Death, joy, storytelling, and the courage it takes to live honestly, told by someone who’s sat with all of it.
“He doesn’t perform for a room so much as talk with it, and people leave feeling like they were part of the conversation.”
I’ve sat with people in their last hours, written for children’s television, and stood in rooms full of strangers talking about the things they were taught to swallow. My talks come from all of it. They’re honest and personal, and usually funnier than people expect a death doula to be. Audiences leave thinking less about dying and more about how they want to live.
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The talks:
Keynotes · Panels ·
Fireside conversations · Book talks · Workshops
Where I’ve Spoken
SXSW
Aspen Ideas: Health
Culture Con
Esalen Institute
End Well
The Philosophical Research Society
VIBE: Black Market Research & Insights Professionals Conference
Aging in Community Conference
Death Fest, with Hospice of the Piedmont and Woven Roots Collective
GiveWillow
INELDA
Reimagine
Going With Grace
Deathbeds and Writing Rooms
What being a death doula taught me about telling stories, and what telling stories taught me about sitting with the dying. A talk on how creativity and care feed each other, and how storytelling can help us carry grief.
Never Can Say Goodbye: Why We Don’t Talk About Death
Silence around death runs deep, especially in Black communities. Drawing from my book and my work at the bedside, this talk looks at where that silence comes from, what it costs us, and what happens when we finally break it.
Grief, Death & Children’s Television
Kids already know about loss. They just don’t always have the words. As a death doula and an Emmy-nominated children’s TV writer, I talk about how stories can give children language for grief, and why the shows they love are a good place to start.
The Grief Nobody Names: Loss, Work & Who We Become Next
Grief doesn’t only show up when someone dies. It shows up when you lose a job, when your industry shifts, when the version of yourself you worked so hard to become no longer fits. Built for professional audiences, leadership teams, and anyone in the middle of a reinvention they didn’t choose.
Living Fully Now
The dying rarely talk about their accomplishments. They talk about love, regret, and the things they wish they’d done sooner. This talk turns those lessons into a question for the living: what are you waiting for?
Showing Up: Caregiving, Grief & the People Who Hold Everyone Else
For caregivers, healthcare teams, and anyone who has ever been the strong one. A talk on what it takes to care for someone through the end, and how to care for yourself while you do.