Emotional Theater

Director of Business Development

www.calvinlawrencespeaks.net 

I work with companies, schools and colleges, non-profits and churches to help them identify and solve problems.  Through:
*  Workshops
*  Motivational speaking
*  Coaching Programs
www.calvinlawrencespeaks.net

Drop me a message or send me an email!

Founder and CEO

Ranger College

My role allowed me to help remediate students who had been assessed as not college ready in the state of Texas for English reading and writing.

Dean for Developmental Studies

Tarleton State University

Director of satellite campus, assistant professor, interim director of diversity

Professor/director

Richard Milborn Academy

Principal/School Director

I am very excited to provide meaningful training and content in the areas of leadership and diversity.  My background allows me to delve into these topics in a way that is different than most of the voices you may be currently listening to.  I know my uniqueness comes from a background of varied experiences.  Allow me to explain.

I have always been passionate about leadership, and the possibilities for hope, change, and a new direction.  I don't believe there is any greater calling than being able to impact people's lives in a positive way.  My goal is also to place education about diversity and it's impact at the forefront of discussions.  I've been challenged by recent movements and world turmoil to take an active role in finding solutions instead of listing all the problems.  I'm not a poly-anna, but I do err on the side of hope and not doubt or regret.

I believe I was born for this time!  I am ready, willing and able to put my more than 40 years of experience, spanning pre-K thru the collegiate graduate levels, to maximum use.  I am ready to serve in whatever capacity my new roles call for.  I am excited about the future, and I still believe that regarding my life, the best is yet to come! I look forward to making contact with you and your organization real soon!

Calvin Lawrence, Ed. D.

I’m a sales leader, coach, and builder of people.

For over 25 years, I’ve rolled up my sleeves to lead high-performing sales teams across North America, close multimillion-dollar deals, and mentor BDRs into confident closers. I don’t just hit targets, I build cultures rooted in trust, empathy, and results.

At GDI, we didn’t win big by chasing RFPs, we built real relationships. That’s how we landed seven-figure contracts. At CFIB, I helped small business owners grow across every sector through consultative sales and consistent follow-through. And most recently, I led sales training and enablement at a North American SaaS startup, building scalable onboarding systems, boosting conversions by 30%, and coaching remote reps with heart and data.

I’ve worked in startups, trained teams from scratch, and aligned sales with marketing to build real momentum. I’m Salesforce-savvy, strategy-driven, and obsessed with making people feel seen and supported while helping them outperform what they thought was possible.

What drives me? Helping good people do great things, whether it’s a young rep finding their voice or a business expanding because we asked the right questions.

Let’s connect if you believe in leading with empathy, closing with confidence, and building something that matters.  Sales Leader | BDR Coach | Culture-Builder | SaaS & Startup Growth

Kathy Obad

North America is currently battling an internal war.

A battle fought in minds, bodies, homes, and relationships.

A subtle battle, visible only to a keen eye:

Drinking. Binge eating. Scrolling. Working nonstop. Staying busy so there’s no space to feel.

Not because people are weak.
Because they’re trying to survive something they can’t see.

That’s the hardest part about this enemy.

You can’t X-ray it.
You can’t point to it on a screen.
There’s no single moment where it shows up and announces itself.

It just wears people down.

If this is this generation’s war, then connection is the resistance.

Honesty is the armor.

Community is how people survive it.

That’s why today matters.

We take a moment today.

Not to check a box, but to really see what’s happening around us.

And then we take another moment tomorrow.
And the next day.

Because we’re in this NOW.

We beat this by standing together.
By raising awareness.
By raising funds.
By making help easier to reach.
By taking mental health as seriously as we take any other crisis.

What could be more important?

So today, let’s talk.
Let’s listen.
Let’s stay.

Because this isn’t just a conversation.

It’s the work of our time.

#BellLetsTalk #mentalhealth 

“Taking a moment for mental health.” 2026

Taking a moment won’t fix everything, but it’s a step in the right direction.

Katica (Kathy) Obad

Sales Manager | Building and Leading High-Performing Teams | Exceeding Sales Goals in SaaS and B2B Environments

I’ve been teaching my youngest how to drive.

And wow. It’s wild how much we forget once something becomes second nature.

We’ve been driving for years. We don’t think about how we reverse, parallel park, signal, shoulder check. Our hands just move. Our feet know what to do. Autopilot takes over.

And if I’m honest, sometimes shortcuts sneak in. Rules bend. Not because we’re careless, but because we’re comfortable.

Watching her drive brought me back to that version of myself who was laser-focused. Every move intentional. Every decision under a microscope. Polished. Present. Trying to do it right because someone was watching.

It made me think about leadership.
The best leaders don’t operate on autopilot.
They don’t rely on what worked twenty years ago. They don’t coach from behind a desk or disappear to the golf course while the world changes around them.

They roll up their sleeves.
They sit in the discomfort.
They pick up the phone.
They make the call. The COLD CALL!!
They get into the work.

Because if you’re not willing to do the thing today, how can you teach someone else to do it well?

Business changes. Markets shift. People change. And leadership that stays relevant is lived, not delegated.

There’s something powerful about getting back into the driver’s seat. Feeling the road again. Paying attention. Leading from inside the work instead of above it.

Sometimes growth isn’t about learning something new.

It’s about getting polished again. 

#Leadership #LeadershipDevelopment #BusinessLeadership #SalesLeadership #LeadFromTheFront

I’ve noticed something strange over the years.
When things start breaking at scale, the instinct leadership has is usually the same.

Speed up. Add pressure. Push harder.

That instinct feels productive.
It’s also usually wrong.

If everything only works when people overextend, the system is broken, not the workforce.

#Leadership
#LeadershipDevelopment
#BusinessLeadership
#WorkplaceCulture
#FutureOfWork
#HR

There’s a viral TikTok trend called “Burp Your House.”

Not gross. Not silly. Weirdly smart. Now, I’m buying the Kool-Aid!

You open your windows and doors for five to fifteen minutes and let the stale air out. Fresh air in. Less humidity. Less funk. Less of that “we’ve been sealed in here since November” feeling.

It comes from the German tradition lüften. They’ve been doing it forever. Casual wellness. No app required.

Yes, we’re in a polar vortex in Toronto. I’m not turning my living room into an igloo. But five minutes? Totally doable.

Get the stale air out. Period.
It sounds small, but it stuck with me.

Why do we do this for our homes, but let our businesses sit sealed for months???

This isn’t a rebuild. It’s a reset, or maybe even a refinement.

A small, intentional pause to let stale air out and let something new in.
So, I’m throwing this out there.

Burp your business.

1. Leadership: Burp the room.
Every team has stale air. Unsaid things. Assumptions. Old decisions that quietly became “the way we do things.” Try asking this once in a while: What feels heavy right now? No agenda. No fixing. Nobody trying to sound smart. Just say it. When people can breathe, they think better.

2. Sales: Burp the pipeline.
We all keep things in there because deleting them feels, personal. Ask yourself:
If this deal wasn’t already in our CRM, would we chase it today? If the answer is no, let it go. The second you get honest, everything moves faster.

3. Culture: Burp the culture.
Culture gets stuffy when people perform instead of show up. Ask this out loud:
What do we say we value, and what do we actually reward? That question alone clears more air than any town hall ever could.

4. Personal leadership: Burp your own head.
Before you react. Before you spiral. Before you make it worse. Step back. Question the story you’re telling yourself. Let the pressure out.
Sometimes the win is simply pausing before you add more weight.

We don’t wait until our house is unlivable to crack a window.

So why do we wait until teams are burnt out, pipelines are clogged, and culture feels heavy?

Five minutes.
Open a window.
Let the stale out. 

#Leadership #HR #Innovation #HumanResources #TheAccidentalSalesLady

Time is precious.
Thanks for lending me a few minutes of yours.

I come here to share ideas about business, health, and the human side of building anything that lasts.

See you in the next one (𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈).

 𝓚𝓪𝓽𝓱𝔂 𝓞𝓫𝓪𝓭

I get it.

The numbers aren’t jaw-dropping.
It was December 23 to 30.

Holidays. Family. Food. Life.
Engagement was down 43%.
Totally fair.

But then I actually looked at the numbers.

Over 70% of the people who clicked on my profile last week did not come from a post I wrote.
Not a story I shared.
Not a “thought leadership” moment.

They came from comments.

Comments I left on other people’s posts.

That’s 7,621 people in one week who clicked my profile because something I said in a conversation made them pause. Or think. Or feel seen.

Let that land for a second.

This platform doesn’t reward noise.
It rewards presence.
You don’t need to post every day.
You don’t need perfectly curated content.
You don’t need to chase the algorithm.
People are here for the conversations.

For the perspective.
For the humanity between the lines.

LinkedIn is not a stage.
It’s a dinner table.

And if you’re not sitting in the comments somewhere, listening, responding, adding something real. Why not?

Communication is the currency here.
Always has been.

The magic isn’t in broadcasting.
It’s in engaging.

People didn’t follow the post. They followed the voice.

#Leadership #HumanResources #HR #Networking

graphical user interface, application, email

taplio

The Battle

Calvin Lawrence, Ed. D.

Kathy Obad

Followers

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taplio

The Battle

Calvin Lawrence, Ed. D.

Kathy Obad

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Kathy Obad's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreKathy Obad's LinkedIn Performance