How Amanda Dahler Is Revolutionizing Presentation Design

Meet Amanda Dahler, the visionary behind Outspoke Design, a company revolutionizing high-end presentation design for leaders. 

With a corporate background in B2B proposal writing and strategic change management, Amanda's entrepreneurial journey is driven by her desire for creative growth and the demand for her unique skill set. Outspoke Design empowers leaders to sell ideas, courses, and memberships at scale while fostering strong relationships with audiences and stakeholders. Inspired by the power of diverse voices, Amanda continues to drive positive change through her work, guided by a growth mindset and an unwavering commitment to excellence.

In our interview with Amanda, we explore Outspoke Design's groundbreaking approach to high-end presentation design, the transformative value of building a support network as an entrepreneur, and the wisdom she has for those embarking on their own entrepreneurial journey. 

Q: Tell us the story behind your company’s founding. How and why did you start working on Outspoke Design?

A: We began doing high-end presentation design for leaders presenting on the stage. In my corporate career, I had a background that started in writing B2B proposals for $200,000+ deals and ended in leading strategic change management communications for our firm’s C-level. 

Those things actually shared a great deal in common: getting buy-in from high-level stakeholders, making messaging work, and keeping things on a schedule. I found myself going independent because the rare blend of skills and personality created demand from people in my network who wanted to hire me for event-based projects. I also felt a yearning to grow creatively through working with different companies, teams, and industries.

Our presentation decks and stage presentations drove thousands of people to adopt new strategies, hundreds to adopt new business models, and raised millions in rounds of funding for startups. 

However, whenever we began our presentation design work, we often found the branding for launches or campaigns to be under-developed. This is how we got the opportunity to start developing all the branding around campaigns to make sure that stage presentations were coherent. 

Q: What problem does Outspoke Design solve? 

A: At our core, we help leaders sell ideas, courses, and memberships at scale. We work with them on strategies to build relationships with their core audiences and stakeholders to improve results at launch time.   

Q: What are some of the most meaningful impacts Outspoke Design has had so far? 

A: We helped a client launch a board training program to diversify leadership on tech boards across Canada. Close to 500 people have now gone through the program in a matter of two years, priming themselves for leadership in the intangible economy that looks more diverse than that of the past. I firmly believe that having a variety of voices in the room makes a difference to companies and our communities, and it makes me proud to have been a part of bringing that to fruition. 

Q: In what ways has your upbringing or past experiences contributed to how you operate as an entrepreneur?

A: I was always drawn to leadership, but not necessarily entrepreneurship. But I ended up an entrepreneur at 29 because I was too impatient for leadership to be awarded to me in the corporation where I worked. My role was supporting the C-level, but despite having some pretty incredible mentors, I never saw a growth path from where I was to where they were that appealed to me. 

As a kid, not only did I take the lead on planning my own birthday parties from a young age, but also I ran for and was elected class president three years in a row and student body president my senior year. I spent summers at student leadership camp through the Pennsylvania Association of Student Councils, surrounded by positive and influential role models and mentors. While in undergrad at Bryn Mawr College, I continued to serve in the leadership programs that influenced me by becoming a counselor. To me, the most beautiful thing to cultivate in the world is a growth mindset.

Q: What’s one thing you wish you had known before starting Outspoke Design?

A: Bigger isn’t always better. Bigger clients are often more complex and difficult to work with. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy in North America and substantially more dynamic and interesting to work with–particularly when you’re less than 20 people and going from $1 to $5 million, although I’ve directly worked with companies as large as 2,000 people with $60 million in revenue and supported branding and stage presentations for companies bringing in as much as $40 billion in annual revenue.

Q: What’s been the most unexpected part of your entrepreneurial journey?

A: Reaching financial goals that I never thought possible and still facing anxiety about cash flow. When you get close to half a million, you think everything should take care of itself and you can start to feel some ease. But ease is in your mind, not in the facts of your situation. In fact, as our revenues grew, so did my anxiety. 

Now I have to work with multiple coaches, do breathwork and practice non-sleep deep rest to maintain a working level and continue to make decisions not out of fear or scarcity, but from our strategic vision for the future. 

Q: What have you learned about building a team and a support network around yourself?

A: I avoided building a team for a long time because I had a mindset that I would be paying someone else to do something I was capable of doing both better and faster. This may be beneficial in the beginning, but as a leader, you come to realize pretty quickly that you can’t and don’t want to do everything. I now have team members who can deliver things better than I ever could—team members who surprise and delight me and my clients with the quality of their work, thinking, and efforts. Before, I would feel shame if I didn’t directly work on a successful project. But now I feel pride for my team’s work and an even bigger motivation to expand the clients we work with so we can create the same kind of results for more people. 

Q: What would you tell your younger self if you were to start your entrepreneurial journey all over again?

A: I would tell myself to have the courage to make bolder moves and that it’s not a race. There’s no end point, and every day along the way can and deserves to be just as enjoyable as the moment when you get what you’re aiming for. 

Amanda is a member of Dreamers & Doers, an award-winning community that amplifies extraordinary women entrepreneurs and leaders by securing PR, forging authentic connections, and curating high-impact resources. Learn more about Dreamers & Doers and get involved here.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

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