Photo by: Jessie Rodriguez
My name is Liz Deering. I am a facilitator, learning designer, coach, program strategist, and social entrepreneur. I have spent my career holding space and building communities for founders, leaders, and impact makers. I started in tech startups and creative agencies and co-founded several impact organizations, including an incubator for women and other minorities.
It is my greatest joy to be in the room (in person or virtually) facilitating groups of leaders, working in collaboration with teams, connecting people, and watching new concepts come to life.
For the last 10 years, I have served as a coach to founders and leaders. My specialty is supporting women and other minority founders, as they navigate a transition, plan for a new program launch, prepare a business strategy, or prepare to pitch. I also provide facilitation services for existing incubators or accelerator programs.
Impact Haven is my boutique creative agency based in Austin, TX. I lead a team of talented creatives from around the country. Our studio supports organizations that are launching new training programs with full-service support to build, launch, and manage the early seasons of the program. We specialize in implementing custom online training programs and incubators/accelerators designed with experiential learning principles and community in mind.
In between managing creative productions for clients, I curate my own creative endeavors. My first love is writing. You can read my work or listen to my podcast on my Substack.
I look forward to connecting with you,
Facilitating, Coaching, Business Strategy
Facilitating
I facilitate panels and workshops for a variety of partner organizations, from pitch competitions and incubators to leadership and development programs including SXSW Pitch, Music To Life, Rev Hub OC, The Un.Inc, and The Learner’s Edge. My approach as a facilitator is to hold a space where people can share their authentic experiences and connect while learning.
coaching
I provide 1x1 coaching for entrepreneurs and founder teams. I serve as a coach for the pitch teams competing at SXSW, and am always looking for new opportunities to support founders.
Business strategy
If you find yourself in a place where you need support to focus your program or business strategy or come back into alignment with your goals, I can support your planning process. I facilitate custom strategy sessions where we collaborate to gather your requirements and ideas and design an approach that is suited to the outcomes you want to see. I also partner with accelerators and other programs to provide business strategy and consulting to their founders, including KeyChange and the Oklahoma City Minority Founder Accelerator.
“I have a lot of confidence that launching this Academy is feasible now after talking to Liz. Last week before we talked, I was just thinking, well - here’s a crazy idea!”
“Liz makes a daunting project simple to get through with realistic expectations, timelines and tasks for both herself and her clients. Liz listens, making the end project a true reflection of the company/person she is capturing. ”
Guest Speaking
I guest-speak at various incubators, accelerators, conferences, and university classes. I can facilitate large-group experiences or small-group interactive workshops and customize the experience to fit your needs. I’m at ease in person or online.
Here are a few of my favorite topics:
Social Impact Lean Business Canvas / Impact Business Models
Authentic Storytelling For Your Brand
Community-Enabled Learning
The Female Founder Experience
Design Thinking Always
Minimum Viable Product / Go-to-market
Interested in talking about your upcoming speaking opportunity, to see if it might be a fit? Book a call with me and let’s talk details. I offer a sliding scale depending on the organizational type and budget.
Recent SPEAKING engagements
RevHub Social Impact Incubator
Music to Life Musician Social Activist Incubator
Texas Hill Country Community Foundation
Creative Endeavors
Late July is my first book. It’s a combination of memoir and poetry, focused on the narratives of lateness in our lives.
Every Fucking Sunday is my podcast, focused on the practices we develop as creators and founders. Listen on Spotify.
Featured In
The Third Way Podcast
by Justin Foster
Episode 45: Liz Deering
04.30.22
Moontower Business Podcast
by Joseph O’Bell
Episode 70: Liz Deering
05.17.21
Re-Launching Mel Drake
by Mel Drake
January 20, 2020
When we set out to create a new logo for “This is Mel Drake”, my punch list was fairly simple. I just wanted a logo that was clean, simple and (most importantly) had an underlying meaning/message. Well, Liz hit it out of the park and here’s why: Growing up I didn’t always see kids or role models who looked like me, who were built like me and who shared the same skin tone as me. So because of this, I wasn’t always as confident as I am today. Inspired by this photo, Liz created the amazing logo for “This is Mel Drake”. The curve in the logo represents the curves of my body. The shade of brown represents my skin tone. My new logo serves as not only a reminder to myself, but as inspiration to others to be confident in your own body and in your own skin. And to never forget that the “melanin is (always) popping”. Read more
Creators Welcome
by Almost Real Things
July 22, 2019
In June, we held our We Got Issues Celebration: Issues 13 & 14 at Soma Vida. The turquoise building and corresponding courtyard was a place I have come across many times, however one that I realized, I knew very little about.
All that changed in the process of planning, as we worked closely with Liz Deering from The Un.Inc and met Laura Shook Guzman, the owner of Soma Vida. I knew immediately that I had a lot to learn from these two powerful female founders. So, I sat down with them to talk about how they have combined coworking and self care, pulling the focus in business off of the finances and putting it back on the individual. It starts with the Founder. Read more.
You can find me @n_deering on instagram or use the button below to contact me.
