330: The Journey from Settling to Speaking Up with Kelly Lopez [Use Your Voice Series]

Have you ever felt so passionate about something that you experienced and the lessons you learned from it that you thought to yourself “others need to hear about this?”

If you’ve ever thought something like this, then you’ll want to hear this conversation with our guest Kelly Lopez.

Kelly is a graduate of our Thought Leader Academy and in this continuation of our Use Your Voice series, she talked with our Lead Speaking Coach Diane Diaz about:

• Her story of going from settling, personally and professionally, to being intentional about her life and work
• Why she almost said no to a huge speaking opportunity and what changed her mind
• How she manages imposter syndrome when speaking
• What inspires her to continue to use her voice to speak about her passions
• Why she feels her voice matters in her male dominated industry
• What prompted her to join the Thought Leader Academy
• The reason she believes it’s imperative that more women use their voices

This episode is part of our Use Your Voice series.

About My Guest: Kelly Lopez is the Executive Vice President, Enterprise Services at Scout Sourcing, a woman-owned nationwide sourcing and distribution company providing sustainable paper, raw materials, and packaging solutions to Fortune 500 companies. Kelly is responsible for the strategy and execution of emerging product and service categories at Scout Sourcing. Prior to joining Scout Sourcing, Kelly was Vice President of HealthCare Sales at RR Donnelley. While at RRD, she held both operational and sales leadership roles providing print and marketing solutions to Fortune 500 companies. Kelly's experience spans almost every facet of life from her career in corporate America climbing the ladder in a male-dominated industry and mentoring emerging professionals to her personal journey of navigating through divorce, life as a working mom, running a blended family of 8, and fostering support for events and organizations in her local community. She has a degree in Public Relations from the University of Florida.

About Us: The Speaking Your Brand podcast is hosted by Carol Cox. This episode is hosted by our lead speaking coach Diane Diaz. At Speaking Your Brand, we help women entrepreneurs and professionals clarify their brand message and story, create their signature talks, and develop their thought leadership platforms. Our mission is to get more women in positions of influence and power because it's through women's stories, voices, and visibility that we challenge the status quo and change existing systems. Check out our coaching programs at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com.

Links:

Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/330

Discover your Speaker Archetype by taking our free quiz at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/quiz/

Join our Thought Leader Academy: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/academy/

Connect on LinkedIn:

• Diane Diaz = https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianediaz
• Kelly Lopez (guest) = https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellyglopez

Related Podcast Episodes:

• Episode 328: Feeling Worthy Enough to Have a Voice with Kelly Schermerhorn

Become Bookable Live Online Workshop - April 15, 2026
If you want to speak more but you’re not sure where to start or your efforts haven’t produced the results you want, I’m hosting a live online workshop called “Become Bookable: How to Get Speaking Invitations” on Wednesday, April 15th.

A lot of brilliant women assume they just need to pitch themselves more. But the real reason speakers get invited isn’t because they pitch harder — it’s because they’re positioned as bookable.

In this 3-hour interactive workshop live on Zoom, I’ll show you how speakers actually get invited — and help you clarify the positioning that makes event organizers say yes.

As a podcast listener, use the coupon code “Podcast100” to save $100 on your registration.

Learn more and register at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/bookable