BUSINESS SPEAKER + EDUCATOR
Build. Lead. Begin Again.
Jill Shortreed is a business owner, educator, and speaker who brings more than 25 years of lived experience to honest conversations about business, women, resilience, and starting again.
Keynotes • Workshops • Breakouts • Panels • Podcasts
What Jill Talks About
Business Strategy & Entrepreneurship
The honest side of building a business — making decisions, changing direction, getting unstuck, pricing, growth, leadership, and creating a business that actually works for your life.
Women, Leadership & Self-Worth
Finding your voice, owning your experience, navigating expectations, and learning that being strong, ambitious, or direct does not require an apology.
Resilience, Reinvention & Starting Again
What happens when life changes the plan — rebuilding, beginning again, surviving hard seasons, and deciding what comes next.
Balloon, Event & Creative Industry Education
Practical business education built from more than 25 years inside the industry — from pricing and profitability to marketing, sales, operations, and growth.
✔️ 25+ YEARS
Building and leading businesses
✔️ 12+ YEARS
Teaching and educating
✔️ BUILT
North America’s largest retail balloon business
✔️ FORMER
Director of Education for a global manufacturer
✔️ SPOKEN
Across the U.S. and internationally
✔️ PUBLISHED
Contributor to two books
Real stories come from real life.
Jill Shortreed has spent more than 25 years building businesses, raising five children, teaching professionals, leading teams, navigating hard seasons, changing direction, and occasionally having to figure out what the hell comes next.
She built North America’s largest retail balloon business, served as Director of Education for a global manufacturer, has taught and spoken across the U.S. and internationally, and has contributed to two published books.
But the stories Jill brings to the stage aren’t only about the wins.
They’re about the messy middle, too.
That’s usually where the best conversations begin.
Popular Talks
How to Get Unstuck in Your Business
Sometimes the problem you can see isn’t the problem you need to fix.
Build the Business You Actually Want
How to stop allowing customers, circumstances, and everybody else’s advice to determine the business you end up owning.
Starting Again Wasn’t the Plan
A conversation about resilience, reinvention, and what happens when life forces you to ask, “What now?”
Business strategy and entrepreneurship
Women's empowerment and self-worth
Awareness and survivor strength
Industry education for balloon, event, and creative professionals
Custom workshops and presentations are also available for women’s organizations, business groups, associations, and the balloon/event industry.
Tell me about your event.
Not sure which topic is the best fit? That’s okay. Tell me about your audience and we’ll figure it out together.
Real experience makes for different conversations.
Jill hasn’t spent her career studying business from the sidelines.
She has spent more than 25 years building businesses, raising five children while doing it, leading teams, teaching business owners, navigating difficult seasons, changing direction, starting again, and learning what happens when the plan doesn’t go according to plan.
That lived experience shapes the way she speaks.
No generic motivation. No perfect-business fairy tale.
Just honest conversations about what it takes to build, lead, change, and keep moving forward.
What audiences are saying
“Attendees are still speaking about what they learned in your class.”
— Steve K.
Event Producer“Creative, reliable, and genuinely passionate about what they do. Communication was top-notch and the final outcome was even better than we imagined. A great experience all around. If you’re looking for great partners, you’ve come to the right place.”
— Former Customer“Every detail was thoughtfully executed. We're thrilled with the outcome—it’s been such a worthwhile investment to work with a team of genuinely passionate people who not only care about the results, but also care about their clients as people.”
— Former Customer