TALKS & KEYNOTES
Holly offers a variety of dynamic, engaging, and thought-provoking talks and keynotes that span creativity & performing to business, leadership, confidence, & innovation.
NEW TALK - KICKS OFF WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2022 in NYC
Holly’s newest talk that incorporates all of the changes & “a-ha’s!” many of us have experienced over the last few years.
Entrance into the castle. That's always been the promise, the prize and the ever-dangling carrot.
For a group of us women, the deal has been: you be GOOD, don't rock the boat too much, and we'll let you into the castle!
(Which also means if you DO rock the boat, if you AREN'T what we decide is GOOD, well then you are gonna know REALLY quickly you're not welcome in the castle.)
Not welcome like all the other women along the intersectional path who have and always have had to fend for themselves. Because not ALL women are even invited to be in the castle - not given the option to BE A GOOD GIRL. That privilege is reserved for only a certain kind of woman.
However, we ALL get handed the options of what we are allowed & expected to be. And NOT be. That's what unites us in fact. The rules and roles HANDED to us, not self-authored, not free, and not based on VALUES we have chosen.
This talk explores what happens when we wake up and learn that...
The FAIRY TALE is actually a NIGHTMARE, the HEROES are actually the VILLAINS, and the CASTLE is actually still a CAGE.
(Oh, and it's a funny talk too. Don't worry.)
Sunday, July 31 • 6-8pm • $12 • 115 Macdougal Street, 3rd Floor Blackbox Theater • NYC 10012
THE TALK THAT KICKED IT ALL OFF.
Holly's original presentation & collective inquiry about the origins and implications of "the Good Girl" -- her effects on women's creativity, confidence, and untapped potentials.
After years of performing, teaching, and directing improv at The Groundlings Theater & School in LA, as well as in NYC at her own improv school, Holly couldn't help but notice a trend in her women students and fellow improvisers...and herself. It was a strange shift that they would do seemingly without rhyme or reason, slipping from brave, confident, bold performers to meek, slightly insecure, safe ones that were happy to follow and let others take the lead and who were more interested in getting it “right” than anything else. And, clearly, this was happening outside of the classroom as much as within.
At the same time Holly was noticing while working at Comedy Central a lack of the same edginess, risk-taking and uniqueness in the women comediennes selected. It led her to investigate what was going on and she found some very interesting pieces of a puzzle that seems to be on many women's minds but hard to pinpoint. The answers span the biological, historical, psychological and cultural terrain with a focus on a very interesting moment in our collective history...when the "good woman" was born. And why her time (and purpose) is up.
“Holly is a rockstar! This talk is life-changing! I think about it ALL THE TIME because I see [the Good Girl] everywhere now.”
“Groundbreaking and illuminating. Holly is immensely engaging and her work is important AND fascinating.
We didn’t move, enthralled by what she was piecing together and uncovering.”
HOW DOES “THE GOOD GIRL” SHOW UP & IMPACT WOMEN ON THEIR CAREER PATH?
It is well-known that there still exists a gap in the business sector in terms of women in leadership and decision-making positions. While there are many inroads to address this issue, unpacking “the Good Girl”how she shows up in a woman’s career journey is vital. When being nice, being liked, pleasing others and seeking affirmation is paired with “the imposter syndrome”, hesitancy, and passivity how do we transcend these impulses and stories in order to become the confident and self-possessed leaders and innovators we are called to be?
She's created a dynamic, thought-provoking and inspiring talk that explores the historical, psychological, and social origins of "the Good Girl". She then exposes what lies beyond "the Good Girl" that also lives in all women - the free, fearless, bold, and decisive part - and what it takes to access it and strengthen it.
“She was by far one of, if not THE best speaker that I heard at the event of the hundreds that were there.
So many key takeaways from her presentation...and it was extremely entertaining.”
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“If it were up to me, every new hire — both women and men — would be required to see this talk.”
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EXPOSING GENDER “SHOULDS” for THE ENTIRE gender SPECTRUM
We need to understand the effects of Gender Norms on each of us, no matter where anyone falls on the gender spectrum. We are ALL effected by these roles and rules, and sniffled by the limits they place on us.
Then, to discover who we are freed from the various layers of cultural norms and shoulds, and how that’s connected to greater creativity, innovation, and authenticity.
Culture is communicated through values, rules and roles. We learn it from our programming as well as being immersed in it over a short period of time - almost like osmosis.
How much have we all explored what about our behavior and expectations of ourselves and others are based on unconscious shoulds? How are those shoulds limiting us, dividing us, and keeping us all from our highest potentials?
This engaging, entertaining, and unique presentation acts as both a window in to further understanding the origins and expressions of GENDER NORMS at play today, as well as a CATALYST for the beginning of a more effective, inclusive, and dignified culture.
“This talk is as brilliant and insightful as it is entertaining and engaging.
Holly’s presentation was by far one of the most popular and memorable. ”
A WORKSHOP DESIGNED TO BUST YOUR GOOD GIRL AND CLAIM WHAT LIES BEYOND HER!
These tailored workshops with Holly Mandel are geared toward women in any field who wish to bust their "Good Girl" wherever she shows up. In classrooms, boardrooms, in presentations, meetings or when you’re trying to think bigger, live bigger and dream bigger.
The women participants will examine how the GOOD GIRL shows up specifically in them: what triggers MY Good Girl? is it when I’m nervous or under pressure? when it’s something that I really want? what does the Good Girl say to me? does it make me doubt myself, get competitive, make we want to quit before trying? convince me that I need to be MORE than I am?
We will also, simultaneously identify and strengthen the part of us that is NOT our Good Girl...the Badass, the "F-IT": the free part that lives in us all. Already. Which is bold, inclusive, fearless, full of ease and inspiration and limitlessness. That wants ALL women to succeed and values women (including ourselves) for something deeper than what culture currently values us for.
“There were so many women in the room today that I know and who impress me deeply. To hear them grappling with the exact same things inspired me to face my fears.”
“I thought I’d take this workshop and see I have a mild case of “the Good Girl”...which is hilarious because that IS “the Good Girl!” I’m not like everyone else, I’m BETTER! That’s been my secret M.O. for years.
So much unraveled until I saw how much of my personality IS shaped by wanting to be THE ONE, win, get picked. I always thought other women were causing all this friction and competition...but it was me. Well, it’s “the Good Girl” in us all.”
