Lindsay MacMillan is a four-time TEDx speaker, USA Today bestselling author of five books, and former Wall Street VP who helps ambitious professionals build big careers and even bigger lives.
Through captivating storytelling, actionable insights, and magnetic energy, she empowers audiences to dream bigger, unlock their creative potential, and build big careers - and even bigger lives - that are both wildly successful and deeply fulfilling.
Lindsay is a sought-after speaker for Fortune 500 companies, industry conferences, and top universities.
Lindsay is represented by the All American Speakers Bureau. Book her through her speaking agent here, or reach out to Lindsay directly to streamline the process.
RECENT SPEAKING CLIENTS
Lindsay in action
Keynote and 4x TEDx speaker | 5x Author | Creative Entrepreneur | Ex VP at Goldman Sachs
What university students are saying about Lindsay’s talks and workshops…
Lindsay has spoken at dozens of universities around the world, delivering talks that leave students inspired, clear on their next steps, and empowered to design careers—and lives—that are both financially sustainable and deeply fulfilling.
Speaking Testimonials for Lindsay
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"Lindsay's keynote talk was fabulous! We had 300 women in the room, and people were talking about it all day. Her framework for making career leaps was so actionable and inspiring. We will have her back for future conferences!"
- Erica Colonero, Executive Woman Media, Washington DC
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"Lindsay was the keynote speaker for our 2025 Women in Leadership Conference at University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. She did a truly excellent job and made it so interactive for the audience. Her story is incredible and so inspiring to this next generation of leaders."
- Ivy Lee, University of Michigan Ross School of Business
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"We reached out to Lindsay to be the keynote speaker at our 2025 Michigan Women in Finance Conference. She surpassed all our expectations and earned every dollar we invested in her. Her talk had people nodding along, laughing, and crying, and she led breakout sessions to help everyone integrate the messages as well. Would absolutely recommend her for keynotes and workshops. "
Aimee Kornowicz, Michigan Women in Finance
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“Lindsay’s talk really stayed with me. I’ve struggled with balancing what seems ‘smart’ for my career with what I’m truly passionate about—and it was so comforting to see that the two don’t have to be mutually exclusive.”
— Jonathan Ramsay, University of Notre Dame
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“Having Lindsay speak at our college was phenomenal. She gets it—she’s been in our shoes—and she models a new way of building a career where you create your own dream, not someone else’s. The creative exercises and breakout sessions changed the trajectory of our class projects.”
- Levi Thompson, Kalamazoo College
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“Lindsay’s energy is magnetic. She inspires everyone in the room to dream bigger, and presents everything in such an actionable way—it’s not just inspiring, but incredibly practical. We’re so grateful she was the keynote speaker for our conference.”
- Erin Visscher, PNC Bank
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“Lindsay’s TEDx talk lit up the entire room. She struck a rare balance…deeply prepared, yet fully present and connected in the moment. Her talk went on to earn TEDx Editor’s Choice Award, and it was clear why. The audience was not only inspired during her talk, but eager to connect with her afterward! Lindsay has a natural ability to engage, energize, and leave a lasting impact. I can’t recommend her highly enough for audiences of all kinds—from professionals to students and beyond."
- Adina Zago, TEDx Organizer, University College of Cork
BOOK Lindsay for one of her signature
TALKS + WORKSHOPS
Lindsay works with you to develop a custom talk or workshop that will be most impactful and inspiring for your audience.
Here are a few of her most popular topics:
1. Stop Waiting to Be Picked
Claiming Your Power + Creating Opportunity in the New Era of Work
The old playbook for success taught us to work hard, follow the rules, and wait for someone else to recognize our potential. But in a rapidly changing world of work, the biggest opportunities increasingly belong to people willing to pick themselves.
Drawing on her unconventional journey from Wall Street executive to bestselling author, entrepreneur, and 4x TEDx speaker, Lindsay challenges audiences to stop waiting for permission and start creating their own opportunities. Through powerful storytelling, practical frameworks, and actionable exercises, attendees learn how to build visibility, trust their ideas, take courageous action, and create careers—and lives—on their own terms.
Audience Takeaways
Attendees will learn how to:
Stop waiting for permission and take greater ownership of their careers
Build visibility and communicate their value in a noisy, rapidly changing world
Take courageous action before they feel completely ready
Create opportunities rather than waiting for the right role, promotion, platform, or invitation
Redefine ambition and build a meaningful career in service of an even bigger life
Ideal for: Leadership conferences, women in business events, emerging leader programs, universities, professional associations, and company offsites.
2. Break Out of the Box
Let Your Authentic Leadership Style Shine
The workplace doesn't need more leaders who have learned how to fit the mold. It needs leaders who know how to bring more of who they actually are to the way they communicate, collaborate, create, and lead.
Drawing on her experience navigating multiple worlds—from Wall Street to the arts, corporate leadership to entrepreneurship—Lindsay shares what she learned from building a career in environments where she often felt like an outsider. This keynote helps audiences identify where they may be performing someone else's version of leadership and gives them practical tools to build confidence in their own.
Attendees leave with permission to stop sanding down the qualities that make them different—and start using those qualities as a source of leadership, connection, and impact.
Audience Takeaways
Attendees will learn how to:
Identify where they may be conforming instead of leading authentically
Build confidence in their natural communication and leadership style
Use their differences as strengths rather than qualities to minimize
Navigate environments where they feel like an outsider without losing themselves in the process
Lead more authentically and sustainably while creating space for others to do the same
Ideal for: Corporate teams, leadership development programs, emerging leaders, women in business events, and high-achieving professionals.
3. Build Your Dream Career
Designing a Non-Linear Path That Lights You Up
What if your career doesn't need to follow a perfectly linear path to become an extraordinary one?
Drawing on her own journey from Vice President at Goldman Sachs to bestselling author, speaker, and entrepreneur, Lindsay offers a new framework for building a career in a world where the traditional playbook is rapidly changing.
Through candid stories of career pivots, rejection, risk-taking, and reinvention, Lindsay helps students and early-career professionals expand their definition of what's possible. Attendees leave equipped to make intentional career decisions based not only on what looks impressive on paper, but on the skills they want to build, the impact they want to make, and the life they ultimately want to create.
Audience Takeaways
Attendees will learn how to:
Redefine success beyond prestige and external expectations
Navigate a non-linear career without needing the entire path mapped out in advance
Reframe rejection and uncertainty as useful information rather than evidence they've failed
Identify concrete next steps toward the career they want to build
Pursue meaningful work while considering financial sustainability, growth, and the life they want outside of work
Ideal for: Universities, early-career professional programs, career centers, young professional conferences, and entrepreneurship programs.
Bring Lindsay to Your Stage
Lindsay's speaking fees begin at $5,000, plus travel, with each keynote customized to the audience and goals of the event. She is also available for workshops, fireside chats, panels, and facilitated conversations.
Let’s Get Started
BOOK LINDSAY to SPEAK at YOUR EVENT
