Shasta Nelson
Social Relationships Expert, Three-Time Author, Popular Media Resource and In-Demand Keynote Speaker
A pioneer in belongingness, Shasta Nelson is an in-demand keynote speaker, popular media resource, and author of three books in which she teaches how to build healthy relationships, including The Business of Friendship: Making the Most of the Relationships Where We Spend Most of Our Time. For over 15 years, Shasta has been translating the science of human connection into actionable practices that lead to greater belonging in our communities and workplaces. Her expertise has activated organizations such as Google and LinkedIn to intentionally create and accelerate the high-trust and resilient relationships that lead to higher employee retention, engagement, and collaboration.
Shasta is a contributor to the Harvard Business Review; has been featured in hundreds of publications such as the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and TIME magazine; and has appeared as a guest on the Harvard Business Review podcast, the Today Show, and the Steve Harvey Show. Shasta is a two-time featured TEDx speaker, with her first TED talk receiving over 800,000 views, and she has delivered 500+ keynotes for over 20 different industries, including tech, healthcare, non-profits, education, and more.
Shasta has always been an advocate for belongingness. With dreams of becoming a war correspondent, Shasta earned her B.A. in Communications before recognizing that her true passions lay in fostering community and human connection. Growing up in church, she was inspired by the sense of belongingness she’d witnessed—how people could rely on and support one another—leading her to pursue an M.Div and be one of the few women in her program to become a pastor.
In many ways, Shasta loved leading this community—teaching personal growth weekly, training small group leaders to facilitate meaningful connection, grappling with how to encourage deep and supportive bonds, and providing relationship counseling. But it also became increasingly clear that many were not finding true belonging in this environment. Believing that neither conformity nor perfection should be a prerequisite to human connection, Shasta sought to extend belonging beyond the walls of religion.
In 2008, Shasta founded one of the first online friendship-matching platforms, GirlFriendCircles, which was credited with creating thousands of new friendships across the U.S. and earned her the title, “The OG of Friendship.” With nearly 100,000 followers, Shasta’s blogs evolved into three books on belongingness at work and at home. After writing Friendships Don’t Just Happen (2013) as the guide to making new friends as an adult, and Frientimacy (2016) as the blueprint for deepening our connections, she wrote The Business of Friendship (2020) in response to the growing loneliness in the workplace that is not only debilitating our leaders and employees through stress and burnout, but is also the cause of high turnover rates, low engagement, and poor collaboration.
Today, backed by the scientific data and real-world research she applies in her books, Shasta’s highly acclaimed keynotes teach organizations and communities of people from diverse backgrounds how to create a culture of belonging and support in their own spaces. At her core, Shasta believes that there is nothing more vital to our physical or mental health than our belongingness.
BELONGINGNESS: ACCELERATING HIGH-TRUST, RESILIENT, AND REWARDING RELATIONSHIPS
Perfect for leaders & organizations who want to:
- Increase employee retention, engagement, and collaboration
- Inspire and gift their employees with skills to improve their wellbeing and fulfillment at work and in their personal lives
- Create a culture of belonging
Audiences will leave with:
- The latest research on how meaningful relationships at work impact employee engagement and retention
- The 3 requirements of all healthy relationships and how they establish a culture of belonging
- A framework to evaluate belongingness within your teams and identify areas of improvement to focus on for maximum impact
- Strategies to implement the 3 requirements in your company culture and accelerate high-trust and resilient relationships at work
Did you know that employees who have meaningful relationships at work are seven times more likely to be engaged in their jobs, take fewer sick days, collaborate more effectively, provide better customer service, and have higher loyalty to their companies? Belongingness is the #1 factor for employee satisfaction, and creating a culture of belonging is an effective solution for decreasing turnover and increasing employee fulfillment.
In this dynamic and interactive program, belongingness expert and author of The Business of Friendship: Making the Most of Our Relationships Where We Spend Most of Our Time, Shasta Nelson provides a framework to evaluate belongingness within your teams and delivers practical tools to create and accelerate the high-trust and resilient relationships that boost employee productivity, retention, and profitability.
IT CAN'T BE LONELY AT THE TOP: WHY THE SUCCESSFUL LEADER IS THE CONNECTED LEADER
Perfect for leaders & organizations who want to:
- Boost leadership performance, resilience, and job satisfaction
Improve communication and trust between leaders and team members - Ensure their leaders’ health and wellbeing by building better relationships at work and at home
- Combat potential favoritism, power imbalances, and confidentiality breaches arising out of boss-employee friendships
Audiences will leave with:
- The latest research on how meaningful relationships at work impact leadership performance, resilience, and communication
- The 3 requirements of all healthy relationships and how they establish a culture of support and belonging
- Strategies to strengthen the 3 requirements and create the supportive relationships that will boost your leaders’ performance and job satisfaction
- Insight into addressing the biggest fears around boss-employee friendships, such as favoritism, power imbalances, confidentiality breaches, firing and/or reprimanding a friend, and more
We frequently talk about how lonely it is “at the top,” and yet we’ve almost resigned ourselves to believing that’s the way it has to be. Just as our team members need to have meaningful relationships at work to be more engaged and productive, our leaders need to feel connected and supported. The stats speak for themselves: 60 percent of CEOs say they’re lonely, and three-fourths of them say that it’s hurting their performance.
But it doesn’t have to be this way—leaders who have supportive relationships at work are more resilient through crisis, communicate more effectively, and enjoy increased longevity and health.
In this fun and interactive program, belongingness expert and author of The Business of Friendship: Making the Most of Our Relationships Where We Spend Most of Our Time, Shasta Nelson delivers strategies to create and maintain the supportive relationships that your leaders need and addresses the biggest fears around boss-employee friendships such as favoritism, confidentiality breaches, and more.
RELATIONALLY FIT: THE SOCIAL SECRET TO A LONGER, HAPPIER LIFE
Perfect for:
- Hospitals and other healthcare organizations who want to teach their communities and employees how to improve mental health through belongingness and human connection
- Leaders and organizations who want to improve their employees’ health and wellbeing
Audiences will leave with:
- The latest scientific discoveries on the devastating side effects of loneliness and the health benefits of belongingness
- A framework to reflect on and assess your social health, and identify which takeaway will make the biggest difference in fostering meaningful connection in your own life
- Healthy expectations of relationships and their discomforts, such as conflict, disappointment, and insecurities
How many of us struggle to muster the energy to socialize with strangers or even with our closest friends? Making new friends or deepening our existing relationships is uncomfortable, awkward, and—at times—painful. But choosing to avoid social discomfort often leaves us feeling lonely, with over 61% of the United States and 73% of Gen Z-ers feeling lonely on a regular basis.
The damage to our health, happiness, and longevity is devastating. Feeling disconnected is as harmful to our wellbeing as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, twice as harmful as being obese, and is the equivalent of being a lifelong alcoholic. So what’s the solution?
In this energizing program packed with real-world research and inspiring stories, belongingness expert Shasta Nelson explores the #1 health factor more important than kale and treadmills and teaches us how we can enjoy long, connected lives.
FRIENTIMACY: THE 3 REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS PREVIEW
Perfect for:
- Fundraising galas, nonprofit organizations, philanthropic foundations, client appreciation events, and community-focused events
Audiences will leave with:
- The 3 requirements of all healthy relationships and how they work together to deepen our connections
- The ability to identify which of the 3 requirements need to be developed in your own relationships
- Tools to strengthen the 3 requirements and achieve the supportive relationships you’re craving
Did you know that over 60% of us feel lonely on a regular basis? With the constant connectivity of today’s world, it’s never been easier to meet people—but it’s never been harder to form meaningful relationships. The truth is, most of us aren't lonely for more interaction, but rather for more intimacy, more support, and more depth. But how do we create these relationships we all want?
In this energizing program packed with real-world research and inspiring stories, belongingness expert Shasta Nelson unlocks the secret to turning acquaintances and casual friendships into deep, supportive connections and reaching a level of trust that she calls “frientimacy.”
CONFERENCE CONNECTOR: Hire Shasta to Emcee Your Event!
Let’s make belongingness a topic that not only inspires but is also the experience of all of your attendees, speakers, and team throughout your entire event!
It’s one thing to have an amazing line-up of speakers—imagine if you also had a compelling and fun presence on stage to cast the vision, respond to the energy in the room, weave together all the speakers while keeping your conference theme front and center, and most importantly, facilitate connections and networking throughout your entire event!
If you want your event team to feel supported, your attendees to feel energized and connected to one another, and your event to feel coherent and exciting—hire Shasta to set the stage as your opening speaker and stay as your Conference Connector, making belongingness a core experience of your next event!
Shasta is a powerhouse speaker & educator! While we were still coming out of the pandemic and learning new ways to lean on each other, Shasta hosted an incredible virtual session on the Business of Belonging & Relationships for my marketing team at Google. She left the team with incredible insights & thinking tools for a mindset change that are just so valuable. Our event with Shasta felt like a warm but productive hug with a focus on being intentional about the experiences people are creating for each other.
Global Partner Marketing, Google
Shasta was outstanding. Of all our Leadership and Development speakers, she was one of the best we’ve had. With the stress and risk of burnout many leaders face in today’s world, her presentation provided us with knowledge and tools in a way that was engaging, informative, transformational and unforgettable.
President, Adventist Health + Rideout Hospital
I had the amazing opportunity to ask Shasta to return for a second year in a rowto host a session on BuildingFriendships for our employee culture day here at LinkedIn! I would highly recommend working with her at your organization to bring powerful, energizing, and impactful expertise around relationships!
Sr. Customer Success Manager, LinkedIn
Our half-day workshop with Shasta far surpassed my already-high expectations and my only possible area for improvement is just that I wish we could've spent even more time with her! The impact of Shasta’s work is immeasurable and in a whole other category of its own, one with a value arguably more foundational and important than so many other topics we consider to be “hard skills." My team left the session with Shasta feeling inspired, connected and grateful for each other, and having learned about themselves as people. Shasta’s workshop was so powerfully effective and moving that it felt like it immediately established trust in my leadership and goodwill with my team, especially with my leadership team, in a way that I could tangibly feel after the session.
Director of Marketing Operations, Gilead Sciences
I would recommend Shasta 100 out of 100 times!Beyond being a warm and inviting person, Shasta delivered two incredible presentations at our recent recognition events. She is thoughtful, well poised, energetic and approachable. Her topics cover current issues that should be at the forefront of everyone’s minds. Her information is digestible and actionable and will leave a lasting impression on your audience.
AVP of Meetings and Events, Kestra Holdings
Shasta was a fantastic keynote speaker for our annual conference. She was engaging with the audience and connected to their experiences. She received glowing reviews from our attendees.One said "This was likely my favorite presentation this year. I made lots of notes to take home with me! I would highly recommend her for your next conference.
Conference Manager, ConferenceManagers
The Business of Friendship: Making the Most of Our Relationships Where We Spend Most of Our Time
Frientimacy: How to Deepen Friendships for Lifelong Health and Happiness
Friendships Don't Just Happen!: The Guide to Creating a Meaningful Circle of GirlFriends
