f*ck sacrificial leadership
personalized trainings to unstick fed-up humans

I’m Elizabeth Strusz, a communication and personal development expert based in Southern Illinois.

I teach the human side of leadership and organizational performance to help business owners, change-makers, and community groups be more effective in their mission.

What does it mean to speak up for yourself in a world that often tells you not to? At TEDxSIUC 2025, I explore how self-advocacy can lead to healing, purpose, and personal peace, even when it feels uncomfortable or selfish.

What I Offer

On an individual level, I help people communicate, collaborate, and self-advocate. On an organizational level, I help teams evolve from toxic or simply stagnant to focused and mission-driven. This often includes strategic planning, communication development, culture shifts, sales training, and establishing shared goals and KPIs—but it all comes back to humans and how we work together.

An immersive, facilitated, and personalized experience designed to help you meet (or define, or align) your organization’s goals

Format: full-day or half-day
Location: in-person, virtual, or hybrid
Best fit: Leadership teams, e.g. Board of Directors, management group, steering committee
Available for nonprofit and for-profit organizations

Common themes:

  • Culture shift / “re-humaning” engagements
  • Strategic planning
  • Goal setting and KPI reframing
  • Sales enablement and effectiveness
  • Training the Trainers: how to upskill your team without boring them
  • Board retreats

An effective and empowering group discussion about the next evolution of an organization. Often, but not always, focuses on overcoming economic challenges.

Location: in-person or virtual
Available for nonprofit and for-profit organizations

Expert guidance with no long-term commitment. Describe organizational goals, patterns, and “symptoms” and receive a pattern plan that summarizes impactful patterns and addresses key priorities.

Process:

  1. Complete a questionnaire about organizational goals and patterns.
  2. Complete a 60-min discovery call to discuss goals, patterns, and details.
  3. Within X business days, receive a pattern plan (via email) with a summary of observed patterns, their impact on organizational culture and success, and recommended next steps.
  4. Conduct an accountability follow-up 4-8 weeks later to assess progress toward goals.

What to do with a pattern plan: It depends on your situation and bandwidth.

  • If you have the capacity, motivation, and support to implement changes on your own, use the pattern plan as a clear, strategic guide for the implementation phase.
  • If you are unsure whether you can execute the pattern plan on your own, let’s talk about additional services to support organizational improvement, e.g., strategic planning workshops, speaker coaching, or “culture shift” programs.

1:1 personalized training for individuals who want to be more effective communicators. Honest, thoughtful, goals-based coaching and accountability to empower people to be more compelling and get their message across to a larger audience.

Format: 1:1 training
Location: Virtual
Available on an individual basis

I spent two years coaching speakers for TEDxSIU before earning my own TEDxSIU Talk—which took me 21 auditions. Suffice it to say, I know what it’s like to spend many, many hours perfecting not only the words, but also the way I delivered them. When you have a compelling story to tell, you owe it to yourself (excruciating as it may be sometimes!) to analyze the delivery, body language, and communication habits that help or hinder the way you share that story.

Format: 1:1 training for people who want to be more effective facilitators and trainers
Location: Virtual, in-person, or hybrid
Available on an individual and organizational level, e.g., “Train the Trainer” included as part of a larger organizational development project

What makes Elizabeth different is that she doesn’t create followers—she develops leaders. She has a unique ability to bring smart, capable people together around a common purpose while helping each person take ownership of their own growth.


Tiffany Ward
Owner, Indulge Salon & Tanning

About Me

I am a mission-driven entrepreneur, speaker, author, and hairstylist. I’ve founded a coffee shop, tattoo studio, hair salon, yoga company, and professional development business. And I’ve closed businesses too. I’ve even written a few books about how to start a business, how to lead a business, and how to live while doing so.

I am passionate about self-advocacy and creating space for people to overcome obstacles and live authentically. I believe everyone deserves to be heard and understood, and I help people get their message across.

Specializing in communication, self-advocacy, and interpersonal effectiveness

I know this work because I’ve lived it. I was a toxic salon owner. I opened another company completely rooted in appropriation—and I had to unlearn while growing careers for others.

I didn’t communicate well. I didn’t understand how my actions affected others, and I didn’t create an environment where people could give me feedback. I didn’t understand how my disabilities were impeding my desire to grow people and live a full life.

I had to learn to take feedback and truly respond to what I heard. I know what it’s like to confront the things you’re doing wrong, even the things you don’t realize you’re doing wrong. 

I have closed businesses because they weren’t profitable. And I continue to run successful businesses (with receipts) where people work, grow, collaborate, and advocate for their needs. I want to empower mission-driven people and organizations to improve their communication, collaboration, and effectiveness.

I work with people who are called to serve.

My ideal clients are change-makers, revolutionaries, and stewards of community. I help people who are ready to do the work, not people who say they want change but continue the same behaviors.

Service entrepreneurs

  • Cosmetologists/Barbers
  • Tattoo Artists
  • Restaurant/Coffee Shop Owners
  • Yoga Teachers
  • Auto Mechanics
  • Creatives & Artists

Focus areas: entrepreneurs who experience ableism, classism, racism, sexism, ageism, and other -isms in their professions

Service leaders

Nonprofit or for-profit organizations
  • Speakers
  • Organizers
  • Boards/Management Teams

Focus areas: LGBTQIA+ services, trauma/abuse support, and children’s services (schools and supports)

THINK WE’RE A GOOD FIT?

Let’s talk!


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