What’s It Like To Work With Your Mother or Daughter? Find Out from the Women at Speaking With Impact.
Speaking With Impact, a certified Woman and Minority-owned business that specializes in training on how to be “main stage ready,” presentation skills, speaker coaching, executive coaching, and crisis communication announces a successful mother-daughter business duo that’s 30 years in the making. Denise Harrington, founder and CEO of Speaking With Impact, and daughter Nia Harrington, COO, are working to further elevate the company to a global leadership position in the communication skills training industry.
It was 1992 when Denise, then six months pregnant with Nia, gave her first presentation on-stage, a training session for Fortune 500 companies that included high-profile sports industry leader Nike. Today, the two help leaders and managers at major companies worldwide to improve their public speaking.
“Who would have thought that a small, black, women-owned business would become a major player in the industry … and that my daughter would play a leading role?” said Denise Harrington.
Speaking With Impact’s clientele has included CEOs and C-Suite executives from Autodesk, Siemens, Intel, Kaiser Permanente, Microsoft, McDonald’s, Ubisoft, CommScope, and Cisco. Tiger Woods, Nike founder Phil Knight, nine-time Olympic track-and-field medalist Carl Lewis, Dawn Staley, and the Portland Trail Blazers also have been clients.
The mother-daughter team found that running a presentation skills training business during a pandemic is challenging, but they pivoted and found success. Nia Harrington quickly developed the virtual presentations on-demand training platform and is keen on working with large corporations to help them avoid Zoom fatigue and learn how to present virtually. Together, they champion virtual presentations and hybrid communications and coach firms on how to leverage digital platforms like Zoom to their full potential.
“One of the best things about working with my mom is that she is a changemaker. She’s innovative and passionate about her work and her clients. I have watched her transform so many lives, and many of our clients tell us this every day.” said Nia. “She’s taught me how to build a business, and I have taken her brilliant ideas and talent to construct a new expanded way to sell and share our message.”