My Story. 

I took a risk and “retired” from my six–figure job as a Regional Sales Manager mid-career to figure out why we weren’t successful in starting our family, a family I wanted more than anything! Within three months, I traded the 17–pound portable computer I would lug to corporate, government, education and reseller presentations for a diaper bag! We told God we would take as many children as He would send us, whenever He would send them! We were living in Utah. Our daughter was born two days after Christmas. Two years later we moved back to the Bay Area where our twin sons arrived the day after New Year’s and three years later another son was born a few days after Halloween. We were thrilled to have four children in five years! While I was still in the hospital, my husband brought our other children to meet their brother. A stately elderly woman in California observed him walking around the hospital with four children and asked, “Are they cousins?” He grinned and proclaimed, “No, they are all mine!”

Aghast she exclaimed, “You know you can do something about that!” It is interesting to contrast this California perspective with a Utah perspective six months later when we moved back to our neighborhood. A stately gentleman neighbor exclaimed, “Four is great, but you can do better than that!” After our daughter was born, I was approached about returning to work. When I found out I was expecting twins I knew then it was going to be awhile before I worked outside the home again! Luckily, I was able to stay at home with them in California, Utah and in Idaho where we have lived for 17 years. I was a soccer mom, softball mom, dance mom, gymnastics mom, orchestra and choir mom, speech and debate mom, exchange student mom, girls camp director, classroom volunteer, PTO President, and part–time  caregiver of my mom.

When a friend asked if I would tutor math students as a paraprofessional at my son’s school, I quickly responded, “I don’t remember Math!”

A few days into the term, another teacher friend asked, “What are you doing?

I questioned, “What do you mean? I’m tutoring your students!”

She scoffed, “Yes, for $9.27 an hour. Remember, you are more than this!”

The next year when I heard that a business teacher suddenly left, I told our high school principal, “I can help you with that!” I took a risk and my reward was a year with my three oldest at the high school. One of the debate kids asked me, “Mrs. Adams, have you heard of TED talks?” Little did I know then the reward I had in store from listening to one TEDx talk, “Start With Why”!

My children and new grandchild are my why.

My neighbor who was the communication department head at Brigham Young University Idaho asked me, “Will you come teach a Public Speaking Class?” My career began teaching Information Technology at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire before I was lured away to Silicon Valley. When I returned to teaching at BYU-Idaho I wanted to teach IT, but staying home and earning a degree in an ever changing field was a risk I took. Now I wondered if my early choices could bring rewards. What I find common between IT and speaking, is the flow of information needs to be well developed to be helpful.

Teaching speech began to reward me even more when I taught a Professional Presentations class where one assignment is to deliver a TED style talk. Also around the same time a communication student organized the first TEDxRexburg event as his senior project. The x in TEDx means it is an independently organized local TED event. A local businessman organized the first TEDxIdahoFalls event 30 minutes south. I attended the latter and when the organizer heard I taught public speaking, he asked me if I’d be willing to help coach the speakers. I said, “Sure, I can help you with that!” At this time TED granted about 300 TEDx global licenses for events organized around the world. Six years later over 3200 TEDx events are licensed to be held around the world each year. In 2020 both of these local events were set to be held in March. TEDxIdahoFalls held theirs the first weekend in March and then the TEDx landscape changed with COVID-19. TEDxRexburg is still waiting to hold theirs! Other events around the world canceled, postponed or met virtually. Since they are independently organized, each event organizer chooses for themself.

My personal TEDx coaching landscape is changing too. My clients come from referrals and entrepreneurs I meet at networking events, mainly on Zoom. Their ideas are varied. Their personalities are varied. Their backgrounds are varied. They want to stand in the middle of that RED DOT that the TED stage has made famous. They want to share their unique perspective of an idea and grow their impact.

My personal path brings the reward of the many opportunities my children and grandchild have. That is priceless! The path to the TEDx stage brings the reward of many opportunities for my clients. I get to see them cross “give a TEDx talk” off their bucket list and share an idea that can change another’s life. The first person I helped find a TEDx stage was a presenter speaking to a thousand people who mentioned, “I’d like to give a TED talk.” At the break I walked up to her and said, “I can help you with that!” She now has 1.6 million views, a bigger impact and an item taken off her vision board.

If sharing your idea with the world as a TED talk is on your vision board, I say now is the best time to prepare. Most of us have more time during lockdowns. What would it be worth to you to use your quarantine time to prepare your TED talk you’ve always wanted to give? Giving a TED talk is unlike any other talk. It is not a keynote, it is not three points, it is ONE idea worth spreading. Ninety percent of TEDx applications are rejected. So, as a TEDx expert I have seen thousands of applications – and why some of them get picked over others. Have you ever seen someone in your field giving a TEDx talk and you think, I should be there?

I can help you with that!