2025 Education Forum Keynote Speakers
The 2025 Education Forum took place June 23–25 at the beautiful Montage Palmetto Bluff in Bluffton, South Carolina, where we were pleased to welcome the following keynote speakers who inspired and energized our attendees throughout the event.
Monday, June 23, 2025
Chef Jeff Henderson
Inspiring Celebrity Chef and New York Times Best-Selling Author of Cooked
Represented by Eagles Talent Speakers Bureau Inc.
If You Can See It, You Can Be It
Chef Jeff transformed his life from the depths of struggle to the heights of success. With two decades of powerful life lessons, he shares his remarkable journey from drug dealer to TV celebrity chef and nationally acclaimed speaker. In this dynamic presentation, Chef Jeff captivates the audience with an extraordinary cooking demonstration while recounting the challenges he overcame on his path to becoming one of the industry’s top chefs. Get ready to feel inspired and empowered as he ignites a fire within you to face your own obstacles with confidence and determination.
Attendees will leave with the ability to:
- Recognize the strength within to overcome adversity
- Harness the power of self-belief and purpose
- Understand that setbacks can fuel growth and transformation
- Inspire a mindset shift that prioritizes perseverance and growth
Read Jeff's Bio
Jeff started his culinary career in the unlikeliest of places: prison. While serving nearly ten years, he discovered an untapped passion for cooking, which led to executive chef positions at Bellagio and Caesars Palace.
Jeff's inspiring story has been featured on Oprah's Life Class, Good Morning America, Today Show, ABC World News Tonight, CNN, The Steve Harvey Show and in major publications such as The New York Times, Newsweek, USA Today, People Magazine, the Washington Post and many others. When Jeff is not traveling the world teaching his life-changing lessons, he resides in Las Vegas with his wife Stacy and their five children.
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
Kyle Scheele
Champion of Crazy Ideas, Author and Speaker
Represented by Goodman Speakers
Thinking Inside the Box: How Tough Times Fuel True Creativity and Innovation
We've all said it: "If only I had ________, then I could do __________.“ We're convinced that the only thing standing between us and our best work is more money, more time, more resources, more buy-in, a better team, a better boss, a better piece of software… the list goes on.
But the truth is, real creative work thrives within constraints. True creative work exists in the gap between what you have and what you think you need. After all, if you had everything you needed, you wouldn't need creativity at all. True creativity showed up when the Apollo 13 astronauts had to make square filters fit round tubes. It showed up when a global pandemic made in-person work a liability. And it'll show up for you too, once you let go of your misguided beliefs about what true creativity requires.
Attendees will leave with:
- A proven model for driving innovation even in an environment of constraints
- Strategies for removing roadblocks in the creative process
- Practical tips for getting better ideas out of themselves and their teams
Read Kyle's Bio
Kyle Scheele has been called "the patron saint of crazy ideas". Whether he's having a Viking funeral for the regrets of 21,000 people, hosting the world's first fake marathon or gaining a million TikTok followers in just 25 hours, Kyle is always on the lookout for crazy ideas that produce wildly outsized outcomes.
Over the last decade, his projects have been featured in outlets like Fast Company, WIRED, The Washington Post, Yahoo!, BuzzFeed, UpWorthy, Goalcast and more. His videos have been viewed over 250 million times, and he has spoken to hundreds of thousands of audience members across the United States.
More than anything, Kyle hopes that his story can inspire others to chase their own crazy ideas and become the people they were meant to be.