Meet Colette
Colette Jane Fehr is a licensed marriage and family therapist with nearly fifteen years of clinical experience, a Penguin Random House author of The Cost of Quiet, and a TEDx speaker whose talk was selected as a TED Editors’ Pick. She is a recurring expert on Fox 35 Good Day Orlando and has appeared nationally on the Tamron Hall Show, bringing the same warmth, directness, and clinical depth to every room she walks into, whether it holds twenty people or two thousand.
The Human Side of Hard Conversations
What sets Colette apart from most communication experts is that she is not teaching theory. She has spent fifteen years sitting across from people in the hardest conversations of their lives, and she understands exactly what makes people go silent, shut down, or avoid — and precisely how to change it. Her work draws on attachment science, neuroscience, and Emotionally Focused Therapy to translate complex emotional dynamics into practical, business-ready tools that improve collaboration, reduce conflict, and accelerate results.
She also brings something no credential can manufacture: the lived experience of a woman who has had to learn, sometimes the hard way, that the most important conversations are almost always the hardest ones to start. That humanity comes through in every talk she gives, and it is what makes audiences feel seen rather than lectured.
See Colette Take the Stage
Colette at 100 Women Strong
Breaking self-silencing patterns to lead with authentic confidence.
Applying clinical relationship science to modern team collaboration.
Speaking at Rollins College
How radical honesty and self-compassion rebuild vital relationships.
Keynote at Beauty Body Spirit
Speaking at Godmothers
Unpacking The Cost of Quiet at the renowned California bookstore.
What People Are Saying
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“Colette Jane Fehr reveals why conflict, when faced with courage, can be the greatest act of love. She will change how you connect forever.”
— Marie Forleo, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything Is Figureoutable
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“Colette captivated our audience! Board members and attendees alike approached me to share how powerful and relevant the conversation was. It became clear that every business transaction is, at its core, a relationship—and without strong relationships, successful transactions simply aren’t possible.”
— Jackie Hirsch, Crowne Atlantic Business Brokers
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“Colette offers hope that it's never too late to transform both your relationship with yourself and others through the power of truthful, loving communication.”
—Dr. Nadine Macaluso, author of Run Like Hell
Emotional Intelligence Isn't a Soft Skill. It's a Competitive Advantage.
Colette Jane Fehr helps organizations unlock the one thing that transforms team performance, retention, and culture: the ability to have hard conversations well
Watch Colette In Action
What Couples Therapists Know (That You Don’t)
Official TEDx Talk & TED Editor’s Pick | Over 26K Views
From Colette’s Weekly Residency on FOX 35 Morning News
Viral Segment on Prenups
Featured Mainstage Keynote Speaker
Women's Leadership Summit
Featured Guest Expert for a Dedicated One-Hour Special
The Tamron Hall Show
Signature Keynote
The Cost of Quiet: How Avoiding Difficult Conversations Fuels Burnout, Disengagement, and Disconnection at Work
Quiet quitting costs U.S. employers an estimated $8.8 trillion in lost productivity every year. And at the root of nearly all of it is a conversation that never happened — the frustration that never got voiced, the feedback that felt too risky to give, the tension that has been sitting in the room for months while everyone pretends it isn’t there.
Most organizations don’t have a performance problem. They have a communication problem — and more specifically, a conflict avoidance problem. The people paying the highest price for it, in burnout, in disengagement, in their own health and wellbeing, are often the highest performers in the room, particularly the women who have spent years absorbing what they were never taught to say out loud.
Colette Jane Fehr has spent nearly fifteen years helping people navigate the hardest conversations of their lives. In this keynote, she brings that same depth into the workplace, helping audiences understand not just what to say, but why saying it has always felt so hard — and how to finally change that. This is not a communication workshop that teaches people to soften their tone. It is a fundamental shift in how people understand themselves, each other, and the cost of staying silent.
Your audience will leave knowing:
Why avoidance is the real threat to your culture
Unspoken frustration, resentment, and emotional suppression are the engine behind burnout and disengagement. Understanding this changes how leaders and teams approach conflict entirely.
How honest communication builds the teams people actually want to work on
Healthy conflict and direct conversation are not threats to workplace culture. They are how psychological safety, trust, retention, and collaboration are actually built.
How to communicate clearly, assertively, and with compassion
Practical tools for approaching difficult conversations with emotional intelligence and confidence, without becoming reactive, aggressive, or shutting down entirely.
A framework they can use the next day
Attendees leave with specific strategies and language for the real conversations they have been putting off — in leadership, on their teams, and in the work relationships that matter most.
The hidden patterns that keep high performers silent
Even the most capable professionals struggle to speak up, advocate for themselves, and address tension directly. This keynote names exactly why — including the people-pleasing, self-silencing, and fear of being “too much” that drain both performance and wellbeing, and that hit women in the workplace particularly hard.
Workshops
For organizations ready to go deeper, Colette offers customizable half-day and full-day workshops tailored to your team’s specific culture, challenges, and goals. Any format can also be presented as a breakout session, training, or webinar.
Why Your Audience Will Love Colette
She’s the Real Thing
Colette is not teaching theory. She has spent nearly fifteen years sitting across from people in the hardest conversations of their lives as a licensed therapist, and she brings that clinical depth into every room she speaks in. Your audience will feel the difference immediately.
She Is Credentialed and Compelling
A Penguin Random House author, TEDx speaker, and TED Editors’ Pick, Colette brings serious credibility without taking herself too seriously. She is warm, direct, and genuinely funny in the way that only someone who has heard it all in a therapy office can be.
She Makes People Feel Seen
Whether she is speaking to a room of executives or a women’s leadership conference, Colette has a rare ability to name what people have been carrying and make them feel understood rather than lectured. That is what makes her content stick long after the event ends.
She Customizes
Colette takes the time to understand your organization, your audience, and what they are actually navigating before she walks in the room. The result is a talk that feels like it was written specifically for your people — because it was.
She Delivers Results
Attendees don’t just leave inspired. They leave with a framework, specific language, and a different relationship to the conversations they have been avoiding. That is the difference between a good keynote and one people are still talking about six months later.
Ready to Bring Colette to Your Next Event?
The cost of another year of avoided conversations is one your organization is already paying. Your audience deserves a speaker who will challenge them, move them, and give them something they can actually use.
Fill out the form below and let’s find out if we’re a great fit. Speaking engagements are booked on a first-come, first-served basis.