STATE COLLEGE — State College author, educator and entrepreneur Liz Holtzinger has been selected to speak at TEDx Pitt-Johnstown, taking place Saturday, Oct. 3 at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown’s Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center.
The youth-focused TEDx event will bring together speakers around the theme, “Not Born a Leader: How Ordinary People Become Change-Makers.” Holtzinger’s talk, “Start with Who,” will challenge the idea that leadership begins with what people accomplish or the titles they hold. Instead, she will explore how the stories people accumulate about themselves shape who they believe they are–and why deciding who you intend to be can shape what you ultimately do.
“We collect evidence about ourselves throughout our lives—from grades and accomplishments to failures, relationships, expectations and the things other people have told us,” said Holtzinger. “But evidence is not identity. Leadership begins when we learn to examine those stories rather than automatically obey them, and intentionally decide who we want to be and how we want to show up in the world.”
Drawing on more than 20 years in Central Pennsylvania classrooms, Holtzinger’s talk will encourage audience members to examine the conditions under which their own beliefs about themselves were formed, question which stories still deserve authority and deliberately choose the qualities they intend to embody. The idea is captured through a simple framework: Spot the story. Check the conditions. Question carefully. Find your feet.
Holtzinger is an award-winning professor, entrepreneur, writer, speaker and author of Lead Yourself First. For more than 25 years, her work has explored how the way people think, communicate and understand their own stories shapes the choices they make and the lives they build. Her career spans higher education, entrepreneurship, healthcare leadership, marketing and business strategy.
TEDx Pitt-Johnstown will begin at 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3, at the Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center, 450 Schoolhouse Road in Johnstown. The event is presented by the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.
For event information and registration, visit the University of Pittsburgh’s TEDx Pitt-Johnstown event page. Additionally more information can be found at www.upjarts.org or call 814-269-7994.
Liz Holtzinger is an award-winning professor, entrepreneur, writer, speaker and author of Lead Yourself First. For more than 25 years, she has explored how thinking, communication and the stories people tell themselves influence the choices they make and the people they become. Through her writing, teaching and speaking, Liz challenges the pressure to constantly optimize, perform and reinvent ourselves, encouraging people instead to recover trust in their own judgment and lead themselves first. For more information, visit https://lizholtzinger.com/.
