How I became a Public Speaker Full-Time

It Didn’t Happen Overnight

People often assume that becoming a full-time speaker was a planned career move. It wasn’t. It was a series of small yeses that eventually added up to a life I never could have predicted. It started with saying yes to a free talk at a local university. Then yes to a panel discussion. Then yes to a keynote at a conference. Each time, I felt more alive on stage than I ever did behind a desk, and each time, the voice in my head got a little louder: “This is what you’re supposed to be doing.”

The transition from tech to full-time speaking was terrifying. I didn’t have a playbook. I didn’t know anyone who had done it — at least not anyone who looked like me. I had to figure out how to price my talks, how to pitch myself to organizations, how to build a speaker website, and how to manage the feast-or-famine cycle of freelance income. There were months where I had three bookings in a week and months where my calendar was empty and so was my confidence. But I kept going, because every time I stood in front of an audience and saw even one person’s eyes light up with recognition, I knew this was worth the risk.

Building a Speaking Career from Scratch

If you’re thinking about pursuing speaking, here’s my advice: start where you are. Speak for free at local events to build your reel. Record everything. Get comfortable being uncomfortable on stage. And most importantly, speak about something you genuinely care about — audiences can feel the difference between someone delivering a talk and someone sharing their truth. Your story, your perspective, your voice — they have value. And the world needs to hear them.