Jen F.

Title: Professional Speaker

Higher Education

Education: Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies, minor in Theatre Arts, and Certificate in Journalism from Loyola Marymount University
Los Alamitos, CA, USA

Biography

Jen is a professional speaker whose skills in building relationships resulted in an over 300% increase in enrollment numbers. She spent over eight years working as an admissions counselor at Virginia Commonwealth University, The American University of Paris, and Harvey Mudd College. As a professional speaker, former clients include San Antonio Regional Hospital, Project Management Institute: California Inland Empire, and Regional Admission Counselors of California. She speaks on building relationships by applying concepts of friendship to networking.

Passion

I am a people person who loves building relationships, and I even have a guilty pleasure for personality tests. According to Myers Briggs, I'm an ENFJ. My Harry Potter House is Hufflepuff, and my "Sparketype" is Performer. My astrological trio is Gemini Rising, Taurus Sun, and Sagittarius Moon. When I took Strengths Quest both in college and over ten years later, my strongest strength is Harmony.

My hobbies include going to Improv class on Monday nights, Trivia on Wednesday nights, and Pure Barre (Pilates meets Ballet) a few times per week. I am a huge fan of the ACOTAR (A Court of Thorns and Roses) series and converted my closet into a recording studio to narrate audiobooks. I also enjoy international travel, sex education, and the simple things in life like reorganizing my home.

From dogsledding in Finland to meditating at sound baths, I am willing to try anything at least once, but my ultimate passion is speaking. I come alive when I'm on stage and find ways to connect with the audience through storytelling. I am fortunate to have a strong support network cheering me on, including my husband, cats, and lizards.

Featured Video

I am willing to travel

More than 100 miles

When it comes to payments

I generally get paid for speaking but make exceptions

Topics

networking teamwork in personal relationships relationship building networking and relationship building relationship management relationships building strategic relationships strategic relationships curiosity authenticity authenticity and communication authenticity in leadership authenticity leadership flexibility trust building a culture of trust building trust developing trust familiarity familiar demonstrated interest admissions admission college admission admission field admissions processes post secondary admissions post secondary education building career paths for project managers project managers purpose purpose driven leadership adding fun and purpose to our work life leadership with purpose and meaning build relationships communications communication skills communication communications strategy commonality similarity common similar shared value generations adaptability flexibility and adaptability powerful connections connections making connections building connections networking human connections successful networking community networking higher education versatility versatile friendship friends friend womens leadership women women entrepreneurship empowering women womens colleges women in the workplace women in business women and leadership leadership collective leadership team leadership speaker youth speaker engaging public speaker keynote speaker conference speaker network workshop professional speaker

Best Story

We've all been there... sitting really close to strangers on a plane and smelling all of the fumes from their food!

A few months ago, I took a flight from Chicago to Los Angeles where the woman sitting next to me opened a blue bag of Cool Ranch Doritos on an airplane. As a fan of the red bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos, I found myself judging this woman for choosing to eat the blue bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. Through this experience, I realized it's better to approach people with curiosity instead of judgement because curiosity leads to finding commonalities that bind us together.

Origin Story

As a child, I overcame a stuttering impediment. I value speaking because there was a time I could not speak. I also took modeling and acting classes to gain confidence.

When I was 14, I attended a youth conference where I listened to dozens of professional speakers. I felt so inspired by their storytelling and vulnerability that I instinctively knew I wanted to be a professional speaker someday.

Fast forward to college graduation, I met a high school counselor at a wedding who inspired me to begin a career in college admissions because it combined everything I love to do into one job. I was an admissions counselor for eight years before pivoting to become a professional speaker. Just like I did as a recent college graduate, I am once more combining everything I love to do into one job, but this time, my title is Professional Speaker.

Example talks

SIGNATURE TALK- Networking Through Demonstrated Interest: How Building Relationships as Friends Leads to Collaborating as Colleagues

Presentation Summary Description
Instead of thinking about networking as making a business connection, think about it as creating a friendship. Demonstrate interest in others during networking efforts to build relationships in the same way you would make a friend. The FACE Framework (Familiarity, Authenticity, Curiosity, and Elasticity) leads to building relationships in any setting, establishing trust along the way. Network to sell yourself as a person before engaging in business deals. Prioritize friendship to ignite organic business initiatives and collaborations.

Learning Objectives
- Familiarity: Establish trust with others by attending networking events, coordinating programs, and leading organizations.
- Authenticity: Find your people who support you along your journey by sharing who you are, including your stories and life experiences.
- Curiosity: Ask questions to learn about others, find commonalities to better relate to each other, and connect what you learn back to your organization.
- Elasticity: Personalize networking efforts by analyzing the environment you’re in and the people you’re interacting with.

Key Takeaways
- Networking is most successful when we sell ourselves as people before collaborating as business partners.
- Get to know people for who they are – not what they can do for you – by applying concepts of friendship to networking.
- Building relationships through Demonstrated Interest is the foundation of networking.
- Instead of focusing on making contacts, focus on making connections!

Audience
Customizable to various industries, timing, and sizes of audiences

SAMPLE CUSTOMIZABLE KEYNOTE- Connecting with Colleges: Building Relationships during the College Admissions Process

Presentation Summary Description
Demonstrated Interest is defined as points of contact students make with universities. When students get to know the people within universities, they are better able to decide if the universities are a great fit for them. Using the FACE Framework (Familiarity, Authenticity, Curiosity, and Elasticity) during the admissions process enables admissions counselors to attach a FACE to the name of the student in their application. Building relationships through Demonstrated Interest is the foundation of the admissions process.

Learning Objectives
- Familiarity: Narrow down your college search by considering what you want out of your college experience, including Location, Size, Major, Student Life, and Price.
- Authenticity: Connect with admissions counselors, current students, alumni, and faculty to get a sense of the people you would be surrounding yourself with at the university.
- Curiosity: Ask questions about the university to discover if it aligns with your interests, goals, and values. Use the information learned to make an informed decision about colleges to apply to.
- Elasticity: Be flexible in highlighting how you fit into the university through personalizing your application via essays and Demonstrated Interest.

Key Takeaways
- Building relationships through Demonstrated Interest is the foundation of the admissions process. Adding a FACE to your name personalizes the admissions process.
- When making decisions about universities to attend, it’s not about finding the perfect fit, but about finding a great fit.
- Discover a great fit through connecting with the people who make up the university.

Audience
High School or Community College Students

Breakout Activity: Speed Friending

Audience members will make a circle formation and split into pairs. The speaker will announce a random word, and each pair will have 2 minutes to discuss a story in their life or fact about themselves pertaining to this word. The goal is to learn about each other as people (outside of work) and find what they have in common. Every two minutes, one of the members of each pair will move in a clockwise fashion until they complete the circle. The speaker will give a new word for discussion every two minutes.