Mariana Atencio

Mariana Atencio is on a mission to help people supercharge their careers, their workplace cultures, and their happiness by embracing the power of authenticity. Coming to America from Venezuela as a young girl, Mariana learned first-hand how feeling self-conscious about being different kept her from engaging. After graduating Columbia University, Mariana wanted to take that experience into her journalism career and tell stories that build bridges and foster understanding. She became a national news anchor and correspondent, earning a Peabody Award for reporting which took her from Haiti to Hong Kong to the Syrian border. The success of her TEDx talk, “What Makes YOU Special?”, viewed over 23 million times, catapulted Mariana into a new storytelling outlet: speaking. Her first book, Perfectly You: Embracing the Power of Being Real, is a bestselling call to action to unleash the magic of personal and professional authenticity to find purpose and break barriers. Currently head of her own media production company, Mariana pursues stories that capture her curiosity. She also continues to deliver inspiring keynotes and moderate/host at major events.

Mariana’s talks are ideal for groups looking for the following topics: The Power Of Authenticity • Inspiration & Motivation • What Makes You Unique? Increasing Engagement • Embracing Change • Leadership/Teamwork/Resilience • Empathy & Understanding • Belonging & Inclusivity Breaking Stereotypes • Building Community & Trust • Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Women’s Empowerment • Moderating/Hosting • Inspiring/Mentoring Others

Videos

Mariana Atencio Intro Sizzle Reel!

On Leadership:

HOSTING/MODERATING REEL:

MARIANA’S FULL TEDx TALK:

Speech Topics

THE POWER OF BEING PERFECTLY YOU

It’s a fact: People are at their best – at work and in life – when they feel like they can be themselves. They’re more confident in the face of change and uncertainty, more engaged and resilient, and have a greater sense of purpose and well-being. But fear can sometimes keep us from being real. In this presentation, Mariana Atencio brings her energy, humor, and skillful storytelling to inspire people to embrace their authenticity and unleash the power that comes with being themselves. Being “Perfectly You” builds trust and connection – it attracts people like a magnet because authenticity stands out in a world of algorithms and A.I. content. Mariana’s unique personal story and infectious optimism energizes people with the courage to fully engage, adapt to constant change, and reach new levels of fulfillment at work and in life.

Sample takeaways:
• Unlock the secret of being our real selves, especially at work.
• How to discover and harness the traits that make you “Perfectly You.”
• Navigate change confidently. Increase your personal fulfillment and sense of purpose.
• Why being vulnerable and leading with empathy inspires others, builds trust, and creates more meaningful relationships.
• 5 steps authentic leaders use to cultivate transformation and innovation and enhance resilience in the face of change.
• Help leaders create a culture of authenticity that spurs engagement, connection, collaboration, and performance.

COMMUNICATING CONFIDENTLY – CUT THROUGH THE NOISE AND GET HEARD
(POST-KEYNOTE BREAKOUT OR SEPARATE KEYNOTE – (45-90 Minutes))

For everyone in business, delivering a message efficiently – internally and in different media – has gotten infinitely more complex in the age of AI. This interactive presentation will help attendees sharpen their communication skills. Mariana equips leaders – from entry level to the C-Suite – with practical tools and tested principles to speak confidently, authentically, and effectively, whether it’s for client meetings, internal communications, Zoom, an important presentation, a traditional media interview, a digital clip and/or a conference stage. Mariana will share tips that took her more than a decade of television and social media experience to learn, working at two of the world’s biggest news networks, in Spanish and English.

Sample takeaways:
• Learn to distill your main message so it resonates across all platforms.
• Practical tips and pro tricks for in-person and virtual presentations.
• Master the power of persuasion in an era of fleeting attention spans.
• Better storytelling to create connection and leave a lasting impact.
• Establish credibility and build trust in an era of misinformation.
• How to navigate real-time interview scenarios with confidence.

MODERATING/INTERVIEWING/HOSTING
With experience as a national network news anchor and reporter, Mariana brings warmth and intelligence to each hosting, moderating, and interviewing assignment. Mariana’s curiosity and poise help her get the most out of those on stage with her.

The breadth of Mariana’s experience speaks to her versatility. She’s moderated conversations on embracing a mindset for change at Microsoft, on the rights of women in Iran, on gender inequality at Foreign Policy magazine’s HERPower summit, on media representation at the Paley Center for Media, on financial literacy at Nasdaq, on building a personal and professional brand at Columbia University, a panel on geopolitics and economics at Citi Private Bank’s autumn dialogues with three heads of state from Latin America, a session at the United Nations General Assembly meeting on global healthcare inequity, plus the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, PepsiCo, JP Morgan, Accenture, Spotify, Google, YouTube, Clorox, AT&T, Spectrum, and more.

BIOGRAPHY:

Navigating change and uncertainty in life is hard. It’s even harder when you’re not confident about who you are. Coming to America from Venezuela as a young girl, Mariana Atencio felt self-conscious about being different. She recounted her struggles to fit in and adapt to her new life in a TED talk that captured the hearts of tens of millions. Mariana’s message: What makes you different is what makes you special – unleash your potential by embracing your authenticity.

Mariana took that lesson into her journalism career as a national news anchor and network reporter. A born storyteller, Mariana worked to build bridges and understanding – reporting with her unique perspective from all over the globe, earning accolades and a prestigious Peabody Award along the way. Mariana’s bestselling book, Perfectly You: Embracing the Power of Being Real, inspires people to leverage their personal and professional authenticity to supercharge their relationships, careers, workplace cultures, and happiness. Mariana continues to pursue stories that capture her curiosity as head of her own media production company. She also elevates the impact of events through her powerful keynotes and skillful moderating, and hosting.

THE BOOK

“Mariana provided some wonderful lessons and insights into her journey and how each of us can celebrate and share what makes us different. It was a fantastic opportunity for our employees to be inspired and to learn more.”

– Director, Global Executive & Employee Communications, Microsoft

“Mariana was powerful on stage, engaging, thought provoking and the perfect speaker for our flagship global annual conference held in Miami. She was such a pleasure to work with that she ended up interviewing and moderating two very critical panels for the agenda. Mariana’s experience and professionalism will make any company that chooses to work with her look great.”

– Director, Marketing & Communications Head, Citi Private Bank

“In a time when dramatic change has brought about immense uncertainty, Mariana’s C.O.N.T.R.O.L. framework provides tangible guidance on how to move forward with intention to build a life that honors our unique purpose. This complete framework helps you evaluate your life with clarity, empower yourself to break through ruts, and make meaningful progress. It’s a true gift to be able to share this framework with our employees.”

– Director of Practice Management & Co-Founder of Latinos @SAP Concur

“Given the uncertainty of the post-pandemic world, you and your organization are in the best hands by hiring Mariana and her GoLike team. We have booked Mariana for motivational keynotes aimed at employees, voice-over work, community programs, and social media campaigns and she has over delivered every time. Her creativity and attention to detail will make your brand stand out in a unique way! She is very dynamic and great at keeping the audience engaged.”

– Senior Manager, Ford Motor Company

“Mariana Atencio brought such energy and honesty to our company-wide event. Mariana’s authenticity allows her to connect with others almost immediately. Thank you for providing us with the tools to be resilient and proud of what makes us Perfectly Unique!”

– Director, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Rapid7

“For the last two years, Mariana has been the host of AT&T’s annual Hispanic Heritage Month events, celebrating employees’ authenticity and contributions toward the customers and communities we proudly serve. Mariana brings employees’ stories to life through her unique engagement and connection with our teams while creating a welcoming, energetic, and memorable atmosphere. Her dynamic stage presence, storytelling, and facilitation skills have positively impacted our events and attendees. We appreciate her commitment to amplifying our brand’s values as well as her partnership and collaboration in delivering unique experiences that support our mission of connecting people to greater possibilities!”

– Chief Strategy and Development Officer, AT&T Inc.

“Mariana’s authentic, relatable, engaging style enabled her to immediately connect with our audience. Through a series of stories, she shared uplifting, relevant, and empowering learnings that all of us can embrace as leaders.”

– VP, Google Cloud Consulting