Types of Speaking Events

Bible Teaching and Sunday Morning Services: I am available to speak for church events or as a Sunday morning special guest. For a preview, click here. 

Marriage & Parenting: As a mom of four, a licensed mental health counselor, and experienced teacher and school counselor, I speak on a wide range of parenting topics and current parenting challenges. I shares with humor and authenticity the joys and struggles of parenting while giving practical tips for current problems. She can tailor a parenting topic of your choice for your group.

Women’s Events & Retreats: Brenda’s humor, authenticity and personal touches makes her a popular speaker for women’s events, conventions, and weekend retreats. A master teacher and storyteller, she weaves biblical principles into inspiring messages for women and gives the audience practical applications for their lives. Brenda tailors messages for retreat and event themes. 

Teen Events & Topics: I spoke at national youth conferences, high school assemblies, and also youth groups. I also has a variety of parenting seminars for parents of teens.

Keynote Events: Let me keynote for your fundraising or professional development event, whether for your annual fundraiser, community business group, or conference. 

Outreach Events: I’m passionate about sharing the good news of grace, forgiveness, and redemption through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that messages that invite guests to consider the gospel message.

Seminars and training: Brenda train on topics from parenting, writing, social media, women’s issues, child abuse prevention, marriage, ministry, and mental health topics. 

Retreats

What you can expect from me as a retreat speaker:

• Practical and applicable biblical principles to daily struggles.
• Humor and a down-to-earth style your women will feel at home with.
• Authentic stories that relate to women’s lives.
• A gentle, compassionate approach to hard topics.
• Equipping messages for women to be transformed to God’s image.
• Passion about a relationship with Jesus Christ and His relevancy to women’s lives.

Types of retreats:

Bible themes: I love communicating God’s Word through the eyes, thoughts, and feelings of those who walked the pages the Bible. I’m available to teach specific Scriptures or biblical themes of your choice.

Life Balance: I offer one, two, three, and four session retreats on life balance and busyness from my book Balance, Busyness, and Not Doing It All, even one for moms!

Discipleship & Spiritual Growth: I love drawing women into a closer relationship with Jesus Christ. I can tailor your retreat theme to give women a hunger and thirst for a deeper faith walk, right where they are.

Peace and Wholeness: I use powerful principles from Psalm 23 to equip women for rest, restoration, redemption, and right living, no matter their season of life.

Identity in Christ: I often teach on a woman’s identity in Christ through tailored themes for individual retreats.

Friendship & Relationships: In a world that’s disconnected and lonely, I love teaching about the power of relationships and friendship with authentic connection.

Mentorship and Discipleship: A mentor for over thirty years, I love equipping women’s ministries and churches on the practical power of mentorship and discipleship in the current culture.

Self-Care: Biblical, healthy self-care is not selfish. I teach on emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual health with principles tailored to an event theme.

Intentional Living and Seasons of Life: I want women to thrive in their strengths, no matter their age! Retreat themes of intentional living in a woman’s season of life is powerful for groups of all ages.

Grief and Loss: Let me bring a retreat to your organiziation for those experiencing grief, loss, and change of life.

Retreats for Moms: I love encouraging moms! I have several topics for moms, ranging from life balance, managing marriage and family, releasing your kids and more!

Retreats for Caregivers and Ministry Leaders: Let me pour in to those who pour out. I will tailor a retreat for your ministry leaders or caregiver needs.

Retreats for Parents: A day or weekend retreat for parent to release their kids well. A theme from my book Fledge: Launching Your Kids Without Losing Your Mind is a great topic for a day or weekend parent retreat.

Women & MOPS Groups

I love speaking to MOPS and Mom groups! As a licensed counselor, former school counselor and teacher, and mom of four, I’m equipped to speak on almost any parenting topic. Below are frequently requested topics for MOPS and parenting groups.

• Balancing Motherhood and Marriage
• Balance, Busyness, and Not Doing It All
• Fledge: When to Hold on and How to Let Go
• The Angry, Irritable Mom: Brenda’s Testimony
• How to Respond Instead of React to Your Kids
• Guard Rails: Building Healthy Boundaries for Kids
• Healthy Discipline
• Raising Christian Kids in an Non-Christian World
• The Strong Willed Child
• Raising Girls
• Raising Boys
• Intentional Parenting
• Self-Care for Moms

Mental & Emotional Health

I want each individual to be emotionally, mentally, and spiritually healthy. As licensed and trauma-informed counselor, I’d love to do a keynote or workshop for your conference, church, agency, or non-profit on emotional or mental health topics. 

In addition to being a professional counselor, school counselor, and teacher, I am also a certified Healthy Boundaries trainer by the Faith Trust Institute, trained in Trauma Competent Caregiving. 

Frequent topics on which I speaks are:

• Healthy Boundaries
• Self-Care
• Healthy Relationships
• Child Abuse Prevention
• Grooming and Sex Trafficking
• Bullying & Intimidation
• Toxic and Emotionally Abusive Marriages
• Grief
• Anxiety and Depression
• Foster Care and Adoption
• Trauma Informed faith communities
• Mental Health Needs of Youth

Marriage & Parenting

I’m passionate about equipping families and parents for the toughest situations they face. Let me keynote for your conference or church on topics relating to:

• Parenting teens
• Parenting young families
• Trauma-informed parenting/foster care/adoption
• Parenting the strong willed child
• Fledge: Launching Your Kids Without Losing Your Mind
• Raising Humans: Raising kids with integrity and empathy
• Sexual abuse prevention/grooming/sex trafficking
• Pornography
• Marriage
• Mental Health and families
• Intentional parenting
• Emotional management
• Anger and reactionary parenting
• Building relationships your kids
• Understanding teens
• Social media
• Bullying
• Being engaged parents
• Healthy boundaries with kids
• Raising boys/Raising girls
• Grief and family
• Estranged relationships with adult or young adult children.

Youth & Schools

I’ve spent over twenty-five years working with teens and kids as an award winning high school teacher, school counselor, and youth mentor. I knows how to engage with youth about hard topics. Let me speak to your youth group, school, or youth event.

Topics on which I commonly speaks:

• 10 Ways to be Real in an Artificial World
• Identity in Christ
• Bullying
• Healthy Relationships/Dating Violence
• Child Abuse Prevention
• Grooming/Sex Trafficking
• Mental Health Issues
• Eating Disorders
• Family Relationships
• Career and Post High School Plans

Writing, Speaking & Ministry

I loves teaching and encouraging writers, speakers, and ministry leaders! I’m on staff with Carol Kent’s Speak Up Conference, Maranatha Christian Writer’s Conference, multiple other writer’s conferences, and am a Regional Speaker Trainer for Stonecroft Ministries.

Workshops I commonly provide are:

How to Successfully Balance Writing, Your Real Job, and Life: In this workshop, you’ll learn how to elevate your writing beyond an occasional hobby or dream to be a viable part of your life as a bi-vocational writer. Participants will learn practical ways to manage time, reach goals, and develop a writing habit that compliments their career or lifestyle.​

Writing Your Story Without Telling It All: In this workshop, you’ll learn how authentic writing enhances your content and connects your audience with your material. Brenda will teach how to share a personal story, narrative, or vignette with honor and respect without oversharing. She’ll give tools to help writers discern what to share, why they’re sharing it, when to share, and how to share personal narratives that may involve other people.

Facing Your Fears and Reaching Your Goals—Most writers and aspiring authors have fears which prevent them from taking next the steps to reach their publishing, platform, or personal writing goals. Brenda will help participants identify obstacles and fears which overwhelm and prevent them from taking practical steps to reach their writing goals, with practical techniques for writers to reach both short and long term writing goals.

Take Care of You.  In this workshop, Brenda talks about the importance of holistic self-care for the creative individual and their work as a writer.  Participants will be equipped with practical ways to take care of their emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual health, and how their writing or art can both hinder and help their overall well-being.

Nourish: Essential Self Care for the Writer. Speaking and writing professionals have specific demands which require emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual care to prevent stress and burnout. In this seminar (or intensive workshop), Brenda equips participants with practical, personal tools for soul care and life balance for the longevity of your ministry or writing and speaking career.

Communicating Your Area of Expertise— God’s given you expertise through professional, educational, and personal experience and there’s a world out there waiting to hear from you! Whether it’s through speaking, writing, social media, video, or a podcast, this workshop will equip you to identify your expertise, find your voice, and create a practical plan that fits your style and goals for communicating your message to your target audience and beyond!

Healthy Boundaries for the Writer and Speaker—Putting yourself in the public arena through speaking, writing, or social media creates a new dynamic of vulnerability and privacy for you and your family. In this workshop, Brenda provides practical tools for creating healthy boundaries as a professional in the public eye while still building relationships with your audience and followers.

Where Do I Go From Here?—You go to a writing conference and gain knowledge, encouragement, and inspiration for the next step in your writing hobby or career. But what do you do with all of it when you get home and work, family life, and responsibilities take over? In this workshop, Brenda shares practical strategies for implementing what you’ve learned so you keep moving forward as a writer! 

A Crash Course in Social Media—Does social media overwhelm you? A social media presence is crucial for building a writing platform and getting your work to an audience of readers. In this workshop, you’ll gain practical tools to develop a social media platform, while learning how to build online connections. You’ll learn basic technology tools and how the most popular social media sites can meet your writing goals.

Blogging 101 Workshop– Writers and aspiring author are told they need to a build a blog, an email list, a platform, and connect with their readers. In this workshop, participants will learn the basics of blogging, how to create great content, how to identify their target audience, and grow your online content.