Rise Leadership

“Real leadership doesn’t start with authority. It starts with accountability.”

Work With Me

Rise Leadership

“Real leadership doesn’t start with authority. It starts with accountability.”

Rebuilding Culture from the Inside Out

Leadership is hard, and when it’s built on ego, certainty, or control, it eventually collapses. Most teams don’t need more strategy, they need more honesty. Culture change begins when leaders look inward.

I lived the high-pressure, high-performance leadership life, until the pressure led me to compromise my values. After serving time in federal prison, I had to confront the choices I made, the blind spots I ignored, and the ego I had been hiding behind.

That reckoning didn’t break me. It became the foundation for a new kind of leadership. One rooted in courage, humility, and radical accountability.

The RISE Process^TM

Through my RISE Process^TM, I help leaders reimagine influence and rebuild trust, from the inside out.

Reframe

Redefine leadership as relational, not positional.

Identify

Know your truth-tellers, the ones who challenge and support you, even when it’s uncomfortable.

Surrender

Let go of the need to perform, perfect, or control outcomes.

Evolve

Step into being the kind of leader people trust, follow, and grow with.

Keynote Takeaways

Guiding leaders and teams across diverse industries

Finance & Accounting

Corporate Leadership & Ethics

Legal & Compliance

Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals

Colleges & Universities

Real Estate & Investments

Hospitality & Tourism

Associations & Nonprofits

Franchise & MLM

EO & YPO

Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)

Women’s Leadership & Empowerment

Who Is This For?

This keynote is ideal for leaders and teams who are:

Facing team burnout, low trust, or cultural disconnect
Ready to shift from managing to mentoring
Committed to evolving into purpose-driven, self-aware leaders
Leading through change, crisis, or cultural transformation

Suggested Formats

While I tailor every keynote to your event’s vision, RISE LEADERSHIP™ is especially effective in:

Executive Leadership Retreats
People & Culture Summits
Strategy or Innovation Offsites
C-Suite or Senior Leader Conferences
Women in Leadership Events

What Clients Are Saying

Diane Williams

President and Board Director

Jacksonville Women’s Leadership Forum

I had the privilege of hearing Rashmi Airan speak as a keynote at the Jacksonville Women’s Leadership Forum where she shared her story, “Rise Together”. With honesty, vulnerability, and incredible strength, she shared her personal journey in a way that was both deeply moving and powerfully inspiring. Rashmi is a phenomenal storyteller—her ability to connect with the audience on such a human level is truly rare. She doesn’t just speak; she creates space for reflection, growth, and connection.

Hiring Rashmi to speak at your event will be one of the best decisions you make – her message resonates long after the applause ends.

John Hamilton

Vice President of Operations

Lightbridge Academy (Franchisor)

Rashmi’s engaging presentation style, coupled with her insightful content, captivated our audience and left a lasting impact. She focused on transforming fear of uncertainty into actionable strategies for success, provided our attendees with practical tools and powerful takeaways they could immediately apply in their roles. Rashmi’s ability to connect with her audience, share meaningful stories, and inspire growth truly stood out.

I highly recommend Rashmi for any speaking engagement or leadership development initiative. Her expertise, authenticity, and dynamic presence make her an invaluable asset to any event.

LaTanya Langley

Chief People Officer

Edgewell Personal Care

Rashmi delivered an unforgettable experience for our team. Her session was more than just inspiring—it was transformational. I received countless messages from teammates who shared how her story and insights profoundly impacted them, shifting perspectives and sparking meaningful self-reflection. She brought her A-game with authenticity, vulnerability, and a powerful presence that captivated the room. Rashmi was exactly what our team needed, and her message will resonate long after the event.

Scott L. Baena

Managing Partner

Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod, LLP

Rashmi’s gripping presentation to more than 50 of our lawyers transformed the subject of professional responsibility from a textbook experience to a compelling human drama with real-life consequences. It was eye-opening and gut-wrenching, and Rashmi’s willingness to share the lowest moment in her professional life and her takeaways was a real tribute to her character

John C. Coffee

Jr. Professor

Columbia University, School of Law

Because Ms. Airan was only a few years older than the law students she spoke to and because she graduated near the top of her class, her impact on the students was powerful and immediate. I think her presentation gave students an entirely unique, more nuanced and certainly more vivid sense of how seemingly normal professional practice can cross the line over into fraud. She made a very valuable contribution to the students’ that others cannot duplicate.”

Scott A. Peterson

Esq.

Colorado Association of REALTORS®

Rashmi’s story is equal parts chilling and heart-warming. The lessons from her life experience weave together to form a cautionary tale for REALTORS®. In watching the room as Rashmi delivered her keynote, I have never seen a REALTOR® audience so transfixed on a speaker and her story. Her delivery is direct, touching, sad, funny and always brutally honest. Her candor and accountability were rewarded with an emotional standing ovation at the conclusion of her keynote.

Trying to capture and engage busy REALTORS® with compelling professional ethics and risk management content can be difficult….particularly in a large conference setting. When it comes to delivering a lesson on those two subjects in a poignant and unforgettable presentation, Rashmi and her story cannot beat.

James A. Martell

Colorado Bar Association

I attended Rashmi’s talk and I thought it was amazing. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to hear you speak. It was, without a doubt, the best session I have attended in my 40 years. I particularly liked your focus on our duty to the community and society as a whole.

Grant Achilles

Head Baseball Coach

Brown University

Thank you so much for the time you spent sharing your story with vulnerability, creating a space for us to do the same, and sharing insight applicable to both personal and professional life choices. Your messaging resonated in unexpected and practical ways. I admire the courage on display to speak from a place of such openness and high character.

Joe Capone

Rashmi’s prosecutor

Department of Justice

In my 30 years as a federal prosecutor, I dealt with thousands of individuals involved in criminal conduct. Many were truly sorry for and embarrassed by their criminal conduct but happy to put their punishment behind them and move on as quickly as possible. But in my experience, only one of my former defendants – Rashmi Airan — has chosen to relive, repeatedly, her personal and professional failings in an effort to inspire and motivate others to avoid the poor choices she made.

It’s a rare thing for a prosecutor and defendant to develop a relationship of mutual respect and friendship. We began as adversaries in a courtroom, became teammates in prosecuting others, and now collaborate in writing and speaking. Rashmi’s acceptance of responsibility for her conduct, her deeply sincere expressions of remorse and humility, and her efforts to share her experiences with others who may be tempted to follow a misguided path, have been extraordinary. Rashmi tells a compelling story, rich with life lessons everyone can relate to.

Todd Stansbury

Georgia Tech University Athletics

Rashmi spoke to our senior leadership team and coaches at Georgia Tech. Her story and message around decision-making was incredibly impactful as it hit home the fact that good and smart people can make bad decisions with dire consequences. Rashmi helps shed light through her research in behavioral ethics. She provides a mental process for maintaining ethical vigilance in our decision- making and how to avoid the overconfidence bias that leads to the slippery slope. I highly recommend Rashmi to my friends and colleagues as she will inspire and help create substantive change in our athletic environments around integrity and ethics.

Lori Maher McCombs

SHRM Association Management Professional & Convention Planner

Maher Group, LLC

I had the pleasure of working with Rashmi Airan as conference planner for the 2020 Tri-State SHRM Conference. Rashmi was scheduled to present two in person sessions for us, but due to COVID-19, she easily adapted and presented her sessions virtually. Her presentations centered around taking ownership of your actions, and business ethics. Rashmi’s ability to tell her story with candor, honesty and ownership makes her keynote(s) very relevant to business leaders. Thank you, Rashmi! Keep up the great work.

Peter Chee

Founder & CEO

MinimZero

Touching. Bold. Almost moved me to tears!

Verne Harnish

Founder of EO, Founder of Scaling Up

Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO)

Excellent and Powerful!

Damien Atkins

Former General Counsel

Hershey’s Inc.

Rashmi’s story illustrates the power of humility and transformation. Rashmi is an energy giver – whether live or virtual. She reminds us that we are all humans and fallible. I would recommend Rashmi, she is one the best speakers I have ever worked with and I will work with her again!

Reuben Xeureb

YPO

What Rashmi brought to us is real-life experience with emotion, authenticity, and courage for immediate value add in our individual organizations. As a group of CEOs of our companies, we typically don’t spend an entire day listening and engaging with one Coach/Consultant. Rashmi’s workshop and message were extremely effective and impactful, both personally and professionally. Even after an entire day with Rashmi, we all wanted more. I am definitely planning on bringing Rashmi back to work with my own leadership team at my organization.”

Shanna Allen

HOLLISTER, Inc.

Genuine, relatable, heartfelt, valuable. Made me see parts of myself that need work.

CJ Carr

Wyndham Hotels

Fantastic and Inspiring Story!

Kerri Stone

FIU Law School

You are the best speaker I have ever heard!

Roshni Kadhiwala

CEO/Owner JLM Hotel Group

Asian American Hotel Owners Association

The most mind capturing talk ever! 100% focused and visually present. Personable and relatable

Marc Durant

CISO and CTO

Merck

Rashmi’s talk was authentic and really resonated with the entire audience. She was hands-down the #1 speaker we had over the course of our multi-day conference!

Preeti Balwani

Former General Counsel and Global General Counsel

Coca-Cola, India and CRISIL Ltd.

Rashmi worked with the Coca-Cola team for an entire day. She created such a meaningful impact on the pivotal issues of accountability and vulnerability. Her diverse and unique view has propelled her as a leader on these topics. Rashmi shares a personal story that we must strive to live through uncertainty with conviction and navigate through the gray area. Her workshop truly helped our team learn how to thrive in chaos, be adaptable and remain curious while always focusing on the organization’s needs and long-term sustainability. Her story is relatable and she is truly a remarkable speaker and consultant!