USING THE FACE FRAMEWORK: FAMILIARITY, AUTHENTICITY, CURIOSITY, AND ELASTICITY LEADS TO
Building
Relationships!
See Jen Speak
Personable and charismatic speaker on building relationships by applying concepts of friendship to networking
Learn how the FACE Framework - Familiarity, Authenticity, Curiosity, and Elasticity - encourages demonstrating interest in others to create and maintain relationships
Jen’s passion for speaking started when she was 3 years young. One of her core memories is attempting to communicate with a teacher in preschool, but not being able to due to a stuttering impediment. After years of speech therapy and even modeling and acting classes to gain confidence, one would never know Jen stuttered in the first place. This formative time in her life shaped her into someone who does not take speaking for granted. She especially loves to speak because of the time when she could not speak, and she is a performer at heart.
Jen was first inspired to pursue a professional speaking career when she was 14 years young. She attended a youth conference where she listened to professional speakers motivate the audience with a call to action. She felt so inspired as an audience member that she instinctively knew she wanted to make a positive impact on others as a professional speaker someday. In other words, she wanted to be on stage with the microphone and inspirational stories to share.
In her early twenties, Jen earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies, minor in Theatre Arts, and Certificate in Journalism from Loyola Marymount University. Although she still yearned to be a professional speaker, she wanted to gain more life experience before pursuing this path. One month after graduation, she met a high school counselor at a wedding who inspired her to begin a career in college admissions because it combined everything she loved to do in one job: traveling, event planning, counseling, and public speaking of course. She spent over eight years as a Regional Admissions Counselor – first for Virginia Commonwealth University and then for The American University of Paris – before resigning in May 2023 to focus on her next career move.
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In November 2023, Jen began to read The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. Reading this book, journaling daily, and going on “artist dates” reminded her of her desire to become a professional speaker. This creative calling of hers was an endeavor she had not yet pursued as a full-time career. In the middle of reading The Artist’s Way, she reconnected with a colleague from LMU who is now a professional speaker. Talk about synchronicity! This colleague inspired her to join National Speakers Association Southern California and the Speakers Academy to learn the business of speaking.
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Jen’s career as an admissions counselor was invaluable as she had hundreds of opportunities to give presentations: facilitating case studies with rooms full of students and parents, updating high school and independent counselors at luncheons, and collaborating with fellow international admissions counselors at national conferences. She values building relationships with others from a wide variety of generations and perspectives, which resulted in an over 300% increase of enrollment numbers. Her career in college admissions created public speaking opportunities to get that life experience she desired as a recent college graduate, and this ultimately led her to find purpose in her career and clarity in her message: Building relationships by applying concepts of friendship to networking. In her current endeavor, she is once more combining what she loves to do into one job, but this time, her title is Professional Speaker.
Meet Jen
Former Clients
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Kindness from Former Clients
When I contacted Jen about speaking to our students, her enthusiasm and flexibility reassured me that she’d be a great fit for the job! During our meetings prior to the speaking engagement, Jen was very thorough and wanted to ensure her speech incorporated components I was looking for. The collaboration process with Jen was a breeze, but the biggest success was Jen’s actual talk. Jen provided invaluable information about the college application and admissions process, but also made it personable, educational, and engaging. The students and staff gave her great feedback and would love to hear her speak again. I’d highly recommend Jen if you’re looking for someone to connect with your audience, educate them about making connections, and the impact of building relationships!
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Indira Singh
Supervisor
Lewis-San Antonio Healthy Communities Institute
Honestly, I have always been impressed with Jen's public speaking skills. She strikes a perfect balance between poised and personable, and she has a remarkable ability to relate to people across several generations. When Jen told me she was launching her own public speaking business, it just made sense, and I couldn't wait to host her at my team's annual admissions recruitment training... My coworkers range from fresh graduates to several decades of experience, and we all found connection through her speech. Jen's talk was informative, refreshing, relatable, and a perfect way to kick off the academic year and start of a new admissions recruitment season. The best part was that she customized it just for us. She really did her research, and it shows! She'd clearly do the same for any client. If you're ever looking for a guest speaker for your next work event, I highly recommend you reach out to Jen!
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Maria Sandone
Assistant Director, International & Graduate Recruitment
University Southern California, Viterbi School of Engineering
Jen was the speaker for the PMICIE Chapter's Quarterly Live In-Person held on 06/25/24 Monthly Live Event. Her presentation topic was "Networking Through Demonstrated Interest." Jen's ability to distill complex concepts into easily understandable and actionable insights is truly remarkable. Her presentation was not only informative, but also inspiring, leaving attendees with practical strategies they could immediately implement their projects. Jen's energy, passion, and deep knowledge of the subject matter created an engaging atmosphere that encouraged active participation and thoughtful discussions. I would recommend Jen to any PMI Chapter or any organization chapter that is looking to present some fresh ideas to their members.
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Kevin Reilly
Expert Project Management Certification & Agile Instructor
Project Management Institute California Inland Empire
Jen graciously presented a seminar to my LMU internship course on Building Relationships in Your Professional Life. As a Communication Studies Professor, at her alma mater, I was extremely impressed with her confidence, research, speech organization, presentation aids, and engaging delivery style. Her enthusiasm and thoughtful interaction with the class, commanded the audience’s attention and curiosity throughout her presentation. The students really enjoyed participating in Jen’s Speed Friending learning activity. Her exemplary skills and genuine passion for public speaking will certainly take her far in her career!
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Kathleen Norris
Clinical Associate Professor
Loyola Marymount University
Kindness from Audience Members
During her session on "Build Relationships by Applying Concepts of Friendship to Networking" at the PMI-San Diego AI Annual Conference, Jen Fitzgerald introduced me to her unique approach to networking that contrasts greatly from my own. Her focus on storytelling and prioritizing authentic human connections over immediate professional discussion opened my eyes and highlighted the value of building trust first. She inspired me to rethink my networking style and motivated me to pursue more meaningful, mutually enriching connections. Jen’s presentation offered a fresh, easily applicable perspective. If you have the chance to attend one of her engaging presentations, I highly recommended it!
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Angelo Salazar
AI Advocate and PMO Strategist
Public Sector Innovation
Jen does a great job of using storytelling to make the session interactive and lessons intelligible. As she was speaking I couldn’t help but find connections between concepts she discussed and experiences in my life. I am a psychology major but I also enjoy performing (dance, music, etc.), so I found this [woman] to be helpful in thinking about steps for making authentic connections.
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College Student
Psychology Major
Scripps College
Jen is super upbeat and professional who knows her stuff!
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Jen was very bubbly and made a topic that could easily be boring more interesting and engaging.
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College Students
Communication Studies Majors
Loyola Marymount University
Her ability to link her experiences to her subjects made the whole experience a lot more immersive, and it allowed me to make connections to my own life a lot more effectively.
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​It was very engaging, the stories were very detailed and interesting, but not long enough for us to lose attention. I would definitely attend another session.
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Definitely pay attention and listen attentively because it's super engaging and educational. It will help you understand things you didn't know before.
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Jen talked to us about what we should do during the admission process. She really got into detail about what we should do to give us a better chance. I also got a lot of information that I didn’t know I needed. I really enjoyed listening to her.
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High School Students
Lewis-San Antonio Healthy Communities Institute
She’s talented and authentic. It made us open up more while interacting with others.
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Presentation was very impressive and great insights.
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Information relevant to anyone and any place.
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Lively and relatable. Excellent and energetic presentation.
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Project Managers
Project Management Institute California Inland Empire
Incredibly engaging from start to finish.
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Enthusiastic, informative, and nice balance of engagement with audience.
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Admissions Counselors
Regional Admission Counselors of California
