Speaking & Keynotes

Speaker Bio:

Jolie Higazi is a professional coach specializing in communication and emotional intelligence. With over 15 years of experience in addiction recovery, she brings a unique, trauma-informed perspective to her work.

She has coached and spoken to diverse audiences, from corporate leaders to individuals in recovery and correctional facilities, helping them find clarity, confidence, and concrete next steps to create the lives they truly want.

Her work is built on the belief that a better understanding of our emotions is the foundation for healthy communication and strong relationships, both in business and in life. As a dynamic storyteller, she presents in a way that engages the audience in an interactive, fun, and transformative style.

Trusted By:

  • Cuyahoga County Public Defender's Office

  • NLADA

  • NAPD

  • Cleveland 20/30 Club

  • IIADA OH KY

  • Streakless

  • Revive Spa

  • The Game Doctor

  • Prosperity Haven

  • 321 This Moment

  • CrossFit CLE

  • Phyt For Function

Jolie’s Top 3
Requested Talks:

1. Don't Think Positive!:
A Counterintuitive Path to Resilience

In a world obsessed with "positive thinking" as the ultimate path to success, we've been sold a dangerous lie. For leaders and organizations striving to build resilient, high-performing teams, the pressure to "look on the bright side" can be a critical misstep. This keynote, "Don't Think Positive," challenges the harmful practice of toxic positivity and offers a more realistic, compassionate, and ultimately more effective alternative. 

Drawing on her experience as a Communication Coach and person in recovery and insights from trauma research and neuroscience, Jolie uncovers why minimizing hardship—whether in business or in our personal lives—leads to burnout, emotional disengagement, and a decline in true resilience. 

This talk proposes a "Both/And" framework that allows leaders to acknowledge difficulties and foster a culture of genuine support, leading to deeper trust, more honest communication, and sustainable wellbeing that is palpable. Attendees will leave with practical tools to transform their leadership style and create environments where authenticity, not forced optimism, is the true engine of success.

2. How to Have Difficult Conversations

Jolie Higazi approaches difficult conversations not as mere communication techniques, but as profound opportunities for personal growth, deeper connection, and the development of emotional resilience. Her work suggests that the primary barriers to these conversations are internal: fear (of judgment, rejection, or causing discomfort), a lack of self-awareness regarding one's own triggers and intentions, and undeveloped skills in emotional regulation and authentic expression. She advocates for an "inside-out" approach, where individuals first do the work of understanding their own emotions, setting boundaries, and cultivating self-acceptance.

Only then can they approach difficult dialogues with a "learning stance," focusing on understanding the other person's perspective, disentangling intent from impact, and collaboratively seeking solutions rather than assigning blame.

She emphasizes that feelings are at the heart of these conversations and must be acknowledged and expressed authentically, even when uncomfortable. Her unique background in recovery and trauma informs her deep empathy and practical strategies for navigating emotionally charged interactions, both personally and professionally.

3. Navigating Grief Without Needing To Resolve it

This presentation moves beyond traditional stage and symptom-reduction models to explore grief not as a pathology to be managed, but as a natural, necessary human process often complicated by attempts at control and restrictive timelines. Clinicians frequently encounter the pressure to be perfectly composed guides for clients, a burden that contributes to professional distance and burnout.

We challenge the notion that emotional regulation means minimizing or overcoming pain. Instead, the talk introduces Self-Compassion as the essential, counter-intuitive clinical framework for embracing difficulty with non-judgmental acceptance. By cultivating this practice, clinicians can process their own cumulative grief and vicarious trauma, fostering a more sustainable and resonant presence in their work.

Through an experiential learning exercise and role-play, participants will directly compare the impact of a "textbook" response to a response rooted in lived empathy and radical acceptance. This session provides actionable steps for clinicians to integrate non-perfectionistic self-work into their professional lives, ultimately improving client outcomes by allowing for authentic connection and demonstrating how a healthy, completed grief process enhances, rather than detracts from, therapeutic capacity.

Additional Areas Of Expertise

  • Addiction & Recovery

  • Emotional Intelligence

  • Healthy Relationships

  • Self-Discovery/ Authenticity

  • Entrepreneurship

  • Leadership

  • Boundaries & Communication

  • Conflict Resolution

Request Jolie For Your Event