KEYNOTE SPEAKING
Your Spark for Connection, Courage, and Bold Action.
A powerful keynote doesn't just fill a room—it fills your people with momentum, insight, and a renewed sense of purpose. I create engaging, interactive programs that meet your students where they are and move them forward.
Who I Speak To
Keynotes designed for the unique needs of college and university audiences
Student Leaders
Student organization officers, orientation leaders, resident assistants, emerging leaders, advanced leaders
Greek Life
Fraternities, sororities, across all councils and organization types; including officer training, Greek Week programming, and recruitment/intake
All Students
Campus-wide leadership programs, conferences, training series, leadership certificate programming
First-Year Students
Orientation, New Student Convocation, Welcome Week, First Year Experience Programming
Professional Staff
Division all-staff days, departmental retreats, professional development programming, new manager training
Choose Your Audience
College Students & Organizations
Signature programs designed to inspire action and create lasting change.
Every program is customized to your campus.
MOST REQUESTED
The Balancing Act: Finding Balance as a College Student
College is more complex than ever and is truly a balancing act—academics, involvement in clubs and organizations, friends, family, and the demands of a personal life can leave students feeling unstable. That's why finding and maintaining balance isn't a nice-to-have. It's essential.
Through humor, personal storytelling, and practical strategies grounded in real student experience, Austin helps students understand how to prioritize what matters, manage their mental health, and keep moving toward their goals without losing themselves in the process.
Learning Outcomes
Recognize common habits and patterns in student leaders that quietly prevent growth—like struggling to say no, avoiding delegation, and treating busyness as a badge of honor
Incorporate person-first behaviors into daily life while still honoring academic and leadership responsibilities
Build a personal approach to balance that is sustainable, not just aspirational
Create a culture of positive student leadership on campus by modeling healthy engagement for those around them
Better utilize advisors, mentors, and supervisors as genuine sources of support and accountability
Ideal For
Leadership conferences, student organization training, welcome week, orientation, all-campus programming, and any student audience at any point in the year
GREEK LIFE
Make Your Founders Proud
What would it look like if your community's actions were truly in alignment with what your founders intended? Would they recognize your organization today?
Make Your Founders Proud challenges leaders to take a critical, honest look at the state of their chapters and communities—to determine what must change for their legacies to continue. Through real dialogue and tough conversation, this program asks every participant to look beyond competition and ego, take accountability for where their community is, and make a genuine plan to build something better. We have the potential to be the organizations our founders always hoped for. This program is how we start getting there
Learning Outcomes
Identify the current issues affecting both their community and the broader fraternal movement—and understand how those issues are connected
Understand how those challenges affect the health, belonging, and sustainability of their membership and organizations
Address concerns around diversity, equity, and inclusion with honesty and a commitment to doing better
Build more effective relationships with one another across chapters and councils to inspire collaborative action
Create a realistic, community-owned plan of action to tackle their most pressing challenges and opportunities
Ideal For
Greek Week programming, FSL leadership conferences, IFC, PHC, MGC, NPHC council retreats, chapter officer training, fraternity/sorority advisor and staff days
GREEK LIFE & STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS
Ready. Set. Recruit.
For too long, recruitment has been built on outdated techniques that don't accurately reflect the values or the real, lifelong benefit of joining a fraternity, sorority or student organization. Our campuses have changed. The students walking through your door have changed. And the same events, training scripts, and marketing tactics no longer work the way they used to. It's time to step back, assess what you're actually doing, and use your purpose to reframe the whole approach.
This program helps organizations reimagine recruitment into a values-focused strategy—one that builds authentic relationships, creates meaningful and inclusive experiences, and attracts the members who are genuinely ready to belong.
Learning Outcomes
Honestly assess current recruitment tactics and understand what is and isn't working—and why
Create a culture of shared recruitment strategy that activates all members, not just chapter leadership
Build a more inclusive recruitment process that acknowledges and welcomes the full range of identities and experiences potential new members bring
Understand the role of authentic relationship-building in both effective recruitment and long-term member belonging
Leave with a concrete, community-specific action plan for reimagining recruitment in a way the whole chapter can believe in
Ideal For
Recruitment or intake preparation, council-wide recruitment training, chapter officer retreats, fraternity/sorority life conferences, student organizations navigating membership growth
FIRST YEAR STUDENTS
Your First Year Advantage
Your first year of college can be filled with both challenges and excitement. You want to find your people, explore your interests, and get settled into your major—but it can feel overwhelming before it feels exciting. Through his own difficult-turned-rewarding college journey, humorous stories, and practical tools drawn from everyday experience, Austin helps students realize that they already have what they need to make the most of this moment. They just need to know how to use it. Students walk away with a toolkit they can apply right away—to explore without overcommitting, find belonging, and create an action plan for a successful year.
Learning Outcomes
Recognize and address the common feelings and fears that hold first-year students back from fully engaging in their new environment
Build a personal first-year action plan that integrates wellbeing, academics, and involvement in a realistic, sustainable way
Develop a clearer understanding of how to identify opportunities that are genuinely the right fit—based on their interests, identities, and goals
Learn how to build and lean on campus relationships—with peers, advisors, and resources—early and often
Leave with a concrete commitment to one action they will take in the next 30 days to strengthen their college experience
Ideal For
Orientation programs, welcome week, first-year experience (FYE) courses, new student convocation
Don’t See What You Need? No Problem!
Every program is tailored. Let's talk about your goals, your students and staff, and what would make the biggest impact on your campus.
Some of the best programs are built together!
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![Baldwin Wallace University logo with yellow text on a brown background.]()
"He was amazing to work with because he customized his keynote to include specific relevant issues to the FSL community at BW. His presentation style was natural, engaging, and entertaining. The audience was extremely impressed and really enjoyed the honest conversation we had. I would highly recommend bringing in Austin."
Baldwin Wallace University
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![University of Michigan Spartan logo with a blue helmet and crest on a white background]()
"Austin was so incredible to work with - he made a point of catering his program to what would truly resonate with the men here at SJSU. He provided a much-needed articulation of issues, and provided a space where the fraternity men where challenged to reflect on how their recruitment tactics could progress.
San Jose State University
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![Blue background with white text and logo of a maple leaf, reading 'Indiana State University'.]()
"Austin is a true professional and a pleasure to work with. He was very intentional about customizing his keynote for maximum impact with our Indiana State Greek leaders and challenged them to really consider the current state of their organizations. I would have no hesitations about inviting Austin back to campus in the future."
Indiana State University
Staff, Faculty and Leadership
The same people who give everything to their students deserve intentional investment too. These programs are designed specifically for higher education professionals.
NEW PROGRAM!
The Balancing Act: Staff Edition
Higher education professionals give everything they have to their students—and often have very little left for themselves. The Balancing Act: Staff Edition is a keynote designed specifically for the people who do the work.
Using humor, personal storytelling from his years in their shoes, and grounded practical strategies, this program helps staff reconnect with their why, reclaim their energy, and build sustainable habits that help prevent burnout before it takes hold. This isn't a lecture on self-care. It's an honest, energizing conversation about what it actually looks like to care for yourself while caring for the students who count on you.
Learning Outcomes
Recognize the patterns and habits that quietly lead to burnout in higher ed work —and understand why so many of us normalize them
Develop person-first practices that protect personal wellbeing while honoring professional responsibilities and commitments
Reconnect with the purpose and values that brought them to student affairs in the first place
Build practical strategies for setting limits, delegating with confidence, and asking for support without guilt
Leave with a concrete personal commitment for showing up differently for themselves—so they can keep showing up for their students
Ideal For: Faculty, staff, senior leadership across divisions and departments; ideal for divisional kickoffs or retreats, training days
Need a different topic for staff? No Problem!
We can brainstorm the best keynote program to best meet your teams where they are at.
