Jenn Quader is President & CEO of The Smart Agency, a 30-year-old company she acquired in 2018 that is now the leading professional communications firm for commercial real estate and financial services companies in the United States. Her personal mission is to empower the next generation of confident communicators by sharing her voice in the global movement toward empathetic and human-first business leadership. Jenn’s academic and career trajectory was unconventional and required tons of resilience! She began her career as a professional singer and actress where she was told “no” many more times than “yes.” She spent years conveying stories through acting, singing, and performing while traveling to all 50 U.S. states and many international destinations on several national tours of Broadway shows. She then earned her Master of Arts in Global Communications from the American University in Paris, after earning a Bachelor of Science in Communications with a concentration in Public Relations from East Carolina University. A veteran communicator, Jenn honed her skills working on behalf of major companies such as Fox/MGM Entertainment, Ford Motor Company, Michelin, and Mazda before specializing in commercial real estate. Today, in addition to leading her company, she is a poet, author, and soon a recording artist, with a debut album called “Love, In All Its Forms” releasing in late 2024. So, why is she giving this TEDx Talk? Jenn says: “I am dismayed when I see the statistics and rhetoric that currently exist around our young professionals and overall workforce. There seems to be a proverbial ‘global shrug’ that says ‘give up on them. They’ll never be motivated to work hard.’ But this generation of lovely, brilliant, curious, open-minded people are not inherently or globally unmotivated. They are simply bombarded by a pace of change so fast it’s head-spinning and body-aching. They need some support in navigating that change and building resilience. This is why I’m excited to share my TEDx Talk, entitled Walking Confidently in the Wrong Direction: A CEO’s Guide to Navigating Change, which will offer specific communications strategies that can be used by professionals everywhere to face change, keep walking, communicate clearly, and positively impact their communities – ultimately helping the world at large. Thank you to the entire AUP community – I’m thrilled to be back!”
