Natilie: And with speaking, I was able to, there were some times where I was literally making whatever my assistantship was, I could make double that with speaking. If you’re looking to hear how great college speakers get booked, crush it on stage, and continue to experience rapid growth in their business, then this is the episode for you! LLC, Natilie Williams is a Southside Chicagoan and a nationally recognized speaker on a mission to ensure college students lead with legacy in mind. Natilie remained professional throughout the event while still being able to engage with her young audience in a way that was honest and effective. I have the privilege of traveling around the country, soon the world, to provide college students and young professionals with the tools to prepare for executing their goals.

But for me, coming in as a graduate student, working on a PhD was really new to me because I had never done that before of course.

And then I eventually learned, maybe months after that, the business side of speaking and was able to start it as a business and turn it into a very much so awesome, successful career path. Innerview: Lessons in Leadershipis a gripping memoir reflecting on the lessons Natilie has learned from her mother's tragic passing when she was just 13 years old to her efforts of pursuing a PhD while touring the country. But it’s because I have much fewer, I think, constraints on my life, especially prior to becoming like a parent. And I would do my papers sometimes on the airplane, do my class readings in the back of the Uber as I was going to my hotel to speak. In this episode, Emily interviews Natilie Williams, a PhD candidate in communication at the University of Missouri, keynote speaker, and author.

And then also allowing yourself to have as much time as possible to work on your business and still be a person because doctoral programs are hard for no reason. My alma mater, Central Michigan University, asked to keynote a multicultural freshman leadership program and to use my “A Different World” encounter as past student leadership as the foundation of my message.Currently, I travel the nation to equip students with the leadership tools they need to achieve their wildest dreams. Natilie established her business prior to starting her PhD and was upfront about it with the director of graduate studies from the beginning, which has benefitted her. And at the end of that keynote, I had lines and lines and lines of students waiting to talk to me afterwards.

It’s so much easier to set up speaking engagements without having to do all the logistics of the travel.Natilie understands that college is the perfect place for students to create, cultivate, and enhance their leadership skills and change the world. I can say for like some of the rest of the department more so like peers, I didn’t really let them know too much. SHARON FRIES-BRITT is an Assistant Professor in the Higher Education Program at the University of Maryland, College Park. So that’s kind of when you were learning, as you said, the business of speaking and growing that part of it.