WHAT ARE YOUR THREE LITTLE WORDS?
Everyone carries three little words that shape how they show up when the work gets hard. Ashley Rhodes-Courter helps people find theirs. A New York Times bestselling author and a practicing Licensed Clinical Social Worker, she turns lived experience into a simple, repeatable way for teams to steady themselves, reconnect to purpose, and keep moving when conditions are slow to change.
Best For: Organizations losing good people to burnout, disengagement, or quiet withdrawal, especially in demanding, mission-driven work.
Key Outcomes:
- People who reconnect to purpose and re-engage instead of quietly checking out
- A simple, repeatable way to steady themselves and act under pressure
- Their own three little words to guide how they show up when it matters most
- Stronger retention of the people you can least afford to lose
A CLINICIAN WHO HAS LIVED WHAT SHE TEACHES
Ashley spent nearly a decade in foster care as a child, moving through 14 homes, and learned out of necessity how to build steady ground where none existed. Her memoirs, Three Little Words and Three More Words, have reached millions of readers and are studied on campuses nationwide. At 26, she ran for the Florida State Senate.
Today she is the founder and CEO of the Foundation for Sustainable Families, a mental health agency serving people in high-stress, high-stakes environments, and a practicing Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) who is board-certified in telemental health. She is also a foster and adoptive parent.
That makes her rare among engagement speakers. She does not just describe disengagement and burnout from the outside. She understands and treats them as a clinician, which means her tools are grounded in how people actually respond under stress.
THE WORDS YOU CHOOSE CHANGE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
This is not just a powerful story. It is a message teams can act on.
Drawing on her clinical training, Ashley gives audiences a simple, repeatable way to steady themselves, focus on what they can control, and take the next real step, even when conditions are slow to change. Then she makes it personal, challenging each person to name the three little words that will guide how they show up when the work gets hard.
Three words can anchor a career. Three words can steady a team. Three words can change what happens next. Her message resonates across healthcare, education, government, corporate, and association audiences, anywhere people need to stay steady and keep moving through change.
SIGNATURE KEYNOTE: THREE LITTLE WORDS
Find the Three Words That Guide How You Show Up
This keynote is not about hearing a story. It is about the words you choose when everything around you is uncertain. Drawing on her lived experience and her work as a clinician, Ashley moves audiences past inspiration and into ownership, and challenges each person to leave with three little words of their own to act on.
- Recognize how disengagement creeps in, and how to reverse it
- Steady themselves and act, even when conditions do not improve
- Reconnect to purpose and ownership in demanding work
- Take a simple, repeatable method back to their teams
- Walk away with three words of their own to act on
IMPACT BEYOND THE STAGE
Ashley does not just inspire in the moment. She leaves people with something that lasts.
As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, mental health agency founder, and L’Oreal Paris Woman of Worth honoree, she pairs real clinical insight with unforgettable storytelling. She has spoken everywhere from intimate trainings to a sold-out arena of more than 20,000.
Her delivery is engaging, thoughtful, warm, and human. She balances a powerful story with practical takeaways teams can put to work right away.
Testimonials
– Good Days
– Dave Thomas Foundation
– Women Helping Women Fund Tri-Cities
– Neighbor To Family
Book Ashley
Call us at 630.330.7533, email us, or fill out the following form for booking information!