Not a motivational speaker. An operator who’s done the job.
20 years running HR and operations. My talks send people home with tools, not takeaways.
Keynotes on leadership, HR, culture, and accountability - straight talk, real tools, change you can measure.
Most leadership talks sound good. Until Monday.
You’ve sat through the keynote that got a standing ovation and changed nothing. Everyone nodded. Nobody did anything different the next week.
I speak differently because I’m not a career motivational speaker. I spent 20 years inside organizations as a COO, Head of HR, and VP of Operations - the person who had to fix the offer letter that promised something we couldn’t deliver, coach the manager who was in over their head, and make the hard call when the policy wasn’t written down yet. I’ve built the systems, made the payroll, and had the conversations most speakers only describe.
So, my talks don’t stop at inspiration. Your people leave with tools they can use before the next meeting - and you can see the difference in how they lead once they’re back at their desks.
“You cannot build a culture people are proud of without becoming a leader worth following.”
What planners and audiences say
“You don’t know what you don’t know. Kerri is a wealth of knowledge.”
Chief of Staff for a Tech Company“Authentic, practical, and refreshingly free of corporate talk.”
Regional Director for an Insurance Carrier“Kerri’s HR expertise to say the least is VERY impressive!!! Our organization and the board of directors are blessed to have her as an extension of our team.”
Board President for a non-profitOrganizations Kerri has spoken for and advised include Saint Francis Medical Center, Veterans United Home Loans, the University of Missouri System, Missouri REALTORS®, TIG Advisors, Keystone Agency Partners, Missouri Farm Bureau, the Missouri Women’s Business Center, Jeff City Young Professionals, Women’s Impact Network, Welcome Home, and the HR Connect Conference - plus associations and employers across the Midwest.
Signature Keynotes
These are the talks I’m known for. Each one is built to fit your audience and your time slot - 20 minutes to a half-day - and every one sends people home with tools, not just notes.
The HR Easy Button The 13 systems every organization has to get right
Most HR problems aren’t people problems. They’re missing-system problems. This keynote walks leaders through the 13 systems that quietly run, or quietly sink, an organization, from the offer letter to the exit interview, and shows them how to move from reacting to every fire to building infrastructure that holds. Best for: executive teams, HR leaders, business owners, and operations audiences. You’ll leave with: a plain-language map of the 13 systems and a way to spot which of yours are held together with tape.
The Art of Self-Trust How leaders make faster, clearer, stronger decisions
The best leaders aren’t the ones with the most information. They’re the ones who trust themselves to decide with what they have. This keynote is about building the kind of self-trust that makes a leader decisive under pressure - and the credibility that makes people want to follow the decision. Best for: emerging and mid-level leaders, leadership retreats, and women’s leadership events. You’ll leave with: a practical framework for making the call when the answer isn’t obvious.
Sustainable Leadership How to lead well without burning out - or burning down
For the leaders carrying a workload nobody else sees — the ones who unlock the building and turn off the lights. This isn’t a self-care talk. It’s a structural look at how to lead when the demands never let up: managing up to a board or a boss, protecting your team’s capacity and your own, and closing the gap between being a great doer and a great leader. Best for: association executives, small-team and single-staff leaders, nonprofit and member-org audiences, any team running hot. You’ll leave with: practical tools to carry the weight without breaking, and a way to lead up when the pressure comes from above.
TALKS FOR WOMEN
I love speaking to women. Before I did it from a stage, I led a women’s leadership group as Director of Training & Development at Veterans United Home Loans. Each of these can stand alone as a keynote or breakout, or combine into a half-day session - pick what fits your event, or we build a custom mix.
Courage vs. Confidence Confidence is a feeling. Courage is a decision. My framework for how women act before the confidence shows up - and stop waiting to feel ready.
Empower Her: Negotiating Your Pay How to ask for the money without apologizing for it.
Commanding the Room How to communicate with authority and hold a room when you’re being talked over, dismissed, or underestimated.
The Art of Self-Trust - for Women A women’s cut of my self-trust keynote: making faster, clearer decisions and backing your own judgment when you’re second-guessing it.
SPECIALTY & INDUSTRY SESSIONS
The sessions I’m brought in for when the audience or the goal is specific.
So, You’re Becoming an Employer What you’re actually responsible for once someone works for you
The day you hire your first person, you take on a whole set of responsibilities most new employers don’t see coming — worker classification, the offer letter, wage and hour rules, what you can and can’t ask, what has to be written down before you need it. This session walks anyone becoming an employer through exactly what they’re now on the hook for, so the first hire builds the business instead of blowing it up. Best for: entrepreneurs, small-business owners, ag and association audiences, and anyone hiring their first employee. You’ll leave with: a clear-eyed checklist of what being an employer actually requires - before you learn it the hard way.
SWOT & Strategic Planning Retreats A plan your team will actually use - not a poster that yellows on the wall
I facilitate strategic planning retreats and SWOT sessions that get a leadership team out of the weeds and pointed the same direction. Not a day of sticky notes for their own sake - a structured working session that ends with honest strengths and weaknesses, real priorities, and a plan people own because they built it. Best for: leadership teams, boards, associations, and organizations at an inflection point. You’ll leave with: an actual plan and a set of priorities the whole room agreed to - ready to execute Monday.
The Trust Tax - Healthcare What low trust really costs a high-stakes team
In healthcare, low trust is a tax on everything - it slows decisions, buries problems, and burns out good people. This keynote makes the case that trust is a hard skill leaders can build on purpose and shows healthcare leaders how to move faster and safer by raising it. Best for: healthcare systems, clinical and administrative leaders, and high-stakes operational teams. You’ll leave with: concrete behaviors that build trust — and a way to spot the ones quietly eroding it.
CUSTOM TALKS
Need something built from scratch?
Sometimes the moment calls for more than a signature keynote - a session designed around your organization’s exact situation, your data, and your goals. I build fully customized keynotes, workshops, and multi-hour sessions that dig into what your people are actually facing. Custom sessions take more discovery, more prep, and more of me - so they’re priced above the signature keynotes. Tell me what you’re navigating and I’ll tell you what it would take.
Formats
Every talk flexes to your event:
Keynotes (20–90 minutes) · Half- and full-day workshops · Leadership retreats · Panels and breakouts · Women’s events and ERGs · Podcast and event interviews
About Kerri
Kerri M. Roberts is a keynote speaker and the founder of Salt & Light Advisors. Before she spoke about leadership, she spent 20 years doing it - as a COO, Head of HR, and VP of Operations, with hands-on work in mergers and acquisitions along the way. A Missouri native, she’s also the author of The HR Easy Button, host of the Don’t Waste the Chaos podcast, and an advisor to associations and employers across the Midwest. She speaks the way she works: direct, practical, and grounded in what actually happens inside real organizations.
Book Kerri to speak
Here’s how easy this is. Tell me your event date, your audience, and roughly how much time I’ll have on stage. I’ll come back with whether I’m available, which keynote fits, or what a custom session would look like, and a clear quote. No runaround.
What helps me quote you fast: Event date and location · Type of event and audience · Approximate group size · Time slot and format · Whether you want a signature keynote or something custom