Member since September 2025
Alex West Steinman is a keynote speaker, entrepreneur, and founder helping leaders get what they want by getting out of their own way. As CEO of The Coven and an Inc. 100 Female Founder, she speaks to mid-career professionals and entrepreneurs about breaking through burnout, fear, and self-doubt to lead boldly and build lives they actually want.
As an empire builder, Alex brings radical clarity to the messy middle of leadership, ambition, and purpose. Her keynotes and workshops help people move through fear, own their power, and lead with more courage.
She’s not here just to hype you up. She’s here to wake you up — with stories, strategies, and a voice that cuts through the noise.
I'm lit up by helping people recognize their own power, especially those who’ve been told to shrink, stay quiet, or settle. I love creating space for leaders to reconnect with their courage, break free from cycles of burnout or perfectionism, and move with intention toward what they truly want.
Early in my advertising career, I was often the only Black woman in the room, and I learned quickly how to make myself small. I chemically straightened my hair. I quieted my voice. I assimilated to survive.
One day, I met a bald woman and when I asked her how she got the courage to shave her head, she said, “I wish I done it sooner.” That simple sentence stuck with me. I made the big chop and something shifted. As my afro got bigger, so did my voice. I started showing up fully, unapologetically myself.
I share that story on stage because it’s about more than hair. It’s about reclaiming space. It’s about choosing authenticity over approval. And it’s about the moment everything changes when you decide to stop shrinking.
I used to think leadership was about fitting in—being polished, quiet, agreeable. But fitting in cost me my voice.
My journey shifted the moment I embraced the parts of myself I was taught to minimize—my opinions, my creativity, my culture, even my curls.
That transformation became the foundation of my TEDx talk, where I explored how finding my voice helped me build a business, speak on stages, and help others break out of the boxes they’ve been put in. Now I speak to leaders and entrepreneurs about how to stop hiding, start leading, and get what they want—without getting in their own way.
Early in my advertising career, I was often the only Black woman in the room, and I learned quickly how to make myself small. I chemically straightened my hair. I quieted my voice. I assimilated to survive.
One day, I met a bald woman and when I asked her how she got the courage to shave her head, she said, “I wish I done it sooner.” That simple sentence stuck with me. I made the big chop and something shifted. As my afro got bigger, so did my voice. I started showing up fully, unapologetically myself.
I share that story on stage because it’s about more than hair. It’s about reclaiming space. It’s about choosing authenticity over approval. And it’s about the moment everything changes when you decide to stop shrinking.
I used to think leadership was about fitting in—being polished, quiet, agreeable. But fitting in cost me my voice.
My journey shifted the moment I embraced the parts of myself I was taught to minimize—my opinions, my creativity, my culture, even my curls.
That transformation became the foundation of my TEDx talk, where I explored how finding my voice helped me build a business, speak on stages, and help others break out of the boxes they’ve been put in. Now I speak to leaders and entrepreneurs about how to stop hiding, start leading, and get what they want—without getting in their own way.