From Chickens to Keynotes: A Spring to Remember

In 2023, I made a big decision: I would retire from corporate life on March 31, 2024.

But the chickens had other plans. They whispered doubts like:

“You’re giving up a steady paycheck?”

“What if no one wants to hire you?”

“You’re walking away from security—you’re nuts!”

I heard every cluck of fear and worry.

And I did it anyway.

Fast forward to this spring… and I kicked off what I now call the Spring Chicken Tour.

Across continents and time zones, I delivered keynotes and workshops that combined laughter, lessons, and yes—rubber chickens.

🌍 Tour Stops (in order):

🇨🇦 Toronto, Canada – Delivered my Smart Planning with AI workshop at the Administrative Professionals Conference.
🇺🇸 Orlando, Florida – Spoke on AI for project managers and leaders.
🇳🇱 Utrecht, Netherlands – Delivered Fry Your Chickens! and a generative AI keynote in the land of canals and cobblestone. Beth and Tom came along!
🇧🇪 Antwerp, Belgium – Presented Being Human in an AI World to a brilliant international audience.
🇨🇿 Prague, Czech Republic – Gave my signature Fry Your Chickens! keynote and an AI keynote at a stunning venue.
🇺🇸 Williamsburg, Ohio – Delivered the message The Littlest Worm at Williamsburg United Methodist Church.
🇨🇦 Toronto, Canada (again) – Returned to lead an AI workshop for the Project Summit Business Analyst World conference.
🇺🇸 Washington, D.C. – Delivered Everything I Needed to Know About Project Management I Learned in Adult Diapers. (Yes, that’s the real title.)

Every one of these events reminded me: I made the right choice. This is the work I was meant to do.

And somewhere between speaking gigs, sidewalk cafés, and the occasional tech failure (looking at you, hotel AV), I realized something:

When you quiet the chickens long enough to take action, you don’t just get results.

You get stories.

You get memories.

You get moments where you’re sitting with your wife and son, sharing great food and a better latte in a Dutch café, thinking, “Yeah. This is why I do this.”

Beth looked at me that day and said, “They say it’s the journey, not the destination. I think they’re wrong. It’s the destination that makes the journey worthwhile.”

And you know what? That quote alone was enough to shut the chickens up for the rest of the trip.

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