374: Using Your Voice to Create Change in Yourself and Your Industry with Karen Williams

Join us for a powerful conversation with Karen Williams, also known as the Black Visual Queen.

Karen, a skilled photo director, sat down with our lead speaking coach, Diane Diaz, to talk about her journey from corporate life to entrepreneurship, her advocacy for more diversity in the photography industry, and her experience in crafting her impactful keynote talk during a one-on-one VIP Day. Spoiler alert, her talk went great!

In this episode, Karen and Diane talk about:

• Why and how Karen made the shift from corporate professional to entrepreneur
• The events that shaped Karen’s perspectives on her work and herself and the actions she took as a result
• The challenges she faced as a black woman in the photo industry and her path to empowering herself and others
• Making the decision to use her voice to champion her own work and bring more diversity to her industry
• Why she decided to work with Diane on her keynote talk and the outcome of her speaking engagement

About Our Guest: Karen Williams is a dedicated mentor to aspiring photographers, advocating for equitable access to information within the industry. With more than 10 years of experience in photography, Karen is a visual creative director, keynote speaker, and founder of Black Visual Queen, a photography consulting firm. An industry insider, she’s had a hand in visual stories for iconic brands like Netflix, Masterclass, Square, Wired, AARP, and San Francisco. In her free time, she loves marathon training and all things pop culture. Karen lives in Los Angeles, California.

Links:

Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/374/

Karen’s website: https://www.blackvisualqueen.com/

Register for our Business of Speaking workshop live on Zoom on February 22: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/business-of-speaking-workshop/

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

Get your own VIP Day to create your signature talk by enrolling in our Thought Leader Academy: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/academy/

Connect on LinkedIn:

• Carol Cox = https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolcox
• Diane Diaz = https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianediaz/
• Karen Williams (guest) = https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenannwilliams/

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