if you're looking to expand your presence,
look no further than jess ekstrom.
Jess is a FORBES TOP RATED SPEAKER that helps women and audiences MASTER THEIR MINDSET so they can EXPAND THEIR PRESENCE and communicate with INFLUENCE.
Previous clients:






















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Jess Ekstrom is leaving her mark on this world and it's amazing to watch her do it.
CHIP GAINES
Co-Founder of Magnolia Network

meet jess ekstrom
Jess Ekstrom is a 2x social entrepreneur, investor in women, 2x harper collins bestselling author, philanthropist and forbes top rated speaker.




WATCH HER DEMO REEL
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Jess embodies everything you could ever ask for in a keynote speaker – inspirational, educational, relatable, and entertaining. She's amazing to work with and our audience absolutely loved her. I can't recommend her enough!
Katie Gaudu
VP Industry Engagement / Inman
NAMED TOP INFLUENTIAL SPEAKER BY FORBES
“JESS IS PHENOMENAL. WE BOOKED HER TO SPEAK FOR NEWELL BRANDS MARKETING CONFERENCE. I SEE MANY SPEAKERS, AND SHE IS DEFINITELY ONE OF THE BEST.”
Chris Pote
Newell Brands/Devote Consultancy UK
“THE FIRST TIME I HEARD JESS SPEAK AT FAILFEST I WAS BLOWN AWAY. BLOWN AWAY BY HER COMPANY, HER SPEAKING, HER MESSAGE, BUT MOST OF ALL, BLOWN AWAY BY HER.”
Jeff Hoffman
Co-Founder of Priceline.com
“WHEN JESS IS ON STAGE, SHE IS A CONFIDENT AND NATURAL STORYTELLER. SHE KNOWS HOW TO FRAME THE STORY OF HER JOURNEY IN A MEANINGFUL AND IMPACTFUL WAY FOR AN AUDIENCE TO FEEL ENGAGED WITH HER STORY AND HER BUSINESS, HEADBANDS OF HOPE.”
Kelly B.
Under Armour Innovative Partnerships
“JESS IS A CAPTIVATING SPEAKER. HER PRESENTATION WAS THOUGHTFUL, POIGNANT, AND INSPIRING. I WOULD RECOMMEND HER AS A SPEAKER FOR ANY BUSINESS-RELATED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OR NETWORKING EVENT.”
Spencer High, Manager
National Association of Realtors
“JESS WAS AN AMAZING SPEAKER FOR OUR FRANCHISEE CONFERENCE. SHE HAD PEOPLE LAUGHING, CRYING AND LEAVING WITH BIG HEARTS WANTING TO DO MORE IN LIFE.”
Harriet Mills
CEO and founder of Wine and Design
“IT WAS A PURE PLEASURE HAVING JESS EKSTROM COME AND SPEAK AT ZAPPOS. NOT ONLY DID SHE INSPIRE OUR EMPLOYEES AND LEAVE THEM FEELING EMPOWERED TO TAKE ON ANY CHALLENGE, BUT SHE WAS 100% REAL AND CANDID ABOUT HER OWN JOURNEY. JESS WENT THE EXTRA MILE TO TAILOR THE MESSAGE TO OUR GROUP AND STAYED LONGER TO ANSWER AUDIENCE QUESTIONS AND SIGN BOOKS.
WE WOULD HIGHLY SUGGEST WORKING WITH JESS AND HER TEAM FOR CORPORATE OR COMMUNITY EVENTS. “
Ashley Kasevich
Business Analyst, Zappos Family of Companies
“IF BRENE BROWN AND AMY SCHUMER HAD A BABY, IT WOULD BE JESS EKSTROM.”
Myrna P. Daramy
Audience Attendee
“WHAT CAN I SAY ABOUT JESS EKSTROM…DYNAMIC, INSPIRATIONAL, POWERFUL? ALL OF THESE AND MORE! I HAVE HAD THE PLEASURE TO HEAR JESS SPEAK IN PERSON ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. EACH TIME I HAVE COME AWAY WITH MY HEART AND EYES FULL! MOST RECENTLY I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR HER SPEAK AT THE VIRGINIA ULI CONFERENCE IN RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. TO SAY SHE CAPTURED THE AUDIENCE IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT. IF YOU HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR THIS INSPIRING YOUNG WOMAN SPEAK…RUN…DON’T WALK!”
Debbie Reading, Director of Business Development
Salas O’Brien
“JESS IS A VERY POISED AND POLISHED SPEAKER – CONFIDENT, FUNNY, GREAT CONNECTION WITH THE AUDIENCE AND LEFT THEM INSPIRED.”
Marc Randolph
Co-Founder of Netflix
“JESS FEELS LIKE YOUR BFF! SHE CONNECTS WITH HER AUDIENCE IN A REAL WAY AND MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE HAVING COFFEE AND CATCHING UP ON LIFE. SO MANY OF OUR ATTENDEES FELT INSPIRED AND FELT LIKE SHE FITS RIGHT INTO OUR EDWARD JONES CULTURE!”
Jamie Hickenbottom
HR-Shared Services, Edward Jones
“JESS WAS AN INCREDIBLE KEYNOTE SPEAKER – A BEAUTIFUL COMBINATION OF HUMOR, HUMILITY, PASSION, AND INSPIRATION. MANY ATTENDEES COMMENTED THAT SHE WAS ‘THE BEST WE’VE EVER HAD!’ WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND HER FOR YOUR NEXT EVENT!”
Theresa Miller
Girls On the Run International
“JESS WAS AN OUTSTANDING CHOICE AS A KEYNOTE SPEAKER FOR OUR WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE. HER ABILITY TO TELL STORIES IS SECOND TO NONE. SHE MADE ME LAUGH, CRY, AND FEEL MOTIVATED ALL IN ONE TALK. THAT’S HOW YOU KNOW YOU HAVE SOMETHING SPECIAL.”
Danielle Peebler
Farm Credit Services of America

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JESS IS A VERY POISED AND POLISHED SPEAKER – CONFIDENT, FUNNY, GREAT CONNECTION WITH THE AUDIENCE AND LEFT THEM INSPIRED.
MARC RANDOLPH
Netflix Co-Founder & First CEO
BOOK JESS TO SPEAK
Want more information about booking Jess?
Fill out the form or email [email protected]
Keynote #1




💪 #1 New release on Amazon
💪 Apple “must-listen” audiobook
💪 Harper Collins staff pick
💪 Publisher’s Weekly starred review
chasing the bright side: purpose-driven thinking leads to unstoppable growth
This keynote is perfect for: workplace engagement, overcoming burnout, adapting a more positive mindset at work, employee retention, increasing fulfillment, navigating change and hardships, startup struggles and culture building.
Nowadays, it’s so easy to get warped into negative thoughts and constantly feeling like you’re moving from problem to problem.
A recent study at the American Academy of Neurology found that prolonged negative thinking diminishes your brain’s ability to think or reason clearly and it quickly drains your energy.
You’d think the solution to negativity would be to tell yourself to “just be positive!” but we all know that doesn’t trick your brain, it only frustrates it.
In Jess’ bestselling book, Chasing the Bright Side, she talks about how optimism isn’t about eliminating the negativity, it’s about using it to create something better. Even the spark of her business, Headbands of Hope, was started because of a problem she saw: kids with cancer wanted to wear headbands after hair-loss. Now, her company has donated over one million headbands to kids with illnesses and has reached every children’s hospital in the United States and 22 countries.
But it all began because there was a problem. Problems are where a lot of great ideas begin if we let them.
If you’re looking to find a keynote speaker who can deliver inspiration infused with humor and entertainment, then Jess is your choice. In this keynote, she aims to inspire audiences to not just envision a better future for their life, work, and community, but go create it.
past audiences:
Edward Jones, Zappos, Leadercast Live, Newell Brands, Inman Connect, Economic Development conferences
takeaways:
Finding the overlap between passion and profit
How to turn setbacks into comebacks
Why optimism is the key to positive growth
A better future starts with a brighter mindset
“JESS EKSTROM IS LEAVING HER MARK ON THE WORLD AND IT’S AMAZING TO WATCH HER DO IT.”
Chip Gaines
Co-Founder of Magnolia and host of Fixer Upper
Keynote #1
chasing the bright side: purpose-driven thinking leads to unstoppable growth.



Nowadays, it’s so easy to get warped into negative thoughts and constantly feeling like you’re moving from problem to problem.
A recent study at the American Academy of Neurology found that prolonged negative thinking diminishes your brain’s ability to think or reason clearly and it quickly drains your energy.
You’d think the solution to negativity would be to tell yourself to “just be positive!” but we all know that doesn’t trick your brain, it only frustrates it.
In Jess’ bestselling book, Chasing the Bright Side, she talks about how optimism isn’t about eliminating the negativity, it’s about using it to create something better. Even the spark of her business, Headbands of Hope, was started because of a problem she saw: kids with cancer wanted to wear headbands after hair-loss. Now, her company has donated over one million headbands to kids with illnesses and has reached every children’s hospital in the United States and 22 countries.
But it all began because there was a problem. Problems are where a lot of great ideas begin if we let them.
If you’re looking to find a keynote speaker who can deliver inspiration infused with humor and entertainment, then Jess is your choice. In this keynote, she aims to inspire audiences to not just envision a better future for their life, work, and community, but go create it.



💪 #1 New release on Amazon
💪 Apple “must-listen” audiobook
💪 Harper Collins staff pick
💪 Publisher’s Weekly starred review
past audiences:
Edward Jones, Zappos, Leadercast Live, Newell Brands.
takeaways:
Finding the overlap between passion and profit
How to turn setbacks into comebacks
Why optimism is the key to positive growth
A better future starts with a brighter mindset
“JESS EKSTROM IS LEAVING HER MARK ON THE WORLD AND IT’S AMAZING TO WATCH HER DO IT.”
Chip Gaines
Co-Founder of Magnolia and host of Fixer Upper
Keynote #2




“JESS IS A VERY POISED AND POLISHED SPEAKER – CONFIDENT, FUNNY, GREAT CONNECTION WITH THE AUDIENCE AND LEFT THEM INSPIRED.”
Marc Randolph
Co-Founder of Netflix
Meaningful Work: How To Be Fulfilled...Right Where You Are
This keynote is perfect for: purpose building, audiences seeking fulfillment, hitting goals + targets, improve retention rates, improving connections to customers/clients, recentering your career to remember why you started.
Let’s get one thing straight: meaningful work is not assigned to you, it’s created by you.
Most of the time we believe that in order to do something meaningful, we have to do something else: live somewhere else, work somewhere else, do something else, be someone else.
But what if we didn’t have to change our circumstance to do something meaningful, but changed our mindset around it?
Nowadays, people don’t want to just clock in and clock out. People want to feel like what they’re doing matters- it’s human nature. We want to know that all of the tasks are building blocks to something greater than themselves. We want to zoom out and say, “Yes! I’m a part of something that matters.”
When employees, leaders, entrepreneurs can create meaning in their work:
They show up with more passion
Their hustle muscle is activated
They’re more engaged in the big picture
And the ordinary tasks now have an extraordinary purpose
When we build meaning in our work: A single sale becomes a fist pump of forward progress. A customer service call becomes a deeper connection to a future customer. An end of quarter review becomes an impact report….
In other words, our jobs are no longer jobs…they’re a service to humanity.
Jess’ keynote is certainly not a namaste, save the world, love-what-you-do-and-you-never-have-to-work-a-day-in-your-life manifesto. She uses her experiences, market research, and improv comedy classes to make an inspiring yet entertaining experience.
past audiences:
Magnolia, Micron, Sharpie, Citrix, Ignite Tupelo, Catalyst University, National Association of Realtors, Banker Associations
takeaways:
Fulfillment is not a destination we hit one day, but a choice to how we live today
It’s not about the task, but what you make the task mean
Develop an entrepreneurial mindset to increase your agility and handle what's thrown your way
Learn what is success (purpose) and what is achievement (reward)
“JESS IS A VERY POISED AND POLISHED SPEAKER – CONFIDENT, FUNNY, GREAT CONNECTION WITH THE AUDIENCE AND LEFT THEM INSPIRED.”
Mark Randolph
Co-Founder of Netflix
Keynote #3




“WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE THE INCREDIBLE TALENT THAT IS JESS EKSTROM. SHE WAS A STANDOUT AMONG NINE OTHER SPEAKERS DURING CATALYST UNIVERSITY WITH HER STORY, INSPIRATIONAL MESSAGE AND LOVABLE ENERGY. JESS IS AN ORIGINAL IN A WORLD OF COPIES; NOT ONLY IN THE WORK SHE DOES, BUT IN THE STORIES SHE TELLS AND THE WAY SHE LIVES HER LIFE.”
Kelsey McKague
Director of Catalyst University
That’s What She Said: powering our inner dialogue so we can lead the way
The perfect keynote option for any women’s group or women-focused event!
There was a study that asked men and women in their last moments of life what they regretted.
Women said, “I cared too much about what others thought of me.”
Men said, “I worked too hard.”
In other words, women had regrets over their thoughts and perception…men didn’t.
Whether or not we recognize it or hear it, we have this voice in our head: the voice in our head that tells us we’re not ready. The voice in our head that makes our failures louder than our wins. The voice in our head that compares us to the woman beside us. The voice in our head that tells us someday, but not today.
So what happens when we change the story?
Opportunity. That’s what happens when we change the voice in our head to tell us that there’s good and we can bring it. It opens up a whole other world that maybe we thought was beyond reach before. Everything we want is within reach if we’re willing to throw perfection out the door and embrace the messiness of the journey.
But first, we have to learn to recognize the voice in our head and train it to be our biggest cheerleader, instead of the coach that keeps putting you on the bench. In this keynote, Jess will use her entrepreneurial story to show how she actively trained the voice in her head through times of inspiration, chaos, failure and purpose.
past audiences:
Leadercast Women, Wine and Design Franchisee Conference, and Carquest Women’s Summit
takeaways:
Recognizing the voice in our head and what it tells us
Learning that confidence is a voice, not a skill
The path to leadership begins with giving more airtime to our inner cheerleader than our inner critic
Understanding that we are always in control of our story
“WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE THE INCREDIBLE TALENT THAT IS JESS EKSTROM. SHE WAS A STANDOUT AMONG NINE OTHER SPEAKERS DURING CATALYST UNIVERSITY WITH HER STORY, INSPIRATIONAL MESSAGE AND LOVABLE ENERGY. JESS IS AN ORIGINAL IN A WORLD OF COPIES; NOT ONLY IN THE WORK SHE DOES, BUT IN THE STORIES SHE TELLS AND THE WAY SHE LIVES HER LIFE.”
Kelsey McKague
Director of Catalyst University


Download Media Kit for Jess Ekstrom
Get access to Jess’s official bio, approved photos, assets, and logos.
CHASING THE BRIGHT SIDE called a "Spectacular debut" by publisher's weekly
Stop wishing for a better world, start creating one.
Jess’ journey will inspire you embrace the power of optimism in your own life, and help you reimagine your purpose so you create good in the world while fulfilling your own dreams—right where you are.



CHASING THE BRIGHT SIDE called a "Spectacular debut" by publisher's weekly
Stop wishing for a better world, start creating one.
Jess’ journey will inspire you embrace the power of optimism in your own life, and help you reimagine your purpose so you create good in the world while fulfilling your own dreams—right where you are.



💪 #1 New release on Amazon
💪 Apple “must-listen” audiobook
💪 Harper Collins staff pick
💪 Publisher’s Weekly starred review


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I had a great time in conversation with jess ekstrom. she asked great questions and was incredibly engaging with the audience.
ELIZA REID
First Lady of Iceland
WATCH HER SPEAK










To inquire about bringing Jess to your event, please email [email protected] or click the button below and fill out our form. We look forward to learning more about your event!