Image
Colin Coggins & Garrett Brown: The Power of Agency
Colin Coggins & Garrett Brown
Business Transformation Change Agents, Popular USC Professors of Entrepreneurship
- Authors of the Wall Street Journal bestseller "The Unsold Mindset," which reveals a unique approach to leadership, performance, personal/professional development, and sales
- Grew enterprise software company Bitium from startup to acquisition by Google
- Draw from decades of experience as business leaders and change agents to share how to be a revenue-forward company while maintaining an authentic, socially and self-aware, mission-driven culture
- Creators and professors of the hugely popular “Sales Mindset for Entrepreneurs” at USC's Marshall School of Business
Play Video
View Fees
Colin Coggins and Garrett Brown are known for their unexpected and entertaining approach to purpose-driven leadership and performance that blurs the line between personal and professional development. Their inspirational keynotes and workshops are packed with actionable takeaways that will ignite culture shifts in organizations and empower audience members to scale growth, find purpose in their work, and profoundly impact their teams, their customers, their partners, and themselves.
At the foundation of Colin and Garrett’s philosophy is the idea that the most successful leaders and teams employ a mindset that empowers them to stop merely doing what they’re “supposed to do” and instead turn even the most transactional encounters into transformational experiences.
After decades of collective experience as sales professionals, leaders, and executives, Colin and Garrett’s paths crossed at enterprise software company Bitium, where they played key roles in growing the business from startup to a prominent acquisition by Google. They currently serve as adjunct professors of entrepreneurship at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business, where they teach the hugely popular, first-of-its-kind course they created, “Sales Mindset for Entrepreneurs.” They are also authors of the Wall Street Journal bestselling book, The Unsold Mindset (HarperCollins), which draws from extensive research and interviews with some of the world’s most successful people to demonstrate how anyone can achieve incredible results in their field, become the leader they wish they had, inspire and move others to action, and find more purpose and fulfillment in their work.
Exclusively represented by Leading Authorities speakers bureau, Colin and Garrett are a high-energy and hugely entertaining duo who hook audiences in with their relatable and informative banter paired with memorable real-life stories and actionable takeaways for gaining support for ideas, creatively solving business challenges, becoming catalysts for transformational change, and leveling up — both collectively and individually. As they reveal, the common trait all great leaders and high performing teams and individuals possess is what they call an “Unsold Mindset,” as well as an unrelenting commitment to showing up as learners, creators, and their most authentic selves in everything they do.
Colin Coggins has deep experience working as an executive commercial leader and theorist and is known for his unique and proven approach to scaling revenue by cultivating sales IQ across entire organizations. He is currently an SVP and GM at Chegg, where he leads the Chegg Skills organization. He previously held senior leadership roles at several emerging technology companies, including Bitium (where he met Garrett), Mobile Roadie, and Fabric. He continues to serve as an executive sales leader and advisor, as well as a mentor at Pharrell Williams’ Black Ambition fund and Techstars.
Garrett Brown began his career as a corporate lawyer representing startups and entrepreneurs, which inspired him to enter the exciting world of startups, where he climbed the ranks as a sales and business development executive. He joined Bitium in its early days as the company’s chief revenue officer and oversaw all revenue functions until the company was acquired by Google. After the acquisition, Garrett joined Google in a revenue management role, learning countless lessons about the inner workings of one of the most recognizable companies on the planet.
Colin and Garrett are also active investors, mentors, and startup advisors, as well as the founders of Agency18, a consultancy that helps mission-driven companies adopt growth strategies that are equally revenue-forward and aligned with their values.
Together, Colin and Garrett are on a mission to inspire people to show up as who they are — not who they think they should be — and perform beyond their best every day.
Speaker Video
Colin Coggins and Garrett Brown: The Unsold Mindset
Colin Coggins and Garrett Brown: Virtual Reel
Colin Coggins and Garrett Brown: The Best Part of the Movie is Now
Re-Thinking Leadership: Be a Teammate, Not Just a Coach. With decades of experience as transformational leaders and executives of purpose-driven, revenue-forward companies, Colin Coggins and Garrett Brown introduce a surprising approach to leadership that is rooted in connection, optimism, intentional ignorance, emotional intelligence, and embracing the agency we have to show up as our authentic selves each day. Drawing from their own experiences as leaders, as well as the experiences of the famous leaders and elite performers they interviewed for their Wall Street Journal bestselling book The Unsold Mindset, Colin and Garrett lead an upbeat session complete with entertaining stories and thought-provoking, actionable takeaways for how anyone can level up as a leader. As they reveal, the most successful leaders share many of the same habits — beginning with a seemingly counterintuitive mindset that rewards authenticity with influence and impact. The insights they share show audience members how to gain support for their ideas, creatively solve problems, spark high-performing cultures, and inspire and bring out the best in others — all while remaining true to their own purpose and values.
Mindset and the Human Experience in the Age of AI. This high-energy, eye-opening keynote gives audiences an entertaining and informative look at why the most valuable skills necessary to thrive in an AI-driven world might be the opposite of what people think they are. As AI reshapes industries and redefines job roles, human-centered skills are becoming more essential—not in spite of AI, but because of it. Skills like communication, curiosity, self-awareness, creativity, and authenticity are now more important than ever. Colin Coggins and Garrett Brown teach us that AI actually highlights uniquely human skills, giving people the chance to lean into these abilities more than ever. Colin and Garrett will explore the difference between a transactional and transformational mindset, emphasizing the human-centered qualities that will always be essential for advancing ideas and inspiring meaningful action, even as innovation accelerates. They’ll share engaging stories and offer actionable insights that will leave audiences inspired, energized, and ready to thrive in the age of AI.
Transform, Don’t Transact: Impactful Strategies for Selling Anything and Everything. For anyone looking to gain buy-in for an idea or spur others to take a next action — be it to join a mission, make a purchase, or change their mind — transformational leaders and change agents Colin Coggins and Garrett Brown present forward-thinking ideas and practical strategies for how to move from transactional to transformational cultures in order to create enduring value, foster loyalty, and drive sustained growth. Amid their fun banter and stimulating anecdotes, Colin and Garrett explore the limitations of transactional thinking and demonstrate why relationship-centric organizations are more optimally positioned to thrive in dynamic business environments. Their paradigm-shifting insights put the wheels in motion for how teams and individuals can move people to the center of their business strategies and cultivate deep, meaningful relationships that translate into tangible value for all parties involved.
The Pathologically Optimistic Guide to Change Management. With change being the only constant in business, Colin Coggins and Garrett Brown reflect on their own experiences as agents of change within the organizations they helped evolve to present a gripping session on the art and science of change management. Together, they discuss the core mindset principles of some of the greatest leaders on the planet, and why it’s crucial for success in modern organizations. They provide time-tested frameworks, tools, and tactics for planning and executing change initiatives, inspiring teams to embrace and adapt to change, communicating goals and progress to stakeholders, addressing resistance, and working through the complexities of change to see successful culture transformation through to the end.
Transformation Workshops. Colin Coggins and Garrett Brown offer a multitude of opportunities to work more closely with organizations and individuals on specific areas of focus. They draw from their experiences leading teams, teaching students, advising entrepreneurs, and collaborating with sales, marketing, leadership, and executive teams to lead transformation workshops that are designed to support groups in putting their plans to action as they look to upskill themselves, and grow and innovate their businesses.
From one-day training programs and multi-day learning and development events to serving on advisory boards, coaching teams, and long-term consulting, there are various ways to bring Colin and Garrett’s knowledge and energy to your organization, or to add a deeper level of engagement at your event.
In their customizable workshops, they create programs and share valuable expertise on:
- Authenticity
- Transformational and growth mindset
- Sales
- Culture shifts
- Purpose
- Optimism
- Creativity
- Feedback
- Storytelling
- Interviewing and hiring
Recent News
Client Testimonials
Click one of these resources below for another way to find more speaker ideas for your audience.
