Lorca Smetana Motivational Speaker from Bozeman, MT

Lorca Smetana is a speaker, resilience consultant, mentor and storyteller/singer who helps clients, students and crisis managers expand resilience skills, resist burnout and grow as survivors into leaders. Lorca touches and changes the lives of her listeners. Through her personal story as a survivor of tragedy that made breaking news in 1986 as nine of her companions died on a school climb of Mt. Hood, Lorca gives voice to the fragility of life and inspires newfound purpose and strength to those who are coping with life's difficult challenges. She dares her listeners to live the life that feeds and inspires them. Weaving storytelling with useable tools, her audience is given a powerful story of devastation and rebuilding, an anatomy of resilience, and a framework for creating the essential ingredients of a sustainable and meaningful life, even in the context of repeated strain, loss and challenge. She speaks into to her listeners' hopes for the creating of a new story, and for the development of leadership in the face of the experience of crisis. Lorca's unique background brings together professional work in the fields of leadership development, resilience consulting, international program coordination, outdoor education, team-building and animal-assisted therapy. This diverse experience gives her work a depth and sophistication that makes working with her uniquely rich and always interesting. She breeds and trains white homing pigeons and often integrates them into her events in ways that are fun, moving and magical. Lorca also trains students, teachers, emergency response teams and veterans in developing personal resiliency in addition to working with organizations to develop strategies and structures that support their people on the ground to build finely tuned and long-lasting teams. An insightful communicator, Lorca delivers her practical wisdom with empathy, intelligence, and a profound understanding of the human heart. Your community will come out changed, heartened and strengthened. Speaking Topics: The Pillars of Resilience Mindsets for Leadership: Where Vulnerability Feeds Innovation The Tarn: Feeding the Anti-Burnout When Grief Comes to Community: Honoring & Planting Seeds Strategic Mindfulness for Emergency Responders: The Rescuer Supported "Lorca came to speak at our most significant community event last year. She spoke, but more importantly she moved, all of us—4 year olds, to wide eyed 11 year olds, to cool 16 year olds, to staid adults. Lorca's combination of storytelling, quiet passion and commitment, and calm centeredness made us all rethink our life choices: are we doing all we can to make this a better place? Lorca leads by example: she does not tell, she shows; her style is engaging, carefully thoughtful and compelling. The few moments she was able to spend with us have lingered on through conversation, thoughtful gestures and deep reflection." Mo Copeland Head of School Oregon Episcopal School "You were amazing. I am filled up with your words. I had not expected the whole lovely event to go straight for my heart. It was beautiful. I have always thought you were other-worldly, Lorca. You possess an incredible light and wisdom. Thank you." Katie Wisdom-Weinstein "Lorca has a warm way of connecting with people, and uses a variety of techniques in her speaking to keep audiences engaged. She has a talent in reaching people in a quiet, caring, and knowledgeable way in which heads nod, people smile, and their life is enriched forever afterwards." Cindy Christin Bozeman Public Library