BLOG

You have a fabulous business event lined up, so of course you want to hire the best of the best to inspire your audience with a meaningful message. Top CEO speakers are some of our most sought after talent! That’s because business leadership speakers are poised, dynamic, and real. Their proof is in the pudding, and in the success of their own companies and businesses.

Having said that, many of today’s most popular CEO’s of major domestic and international companies cannot accept personal appearances opportunities. This could be for a variety of reasons including they simply do not have the time in their schedule to make appearances, they do not see speaking engagements as a lucrative use of their time, or they are not allowed to give speeches or make personal appearances outside of their own company endeavors due to corporate governance.

So the question is, how do you determine which top CEO speakers are actually open to speeches and personal appearances? Answer: Celebrity Speakers Bureau! Our sales team is networked with major companies and talent agencies that keep us in the know when it comes to which top CEO speakers are entertaining appearance opportunities at this time.

We have put together a speaker list of the top CEO speakers who ARE entertaining speaking and persona appearance opportunities:

Beth Comstock: GE veteran Beth Comstock made her way to the top starting at NBC Universal. After 27 years in multiple roles at GE, she became the first female Vice Chair. She is one of Forbes’ World’s Most Powerful Women. Comstock’s path was challenging, but prosperous. Her new book out in September 2018, Imagine it Forward, talks about starting life as a shy woman who later became one of the most innovative people in business. For a relatable, empowering talk on the ins and outs of corporate America and women in business, Beth should be your #1 option!

George Blankenship: George began his career as a Store Manager at a GAP in Wilmington, DE. Rising through the company, Blankenship became an expert on store layout and real estate. When he left the company 20 years later, he was Vice President of Corporate Sales. From there, Blankenship worked with Apple in the early stages of their retail location expansion. He’s worked with Tesla, and as a retail branding and layout expert, Blankenship has consulted with Microsoft. He is currently a consultant for Amazon as they begin their retail journey. Not only can Blankenship speak to successfully rising the ranks, but also about the changes a company makes over time to adjust to the current and future state of the marketplace.

Bill McDermott: Bill McDermott started working at 11 years old, picking up neighborhood odd jobs. At age 17, he got a $7,000 line of credit and bought a neighborhood deli. Proceeds from this business funded his college education. McDermott’s career started at Xerox, where he found success as the company’s youngest Division President. McDermott worked for a number of corporations after his 17-year stint at Xerox – Gartner, Siebel Systems, and now he’s the first American CEO of SAP SE, a company he’s been with for some time. While McDermott’s success is impressive, what makes him different is his left eye – he lost it in 2015. The accident changed McDermott’s perspective about the world and business, and he says it’s been for the better.

Jennifer Hyman: The idea for Jennifer’s Rent the Runway, an online fine apparel rental outlet, came when her sister was getting married and had to grapple with the affordability of a gorgeous dress. Years later, when Hyman got her MBA at Harvard Business School she met future business founder, Jennifer Fleiss, and they began prototyping Hyman’s idea. It worked! The massively successful company is not just profitable, but diverse. 71 percent of employees are non-white/minority, and it is one of the best places to work in New York State. Hyman can discuss equality in the workplace and how to build a business from the ground up.

Chad Hurley: The dream success Chad encountered early in his career is hard to match. After college, Hurley worked at PayPal and designed their logo, then co-created and ran a little app you may have heard of called YouTube. Acting CEO from 2005 to its purchase by Google in 2006, Hurley stayed on as CEO until 2011. Now, he’s founder and CEO of MixBit, an app that lets you record, edit, and post videos on your phone. While success came quickly, Hurley has a niche and expertise. He can talk about executing an idea, funding it, and how to handle working in a major corporation after success.

Marc Randolph: When Marc has an idea, he goes after it. He founded the tech magazine MacWorld, back before tech was tech. After a number of other ventures, Randolph was working in Northern California with Reed Hastings. Ideas exchanged during their conversations led to  the creation of Netflix. The co-founder and former CEO keeps himself busy since he left in 2003, serving on many boards and providing guidance for budding entrepreneurs. Marc’s ability to use what he knows, like mail order marketing, and turn it into something modern, like Netflix DVD ordering, is just the kind of thinking all companies should be utilizing in this quickly evolving business age.

Alexis Maybank: A firm grounding in online retail and business was the basis for Alexis Maybank’s incredible success. First, after stints at eBay and AOL, Maybank co-founded Gilt.com. Gilt is a luxury ecommerce site, which was purchased by Saks Fifth Avenue in 2014. Not wasting any time, Maybank started her current venture, Project September, the first magazine-style shopping app. Keeping an eye on trends and on what customers want are the keys to Maybank’s successful companies. She’s one of the hottest entrepreneurs today.

Biz Stone: Twitter co-founder and tech entrepreneur Biz Stone is an internet wiz. His career, though, started at Little, Brown Publishing where he designed book covers. A Creative Director stint at Xanga and a position as a Specialist at Google primed Stone for his early startups like the popular reading site, medium.com, the Obvious Corporation, and then Twitter. After leaving Twitter, Stone founded and sold Jelly Industries, and recently went back to Twitter once again. A creative, Stone found ways to take things he loved – reading, the internet, and design – and apply them in the digital age.

Dawn Hudson: Named one of Fortune Magazine’s Top 50 Most Powerful Women, Dawn Hudson knows business. From advertising, where she was Managing Director, she shifted over to branding, heading Pepsi-Cola America as Chief Executive. Now, she’s the Chief Marketing Office at the NFL. Hudson brings a shifting, but focused career path and can speak to working with America’s biggest names and how to market and brand effectively in this day and age.

John Mackey: Perhaps a new age hippy from Austin doesn’t ring millionaire, but indeed that is exactly what John Mackey, the heart behind Whole Foods, has become. After he met his girlfriend at a vegetarian food co-op, the two began a health store, SaferWay, in 1978. Success came quickly, and the pair expanded merging with another health grocer. Voila! Whole Foods. Mackey’s business sense is from the heart, as he caps his employee wages and for the last decade has only taken home a $1 per year salary. If you’re looking for top CEO speakers who have turned their passion into a successful business, John is an excellent choice.

These top CEO speakers each have their own story of success, and universal tips for building a sustainable business. Contact us today and we’ll go over fees and availability to connect you with an amazing motivational business speaker!