KEYNOTES, WORKSHOPS & LEADERSHIP EVENTS
Dr. Carrie LaDue brings the energy of an operator, the rigor of a researcher, and the directness of someone who’s built, successfully exited, and shut down businesses of her own. Her talks challenge the leadership myths that keep founders stuck, and give audiences a clear framework for building teams that think for themselves.
Whether it’s a 60-minute keynote, a half-day workshop, or a fireside chat, Carrie meets audiences where they are and leaves them with tools they can use Monday morning.
KEYNOTES, WORKSHOPS & LEADERSHIP EVENTS
Whether it’s a 60-minute keynote, a half-day workshop, or a fireside chat, Carrie meets audiences where they are and leaves them with tools they can use Monday morning.
Dr. Carrie LaDue brings the energy of an operator, the rigor of a researcher, and the directness of someone who’s built, exited, and shut down businesses of her own. Her talks challenge the leadership myths that keep founders stuck — and give audiences a clear framework for building teams that think for themselves.
SEE CARRIE IN ACTION
The reel below features audio from her TED talk alongside footage from stages, sessions, and real conversations. Direct, practical, and a little disarming. She has a way of naming the thing in the room that everyone already knows but hasn't said out loud.
To discuss availability, topics, or custom engagements:
Signature Keynote
Stop Being The Answer
How to Build a Team That Thinks for Itself
The keynote based on her upcoming book. For leadership teams, founder groups, and organizations where the most capable person in the room has become the biggest bottleneck.
Your best people are waiting for you to decide. Your calendar is full of problems only you can solve. And the business you built for freedom has become the thing keeping you trapped.
This talk breaks down the three patterns that keep leaders stuck at the center of everything — and the counterintuitive shifts required to build a team that operates without you.
Best for:
CEO retreats, leadership offsites, founder groups, YPO/EO chapters, company all-hands
Audience walks away with:
The three dependency patterns that silently cap growth
A framework for making yourself replaceable in the right ways
The “two-week test” to assess how owner-dependent your business really is
Keynote 2
The Freedom Trap
Why the Skills That Built Your Business Are Now Holding It Hostage
For audiences who’ve hit a ceiling they can’t explain. Revenue is strong. The team is growing. And the founder has never been more exhausted or more essential.
This talk names the dynamic most founders feel but can’t articulate: the harder you work, the more dependent the business becomes on you. It walks through the evolution from operator to leader — and what has to change at $2M, $5M, and $10M for the business to grow beyond you.
Best for:
Entrepreneurship conferences, industry associations, business coach events, SaaS founder meetups
Audience walks away with:
Why “doing more” is the wrong answer past $2M
The operator-to-leader skill shifts at each revenue stage
One question to ask your team this week that reveals your dependency score
What Happens in the Room
For founders and leadership teams thinking about exit — or who should be. Based on data from 80+ business assessments and Volare.ai’s proprietary diagnostics benchmarked against 77,000+ transactions. Carrie's talks don't follow the usual arc. There's no warm-up story about climbing a mountain, no framework with a clever acronym, no standing ovation followed by a room that forgets everything by Tuesday.
What happens instead is recognition. Founders and senior leaders hear their own patterns named with precision -- the identity attachment to being indispensable, the subtle ways they've trained their teams to stop thinking, the gap between what their business is worth and what it could be worth if they got out of their own way. That recognition is uncomfortable. It's also the thing that makes the work stick.
She draws on the neuroscience of why smart leaders can't let go, 80+ baseline business valuations benchmarked against 77,000+ transactions, and the hard-won experience of someone who has built, exited, and shut down her own companies. That combination -- personal, clinical, and data-driven -- means audiences don't just leave inspired. They leave with a specific, honest picture of what needs to change.
Formats Available
45–60 minute keynote
90-minute workshop
Virtual or in-person
To discuss availability, topics, or custom engagements:
TESTIMONIALS
"Carrie is a Five
Star Speaker"
"Carrie is a Five Star Speaker"
"Carrie took the time to understand our audience and what makes them unique. She delivered her presentation with a rare combination of poise and empathy for our audience. Carrie is a five-star speaker."
John Warrillow
Founder & CEO, The Value Builder System™
"I Couldn’t Stop Repeating those Words in My Head"
"She’s right! I couldn’t stop repeating those words in my head as I listened to Dr. Carrie LaDue speak. She connected with me and elevated our event with a presentation that our members are still talking about. I’m putting her advice to work in our organization."
Brian Hamman
President, Greater Fort Myers Chamber
"An Exceptional Presentation"
"An Exceptional
Presentation"
Event Coordinator
"Dr. LaDue invoked the audience’s attention with her charismatic storytelling approach, teaching us all that the only limits we experience are all self-imposed. She truly connected with the audience and helped them develop the self-awareness and tools necessary to take their professional strengths to another level of leadership."
Amy Lewis
CEO, SWFL Engagements