Speak & Thrive Academy

It’s time to Build Your Authentic & Profitable Speaking Business. No more labour that undermines your value or crosses your boundaries, it’s time to build your speaking career in a way that truly respects your time, energy, expertise and voice. Let’s do this thing - the world is waiting to hear your message!

Why This Course?

You have a story that could change lives - but turning it into a thriving speaking business? That’s where things get murky.

You’ve poured your heart into healing, perhaps into advocacy, and creating change. But somewhere along the way, you’ve been told your story should be shared for exposure, not compensation. You’ve been asked to relive your pain on stages that didn’t protect your energy. You’ve felt the exhaustion of wanting to make an impact while barely making ends meet.

It’s time to rewrite that narrative.

Speak & Thrive Academy is an online course designed for heart-led changemakers, educators, survivors, and advocates who are ready to build an authentic, profitable, and value-aligned speaking business - one that honours your story, respects your boundaries & reflects your right to thrive.

You’ll learn how to:
🌱 Craft powerful talks rooted in your lived experience and expertise
💡 Build programs that transform audiences and open doors to paid opportunities
📣 Pitch yourself to aligned organizations, brands, conferences and campuses with confidence
💰 Get paid what you deserve - without feeling exploited or burning out

….And so much more! This is about more than public speaking. It’s about embodied leadership, long-lasting impact, and reclaiming your worth.

Because your story doesn’t just deserve to be heard - it deserves to be celebrated, learned from and valued.

Why Work with Marlee?

If we haven’t met before… Hi! I’m Marlee. I’m an author, dog mom, queer femme, somatic educator, survivor, advocate and full-time speaker.

In 2019, my personal sexual assault case set precedent in the North American justice system and it led to me receiving all kinds of speaking requests but… I had no idea what to do with them. Thus, I began speaking for free - A LOT. I was juggling my nonprofit job and social work degree while performing free labour with the sole promise of ‘exposure’. It was a recipe for burnout

I was torn. I deeply wanted to share my voice and make a change but that pathways felt shaky and unsustainable. Something had to change.

In 2020, I entered a speaking competition, hoping I could hone my speaking skills and connect with others in the field to figure out how they were managing this. To my surprise, I ended up winning 1st out of 50 speakers. Part of the prize was working with a mentor who would help me build my speaking business.

That was when everything shifted. I started charging my worth, pitching and prospecting strategically, marketing my keynotes in a value aligned way. Since then, I’ve taken countless courses on ethical marketing and impactful speaking. I’ve coached others in embodied leadership and how to build their own speaking business. I’ve delivered talks for over 100,000 individuals around the world and have shared stages with Dr. Gabor Mate, Dick Schwartz, Natalie Guitirez, Elizabeth Smart and Prentis Hemphill. I quit my nonprofit work and began speaking full-time, travelling the world, featuring as the subject of a documentary and eventually, signing a book deal with Penguin Random House. Whatever version of this career you’re visioning, you deserve to live it! I’m excited to share all of the behind the scenes secrets & strategies with you to ensure we can all speak & thrive together.

Who Is This For?

Speak & Thrive Academy is for the storytellers, survivors, leaders, educators, and advocates who know their voice is meant for more - but aren’t sure how to build a sustainable path forward. This program is for you if…

  • You’re tired of being asked to share your story for free in the name of “exposure”

  • You dream of turning your lived experience into meaningful impact and income.

  • You’ve struggled to find guidance that’s both ethical and empowering, not rooted in hustle culture or sensationalized trauma

  • You want to learn from and alongside value-aligned change makers who understand what it means to speak from both strength and vulnerability.

  • You’re ready to finally claim your space on stages, panels, podcasts, and beyond - on your terms.

If your heart is saying, I’m ready to use my story and expertise to spark change without burning out or undermining my value, then this is for you.

What You’ll Learn Inside ‘Speak & Thrive’ Academy:

Module 1: Identify Your Mission & Vision

Clarify your message, values, and the unique transformation you offer audiences. You’ll leave with a powerful mission statement that anchors every pitch, post, and presentation.

Module 2: Addressing Roadblocks

Move through fears of visibility, imposter syndrome, and the “who am I to share this?” voice. You’ll learn tools to speak from self-trust, not self-doubt.

Module 4: Prospect & Pitch

Learn how to find and reach out to aligned organizations, universities, and conferences — and how to pitch yourself with clarity and confidence.

Module 6: Selling 101

Pricing, contracts, and boundaries — oh my. Learn how to confidently negotiate your rates and navigate money conversations with ease and integrity.

Module 8: Best Practices for Growth & Longevity

Sustain your business for the long run with systems, boundaries, and self-care strategies that keep you thriving — not just surviving — as a speaker.

Module 3: Create Your Programming

Design talks, workshops, or keynotes that align with your purpose and audience needs — and actually get booked. You’ll learn to structure programs that inspire, educate, and drive change.

Module 5: Craft your Keynote & Hone Public Speaking Skills

Develop your signature talk and learn the speaking skills that captivate audiences — from stage presence and storytelling to managing nerves and embodiment techniques.

Module 7: Marketing Your Speaking Business on Social Media & Beyond

Grow your presence, build community, and share your message online without burning out or performing a persona. You’ll learn values-led marketing that actually feels good.

What Makes This Course Different?

There are plenty of programs that help you build a business without considering your own well-being and mental health (think hustle culture). There are also plenty of programs that focus exclusively on self-growth and wellness without providing practical step-by-step strategies. Speak & Thrive bridges these worlds and strikes a crucial balance between your well-being and your strategic business. Speak & Thrive Academy was created for people who care deeply - about empowerment, healing, uplifting others and making a difference. It’s not about flashy outdated marketing or assimilating with algorithms. It’s about building a speaking career that’s rooted in purpose, authenticity, diversity and longevity.

Here’s what makes this program unique:

💖 Trauma-Informed & Nervous-System Aware
Most business courses forget that visibility can be vulnerable. Here, you’ll learn practical strategies for growth that honour your body’s pace, your boundaries, and your wellbeing.

🌱 Built on Real Experience, Not Just Theory
This course is grounded in what’s actually worked for me - as someone who went from unpaid advocacy to becoming a full-time international speaker featured in Forbes, Buzzfeed, and the Mel Robbins Show. You’ll get real templates, scripts, step-by-step strategies, workbooks and stories from inside the world of speaking.

🌈 Values-Aligned Business Building
We don’t separate purpose from profit. You’ll learn how to make money in a way that feels good - without compromising your ethics, your trauma awareness, or your mission for social change.

🔥 Practical Tools for Real Impact
You’ll walk away with ready-to-use resources - from pitch templates to pricing guides to workshop outlines - so you can take immediate, confident action.

This isn’t about performing your story for others. It’s about owning your voice, amplifying your message, and getting paid to create change — in a way that sustains your spirit, your community, your mission and your bank account.

Limited Enrollment

Limited Enrollment

✺ Frequently asked questions ✺

  • It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.

  • It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.

  • It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.

  • It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.

  • It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.

  • It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.