Member since July 2025
Kelly Poquiz Burke is a Keynote Speaker, Executive Coach and the Founder of Career Slay®. Before launching her business, Kelly built a distinguished career as an award-winning marketer, bringing over a decade of experience from top advertising agencies and major brands. She’s worked with iconic names like GameStop, DiGiorno, Central Market, and Chick-fil-A, and led notable brand equity and Super Bowl campaigns for Avocados From Mexico, Frito-Lay, and Doritos. Her excellence in marketing was recognized in 2023 when she received the prestigious Brand Innovators “40 Under 40” Award for the Southeast region.
In 2020, Kelly’s personal journey took a profound turn when she was diagnosed with breast cancer while pregnant, during the height of the pandemic. Emerging stronger and more purpose-driven, she found a new calling: to inspire and empower others to live and lead authentically. This passion became the foundation for Career Slay®, where she now helps leaders unlock their full potential and cultivate fulfilling, joyful careers.
Kelly is also the host of the Career Slay podcast, where she interviews people who truly love what they do and shares candid career advice.
Beyond Career Slay®, Kelly serves as the EVP of Strategy & Insights for the DFW American Marketing Association and previously held a position on the Executive Leadership Council for Susan G. Komen. She holds an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin and a BBA from the University of Notre Dame. Kelly also graduated from the HEROIC Public Speaking Stage Performance Mastery program and is pursuing her Associate Certified Coach credential through the International Coaching Federation (ICF).
As a young cancer survivor, I learned just how precious life was and became determined to live it to the fullest. My passions include traveling the world with my adventurous family, eating delicious food, and staying healthy through fitness and wellness activities. My purpose is helping high performers courageously develop their careers and become the fearless leaders they were meant to be.
On stage I share the moment I found out that I had just landed my dream job getting to work on Doritos Super Bowl ads. Little did I know that six months later my whole world would be turned upside down after finding out I had breast cancer at the age of 30 while pregnant during the global pandemic. I take the audience on a journey of navigating work and life during a crisis and how they can regain agency in uncertain times.
As the daughter of Filipino immigrant parents, my main goal in life was to be successful and achieve the “American Dream”. For many years this was my primary pursuit, but everything changed for me at the beginning of 2020. In February 2020, I was just eight weeks pregnant with my first child when I received a shocking breast cancer diagnosis. A few weeks later, the world suddenly shut down due to the global pandemic.
It was a harrowing time filled with fear and uncertainty. While I desperately wanted my husband to go to every doctor’s appointment, because of the pandemic, I had to go alone. Going through cancer treatment in isolation, with the baby in my womb as my only companion, was life-changing. I found my deepest motivation in fighting not just for my own life, but for hers as well. As a young woman with no family history of breast cancer, I was reminded just how fragile and precious life truly is.
So, after beating breast cancer and delivering a healthy baby girl, I knew that I could not waste my second lease on life. That experience drove me to become an executive coach and find my own purpose of motivating others to live their lives authentically.
We’re made to believe that we can have it all–juggling the successful career and thriving life we see on picture-perfect social posts. To get there, we’re told to chase work-life balance like it’s the holy grail. But for many high-achieving professionals, the pace of ambition is unsustainable—and burnout has become the cost of success.
What if it doesn’t have to be that way?
In this honest and energizing keynote, founder and former Fortune 50 marketing leader, Kelly Poquiz Burke, challenges outdated ideas about hustle culture, ambition, and balance. With humor and heart, she offers a powerful mindset shift—one that helps audiences break free from burnout and redefine success on their own terms.
Key Takeaways:
On stage I share the moment I found out that I had just landed my dream job getting to work on Doritos Super Bowl ads. Little did I know that six months later my whole world would be turned upside down after finding out I had breast cancer at the age of 30 while pregnant during the global pandemic. I take the audience on a journey of navigating work and life during a crisis and how they can regain agency in uncertain times.
As the daughter of Filipino immigrant parents, my main goal in life was to be successful and achieve the “American Dream”. For many years this was my primary pursuit, but everything changed for me at the beginning of 2020. In February 2020, I was just eight weeks pregnant with my first child when I received a shocking breast cancer diagnosis. A few weeks later, the world suddenly shut down due to the global pandemic.
It was a harrowing time filled with fear and uncertainty. While I desperately wanted my husband to go to every doctor’s appointment, because of the pandemic, I had to go alone. Going through cancer treatment in isolation, with the baby in my womb as my only companion, was life-changing. I found my deepest motivation in fighting not just for my own life, but for hers as well. As a young woman with no family history of breast cancer, I was reminded just how fragile and precious life truly is.
So, after beating breast cancer and delivering a healthy baby girl, I knew that I could not waste my second lease on life. That experience drove me to become an executive coach and find my own purpose of motivating others to live their lives authentically.
We’re made to believe that we can have it all–juggling the successful career and thriving life we see on picture-perfect social posts. To get there, we’re told to chase work-life balance like it’s the holy grail. But for many high-achieving professionals, the pace of ambition is unsustainable—and burnout has become the cost of success.
What if it doesn’t have to be that way?
In this honest and energizing keynote, founder and former Fortune 50 marketing leader, Kelly Poquiz Burke, challenges outdated ideas about hustle culture, ambition, and balance. With humor and heart, she offers a powerful mindset shift—one that helps audiences break free from burnout and redefine success on their own terms.
Key Takeaways:
