Hi, I’m Jamie!

Nonprofit Founder & CEO, Keynote Motivational Speaker, Author

  It’s no newsflash that life is hard and that it’s easy to despair about what’s happening in the world or in our own lives. I’ve been there – especially worrying about my family and the schools I helped create in Cambodia. But I’m a “pick myself up, dust myself off” kind of a person, so while I don’t relish obstacles, I’m always up for the challenge to overcome them.  

I start by being bothered and doing something about the bother. Case in point: Twenty one years ago, I was so bothered about poor education in Siem Reap, Cambodia that I started the nonprofit Caring for Cambodia (CFC) to distribute school supplies. But the challenge, of course, is staying bothered, even if it means turning the ship in a new direction. CFC now has 21 schools from PreK-12, with over 7000 students a year, and a new Education and Development Center in the heart of the city. We’ve changed the face of education in Cambodia and impacted tens of thousands of lives. 

I am bothered about the lack of support for teens’ mental well-being. What happens when people are in despair and no one to talk about it to? You do something, start a podcast of moms sharing experiences about things that bother them. Better parenting.  Momproof, The Art of Being Comfortable with The Uncomfortable.   

That’s what I wrote about in my books, Graced With Orange and Staying Bothered, and what I’m often asked to speak about.  

Sometimes though, we need a good laugh or emotional encouragement -- a motivational kick in the pants or helpful advice to keep moving. Mine came one day in a sticky note left by my daughter Avery on a particularly difficult day. It simply said, “Keep Doing You.” And thus, my next book Keep Doing You, was born. I’m asked to speak about that, too. 

You see, my mission as a motivational speaker is to help catapult individuals and organizations into action and provide strategies about how to stay on track, whether it’s globally, organizationally, or personally. I also let my audiences in on the little secret behind it all – that only when you keep doing you are the changes you imagine within your reach.