ADAM 
TANAKA

- TRANSFORMATIVE TALKS THAT CHALLENGE CONVENTIONAL WISDOM -
 

After 2 decades of building multiple companies, with my 17 year business getting acquired in March of 2025, I discovered one critical truth as a long-time founder: 

In order to be successful as adults, we have to go back to who we were as kids.

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SIGNATURE KEYNOTE

Permission To Play. 
How To Use The Power Of Play To Create, Collaborate, And Lead With Purpose

 

As a kid, I knew how to lose myself in play.

As an adult, I built businesses, earned recognition, and hit the milestones founders are supposed to be proud of but there was deep emptiness I didn't recognize until is was almost too late.

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The thing is, I had what looked like success on paper - revenue was growing, the team was thriving, and the industry was paying attention. But behind the scenes, I was unraveling. After weeks of no sleep, barely eating, and feeling completely isolated despite being surrounded by people that loved me, I reached a breaking point.

I’m here today because play pulled me out of the dark.​ Everything changed the moment I gave myself permission to play again.

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In this high-energy, heartfelt keynote, I guide audiences through how play rewires our brains for clarity, reignites creativity, and builds cultures that grow without grinding people down.

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This is the mindset shift today’s founders, CEOs, executives, and leaders desperately need: not just permission to rest, but permission to rediscover what makes them feel alive again.

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THIS TALK IS PERFECT FOR:
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• Founders and CEOs who feel stuck in execution mode and crave creative space to think clearly and lead powerfully

• Executive teams looking to break out of burnout cycles and cultivate deeper collaboration, curiosity, and momentum

• Leaders navigating massive decisions who need more clarity, not more noise

• Organizations ready to invest in the mental and emotional health of their people — and the culture they’re building

• Innovators who’ve lost their spark and want a new lens to unlock better ideas, faster

WHAT THE AUDIENCE WILL LEARN:
 

• The Take 5 Principle: How just 5–10 minutes of intentional, unstructured play can immediately reduce stress, unlock flow states, and create space for clarity and insight.

• The Myth of the Serious Leader: Why we’ve been sold a lie about what makes someone powerful and how real influence starts when we’re brave enough to lead with purpose.

• Pointless on Purpose: Why creativity needs “pointless” moments, and how breaking free from productivity obsession gives rise to your best ideas.

• The PLAY Environment Framework: A practical guide to building environments that encourage safe, curious, open-ended thinking and unlock creativity across your team.

• The Heads-Up Rule: We live in a heads-down world. This keynote gives leaders permission to look up and remember that connection, clarity, and innovation happen together.

• The Community Tag Framework: A relationship-based rhythm designed to help leaders stay grounded, connected, and emotionally resilient by intentionally building micro-moments of real human connection into each day, week, and month.

​​SECONDARY KEYNOTE

The Hidden Cost of Success. 
Why A Healthy Mind Is Your Most Valuable Business Asset
 

I had what looked like success from the outside - Growing revenue, expanding team, industry recognition. 

 

But what was less visible on the balance sheet is that in year 6, after weeks of not sleeping, barely eating, and feeling completely isolated despite being surrounded by people who loved me and depended on me, I hit rock bottom. I found myself ready to end my life.

 

I’m here today because I got help and that experience taught me invaluable lessons about resilience, prioritizing mental health as a founder, and the importance of vulnerability in leadership.

In this powerful keynote, I reveal the critical connection between founder mental health and business performance that nobody's talking about. This talk shatters the dangerous myth that grinding harder is the path to success. Audiences learn practical systems to transform their relationship with their business, reclaim strategic thinking time, and build companies that thrive without sacrificing founder wellbeing.

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THIS TALK IS PERFECT FOR:​

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• Founders who have created successful companies but find themselves working IN the business rather than ON it, and want to break free from operational overwhelm

• Business owners who have achieved growth milestones but are experiencing diminishing returns on their mental energy and strategic thinking capacity

• Entrepreneurs who want to build sustainable companies that can thrive without requiring constant personal sacrifice and 24/7 availability

• Startup founders who need to make critical scaling decisions but find their mental clarity compromised by exhaustion and competing priorities

• Small business owners who feel isolated in their leadership journey and need practical systems to enhance decision-making without expanding their workload

WHAT THE AUDIENCE WILL LEARN:
 

• The Mirror Effect: Discover how your company becomes a direct reflection of your mental state—and how to transform your business by first transforming your mental clarity. 

• The ROI of Mental Clarity: Learn to quantify the true business cost of founder burnout and the measurable returns of strategic mental health investments. 

• The 90-Minute Morning Protocol: Master a practical system to shift from reactive firefighting to proactive leadership and reclaim your strategic thinking time. 

• The Energy Audit Framework: Implement a tool to identify your high-performance windows and structure your business around your natural energy patterns. 

• The Strategic Support Matrix: Build the essential infrastructure of accountability and community that prevents isolation and enhances decision-making quality.