Join us every third Wednesday for the NSA Carolinas Speaker Development Series, designed to help you build a thriving, ethical speaking business.
Speaker Development Series
Couldn’t make it to INFLUENCE this year? Or maybe after you attend, you'd love help processing the flood of inspiration?
Join us for an exclusive panel featuring NSA Carolinas members who attended the 2026 Influence conference — the biggest annual event in the speaking industry. They’ll break down the boldest takeaways, jaw-dropping insights, and game-changing strategies they brought home.
What surprised them? What challenged them? And most importantly — what should you be applying to your speaking business right now?
Come for the highlights. Stay for the real talk. Walk away with inspiration, insider tips, and a fresh pulse on what’s shaping the future of professional speaking.
Check out our Panelists:
Lenora Billings-Harris is an internationally recognized leadership strategist, keynote speaker, author, and founder of the Critical Voices Initiative, a nonprofit dedicated to helping people use honest words to open minds and build stronger communities through respectful, courageous dialogue.
Lenora is the first African American to serve as President of both the National Speakers Association and the Global Speakers Federation, and the first African American woman inducted into the Speaker Hall of Fame, and a Cavett Award recipient.
Though she has been the first at many things, her greatest joy comes from knowing she is not the last.
Emily Crookston is a former philosophy professor who left academia when she realized the ivory tower is where Big Ideas go to die. As the Owner and Decider of All Things at The Pocket PhD, she has spent over a decade at the intersection of ideas, narrative, and business, ghostwriting and editing more than 30 business books. Emily helps business owners and thought leaders write books, keynotes, and words their frenemies wish they'd written. She's also the award-winning author of Unwritten: The Thought Leader's Guide to Not Overthinking Your Business Book — proof she can walk the walk, not just help others do it.
Her work has appeared in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Psychology Today, Rolling Stone, and ThriveGlobal. As a speaker, Emily talks about the power of story. On the page or on stage, she helps experts finally say the thing they've been trying to say.
Dr. Holly A. Sullenger, CSP, of Dr. Holly Speaks, PhD, LLC, is an award-winning, internationally renowned keynote speaker, corporate trainer, and business systems consultant specializing in leadership, professional development, and technology.
Dr. Holly holds a PhD. in Adult, Workforce and Continuing Professional Education from NC State University, where she also serves as an adjunct professor and chairs the advisory board for the Training and Development Master's degree program. She is President-Elect of National Speakers Association (NSA) Carolinas.
Dr. Holly has earned the Certified Speaking Professional designation, held my only about 1% of speakers worldwide, recognizing master of crafty and sustained client impact.
Jane Jenkins Herlong - Bio and image coming soon!
