Background

If you ask Jesse Israel when he decided to take on speaking, he says it's always been a part of him. He can point all the way back to fourth grade, when he developed such a reputation for influencing classmates that his teacher called him a ringleader. Over time, he started suppressing these abilities, since they only seemed to get him in trouble. But that didn't feel right either — it actually caused anxiety.

That anxiety heightened in adulthood. It was during his decade as the founder of a popular record label and music tech venture fund that Jesse started facing panic attacks.

Eventually, he found meditation. This relieved his anxiety so much that Jesse wanted to share it. He signed up for formal training and started a meditation club, stepping back into his gift for speaking. Before he knew it, he was guiding meditations at iconic locations — like Madison Square Garden and Fenway Park — as that club evolved into a movement called the Big Quiet. Jesse reached millions. He toured with Oprah. And then, after nine years, the Big Quiet came to a natural wrap.

By that time, Jesse had his own leadership practice. It didn't take him long to figure out what else could be next.

"Speaking was the thing that I just had this heart's calling to give myself to," he said. 

So he did.

Launch + Momentum

Jesse already had momentum when he decided to pursue speaking. In the early days of the Big Quiet, he was constantly invited to present to different groups and took gigs for free just to learn. He said yes to everything. And he built up a resume speaking for solid organizations.

Jesse eventually landed an agent and started charging. He worked his way up to $25,000 per speech. But he still had work to do. 

"I wanted to get clear about what my message is in the workplace — what my key stories are that can really help people," he said. "And I wanted to make this business more of a full-time priority."

Jesse's agent recommended he check out ImpactEleven, a speaker training, development and accelerator community, with a mission of putting talented people with a powerful message in position to make an impact. So Jesse attended a virtual event to look into it.

"I got a lot of value out of that initial Bootcamp, and I remember it was one of those moments where I was like, 'Alright, there's definitely a way for me to make keynote speaking a much bigger part of what I'm doing, but it's going to take some work to really learn how to do that,' " he said.

When he committed to that work, Jesse went back to ImpactEleven and became a member.

"I wanted to get clear about what my message is in the workplace — what my key stories are that can really help people."

Acceleration

Jesse immediately took on a growth mindset within the ImpactEleven Community. He jumped into speaker coaching services, went to his first in-person Bootcamp and attended every live Masterclass that first year. This gave him greater knowledge on building a speaking business, as well as the speaking industry. 

"I find that the Community is really valuable for people who are ready to plug into navigating the industry," he said. "I'm just really excited to be doing more of this thing that I love and that I feel I was born to do, and ImpactEleven's really helped me navigate how to do that from a business standpoint."

In addition to knowledge, Jesse also found encouragement.

"I have felt so supported by every single person that I've met at ImpactEleven. I think that with everybody on the team there's this real value system around supporting others," he said. "It's not just technical tools or learning how to navigate the business and create the best keynote possible — the way the team has helped me believe in myself to go out and do this work has been really foundational, really critical."

The relationships he's built go beyond the ImpactEleven team to the rest of the Community, too. Jesse feels grateful to have the support of speakers who are further along than him, while also being able to provide guidance to others who have just gotten started.

"It's real community. You're receiving information, and it's awesome, but you're also contributing," he said. "Every time I leave an ImpactEleven event, I feel energized and just in this place of understanding that it's all possible. That might even be the biggest value add for me of being a part of ImpactEleven is just being in a community with all these amazing other people who are doing the work."

"That might even be the biggest value add for me of being a part of ImpactEleven is just being in a community with all these amazing other people who are doing the work."

Today

Jesse has succeeded in making his speaking practice a priority. He now speaks for organizations like Google, Amex, Ford and Aetna. Jesse remains an active member of the ImpactEleven Community and has put in the time, work and patience to land on a clear message that he's sharing with the world.

"Through my new content and keynote I'm helping leaders, teams and organizations unleash their full potential by learning how to filter the noise that’s coming at them from every angle today. It’s about helping people get clear about why they were placed on this earth and guiding them to bring that sense of purpose to their work and lives,” he said. “When we quiet the noise, we can hear who we really are — and amplify it to the world.”

Of course, Jesse has those early chapters to credit for helping him to get clear on his own purpose, so that he can amplify it through speaking today. He can point all the way back to fourth grade.

"When we quiet the noise, we can hear who we really are — and amplify it to the world." 

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Interested in learning more about the ImpactEleven Community? Read more here, or schedule time to chat here.