Paid to Speak

Bridgett McGowen is an award-winning international professional speaker, an Entrepreneur magazine contributor, a former Forbes Coaches Council contributor, an award-winning author, and the owner of an award-winning hybrid publishing company. She's always loved books, and "talks too much” was the consistent comment she received on her elementary school report cards. Once in fourth grade, in an attempt to refrain from disturbing her classmates with her talking, she copied words and definitions from a dictionary (for which she was awarded an apple-scented scratch-and-sniff sticker). As an adult, it only made sense that she would do something with those "gifts" and become a professional speaker who also publishes books.

Bridgett began her professional career teaching and tutoring for the Lone Star College System in the Houston, Texas area, then she went on to teach at Prairie View A&M University, a part of the Texas A&M University System (TAMUS), as well as University of Phoenix where she taught online Communication courses for more than a decade. Bridgett is a member of the Association for Talent Development, a past member of the National Speakers Association, a member of International Society of Female Professionals, and the Independent Book Publishers Association.

Bridgett has earned a bachelor's degree in communication as well as a master's degree. She has received the Master Presenter Award from University of Texas at Austin, two Fearless International Speaker Awards from Canada-based One Woman, two Stevie Awards, and has spoken on programs alongside notable figures such as

• Former President Barack Obama
• Oprah Winfrey
• Shonda Rhimes
• Alex Rodriguez
• Deepak Chopra
• Jada Pinkett Smith
• Amy Cuddy
• Chip Gaines
• Katie Couric

It was her work with TAMUS that moved her to become a faculty development consultant for an educational technology company, designing and delivering scores of high-impact webinars and workshops that cause audiences to bubble over with enthusiasm all across the globe.

Since 2001, she's been a professional speaker, and it was 2016 when she launched her professional speaking business out of necessity -- she was laid off. When she gets a microphone in her hand, there's no doubt that she owns it and that she loves what she does.

In 2019, she wrote and published two books, REAL TALK: What Other Experts Won't Tell You About How to Make Presentations That Sizzle, which is a 2020 Indie Next Generation Book Award Finalist, the winner of the 2020 Best Indie Book Award in the nonfiction business and communication category, and in its second edition as well as Rise and Sizzle: Daily Communication and Presentation Strategies for Sales, Business, and Higher Ed Pros. In January 2020, she wrote and published Show Up and Show Out: 52 Communication Habits to Make You Unforgettable. Weeks later in February 2020, she compiled and published Own the Microphone: How 50 of the World's Most Ambitious Professional Speakers Launched Their Careers (And How You Can, Too!). In June 2020, she also compiled and published Redesign Your 9-to-5: Advice and Strategies from 50 of the World's Most Ambitious Business Owners and Entrepreneurs. Two months later and in response to the George Floyd murder, she released A Collective Breath, which won a 2021 award from Next Generation Indie Book Awards. On International Women's Day 2021, she released Upward: Leadership Lessons for Women on the Rise. Her second edition of Show Up and Show Out won a 2023 Award of Distinction from the Communicator Awards, and she is the host of the five-star rated podcast, Own the Microphone.

Any chance she gets to travel with her family, kick off her shoes, play in the sand, and enjoy a gorgeous sunset ... any chance she gets to simply enjoy life ... she does, and she encourages others to do so, too!