Speaking + Workshops
Speaking & Workshops
Urmi doesn’t speak at audiences.
She works with them.
Every session is a workshop, not a lecture. Your people don’t just hear ideas, they work with them. They leave with filled templates, personal reflections, and insights that are unmistakably their own. Not borrowed wisdom. Clarity they excavated themselves.
Urmi brings 25+ years of corporate leadership to the stage, including 15 years working directly alongside CEOs at Grainger and True Value. She knows what it means to lead through real pressure, navigate complex organizations, and earn trust in rooms that weren’t always expecting her. That lived experience is what makes her sessions land differently.
Your audience will still be thinking about it on the drive home.
The Story Behind the Work
I was born and raised in India, the daughter of physicians who believed that a life of service was a life well lived. I came to America after marriage and spent years building a career in an industry and a country that wasn’t always expecting me.
I learned to lead in rooms where I was often the only person who looked like me. I learned the
invisible rules when to speak, how to be heard, how to hold authority without losing warmth.
And I learned that the leaders who struggle most are rarely lacking in competence.
They are lacking in the permission to be fully themselves.
That realisation became the foundation of everything I teach. I don’t speak from theory. I speak
from the life I have actually lived - as an immigrant, a corporate leader, a coach, a mother, and a woman who has navigated every room this work touches.
What Your Audience Will Experience
A session that begins with stillness.
Every keynote and workshop opens with a brief mindfulness practice - a grounding moment
before the work begins. Most audiences arrive a little sceptical. By the end, they are asking for it at the next session.
Real tools, not just inspiration.
Every session includes reflection templates, frameworks, and practical exercises built on
evidence-based tools including Non-Violent Communication (NVC), the Wheel of Life, Trust
Matrix, Six Thinking Hats, and Empathy Mapping. Your people leave with something they can
use the next morning.
A room that feels safe enough to be honest.
The best conversations happen when people feel genuinely seen. Urmi creates that
environment quickly - through presence, humor, and deep respect for the intelligence already in the room.
Signature Talks & Workshops
From Invisible to Influential
Audience: South Asian & immigrant professionals | Corporate DEI events | Leadership conferences | Format: Keynote 45–60 min | Workshop 90 min
Many Immigrant leaders arrive at leadership with deep competence and still find themselves shrinking in rooms where they belong. This session names the invisible barriers, reframes the cultural strengths often dismissed as weaknesses, and gives leaders a practical framework for communicating with authority while remaining authentically themselves.
Tools & Frameworks Used:
NVC (Non-Violent Communication) - expressing needs and convictions without aggression
You Attitude - leading every message with the listener in mind
DISC Profiling Insights - understanding and adapting to different communication styles
Participants leave with:
✓ Their default communication style identified and a clear sense of when and how to adapt it
✓ A practical NVC framework for difficult conversations
✓ Greater confidence speaking up, pushing back, and advocating for themselves and their teams
The Essence of Leadership
Audience: Mid to senior leaders | Leadership retreats | Industry conferences | Association events | Format: Keynote 45 min | Workshop 90 min
What does it actually mean to lead? Not the job title, not the metrics but the daily practice of showing up with clarity, courage, and care. This workshop explores four essential leadership principles and gives participants hands-on practice with each one. Grounded in 25 years of corporate experience and immediately actionable.
Tools & Frameworks Used:
Clarity of Vision : one-exercise to identify the single most important thing to achieve
Communication : communicating clearly and setting expectations with confidence
Execution Excellence : consistent actions that drive toward the goal
Team Engagement : diagnosing and strengthening team engagement and relationships
Participants leave with:
✓ A written leadership vision statement they can use immediately
✓ Their top 3 core values named and understood in context
✓ A clear framework for driving team engagement toward a shared goal
Mastering Assertive Communication
Audience: Leaders at all levels | South Asian professionals | Women in leadership | Corporate teams | Format: Workshop 90 min | Customised version available for South Asian leaders
Communication is not just what you say, it is how you are received. For South Asian leaders especially, cultural conditioning around respect and humility can make assertive communication feel impossible. This workshop addresses those specific barriers head-on, giving participants two powerful and immediately usable tools.
Tools & Frameworks Used:
NVC (Non-Violent Communication) - expressing needs and feelings without aggression or apology
Your Attitude - audience-centric communication that leads with the listener’s perspective
Participants leave with:
✓ Their communication style identified and understood
✓ A practical NVC framework for navigating difficult conversations with empathy and clarity
✓ Confidence speaking up, advocating, and being heard without losing warmth
Vision Board Workshop
Audience: General professionals | Women’s groups | Corporate offsites | Year-end and new year events | Format: Workshop 90 min | Cost: Free to low-cost community version available
I have been using vision boards for over a decade. They have brought me immense clarity, drive, and the courage to pursue what I actually want — not just what I was supposed to want. This workshop guides participants through three focused exercises to create a nearly complete vision board in a single session. Equal parts reflective and practical.
Tools & Frameworks Used:
Most Important Questions - uncovering life aspirations, personal growth goals, and desired contributions
Wheel of Life - identifying gaps and areas needing attention and balance
Word of the Year + Vision Board - bringing aspirations and identified gaps into a tangible visual format
Participants leave with:
✓ An 80% completed personal vision board
✓ A single word that will anchor their intentions for the year ahead
✓ Clarity on what they truly want and what has been quietly competing with it
Leading Through Change
Audience: Leaders navigating organisational transitions | HR teams | Corporate offsites | Manufacturing & distribution organisations | Format: Workshop 90 min | Corporate pricing on enquiry
Most change initiatives fail not because of poor strategy but because leaders underestimate the emotional journey their people are on. I firmly believe the missing link in preparing for change is the time to fully understand its human impact. This workshop maps that journey and gives leaders the communication tools to meet people where they are.
Tools & Frameworks Used:
Five Phases of Change - Disbelief, Anger, Sadness, Acceptance, and Optimism with
specific tools for each
Empathy Mapping - a practical exercise to map the emotions and thoughts of those affected by change
Communication Strategies - best practices for each phase of the change journey
Participants leave with:
✓ A clear map of where their team is in the change journey and what they need at each stage
✓ Communication language that meets people in their actual emotional reality
✓ Greater empathy and confidence leading teams through uncertainty
Self-Awareness as a Leadership Superpower
Audience: HR leaders | Executive teams | Leadership development programmes | Format: Keynote 45 min | Workshop 90 min
The leaders who grow fastest are not always the most talented — they are the most self-aware. This session explores what self-awareness actually looks like in practice, how to identify the blind spots that cost you trust and effectiveness, and how to build the inner clarity that makes every other leadership skill work better.
Tools & Frameworks Used:
DISC Profiling - understanding your natural style and how others experience you
Reflection Templates - structured exercises to surface blind spots and growth edges
Participants leave with:
✓ A clearer picture of how they show up as a leader — and how others experience them
✓ Their top three blind spots named and a plan for addressing them
✓ A personal self-awareness practice they can sustain beyond the session
Service Excellence
Audience: Customer-facing teams | Retail and distribution organizations | Association events | Format: Workshop 60–90 min
What does genuine service feel like from the inside? This workshop goes beyond scripts and processes to explore the mindset, presence, and values that turn a transaction into a
relationship. Practical, interactive, and grounded in real industry experience from 25 years in retail and distribution.
Participants leave with:
✓ A shared language for what exceptional service actually means on their team
✓ Concrete behaviors they can implement immediately
✓ Greater ownership and pride in the service they deliver
Who Books Urmi
Industry Associations & Trade Groups
Clients include Electrology Association of Illinois and AH Realtors Association.
Corporate & Non profit Organisations
Workshop clients include Discover Financial/ Capital One, True Value, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Camp I am Me, Adira Leadership Academy, Costello Dental Excellence, Durante and Rich Real Estate
Event Organisers & Conference Planners
Looking for a speaker who brings both boardroom credibility and a coaching presence —
someone who leaves the room different, not just inspired.
What Clients Say
“You did such a fantastic job building this content and facilitating a great workshop! We appreciate you and are lucky to have you on the team.”
— Jake Kalnitz
SVP & Chief Merchandising Officer, True Value Company
“Your session was thoughtful, inspiring, and insightful. To give others the gift of being able to create a path they may not have seen before is a beautiful thing. Lots of wisdom relayed to everyone present.”
— Leslie Metcalf
Project Thrive
“Urmi brings real-world experience and perspective — she is pragmatic yet inspiring, and so incredibly thoughtful and inclusive. I am grateful for the insight and tools she has shared with me, from Flow to Personal Branding to Vision exercises and Team Building.”
— Amanda Thor
Director, Global Impact — Operations Integration, General Mills
“Urmi is an exceptionally skilled coach who helps bring meaningful insights to teams and individuals. For people leaders in a professional setting, Urmi can help bring your group to the next level of whatever you are striving to achieve.”
— Jennifer McNeill
Supply Chain Executive & Global Logistics Expert
Let’s Talk About Your Event
Whether you’re planning a keynote for 500 or an intimate leadership workshop for 20 — the first step is a conversation about your audience, your goals, and what success looks like for your event.
Urmi is available for:
• Keynote presentations - 30 to 60 minutes
• Half-day and full-day workshops
• Panel discussions and moderated conversations
• Virtual and in-person engagements
• Industry association events, corporate offsites, and leadership retreats
The right speaker doesn’t just fill time. They change the conversation.
→ Enquire about booking Urmi for your event →
