Speaking & Coaching
Helping people untangle the mess and move forward with clarity.
Keynotes, workshops, and facilitated conversations rooted in lived experience.
About Anthony
I’m Anthony Alvarado — a storyteller at heart.
My work is shaped by lived experience, with almost two decades of community leadership, and long-term storytelling projects that sit at the intersection of grief, resilience, recovery, and responsibility. I’m a father who lost his son to fentanyl, a published researcher, and someone who has spent over a decade working alongside young people, educators, clinicians, and leaders navigating complex systems and real human pain.
I don’t speak at people. I work with them — helping individuals and organizations slow down, make sense of what they’re carrying, and move forward with intention.
Based in Space Coast, FL and Wisconsin. Available for travel.
What I Talk About
Turning Loss Into Responsibility
Grief is not a moment — it’s a process. This session explores how loss changes people, how responsibility follows, and how presence matters in the spaces we think we already know.
What We Carry: Burnout, Pressure & Meaning
We live in accelerated worlds where pressure is constant and burnout becomes invisible. This is an honest look at navigating stress, boundaries, and mental well-being without guilt, shame, or superficial “self-care.”
Recovery, Resilience, and Rebuilding
Addiction, mental health challenges, and the work of rebuilding life don’t happen in neat stages. This session is a real conversation about healing, triggers, support systems, and finding purpose after struggle.
Story Is the Work: Why Lived Experience Matters
This session explores how lived experience shapes connection, leadership, and culture — and why real understanding starts with listening, not assumptions or frameworks.
Leading Through the Mess
Real leadership doesn’t happen in clarity. It happens in ambiguity, contradiction, pressure, and moral complexity. This session helps leaders navigate systems without sacrificing people.
Keynote topics
Anthony is empathetic and I believe a safe person to talk to about anything, sees the good in people, and believes there is goodness in all others.
I see Anthony as a leader in every room he enters and is at his best when he is modeling true vulnerability. He knows how to love others unconditionally, is changing the world, and an expert in pain and fear.
Greatness, true greatness! I see humility. I see someone who says "I can & we can". Anthony is confidently vulnerable, someone that makes me feel safe and secure in my own skin. A man of openness and acceptance
Signature Experiences
Untangling the Mess E-Book + Workshop
This work grew out of the need for clarity in chaos. The e-book breaks down how stress, identity, and internal narratives actually work — and the workshop builds skills around habit, nervous system regulation, and sustainable self-care that fits real lives, not hollow platitudes.
Whether delivered live or through guided group experiences, this helps people make sense of their internal noise.
Unbroken: Story, Memory & Responsibility
Unbroken is a long-form storytelling project and advocacy initiative rooted in lived experience. It uses photography, community presence, and reflection to explore grief, survival, and what it means to protect one another. The Unbroken Project and accompanying talks move people through presence, memory, and forward motion. See more @the_unbroken_project
Salt & Soil Retreats
Salt & Soil is a restorative retreat series blending storytelling, movement, somatic work, and intentional rest. Designed for leaders, creatives, and facilitators who are rebuilding boundaries and reclaiming clarity. Learn more about Salt + Soil
Who This Work Is For
• Students & youth organizations
• Educators & school communities
• Healthcare & human services professionals
• Prevention, recovery, and advocacy networks
• Leadership teams and organizational change agents
• Anyone ready for honest, applicable insight
Recent Speaking Engagements
RISE TOGETHER — National keynotes, workshops & youth summits (ongoing, multi-state)
Penn State College of Medicine — Addiction Symposium (Keynote / Presenter)
American Society of Addiction Medicine Conference — Presenter (3 years running)
National Prevention Network Conference — Presenter
University of Houston — Collegiate Recovery Conference (Keynote)
Lawrence University — Campus keynote & team sessions
Santa Rosa Junior College — Keynote
University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh — Mind, Heart & Teaching Symposium (Keynote)
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration — “Road to Recovery” Expert Panel (Washington, DC)
NAADAC National Conference — Presenter
Statewide Recovery Rallies & Mental Health Conferences (WI, NV, and beyond) — Keynote & Featured Speaker
Spoken Word & Storytelling Performances
— First spoken-word performance exploring grief, recovery, and responsibility (2025)
Agency-Booked Speaking Engagements
— Corporate, education, and healthcare audiences across leadership, burnout, resilience, and lived-experience storytelling
Representation
Anthony is represented by select speaking agencies for conferences and institutional events through ENGAGE and GRAVITY SPEAKERS.
Direct inquiries are preferred*
