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Courtney Pong
Keynote Speaker & Facilitator | I train teams to communicate and work together better
Professional Background
Courtney Pong is a vibrant and engaging professional with over two decades of experience in the fields of corporate training and team development. With a focus on applied improvisation, Courtney has collaborated with a diverse array of esteemed organizations, including Bloomberg LP, Northeastern University, and the Boston Red Sox, to elevate employee morale, enhance communication, and foster a sense of transparency within teams. Her unique approach integrates improvisation techniques into the workplace, creating an environment where participants can thrive.
Courtney's extensive background in Applied Improv helps organizations cultivate better communication skills, develop resilience, and strengthen relationships among team members. Whether in-person or through virtual trainings, she emphasizes the importance of creating a supportive and safe atmosphere, where all individuals feel comfortable participating without any pressure. Her unique style encourages laughter and engagement, making learning both enjoyable and impactful.
Notably, testimonials from participants, such as those from Hotwire Global's sessions, reflect her ability to inspire and connect with her attendees, highlighting the effectiveness of her methods to boost teamwork and create a collaborative spirit.
Education and Achievements
Courtney Pong holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Relations with a focus in Communications Studies from San Jose State University. Her academic foundation in communication has undoubtedly contributed to her outstanding skills in conveying complex ideas and facilitating productive discussions among diverse teams.
In addition to her educational background, Courtney has held numerous significant positions throughout her career. She served as the President of the Board of Directors at Roslindale Village Main Street, demonstrating her leadership and commitment to community development. Furthermore, she was the Owner & Founder of The Rozzie Square Theater, showcasing her entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to the performing arts.
Courtney also played a key role as the Owner & General Manager of CSz Boston, where her experience in theater and improvisation flourished. She has shared her expertise in higher education as an Adjunct Professor at Emerson College, enriching the next generation of communicators with her knowledge and insights.
Her past roles extend to significant consulting positions, including Director of Communication and Content roles at WellnessFX, and Senior Director of Communications and Public Relations at Keas. These positions illustrate her adeptness at navigating the complex landscape of communications in varied environments.
Courtney has been actively involved in professional organizations, such as serving as Chapter President at ACE NextGen and a member of the Executive Council at CSz Worldwide, which further exemplifies her commitment to her profession and her peers.
Achievements
Courtney Pong’s achievements resonate throughout her career, marked by her passion for applied improvisation and team dynamics. Her sessions have been successfully implemented in multiple settings, receiving praise for being interactive and comfortable - even over virtual platforms. Feedback from attendees points to a deep appreciation for her innovative training methods and a desire for further engagement, underscoring the positive impact she has made in the corporate training space.
In the face of an increasingly digital workplace, Courtney's mastery of both in-person and virtual formats allows her to reach a wider audience, enabling organizations to improve morale and team dynamics in any setting. Her commitment to helping teams navigate challenges with humor and collaboration is evident in her workshops where tools and techniques are not only shared but practiced, equipping employees with skills that extend beyond the session into their daily work lives.
As a recognized leader in her field, Courtney continues to invite organizations to discover the powerful benefits of Applied Improv. With her extensive experience, she is always open to connecting with teams eager to explore how to incorporate these strategies into their workplace culture. Whether you are seeking to enhance communication, build robust team relationships, or simply add a dose of fun into your organization's dynamics, Courtney's proven approach offers the tools and insights necessary for success.
Highlights
A celebration of work completed & an important shift I'm seeing:
Every year, the California Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce invests in their finalists by setting them up with a 1:1 public speaking coaching session with me, to prepare them for their 5-minute pitch in front of large audience + panel of judges.
This photo captures the 7th annual Minority Women Lead pitch competition finalists and winners.
It's my favorite project I take on every year, hands down. It's a blend of what I love pushing forward - entrepreneurship for women - and my background - start-ups, public relations and analyst relations, public speaking and marketing.
When these women talk about their businesses and pore over their slide deck, you can feel the energy in every corner - women supporting each other, cheering each other on, helping refine and chip away at any perceived limitations, and our power expanding through just simply paths crossing. It's intoxicating and I want to live in it all the time.
Congrats to the finalists - really cool products and initiatives below.
Culturally, things seen as self-promotion or being outspoken are either frowned upon or de-prioritized in AAPI communities. Which is why I was so impressed and intrigued when Cal Asian reached out to engage me as the service provider.
In my experience, having been in a variety of business groups and accelerator or coaching programs specifically tailored toward minorities/women, I never see an emphasis placed on public speaking, media training, or 1:Many communication skills. That is WILD because it's so necessary and even advantageous to growing and sustaining a business.
Photo credit: Cal Asian Chamber of Commerce
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Ashley Xie of Rooted Fare - crunchy black sesame butter and other Chinese-American - inspired bites; https://rootedfare.com/
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Dr. Rebecca Cesar, DHSc, MS-MHA of Tinted Healthcare - providing access to minority doctors within your community; https://lnkd.in/dpFqEEP6
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Pallavi Pande of Dtocs - Compostable palm leaf dinnerware; https://dtocs.com/
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Kelly Pan of Impact Foods - Sushi-grade Vegan Seafood; https://impact.food/
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Mayumi Kimura of Insight Therapy and Consulting - Culturally aware therapy; https://insighttac.com/
Celebratory moment: The Boston Globe released a new series of curated lists - Best of the Best - and we (The Rozzie Square Theater, our place) won 1 of the 6 spots awarded for Best Comedy Club.
(I didn't even know we were up for a list of any sort, so this is the surprise of today)
A photo of a recent moment and why it matters to me:
Improvisers, before they go on stage, typically have a warm-up circle where they check in with each other and spend face time. It's multi-functional - what we do is a collaborative art form, so it helps to be warmer and up to speed on the latest information the group needs to know, but also it's the Meeting Before the Meeting - it's how we build rapport with each other and, eventually, community.
When the theater started offering stand-up, one of the things I felt was missing was that community-building piece, so I started building in a check-in circle for the stand-up comics when they're on-site. We do a round of names/needs, ask if there are best ways to support them, grab any tech cues they have, and tell them at close of the circle using our fave phrase, "I've got your back"
At first it threw people off, because it's not common for stand-up performers, but I have noticed a difference in the comics.
They linger longer after the show is over, they exchange numbers, give each other rides home, connect on social platforms. Part of it is their own networking skills, and part of it is building space into the layout of the evening for those things to happen if they want them.
I'm really proud of what this photo represents for us.
Congrats, Rozzie Square Theater! And thanks, Boston Globe.
https://lnkd.in/ejw6vdSX
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Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.