The seventh annual Soirée Women’s Leadership Symposium on Thursday, May 8, will feature two keynote speakers: Candace Doby and Michelle Anne Johnson.
“We’re so excited to have the dynamic Michelle Anne Johnson and Candace Doby joining us at SWLS 2025,” says Mandy Richardson, symposium founder and publisher of Little Rock Soirée magazine. “Both of these women are on fire right now, being sought out by companies and conferences for their strong messages and storytelling. The energy and synergy they will bring to the day is going to be awesome, and I’m confident they’re going to make this SWLS the best one yet.”
Johnson is an executive coach and leadership consultant who spent 25 years as a professional actress and VP in an insurance brokerage firm. Dubbed “The Speech Queen,” she’s served as an executive coach for senior leaders at major corporations and facilitated workshops for companies like Amex, Deloitte and Lowe’s over the past decade. Johnson will present “The Secret to Powerful Presence is Personal Power” during the morning keynote session.
“Michelle has been on TV and movies, and as fun as that is, the work she’s done over the past few years coaching individuals, teams and major corporations is really why we asked her to join us,” Richardson says. “Michelle focuses on the power of presence in the workplace, offering practical strategies to accelerate influence and build confidence, and her message will be applicable to everyone in the room.”
Doby is a leadership development strategist and founder and CEO of The Can-Do Company. She spent much of her 16-year, award-winning marketing career at Chipotle and has been featured on TEDx, NPR and MSNBC. The topic of courage is a mainstay for Doby, who is the creator of “The Courage Hotline” podcast, author of “A Cool Girl’s Guide to Courage” and host of The Own Your Brilliance retreat. Doby will present “Courage at Work: How to Take More Risks & Own Your Brilliance” during the lunchtime keynote session.
“As our luncheon keynote speaker, Candace will discuss having the courage to stand up and speak up in our personal and professional lives,” Richardson says. “She believes we all deserve to perform at our highest potential without fear of failure or retaliation, and her session will embolden our audience to do just that.”
New for the 2025 symposium is the option to add on a 90-minute workshop that will take place after the core event, an opportunity for attendees to dive deeper into subject matter and connect with peers. Doby will lead one workshop titled “Courage-Ready Culture: How to Get & Keep Teams Engaged for Good.” Meanwhile, strategist and advisor Deb Degner, who serves as president of The Leadership Bridge in Fort Worth, will lead the “Mastering Productive Conflict” workshop.
The half-day symposium will once again offer professional development for women in the workplace through curated programming led by industry experts, local entrepreneurs, community leaders and C-suite executives. A full list of speakers and topics will be released in the coming weeks.
SWLS will take place at the Statehouse Convention Center in downtown Little Rock, and is expected to again sell out. The popular pre-symposium VIP networking event will also return on Wednesday, May 7, at Design1. Early registration is open now and ends March 3.
Learn more on the SWLS website, and follow along on Facebook and Instagram for updates.
View this post on Instagram
