Poppy Harlow

Day 2™: Agency, Leadership, and Humanity Through Profound Change

We are living through a Day 2™ moment.

Artificial intelligence is transforming how we work. Industries are being reshaped. Economic and geopolitical assumptions are shifting. Organizations and the people within them are being asked to adapt faster than ever before.

Every organization experiences a Day 2™: the moment following significant change—a restructuring, a new strategy, a leadership transition, a technological disruption, a merger, a market shift, or a period of unexpected uncertainty. The question is no longer whether change will come. The question is how people will respond when it does.

Day 2™ comes for us all: either in change we choose or change that chooses us.

In this powerful keynote, award-winning journalist and Day 2™ Founder & CEO Poppy Harlow shares insights from years of interviewing some of the world’s most influential leaders in business and beyond, alongside lessons from her own experience navigating profound personal and professional change. Through compelling stories and practical takeaways, she explores what enables individuals, teams, and organizations not merely to endure uncertainty, but to move forward with purpose and thrive within it.

At its core, Day 2™ is about agency—the ability to take meaningful action regardless of circumstances. Research consistently demonstrates that human beings are remarkably resilient and adaptable. Day 2™ reminds us of the strength, creativity, and capacity for growth that already exist within us.

For leaders responsible for guiding people through transformation, Day 2™ offers a framework for building trust, reducing uncertainty, strengthening human connection, and helping teams find purpose in what lies ahead. Rather than viewing change as something to survive, audiences learn how to engage with it, grow through it, and uncover the opportunities it can reveal.

At a moment when the pace of change continues to accelerate, Day 2™ reminds us that our greatest advantage is not technology alone—it is our capacity to adapt, connect, and move forward together.

Drawing on insights from hundreds of conversations with world leaders, CEOs, entrepreneurs, athletes, and changemakers, Harlow offers audiences a practical and deeply human framework for navigating uncertainty and leading through change.

Audiences Will Learn How To:

• Reframe uncertainty and organizational change as opportunities for growth, innovation, creativity, and forward momentum.
• Strengthen individual and team agency by focusing on what can be influenced, created, and achieved during times of disruption.
• Build greater trust, connection, and resilience by recognizing change as a shared human experience.
• Lead through transition with honesty, confidence, and purpose—reducing fear while helping teams embrace what comes next.
• Apply the Day 2™ framework to navigate change with greater adaptability, possibility, and momentum.

ADDITIONAL TOPICS:

Moderating Fireside Chats and Executive Conversations

Poppy Harlow’s 20-year career at the top echelons of journalism have made her an expert at moderating live conversations in front of audiences of thousands. From the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland to SXSW and beyond – Poppy leads meaningful and engaging conversations with the most respected leaders from the business world to sports, Hollywood, politics and beyond. She imparts her deep economic knowledge by interviewing the world’s top CEOs including Warren Buffett, Jamie Dimon, Melinda French Gates, Sundar Pichai, among others. She has also interviewed Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and moderated two CNN Presidential Town Halls. As a journalist she has had a front row seat to history for more than two decades. Her long career as an anchor and correspondent has given her the opportunity to travel around the world and witness humanity show the best of itself while learning about the human condition. It has taught her the power of empathy and vulnerability – and the unparalleled power of a story.

The Best Question: What Great Leaders Ask When the Future Is Unclear

Poppy Harlow is an award-winning journalist who was an anchor and correspondent at CNN for nearly 20 years. Her decades in journalism have taught her the power of curiosity and of asking the right questions at the right time. In this talk, Poppy explores how she went from asking lengthy, detailed questions to learning that “tell me more” is often the most powerful question one can ask. Poppy teaches us the elements of forming the best questions for key moments in work and life. Teams get better and stronger when we learn how to ask each other the most impotent questions with empathy, understanding and candor. Questions are powerful tools to unite. Poppy guides the audience in the art of question asking.

*NOTE: This keynote topic can also be made into a corresponding interactive workshop with conference attendees where we explore how the art of asking questions. 

Lessons from GOATs: Leadership Insights from Extraordinary Performers Across Industries

Poppy Harlow has had a front row seat to history for two decades as an award-winning journalist and CNN anchor. She has conducted headline interviews with many of the greatest leaders of all time (GOATs) – in business, sports, and politics. In this keynote, Poppy shares the unique and unexpected lessons she has learned from leaders including Warren Buffett, Melinda French Gates, Jamie Dimon and Indra Nooyi.

• You can ask anything with a smile: Why getting candid and compelling answers is all about how you ask a question.
• The power of the handwritten note: Warren Buffett taught Poppy the importance of writing handwritten thank you notes after their first interview together.
• The power of brevity: Why saying less often wins you more.
• Early is on-time: Why treating other people’s time as their most precious asset is key to winning.
• Let your heart break: Why empathy is a superpower in negotiation and conversation. As Melinda French Gates taught Poppy, you must let your heart break.
• Get in the kitchen: How kicking off your shoes and getting in the proverbial kitchen helps create key bonds in business and life.