Irvine keynote speaker for technology, healthcare, and association events.
Chris Sund is a keynote speaker, Maxwell Leadership Certified Coach, and sitting executive who leads national healthcare staffing organizations. He speaks on workforce motivation, leadership, retention, and human potential for California associations, technology and medical device employers, health systems, and organizations across Orange County.
Response within one business day.
In a room full of people who have never failed at anything, nobody will admit they are struggling.
Irvine assembles high performers at unusual density, and that produces a specific and expensive silence.
Roughly two hundred seventy thousand people work in Irvine across more than twenty two thousand businesses. The University of California, Irvine is the largest employer. Broadcom, Edwards Lifesciences, Masimo, Glaukos, Blizzard Entertainment, Taco Bell, and Kia America are headquartered here, with Google, Apple, Johnson and Johnson, Rivian, and Parker Aerospace all operating in the city, alongside more than nine hundred technology firms. UCI Health, Kaiser Permanente, Hoag, and City of Hope anchor a fast growing clinical sector. Irvine Unified is consistently among California’s strongest districts, unemployment sits near the bottom of the state, and the city has been ranked America’s safest big city for well over a decade.
People come here to achieve, and mostly they have. Which means a great many of the people in your building were the strong student, the one who tested well, the person who never really needed help. That is a formidable workforce and it carries a hidden cost.
Chris’s own research bears it out. In the Untapped Potential Report, ninety two percent of respondents said they believe they are capable of more than they are currently doing, eighty five percent said they second-guess themselves, and self-doubt was the single most cited barrier at forty percent, ahead of time, money, or opportunity. Seventy eight percent said they delay taking action. This is not a study of underachievers. It describes exactly the kind of accomplished people this city is full of.
The pattern shows up as silence. High performers hide difficulty, because asking for help has never been necessary before and now feels like an admission. So the struggling engineer works longer instead of speaking, the new manager fakes certainty, and the problem surfaces late, when it is expensive.
The only thing that reliably breaks it is a senior person going first. Say plainly what you are still figuring out. Praise an attempt that did not work in front of everyone. Make not knowing yet a normal sentence from the most experienced voice in the room. Nobody junior will ever go first, and in a place this accomplished, waiting for them to is the mistake.
Chris runs national healthcare staffing organizations and has keynoted state association conferences in eleven states, including LeadingAge Illinois and health care associations in Iowa, Montana, South Dakota, and Colorado.
Operator, Not Consultant
President and COO of national healthcare staffing organizations, still making the hiring and retention calls he speaks about.
Backed by Original Research
The Untapped Potential Report surveyed more than two hundred respondents on what actually holds capable people back.
Technical and Clinical Rooms
Works for an engineering or corporate all-hands, a health system leadership day, or an association general session.
Groups Chris speaks for.
Irvine holds one of the densest concentrations of technology, medical device, and corporate headquarters in California.
- The University of California, Irvine, the city’s largest employer, and UCI Health, for campus, staff, and clinical leadership programming
- Edwards Lifesciences, Masimo, Glaukos, and B Braun Medical, across the region’s medical device cluster
- Broadcom, Blizzard Entertainment, Alteryx, and the region’s technology firms, for company all-hands and leadership summits
- Kaiser Permanente, Hoag, City of Hope Orange County, and MemorialCare, for nurse leadership, all-staff, and recognition events
- Taco Bell, Kia America, and Ingram Micro, headquartered in the city
- Irvine Unified School District and Irvine Valley College, for convocation and staff development days
- California statewide and national associations meeting in Irvine, the format Chris works in most often
Irvine employers full of people who rarely fail.
Healthcare is where Chris operates, and clinicians share the same reluctance to admit difficulty.
Technology and Engineering
Teams where technical identity is tied to competence and admitting confusion feels risky.
Medical Device and Life Sciences
Regulated work where mistakes matter and people hide uncertainty rather than surface it.
Healthcare
Clinicians trained never to appear unsure, in a profession where speaking up is the safety system.
Corporate Headquarters and Education
High-achievement environments where struggle is felt privately and rarely said out loud.
Irvine and Orange County venues.
- Irvine hotel and conference facilities for statewide and national association meetings
- Corporate campuses across the Spectrum, Great Park, and technology corridors for all-hands and leadership summits
- UCI Health, Kaiser, Hoag, and City of Hope campuses for nurse leadership and all-staff days
- The University of California, Irvine for campus and staff programming
- District facilities for convocation and staff development days
- Santa Ana, Anaheim, Newport Beach, Tustin, and communities across Orange County
Irvine events Chris speaks at.
Corporate and Technology All-Hands
Company meetings, kickoffs, and leadership summits across the region’s headquarters employers.
Association Conferences
Statewide and national association annual meetings and general sessions, the format Chris works in most often.
Human Potential and Development
Sessions built on original research into what actually holds capable people back.
Hospital and Health System Events
Leadership days, nurse recognition events, and all-staff meetings.
Emerging and New Leaders
Development for first-time managers who feel they must appear certain.
HR and SHRM Chapter Events
Human resources conferences and chapter meetings on development, recognition, and retention.
Keynote topics for your Irvine event.
Every session is customized for the audience, the format, and what you are actually trying to change.
See what conference organizers and HR leaders have said after booking Chris.
Booking a keynote speaker in Irvine
Will this land with a technical, highly educated audience?
Does Chris travel to Irvine?
What is the Untapped Potential Report?
Our people are already high performers. What is the point?
Can the keynote be paired with a workshop?
What does an Irvine keynote cost?
Can Chris speak virtually to a California audience?
Keynote speaking across southern California.
Each city page covers the local employers, the venues Chris speaks in, and the specific workforce pressure leaders there are working on.
Bring Chris to your Irvine event.
Send your date, location, and audience. You will get availability and a quote back within one business day.
info@chrissund.com · 402-212-5771 · California speaking · All locations
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