Shaping the careers of exceptional speakers

TRUSTED BY

You look at what other speakers command and wonder what they’re doing that you’re not.
I help speakers sharpen their positioning—the packaging behind your genuine value as a thought leader—so your fees catch up to your feedback.

A great speech is only part of what earns a higher fee.
I help you build credibility and the case your brand makes for you, focusing on what speaking clients and audiences prioritize.

The bureau landscape keeps shifting, assembling a stellar team isn't simple, and what clients want this year isn't the same as it was last year.
If you're already a best-selling author navigating those shifts, I help you solve the operational problems that come with running a business at your level, and give you the honest read only a peer with decades of experience in the industry can offer.

Ways to Work Together

I have worked with Shelley Dolley for over 20 years. I can honestly say that she was a de facto co-author of my last 10 books and manager of over 1,000 speeches. 

Her experience with the business of business speaking stretches from exhaustive research to the multimedia implementation of very large customer outreach and connection programs on any big network you can name. All of this is done with an uplifting attitude and at the same time insane attention to detail.

—Tom Peters

About Shelley

For more than two decades, Shelley Dolley has been the right hand of a speaking legend. 

As Tom Peters' Chief of Staff, she was, in his words, the de facto co-author of his last ten books and the manager of more than 1,000 of his speeches. That vantage gave her a perspective few people in the industry will ever have: how the largest fees get set, what event organizers weigh long before they book, and where accomplished speakers leave money on the table.

She now works with a small number of business speakers and authors who want clear-eyed counsel from someone who will say the thing their team won't. 

She's the strategist you call when the speech isn't the problem.

Working with Shelley is an exercise in clarity.

She has a rare, dual-sided brilliance: a deep familiarity with what sets elite performers apart, along with a rigorous handle on the operating fundamentals that every professional must continually strengthen, no matter how many years they have been in business. Her savvy across a wide variety of thought leadership practices, from keynote speaking to book publishing and beyond, have allowed me to consult her as an advisor when I'm taking on new aspects of my own work, to ensure I think them through holistically. It's a luxury I didn't have for the first 10 years of my practice, and now that I'm working with her, it feels like a cheat code. She's fantastic.

—Kate O'Neill

Shelley possesses the rare combination of extraordinary real world expertise and the compassion to truly understand the goals and dreams of the professionals she represents. 

 If you are an author and a speaker then you know that there are almost as many pieces of advice out there as there are books. And most contradict each other. So what is an author and/or speaker to do when they want to avoid mistakes, have a smarter strategy and build the largest possible audience? I highly recommend you do what I did and call Shelley.

—Howard Mann