Book Kevin & Bryan · Keynotes & Workshops

The talks behind the book.

Four sessions on the school-to-work transition — the moment the rules quietly change. Built for the campuses that prepare graduates for it, and the companies that hire them on the other side.

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The Speaker Series

Four talks. Two audiences. Same diagnosis.

Every year, talented graduates land good jobs and quietly stall. The instinct is to blame generation, motivation, or grit — and the instinct is wrong. The gap is structural, it has a name, and it’s fixable. Each of these sessions puts a different lever in the room.

University & Academic

For the people preparing students

orientation, capstone, career centers, commencement
No. 01
Keynote · 45–60 min

The Rules Nobody Told You

Making yourself career-ready. Why what worked in school often fails on the job.

The Insight

Most graduates enter the workforce doing exactly what made them successful students — and get quietly punished for it. The habits that earned A’s — waiting for clear instructions, pursuing perfection, working solo, chasing the grade — are the same ones that stall careers. This isn’t an intelligence gap or an effort gap. It’s an experience gap. And experience can be taught.

What Students Walk Away With
  • The school-to-work rewire. Which student habits to retire — and how to do it without losing what makes you good.
  • The real definition of success. How work actually evaluates you — through visibility, relationships, and perceived value.
  • Something to use tomorrow. Practical shifts in meetings, with a manager, and in the moments that decide who gets ahead.

Best forOrientation programming · Student leadership conferences · Capstone courses · Career center workshops · Commencement & graduation events.

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No. 02
Workshop · 2–3 hours · Interactive

The Unwritten Curriculum

School made you a great student. This makes you ready for work.

The Approach

Opens with a focused keynote that names the gap and creates a shared language for the group, then moves into interactive exercises drawn from the book, peer conversations, assessments, and personal reflection — giving students the frameworks and tools to make the transition with confidence.

What Students Walk Away With
  • A clear map of the professional landscape they’re entering — the unspoken rules and hidden dynamics it usually takes years to figure out.
  • Practical language for the moments that trip up early-career professionals: a difficult manager, making contributions visible, processing feedback.
  • A personal starting point — a completed Workplace Readiness Self-Assessment that maps strengths and gaps before day one.

Best forOrientation programming · Capstone courses · Career center workshop series · Student leadership conferences · Course adoption.

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Corporate & Organizational

For the people who hire and manage them

offsites, all-hands, new hire orientation, L&D, manager development
No. 03
Keynote · 45–60 min

The Readiness Gap

Why your new hires are struggling — and what your whole organization can do about it.

The Reframe

The problem isn’t who you hired. It’s the gap between how school works and how work works — two systems with completely different rules. That gap has a name, a structure, and a solution. This keynote gives new professionals and the managers who lead them a shared language and framework for closing it.

The Structural Case
  • 46% of new hires fail within 18 months — not for technical skills, but for behavioral ones nobody taught them. (Leadership IQ)
  • 89% of hiring failures trace to attitude, coachability, and emotional intelligence — not job competence.
  • Up to 2× annual salary — the true cost of a single early-career departure.
  • 40% of all turnover happens in the first 12 months.

Best forCompany offsites & retreats · New hire orientation · All-hands events · L&D conferences · Early-career program launches · Manager development series.

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No. 04
Workshop · 2–3 hours · Interactive

The Readiness Rewire

The hands-on workshop that closes the gap — not just names it.

The Approach

Awareness alone doesn’t close the readiness gap. This workshop does. A hands-on working session tailored for early-career employees, their managers, or both together — structured conversations, applied practice, and concrete tools to show up differently starting day one.

What Participants Walk Away With
  • A personal playbook. Every participant leaves with an assessment and a personal action plan — where they’re strong, where to build, and exactly what to do about it.
  • A shared language. The vocabulary that lets early-career professionals and their managers finally talk about the same issues in the same way.
  • A clear next step. Immediately actionable next moves for both participant and manager — so the momentum doesn’t end when the session does.

Best forNew hire cohorts · Early-career programs · Manager development series · Onboarding redesign · Team-level resets.

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This isn’t a generation issue. It’s a transition issue. And your organization has more leverage over it than you think.

From the Speaker Series

The Speakers

Kevin & Bryan.

A combined 45+ years advising Fortune 100 companies, Forbes top 25 nonprofits, and government agencies on leadership, strategy, and organizational effectiveness. Across every sector and generation, they’ve watched the same issue play out — talented, credentialed graduates struggling with a transition that had nothing to do with their intelligence or effort. Welcome to Work is their distillation of those observations.

Kevin Gosa
“Gifted in both strategy and saxophone.”

Kevin Gosa

Strategic Facilitator & Consultant

Kevin is a strategic facilitator, consultant, and Co-Founder of NYC Meeting Facilitators. He works with leadership teams, nonprofits, government agencies, and Fortune 100 companies on high-stakes retreats, strategic planning, and organizational alignment. He’s known for helping people navigate complex workplace dynamics with clarity and confidence. Formerly a professional saxophonist, an amateur poet, husband, father, and recreational activity enthusiast.

Bryan Horvath
“Engineered Cadillacs. Fronted a rock band. Bakes cakes.”

Bryan Horvath

Co-Founder & Principal, Nonprofit Velocity

For nearly 30 years, Bryan has been a leader in the nonprofit sector — after engineering Cadillacs for GM, touring 45 states as the front man of a rock band, launching an indie record label, licensing his own inventions, and becoming a semi-pro cake decorator. As a long-time executive director for an international arts organization, he grew a small operation into a global movement by connecting vision to strategy, and strategy to action. He has advised executive leadership, boards, and trustees domestically and internationally, lectured for MBA programs, and led nonprofit incubators.

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Bring this to your team — or your campus.

Tell us the audience, the date, the format you’re considering, and what you’re trying to move. We’ll come back with a tailored proposal within two business days.

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