I’m not a speaker who used to do this.
I’m a practitioner who still does.
Keynotes for HR audiences and the leaders of businesses that make and move things, on frontline culture, retention, and the human side of AI.
Experience
25+ years of experience leading HR in businesses that make and move things, brought to the stage.
Ahead of What’s Next
I help your audience see where frontline work is heading, grounded in the work I’m doing right now.
Deep Research
Custom-designed presentations filled with current research and trends
Practical, custom-built keynotes for HR audiences, CEOs (and everyone in between!)
Speaking on a stage – or in public of any kind – was never on my bingo card, but, a happy accident in 2016 found me on a stage co-presenting a topic I cared deeply about. I was scared to death but it went well. So well, we presented the same topic at just about every local HR group in the state of NH over the next year.
That gave me the courage (somehow!) to apply to speak at a conference that I had the interest in attending, but not the budget – the HR Technology Conference in Las Vegas. My topic on HR Technology for SMBs was selected. And that went so well, that led to many other opportunities and here I am, doing the work that I love: helping the leaders of businesses that make and move things see the value of their people, and helping HR teams see the value in themselves.
Why Tracie?
Tracie Sponenberg has sat in the chair she speaks about. Her career in HR began at a 1,200-person UPS facility, hiring and training the frontline workforce, and she went on to spend 25 years leading HR in businesses that make and move things, including nine years as Chief People Officer of a wholesale distributor, now with close t0 1000 employees across 80+ locations.
Today she advises the CEOs of midsized manufacturing and distribution companies as a fractional and advisory Chief People Officer, the leaders running businesses where the frontline is 80 percent of the workforce and the HR department is often one person doing the work of five. She’s the author of the upcoming The People Strategy for Manufacturing and Distribution Leaders.
What sets her apart on a stage is simple: she isn’t a speaker who used to do this. She’s a practitioner who still does. Every keynote comes from work she’s doing right now, with companies that look exactly like yours.
25+
Years of experience leading HR in frontline businesses
41k+
Followers on LinkedIn
1000s
Of People Impacted
One of my favorite Keynotes
The Ten Lies Killing Your Business
“People don’t want to work anymore.” “We just need to pay more.” Every leader has said a few of these out loud. This talk names the industry wisdom quietly costing you people, money, and sleep, takes it apart one lie at a time, and replaces it with what’s actually true about why frontline people stay or go. Direct, a little uncomfortable, and it sticks.
My most requested keynote
People Want to Work, Just Maybe Not for You
The most repeated line in business right now is also the most expensive. People do want to work. They just don't want to work in conditions that don't respect them, for managers who don't see them, on schedules that don't account for their lives. This talk reframes the labor shortage from something happening to you into something you have real power over, and shows what changes when you stop blaming the workforce and start earning it.
My newest keynote
When Your Experts Walk Out the Door
Every distribution and manufacturing floor has them: the people who've been there thirty years and quietly hold the place together. The ones who know which machine runs hot, which customer needs a phone call, how to fix the thing that isn't in any manual. They're retiring, and most of that knowledge is walking out with them. This talk reframes AI's real opportunity, not cutting headcount, but capturing the irreplaceable knowledge of your most experienced people before it's lost. It's timely, it's hopeful, and it's a use of AI that honors your workforce instead of threatening it.
So many speakers lack authenticity. To say that Tracie is overflowing with authenticity is the understatement of the century. I've had the privilege of seeing her speak multiple times, and every time, she's put 120% into making sure the audience has learned something new, that she's shared something deeply personal about her career journey, and has given a concrete solution for attendees to action. She's an asset to any event, and the voice in the People Space that everyone needs to hear from.
Melissa Doman, MA - Organizational Psychologist, Former Clinical Mental Health Therapist, & Author of Yes, You Can Talk About Mental Health at Work (Here's Why and How To Do It Really Well)
