Erin Hatzikostas

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We’re entering a new era—one where how you do things matters more than what you do. AI is leveling the innovation playing field while simultaneously making companies feel less human. Meanwhile, employees are burnt toast from workplace BS. Companies that don’t adapt will evaporate.

Turnaround CEO Erin Hatzikostas cracked the code on how to exponentially grow a business while also making employees happier. Her strategy? Authenticity. And now it can be your secret weapon for building your business and a culture people are proud to work for.

But authenticity isn’t what you might think it is—“be yourself”—that fluffy unicorn doo-doo definition that lights you up but then quickly lets you down. Erin will help you see that authenticity is actually about exposing who you are, when people least expect it, in the service of others. (and that it takes work)

Erin will take you on a rollercoaster of stories, surprising data, and real-world examples, all drawn from her experience as a CEO, her best-selling books, and groundbreaking research on authenticity’s impact in the workplace.

In this highly authentic talk, Erin will help you:

• Feel more enabled to be authentic at work, which will in turn make them happier and more engaged
• Understand the proprietary research on the impact of authenticity in the workplace, including some counterintuitive findings
• Dive into the requirements of Zero Moments of Truth (ZMOT) and how authenticity can help you zoom through its requirements
• Learn how to purposefully use humility and storytelling to create greater trust and connection with their peers and customers
• Learn her framework for change—The Six Principles of Strategic Authenticity (H.U.M.A.N.S.)—that creates immediately actionable strategies to transform everything from your job postings to your sales presentations

While others are busy letting AI do the talking, you’ll be using authenticity to do what machines can’t—forge real connections, build unshakable trust, and make your business unforgettable.

When leaders face unreasonable business growth demands, they often default to fancy strategies, mile-long project plans, or hard-nosed demands to do more with less.

But what if that crusty old playbook for change is not only exhausting … but also less effective?

In this keynote, former CEO Erin Hatzikostas helps leaders reframe how they lead big change. Through personal stories, she’ll take you on a journey through the authentic, highly effective moves she made to turn around a struggling company – growing bottom-line earnings from $17M to $50M in just three years – without grit-and-grind leadership, fancy PowerPoints, or burning people out.

From making a gutsy financial decision that created immediate breathing room, to declaring culture the company’s #1 differentiator, to holding uncomfortable-but-essential meetings, Erin pulls back the curtain on what actually works when the stakes are high.

Customized to focus on your biggest hurdles, your team will hear lessons that will inspire their own, unique playbook. Erin shares how you can:

• Increase efficiency by “finding” money to fund change, without simply slashing budgets
• Create a more collaborative and productive team by running fewer, better, slightly uncomfortable meetings that actually move change forward
• Improve culture by treating it like a core business initiative, not a side project
• Enhance your team by making smarter, braver calls on who’s on the bus … and who isn’t
• Influence better and gain buy-in from key decision-makers, including learning The First 45 – a proven strategy to corral the C-suite cats
  

This talk isn’t a cookie-cutter framework or a list of catchy soundbites. It’s a collection of real stories, practical ideas, and tangible takeaways that will leave leaders energized, aligned, and equipped to lead big change – without grinding people into the ground.

You love the idea that “culture eats strategy for breakfast,” but when it comes to actually doing something about it, it feels like you’re trying to steer a cruise ship with a pool noodle. There are a million directions you could go, but it feels daunting, complicated, and overwhelming.

When former CEO Erin Hatzikostas took over a struggling company, she felt the same way—until she stumbled upon the strategy she’d unknowingly been using her entire career: authenticity. And not the fluffy, feel-good kind, but a deliberate, strategic, bottom-line-boosting approach that transformed her company’s culture, skyrocketed trust, and tripled earnings.

Now, after years of research, two best-selling books, and a whole lot of real-world testing, Erin has cracked the code on how to make creating authentic cultures and leaders as simple, tangible, and satisfying as floating on a pool noodle.

In this high energy talk, Erin will help you:

• Unpack the real baggage holding you and your people back at work
• Redefine authenticity in a way that helps you see that you’re not doing it for you; you’re doing it for others
• Understand the data and ROI (Ridiculously Obvious Idea) behind being more authentic at work
• See real, customized examples of the difference between what is inauthentic and authentic, including things like your LinkedIn profile or your company’s value proposition
• Hand you a simple framework with immediate, no-BS actions to build a culture people actually want to be part of

This isn’t another feel-good, buzzword-filled culture talk. This is a game plan. One that will transform your sea of confusion into an ocean of opportunities.

The good news: there are a million gurus, playbooks, and books to tell you how to grow your business.

The bad news: there are a million gurus, playbooks, and books to tell you how to grow your business.

In this modern-day entrepreneurial world, it often feels like you’re riding a whiplash-inducing rollercoaster where people are constantly shooting confetti cannons of advice at your face. It should be exhilarating, but instead it’s overwhelming and exhausting.

That’s how Erin Hatzikostas, former corporate CEO turned entrepreneur, felt when she first started her business. But then she discovered, used, obsessed over, and is now sharing the creative shortcut that has helped her—and countless others—go from unnoticed to unmatched, without being plagued with Comparison Cramps, Copying Calluses, or Perfection Pain.

In this simple but mind-bending talk, Erin will:

• Define The 50% Rule and help you understand how it can help you overcome common, everyday barriers to success
• Discuss the science behind why using this rule will motivate you and others around you
• Show how The 50% Rule can also help you quickly (and cheaply!) innovate and stand out from other people and companies
• Tell a ton of inspiring stories about big-time celebrities, well-known companies, and everyday people like you, all who used The 50% Rule to catapult their success
• Dive into The 50% Rule JIGSAW Puzzle, a six-part framework to help you leapfrog others without working harder and having a helluva lot more fun

You’ll walk away fired up to use this simple rule on EVERYTHING so you can stop comparing, chasing, and copying others and instead, start competing in a league of your own.