity
  • Lead with grounded confidence, not urgency
  • Prevent burnout by designing leadership around clarity, not chaos
Best For
  • Startup founders
  • Emerging leaders
  • Entrepreneurial communities
  • Women in leadership programs

Proven Outcomes

Nicole’s work resonates in the room and delivers measurable impact beyond it.
Across corporate, healthcare, HR, and leadership audiences:
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rated it engaging

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would choose to hear Nicole speak again

Aggregated post-event feedback across keynote, workshop, and retreat experiences.

The Research Behind Joy Powered Performance™

Nicole’s keynotes are grounded in evidence-based leadership and resilience research shown to improve clarity, performance, and well-being.

Stronger decision quality in organizations led by emotionally intelligent, empowering leaders using structured resilience and recovery practices
  • McKinsey

Lower daily stress levels in teams led by emotionally intelligent managers, reinforcing the link between communication, regulation, and well-being

  • Gallup

High burnout and chronic stress across healthcare and global workforces highlight the need for micro-recovery and energy protection strategies

  • Harvard Working Knowledge; global workforce research

Meaningful burnout reduction occurs when organizations address systemic drivers such as workload, autonomy, and recovery rather than individual coping tactics alone

  • Harvard Business Review
All sessions are tailored to the audience, from senior executives and leadership teams to HR professionals, healthcare leaders, and rising women leaders.

“Nicole brings a rare combination of mental health expertise, executive experience, and human warmth to the stage. She elevates the entire experience, whether keynoting, moderating, or emceeing.

Her timing, presence, and clarity consistently turn passive listeners into active, empowered participants.”

Executive Director

Global Biopharmaceutical Company

“Nicole brings a rare combination of mental health expertise, executive experience, and human warmth to the stage. She elevates the entire experience, whether keynoting, moderating, or emceeing.

Her timing, presence, and clarity consistently turn passive listeners into active, empowered participants.”

Executive Director

Global Biopharmaceutical Company

“Nicole brings a rare combination of mental health expertise, executive experience, and human warmth to the stage. She elevates the entire experience, whether keynoting, moderating, or emceeing.

Her timing, presence, and clarity consistently turn passive listeners into active, empowered participants.”

Executive Director

Global Biopharmaceutical Company

This isn’t just a mindset shift.

It’s a measurable upgrade in how we lead, work, and thrive.

Book Nicole to Speak