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DisruptHR Charlottesville Stretches and Inspires

4 August 2026

Allison reflected on her experience and what she learned from her fellow speakers at DisruptHR Charlottesville 2025 while getting excited for this year’s event on Tuesday, October 6, 2026.

Tags: allison read, allison watched, public speaking

DisruptHR began in Cincinnati, Ohio, on December 13, 2013. According to their website, a typical event has, "14 speakers, 5 minutes each, and slides rotate every 15 seconds." As of last year, 260 cities worldwide hosted their own event and that number grows each year.

It was no surprise that our Charlottesville community wanted to explore "the rebellious future of HR" and hosted its first event in 2018. Our founding organizer, Lily Garcia Walton, Chief People Officer and General Counsel of Silverchair, said, "DisruptHR events create a unique space where diverse voices converge—seasoned executives, talent disruptors, emerging entrepreneurs, and community champions. They're driven by a shared belief in human-centered leadership and the power of organizations to create meaningful change in how we work and live."

Each year I’ve attended, I’ve found myself inspired by the messages and walked away with several new things I wanted to learn more about and suggestions I wanted to try out in my own life. I’m also a big fan of the nonprofit who benefits from ticket proceeds, C4K (Computers 4 Kids). C4K has provided youth mentoring and technology programs in our region since 1999. 

DisruptHR's longtime emcee, Densie Stewart, owns Denise Stewart Coaching and has been a friend and colleague for many years. I first saw her on stage in her hilarious one woman show, Dirty Barbie and Other Girlhood Tales. Since then, I’ve learned so much from her approach to coaching and public speaking.

Last year, I was very excited to be invited to speak and the experience was powerful for me.

Our Allison Partners team blogs about public speaking, and I’ve been giving keynote speeches for more than 30 years. Sometimes they are an hour or two long and sometimes they are five to fifteen minutes. However, I’ve never had a slide number requirement (20) or had those slides advance automatically (every 15 seconds). For a short keynote, I tend to use fewer slides or no slides, and I often linger on slides to emphasize key points.

Also, I knew there would be many people in the room who were personally and professionally important to me, or who knew I speak for a living, or who I hoped might one day think about hiring me. Then they asked me to go first! I don’t typically get nervous. If I do get anxious, I think of the nerves as joyful fuel power that I harness into the calm but engaging and hopefully funny presence I aspire to bring to every speaking engagement.

I know that rarely getting nervous about speaking is a true gift, and I never take it for granted. However, six things about this particular speaking experience created new butterflies for me—the rules of the presentation format, the importance of the audience, having an unhelpful in this moment but usually "works for me" aversion to practicing, experiencing nerves I don’t usually have to deal with, being the first speaker, and the fact that my topic was meant to inspire calm while I was dealing with my own nerves. Good grief.

Thankfully, we had a wonderful coach in Dirk Petersen to help all speakers prepare and a dress rehearsal with some trusted friends in the room who helped me to get through my yips. Plus, I actually use the technique I was presenting to help me in stressful situations.

I spoke a bit faster than I wanted to, but overall, I was pleased with how my presentation turned out. I was especially grateful for a new challenge to help myself build more empathy for the clients I coach on public speaking, and I learned new tips to share with them. Also, the overall experience of being stretched to the point of feeling nervousness has improved my own teaching and speaking in the last year.  

My Fellow Speakers and Organizers with Denise in her Last Costume of the Night...A Unicorn!
Photo Credit: Jeffrey C. Gleason Photography

Clearly this experience was important for me personally, but what I remember most of all about the night are the wonderful lessons, vulnerability, courage, inspiration, humor, and practical tips from my fellow speakers. The following is a list of all our speakers in the order we spoke with links to their presentations as well as my key takeaways in italics.

1. Allison Linney, President and Founder, Allison Partners, LLC, Control Your Breath, Unlock Your Power
   Thank goodness I could use the tool I taught to help me with my own butterflies!
2. Courtney Valladares, Human Resources Director, UVA Foundation: The Courage to Care: Rethinking How We Give Feedback
   Courtney reminded us that no matter how hard it is to get and give feedback, we need to find more courage to do both because feedback is the pathway to trust. Staying silent is cruel, and being clear is kind.
3. Wilson McLean, Director of Program Development, Culinary Concepts AB LLC, 2nd, 3rd, 4th Chances and More! Inspiring Organizational Alchemy
   Wilson moved me beyond measure with his vulnerable retelling of his struggle with mental health and addiction. He then pivoted seamlessly to explaining five important things leaders can do to create organizational change based on the second chance his boss gave him and so many others.
4. Kimberlyn McDonald, HR Consultant, The Butterly Effect: My Journey of Career Growth
   Kimberlyn told two powerful stories about her volunteer efforts for young teenagers at the beginning of life and older adults closer to the end of life. She inspired me to find new energy for volunteering. 
5. Sonny Abramson, Founder, wYrks collaborative, Outsmarting the Primitive Mind: Turning Friction Into Fuel
   Sonny made us laugh while explaining why our brain’s hardwiring for survival holds us back and often makes us feel busy but not productive. He believes that even the smallest company can apply the four ways that Apple continuously transforms chaotic friction into catalytic friction.
6. Jorge Gutierrez Luthe, Senior Director, Zendesk, AI is Killing Entry Level Jobs. What’s Next?
   Jorge recommended a new way for organizations to approach entry level positions that will benefit the newest members of the workforce, create innovative solutions that elevate what humans can do at work, benefit customers, and fuel organizational success.
7. Price Thomas, Executive Director, City of Promise, From Classroom to Community: Reframing Education as a Social Issue
   Price shared compelling data to explain poverty’s impact on education and what makes it difficult for schools in Charlottesville to solve social issues. Fortunately, City of Promise has practical strategies for addressing these wicked problems.
8. Johnny Jackson, Assistant Clubhouse Coordinator, C4K, Why Procrastinate?
   Johnny spoke at the first DisruptHR as a teenager who attended Computers4Kids (C4K) in 2018 and seven years later he spoke at DisruptHR 2025 as an employee at C4K. The next time you find yourself procrastinating, Johnny’s presentation can help you find self-compassion for why you put things off and inspire you to get unstuck.
9. Ameer Shakeel, Founder and CTO, Agrospheres, Peak Moments Through Unexpected Journeys
   Ameer shared what it took for him and his friends to launch a company that is developing the next generation of environmentally-friendly crop protection products. Seven years ago, what they started at UVA as students has now received $37 million dollars in funding. Along the way Ameer learned to seek peak moments so that he could invest time in activities that align with people, planet, and purpose.
10. John Elder, Founder, Elder Research, The Crisis in Science and How to Solve it Now
    John explained that 80% of scientific studies published in reputable journals are eventually proved to be not replicable. Yikes! The good news is that John also explained how we can solve this problem while he taught us some statistics and made us laugh.
11. Rachel Schnorr, US Director, Ad Net Zero, The Transforming Power of Counter-Cultural Relationships
    Rachel didn’t make us feel guilty about the six hours a day most of spend on our phones. But she did help us to see how replacing one hour of our phone time each week with one hour of volunteering can make a huge difference in someone else’s life and ours.

I hope you’ll watch these presentations, tell me what your takeaways are in the comment section below, and join us for this year’s DisruptHR Charlottesville on Tuesday, October 6, 2026. Early Bird ticket sales end September 8. I’ll also be posting each video from 2025 for the next eleven days on Facebook and LinkedIn. Please share your favorites with your networks.

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