Opening Keynote

Do No Harm. Take No Crap. Own Your Power.

It’s time to stop shrinking, stop apologizing, and stop buying into outdated definitions of power that were never built for us in the first place. For too long, women leaders (and anyone outside the traditional mold) have been caught in the exhausting double bind: too soft and you’re dismissed, too strong and you’re “too much.” The result? A culture that stifles authenticity, limits impact, and drains our collective energy.

This unapologetic and transformational keynote invites audiences to redefine power on their own terms. With humor, research, and a healthy dose of spark, Dr. Katie Sandoe (The Sparkologist) exposes the stereotypes, the false binaries, and the myths that keep us small—and replaces them with a liberatory framework called P³ Power: Power Within, Power To, Power Shared.

Through story, reflection, and a practical mantra you’ll never forget, Katie shows how to lead, live, and communicate with both warmth and strength. This is about courage without cruelty, compassion without compromise, and unapologetically showing up as your full, powerful self.

Meet Katie!

Dr. Katie Sandoe is a force of nature—and she’s here to light a fire under your life, leadership, and everything in between. Known as The Sparkologist™, Katie blends nearly two decades of executive leadership with deep expertise in high-performance mindset, adult learning, and the science of purpose. She’s got the receipts to back it up: a doctorate in Adult Education & Lifeline Learning, a master’s and bachelor’s in Communications, plus certifications in Emotional Intelligence, Conflict Management, Ikigai, Sparketype®, and stage performance mastery. In other words: she’s equal parts strategist, storyteller, and stage slayer.

As founder of Light Echo Co., Katie helps people and organizations get unstuck, reignite their purpose, and build teams that actually thrive (not just pretend to).

Her speaking style is bold, funny, research-backed, and real—think TED Talk with a kick-butt stage outfit. She’s also the host of the top-rated Spark Something New podcast, an amateur athlete, and dog mom to Zander. When she’s not on stage or behind a mic, she’s probably training for her next marathon or dreaming up new ways to help people lead with soul and strategy.

Katie believes that we are all created for purpose—and her mission is to help people fuel their fire so they can light up the world!

The NJ Conference for Women has featured keynotes from a diverse array of powerful professional women since 2012.