Carla Johnson – One of the brightest minds in marketing

She helps marketers unlock, nurture and strengthen their storytelling muscle so they can create delightful experiences for customers and employees.

Through her consultancy, Type A Communications, she works as a trusted advisor to blue-chip brands such as She’s worked with companies such as American Express, Dell, Emerson and Motorola Solutions to establish open conversations and instill creative confidence as they tap into new ways of bringing their brand stories to life in fun and captivating ways.

Carla is co-author of the book Experiences: The 7th Era of Marketing, which teaches marketers how to develop, manage and lead the creation of valuable experiences for their organizations.

Safe is the new Risky.

Provocative thinking that challenges what you believe is possible.

Practical, tactical takeaways that you can put into play immediately.

‘Innovation’ is one of those words that feels heady and exclusive. People think it means a special degree, job title or training.

Or you’re either a creative genius, or you’re not. Because of this, innovation gets siloed and never reaches its full potential.

But the truth is 90% of innovation happens outside of traditional innovation and R&D teams. What if, instead of focusing your biggest investment where it’ll have the smallest return, you take advantage of the powerful opportunity right before you?

It’s time to lower the barrier to bring new ways of thinking to solve the real-world problems you face every day.

As one of the top speakers in the world on creativity and innovation, Carla Johnson teaches people through research and proven frameworks.

Her captivating storytelling and infectious humor inspire people to believe they have the ability to affect change with less resistance and move the needle on growth, value, and connection.

Audiences leave her keynotes inspired by her provocative thinking and ready to turn their ideas into practical application…immediately.

It doesn’t matter where you are on the org chart, career ladder, or payscale, it’s time to make innovative thinking your most powerful competitive advantage.

Speaking Topics

The Innovation Factory

Ignite an idea-driven culture that sparks opportunities, tackles problems and inspires change

We think innovation comes from a specific department or people with prestigious degrees. That it happens in isolation.

That it’s complicated, time-consuming, and expensive.

This couldn’t be further from the truth. Successful organizations gain their edge from MORE people knowing how to contribute better ideas, faster, and knowing how to make a direct impact on the business.

That’s because true inspiration can come from anywhere and lead to measurable results in days, not years.

Applied Curiosity

Use the power of questions to drive growth, value and connections

Curiosity is more foundational to an organization’s performance than we ever realized. In fact, the highest-performing groups have a deeply curious culture that values rich experiences and offbeat schools of thought.

Combining curiosity with a profoundly effective process of applying it sets companies on an accelerated path to innovation and performance.

Curiosity’s also the antidote to burnout, apathy, and disengagement.

Curious companies are financially and culturally healthy companies.

The Muse and the Machine

Transforming intimidation into inspiration by making AI our ultimate creative partner

While machine learning and generative AI have exploded, creative thinking is the one core human truth that remains relevant in our brave new world.

Instead of letting AI intimidate us, lets learn how to dance with it as our ultimate creative partner.

This is how you equip everyone in your organization with the mindset and skills to develop, champion, and execute on high-quality, highly relevant ideas while removing the “I’m not the creative type” mentality.

Because only by partnering imaginative thinking with AI will we realize our full potential.

The Six Faces of Innovation

Tap people’s innate superpowers to create idea-driven teams

People think to be innovative, you need to maximize your tech and your processes.

But what if we gave the same time and attention to the human elements?

Knowing and understanding the drivers of each person’s superpowers lets teams unlock the potential of everyone’s ideas.

When everyone contributes and appreciates each other’s perspectives, you draw on a broader pool of expertise.

The result is that teams solve bigger, more complex problems with greater creativity, faster execution, and better outcomes.