Influential Woman · Professional Speaker
Anne Bonney
Change and Self Awareness Keynote Speaker and Emcee (Master of Ceremonies), Different Shoe Enterprises LLC
St Petersburg, FL
Her Story
About Anne
Anne Bonney is a professional speaker with a little over 10 years of experience who runs her own business, handling gig acquisition, administration, contracts, logistics, and deliverables in addition to delivering speeches. She speaks at conventions, corporate sales and departmental meetings, and annual association or corporate meetings throughout the United States. Bonney earned a Certified Speaking Professional designation through the National Speakers Association, which requires a specific number of speeches, revenue, and audience reach within a set period. She holds a Bachelor's of Science in Psychology and a double major in Special Education, and completed master's work in marketing without finishing the degree. Her honors include being named one of the Top impact speakers of the year by Real Leaders Magazine in 2026, Trainer of the Year in 2017 for Skilled Path, chapter member of the year in 2020 for her Speakers Association chapter, and Rotarian of the Year in 2017. She is a member of the National Speakers Association and serves on the board of the Warm Hearts Foundation. Bonney attributes her success to running her business her own way, including performing with a guitar and leading audiences in song to illustrate that change does not have to be faced alone. She values fun in her work and being easy to do business with by meeting client timelines and communicating clearly. Her message on navigating change resonates amid current overwhelm and industry noise from AI.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Anne
01What do you attribute your success to?
I've done this business my way. I was willing to say, alright, I'm gonna do this my way, and figure out the best way for me, and the best way to deliver my content, which includes singing on stage with a guitar and getting the audience to sing along.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Do the thing that lights you up. Find the job that you're going to do the best work if you're really excited about the work you're doing. So many people have so many shoulds that they follow. You gotta look in yourself and say, what do I want to do?
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Do it your way. There's so many shoulds, and there's so many people gonna tell you how to run a speaking business. And it's all good advice, but it's not necessarily good advice for you. Take all the knowledge, learn all the things, listen to all the people, then go into a dark room and say, what am I gonna use? What works for me?
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Biggest challenges is there's a lot of noise these days, you know, with AI. Trust is not given easily... One of the biggest opportunities... is that people are overwhelmed. There's so much change going on... my message that's fun, and here's why change is so hard, and you're not doing it wrong... is a welcome message right now.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
One of the big ones is fun. You know, if we're not having fun, like, what's the point? ... be easy to do business with. Which should be simple, like, deliver to their timelines in the format they want it, what they ask for, you know, and be clear in my communication.
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