Who is Eleni?

Eleni Kelakos is fueled by the desire to move, motivate and inspire others to bring their most confident, best selves to their presentations, their lives and their work.  Eleni embodies Transformational Presence-- the essence of her teaching--whether she’s performing her flagship TOUCH THE SKY keynote to corporate groups and associations, facilitating presentation skills trainings or working on-one-one with a client in a coaching session.

Eleni completed a double major in Theatre Arts and Semiotics from Brown University, and worked for over twenty years in New York and Los Angeles as a professional actress of the stage and screen. She is also an award-winning,  nationally touring singer-songwriter with four acclaimed CDs, (I WILL FLY, TO THE BONE, WHERE I COME FROM and TOUCH THE SKY) recorded and released on her own label, EEK! Records.

As president and chief catalyst of The Eleni Group (formerly SPEEK, founded in 2003),  Eleni uses her vast performing experience, as well as tried-and-true acting tools and techniques to help business leaders speak and present with more confidence and impact. Her many training clients include teams from Comerica Bank, Holcim, McKinley Realtor and Borg-Warner Automotive.  Randal Charlton, former Executive Director at Detroit’s TechTown, called Eleni’s “Be Here and Be Heard” presentation skills training “one of the best days of staff training I have ever experienced in a business career spanning over 40 years.” As a coach, Eleni has helped hundreds of sales people, business owners and entrepreneurs take their pitches, presence and presentations

 to new levels of excellence and influence.

When she’s not helping others embody transformational presence on and off the speaking platform,  Eleni travels the country speaking at conferences for organizations like the Red Cross and the Wisconsin Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, encouraging their members to reach for the best in themselves on a daily basis.  Her flagship motivational keynote program, TOUCH THE SKY, a powerful and entertaining combination of original songs, stories and simple success strategies, was born out of Eleni’s desire to synthesize her love of performing with her mission to encourage people to take charge, take action and hold themselves accountable for the results. 

Particularly passionate about empowering women, Eleni presents STOP PLAYING SMALL, a keynote and training program that helps women in the business community use their voice and body language to better convey leadership and authority. STOP PLAYING has fired up the membership of the General Motors Women’s Affinity Group, Inforum and the Michigan Women’s Tax Association, among others. To further support women striving to claim their unique voice and achieve their best, Eleni launched Blue Sky Coaching in 2009.

An avid writer and blogger, Eleni penned 30 Ways and 30 Days to TOUCH THE SKY an interactive journal with Motivational Musings that is part of her triad of TOUCH THE SKY products. Her first full length book, as yet untitled, will go to press in early 2012.  Eleni is a certified coach from the Fowler-Wainwright School of Coaching.   A proud member of the National Speakers Association, Eleni is the Immediate Past President of the Michigan chapter.  She’s also a card-carrying member of the Screen Actors Guild, Actors Equity Association and the American Federation of Radio and Television Artists.

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