Corporate Speaking
A corporate motivational speaker your team will actually believe.
Buddy Vokey left school before the eighth grade, spent more than eight years incarcerated, and rebuilt his life by shining more than 9,000 shoes and building a service business with no investors — one that now carries 408+ five-star reviews. He speaks to corporate audiences about grit, reputation and what it costs to earn trust back.
Why Planners Book Him
Not a motivational script. A record.
Corporate audiences are hard to move because most of them have heard the speech before. Buddy doesn't open with a framework — he opens with where he started, and what it took to build a customer base that keeps coming back.
The result is a keynote that lands with the people your programs usually miss: frontline staff, service teams, and managers who came up the hard way. Every talk is shaped around your theme, your audience and the outcome your leadership is after.
- 408+
- five-star reviews earned
- 8+ yrs
- incarcerated, then rebuilt
- 9,000+
- shoes shined to start over
Corporate Keynotes
Talks built for corporate programs
- 01
Reputation Is Currency
Sales kickoffs • Customer-facing teams
How relentless customer service turned a one-man service business into 408+ five-star reviews — and what that discipline looks like inside a company.
- 02
Leadership Without A Title
Leadership & management programs
Leadership learned through fatherhood, hardship and building a business alone. Practical for the people on your team who lead before they are promoted.
- 03
The Business School Of Real Life
Entrepreneurship & innovation events
Building something real with no investors, no degree, and no safety net — a working model of resourcefulness for teams asked to do more with less.
- 04
Second Chances Create First Opportunities
Culture, DEI & hiring initiatives
Why organizations that give people a genuine chance to rebuild earn loyalty most employers never see.
Formats
Built around your agenda, not a fixed package.
Keynote
35–60 minutes, tailored to your theme
Fireside chat
Moderated Q&A with your leadership
Workshop session
Small-group, service and mindset focused
Panel or breakout
Reentry, hiring and second-chance topics
Who He Speaks To
- Corporate teams
- Leadership programs
- Sales and service organizations
- Trade organizations
- Workforce-development programs
- Employee resource groups
Buddy also speaks to veterans organizations, schools, reentry programs and community groups. See the FAQ for background, topics and booking details.
Booking
Tell him about your event.
Share the date, audience and theme. You'll get a straight answer on availability and how he'd shape the talk for your people.
Start a booking request