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Meet

Anese Cavanaugh

CEO of Active Choices, Inc., Founder of the IEP Method® and a Leading Voice on Creating Sustainable Leadership and Culture Change
  • Author of CONTAGIOUS CULTURE, CONTAGIOUS YOU, and THE LEADER YOU WILL BE
  • Anese’s experiential keynotes help leaders strengthen how they show up — building trust, alignment, and healthier culture with practical tools audiences can use right away.
Speaker Fee:
$30,000 - $50,000
Virtual Fee:
$20,000 - $30,000
Travels From:
California
Anese Cavanaugh
Book Anese Cavanaugh
Speaker Fee: $30,000 - $50,000
Virtual Fee: $20,000 - $30,000

Anese Cavanaugh Speaker Biography

Anese Cavanaugh is the CEO of Active Choices, Inc., and the brilliant mind behind the IEP Method® (Intentional Energetic Presence®) and the Positive Energy Workplace Initiative®. She’s a top strategist and advisor to leaders and organizations globally, with a mission to help people show up as their best selves, make a profound impact, and cultivate genuinely positive workplace cultures.

Anese’s dynamic keynote speeches and compelling books, including CONTAGIOUS CULTURE: Show Up, Set the Tone, and Intentionally Create an Organization That Thrives (McGraw-Hill, 2015), CONTAGIOUS YOU: Unlock Your Power to Influence, Lead, and Create the Impact You Want (McGraw-Hill, 2019), and THE LEADER YOU WILL BE: An Invitation (a leadership storybook), have inspired countless individuals to embrace their leadership potential, collaborate with passion, create fearlessly, trust their intuition, and lead with joy and effectiveness.

Her expertise in intention, energy, and presence has attracted top innovators and executives from renowned companies like Ford Motor Company, MBO Partners, IDEO, Zingerman’s, Cooper, GM Financial, Vistaprint, 15Five, Fitbit, Vivayic, Kaiser Permanente, and BNY Mellon. These organizations have partnered with Active Choices, Inc. and Anese to enhance team health, amplify leadership impact, and elevate company culture.

Featured in publications such as Harvard Business Review, The Huffington Post, CEO.com, Forbes, and the NY Times, Anese has written the “Showing Up” column on Inc.com, blogs regularly for ActiveChoices.com subscribers, and captivates audiences on stages worldwide, both in person and virtually.
Anese’s keynote experiences are custom-crafted to build the leadership traits organizations need right now: intentional presence, energy accountability, clear communication, trust-building, durable confidence, and the ability to lead with steadiness and alignment under pressure.

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Featured Videos

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Anese Cavanaugh | Keynote Speaker | EOS Worldwide 2025 Conference Highlights
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Take Care of Yourself, Create More Impact in the World
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Anese Cavanaugh: Women in Automotive Conference
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Anese Cavanaugh: Inbound 2019 Keynote
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Anese Cavanaugh | Keynotes and Speaking | The IEP Method® | Active Choices, Inc.
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Speech Topics

The Human Advantage in the Age of AI:
How presence, leadership, and vitality give your teams the edge in an accelerating world.

As AI accelerates decision-making, productivity, and scale, the true differentiator isn’t technology — it’s how humans lead, collaborate, and show up under pressure. In this keynote, Anese Cavanaugh explores the human capabilities that technology can’t replace: presence, discernment, energy, and relational intelligence. Participants will learn how to strengthen these capacities so teams stay grounded, adaptive, and effective amid rapid change.

Best for: Organizations navigating AI adoption, digital transformation, or rapid growth who want performance without burnout or cultural erosion.

Your Presence Is Your Impact:
Become a leader who creates trust, clarity, and alignment — intentionally and sustainably

Leadership impact isn’t just what you do — it’s what people experience when you lead, communicate, and respond under pressure. In this keynote, Anese Cavanaugh shows leaders how to build intentional presence that creates trust, clarity, and alignment in the moments that matter most. Attendees learn practical tools to regulate reactivity, communicate more cleanly, and lead in a way that’s effective and sustainable — without performing or burning out.

Best for: Leaders and teams who want more consistent trust and alignment, clearer communication, and leadership that lands well across the organization — especially in high-stakes, high-change environments.

The Confidence Equation™:
The practical, inside-out framework for building authentic, sustainable confidence.

Confidence isn’t boldness or certainty — it’s an internal equation that can be strengthened intentionally. In this keynote, Anese breaks down the components of authentic confidence and how leaders can build it from the inside out, even amid uncertainty, change, and pressure. Attendees leave with a grounded framework for showing up with clarity, steadiness, and credibility — without forcing or faking it.

Best for: Leaders navigating visibility, decision fatigue, imposter syndrome, or heightened expectations.

The Aligned Leader:
Creating sustainable leadership and organizational health amid chaos, churn, and AI.

When leaders are misaligned, teams will notice the effects in burnout, disengagement, and reactive decision-making. This keynote focuses on what it means to lead from alignment in environments defined by complexity, constant change, and competing demands. Anese shares how leaders can first create internal alignment, then translate it into healthier systems, cultures, and results.

Best for: Executive teams and groups experiencing change, restructuring, burnout, or cultural strain who want sustainability alongside performance.

Contagious Culture: How to Develop Workplace Energy That Drives Real Results

Anese Cavanaugh shows leaders how workplace energy shapes trust, collaboration, retention, and results — and how to intentionally create a culture where people want to contribute and stay. Attendees learn practical ways to spot energy drains, shift unproductive dynamics, and build authentic positive culture that holds up under pressure across in-person, remote, and hybrid teams.

Best for: Leaders and groups looking to strengthen workplace culture beyond surface-level metrics and create healthier, higher-performing teams.

Beyond Engagement: The Energy Advantage

Engagement data can tell you how people felt in the past — energy reveals what’s happening right now and what’s possible next. In this keynote, Anese equips leaders with practical tools to read the energy in a room, reduce friction, and build momentum that fuels performance, retention, and innovation.

Best for: Leaders and organizations navigating change, growth, or complexity who want clearer alignment and stronger forward momentum.

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“Anese brought thought leadership to our conference in an area that hasn’t always been represented. We observed her unique way of getting people to open up, think differently, and be receptive to new ideas. For those who were drawn to her sessions, the experience created a meaningful shift — inspiring them to reflect more deeply on their presence, their leadership, and their personal journey.

Something that stood out about Anese’s keynote and breakout was her ability to bring her content to life in both larger-stage and workshop settings. On the stage, our attendees experienced her presence as powerful and inspiring. In the workshop, she created a more intimate, interactive environment where attendees could do deeper work. That versatility supported our programming goals and gave attendees new ways of engaging with leadership content they might not otherwise explore.

Anese’s sessions gave us the opportunity to offer something new and different for our community: content that addresses the personal side of leadership and complements the more technical aspects of Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS). She added diversity to our conference lineup and connected with attendees who were ready for that deeper self-exploration. For organizations curating long-term programming, she’s the kind of speaker who can both challenge and inspire, while meeting leaders exactly where they are.”

Head of Programming & Training, EOS Worldwide

“Anese’s 45-minute keynote was more impactful than 20 hrs of executive coaching! I highly recommend.”

VP Chief Procurement Officer, Charles River Laboratories


“Anese Cavanaugh was an outstanding keynote speaker at our Bender Summit. She was engaging, thought-provoking, and brought a fresh perspective that truly resonated with our audience. Anese helped leaders in the room reflect on their own impact and inspired them to see new ways they could show up as stronger, more intentional leaders in their businesses and organizations. Her ability to connect, challenge, and empower left a lasting impression.”

Bender Insurance Solutions