Opening Session and Business Meeting
EQ + Music: Soundtrack for Success
Monday, Sept. 29 | 8–9:45 a.m. PST
About the Session:
This year's opening session will include business items, our annual Awards Ceremony, and an exciting keynote presentation, "EQ + Music: Soundtrack for Success," by Rich Bracken.
Part keynote, part dance party/sing-along, this presentation will entertain and empower you to understand your emotional intelligence and how it impacts you every single day. Merging his experience in studying emotional intelligence with his two decades of being a national touring DJ, Rich Bracken will bring an experience like no other to #NAMSS25.
Combining live DJ-ing and powerful takeaways and life-changing habits, you will be dancing and singing while raising your emotional intelligence and setting the tone for future success.
Learning Objectives:
- Establish the key foundational elements of emotional intelligence and how they contribute to your success personally and professionally.
- Understand how to retrain your emotional intelligence triggers and work your emotions like a good DJ works a crowd.
- With nearly 72% of people unable to accurately identify their emotions when they happen, you will discover how to turn vulnerability into strength.
- Learn to build positive habits to enhance your emotional intelligence, confidence, and self-value for a successful future.
About Rich Bracken
Rich Bracken is an award-winning global keynote speaker, thought leader, television and media contributor, and consultant focusing on emotional intelligence, leadership, motivation, and business differentiation through client experience and branding. Combining his experience in sales, marketing, and client experience with his passion for public speaking and coaching, he brings a unique and refreshing blend of empathy and positivity that resonates with professionals from every level and background. He is also the Brand Ambassador for TalentSmartEQ, the #1 emotional intelligence firm in the world, which brings a higher level of content and after-event training opportunities for your company.
As an empathetic transformational conductor, Rich engages audiences, inspiring them with hope for a brighter, more successful future through authentic connections and genuine care.
Closing Session
The Stress Advantage: Harnessing the Power of Stress to Boost Performance
Wednesday, Oct. 1 | 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. PST
About the Session
After years of rapid change in healthcare, many professionals are burned out — but the demands haven’t slowed down. What if stress isn’t something to manage, but something to use?
In the #NAMSS25 closing keynote session, “The Stress Advantage: Harnessing the Power of Stress to Boost Performance,” Dr. Rebecca Heiss will show attendees how to reframe stress as a tool for growth. With science and real-world examples, she’ll share a practical framework used by high performers to boost focus, connection, and resilience.
This presentation is perfect for MSP leaders and teams who are:
- Trying to battle increasing levels of stress, burnout, and disengagement
- Ready to return to performance growth
- Feeling stuck on a treadmill that’s always moving faster
- Wanting to alleviate stress, but wary of the traditional “stress management” techniques that only add MORE “to do’s” (and stress) to their plates
Walk away with strategies to transform pressure into performance — and stress into your competitive edge.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the biological root of their stress response and recalibrate that response to work for their benefit in the modern world
- Effectively engage with their fears and reframe them as energy that can optimize performance and growth
- Adopt a simple framework for rewiring their brains so they can respond differently to challenges, reduce burnout, and restore purpose and fulfillment to their work
About Dr. Rebecca Heiss
As an evolutionary biologist and stress expert, Dr. Rebecca Heiss helps people break through fear-driven behaviors and unlock their full potential. Her groundbreaking work — hailed as “transformative” by the National Science Foundation — challenges us to stop fighting our instincts and start using them to thrive.
Dr. Heiss is the author of the acclaimed book Instinct, founder of the 360-review app icueity, and creator of the Fearless Accelerator and Year of Happy programs. A former educator turned sought-after keynote speaker, she now delivers powerful, science-backed insights from stages around the world.
Known for her energy, humor, and interactive approach, Rebecca inspires audiences to rewire their brains for greater happiness, connection, and resilience. She lives in South Carolina with her two beloved dogs, Guinness and Murphy, and lives by the motto: “spread happy.”