"Khary is the one people still talk about at the coffee machine months later."
KHARY
PENEBAKER
Built from grief. Built for business. Now he shows others how.
Khary Penebaker
Keynotes on resilience, leadership under pressure, and the specific kind of clarity that comes from grief. For corporate conferences, trade associations, and advocacy organizations.
I am a
82K+ Followers
$35M+
Revenue Built
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Employees Led
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Media Features
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What audiences say
The reaction in the room
"Half the audience was in tears, and the other half was ready to go change something."
Conference organizer
"Three months later, our team leads are still referencing his frameworks."
"The most raw and real keynote our conference has ever booked. Attendees came up to me during the break to say thank you."
From the blog
Latest writing
Performance management in the trades: what works when nobody is sitting at a desk
Annual reviews do not work in the trades. Productivity metrics get gamed within a week. Here is the three-loop rhythm I run instead: a daily five-minute conversation between foreman and crew, a weekly safety and quality scorecard, and a quarterly career check-in. No paperwork bloat.
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Decision speed vs decision quality: what a $35M business taught me
Most operators optimize for decision quality and pay for it in speed. Running a $35 million roofing business taught me the cost of slowness is almost always higher than the cost of an imperfect call. With two exceptions worth slowing down for.
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Firing well: the leadership skill nobody teaches and everyone judges
Firing someone is the loudest thing you do as a leader. The team you keep is watching closer than the person you lose. Here is the version of the conversation that protects your standards, your culture, and the dignity of the person walking out. No script required.
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