Carmen Van Kerckhove is an author and keynote speaker who helps people navigate what most leadership conversations ignore: the emotional cost of modern work.

In an era of mass layoffs, AI disruption, and existential disillusionment, she offers language and frameworks for people in transition—those quietly asking, “Is this really what success is supposed to feel like?”

Her upcoming book, The Slingshot Effect (Crown Currency), challenges the myth of linear success and introduces a powerful new paradigm: that strategic retreat is often the most courageous—and effective—path forward. Like a slingshot, real momentum is created by pulling back first—by stepping away from what no longer fits in order to launch into something more aligned. Whether she’s speaking to C-suite leaders or high-achieving professionals in quiet crisis, Carmen offers something rare: the clarity to name what’s no longer working, and the tools to build what comes next with both strategy and soul.

A voice forged by reinvention

Carmen’s authority comes from lived experience—not just credentials. A Columbia graduate who began her career at Goldman Sachs, she checked every box of prestige. But when the reality of her life diverged from the promise of her resume, she made a radical move: she stepped back.

That first retreat—taking a role as office manager to carve out time to write—ignited a pattern of bold reinventions. Her blog Racialicious became a nationally recognized platform on race, media, and pop culture, earning coverage from CNN, NPR, and The New York Times and launching her career as a sought-after speaker and commentator.

Later, Carmen pivoted again—this time co-founding a neighborhood karate school in Brooklyn, focusing on community-building and personal transformation through martial arts. From there, she launched Top Flight Family, a luxury travel brand that grew into a digital powerhouse with over one million followers and multiple seven-figure partnerships.

From the outside, each chapter looked successful. But internally, Carmen developed a deep sensitivity to misalignment—the quiet knowing that even a winning life can feel like the wrong one. That wisdom now powers her work.

The human side of the future of work

Today, Carmen writes and speaks for those navigating the tectonic shifts reshaping modern careers: professionals questioning their identity, leaders reckoning with cultural disillusionment, organizations trying to lead through uncertainty without losing their people in the process.

She helps teams name the emotional truths hiding behind workplace buzzwords—burnout, disengagement, culture collapse—and replace performance-driven narratives with language that fosters clarity, trust, and transformation.

Her signature talks explore themes like:

• Strategic retreat as a tool for reinvention

• Identity crises as catalysts for breakthrough

• Why “culture theater” is failing your best talent

• The human impact of AI disruption

• How to lead with emotional precision in an era of constant change

For people and companies at an inflection point

Carmen is based in New York City, where she writes, speaks, and helps individuals and institutions reframe the pullback not as failure—but as the beginning of something more honest, more sustainable, and more meaningful.

Because the future of work isn’t just a business story. It’s a human one. And pulling back? That’s not the end. It’s how every slingshot begins.