Susan Salgado

Susan Salgado is a consultant, speaker, and thought leader whose expertise lies at the intersection of organizational culture, leadership, and customer experience.

Susan partnered with famed restaurateur Danny Meyer for 15 years as Director of Culture and Learning for some of New York City’s top-rated restaurants. In this role, she created and implemented the company’s leadership training programs, which were a fundamental component of its success in growing its culture throughout significant growth, including creating and scaling the Shake Shack brand.

As a popular keynote speaker and advisor to corporate leaders, Susan draws on her expertise in assessing, building, and sustaining culture through effective leadership to help organizations continually and intentionally evolve their culture over time and across geography, particularly during rapid growth. Speaking clients include Hyatt, JPMorganChase, Wisconsin Restaurant Association, Ford Motor Company, Assa Abloy Group, Barron’s, Coca-Cola, Novartis, Health Connect Partners, Edward Jones, and Marine Hotel Association.

As the business world pivoted during 2020 and 2021, Susan responded to the critical issues of The Hybrid Workforce and The Future of the Workplace with tailored keynote speeches to industries as diverse as automotive, pharmaceutical, financial services, and manufacturing.

In addition to her Ph.D. from NYU-Stern School of Business, Susan holds a BS and an MBA from Lehigh University. Susan has been a contributor for Inc. Magazine, is a TED speaker, co-founded the NYC chapter of Conscious Capitalism, and was named one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business.

Susan lives in NYC with her husband and daughter.

Susan has truly been a gift to Ford Motor Company. She has an incredible gift of storytelling, to bring to life extremely important lessons on hospitality and culture in the modern business world. We have worked with Susan at both in-person and virtual events. She has been engaging and inspirational in both settings. Susan works hard as a partner to understand our key messages, and helps support and amplify our story through her lessons on culture. Our dealers continually tell us she is the star of the show. If I could only pick one person to speak to my team about customer experience, culture, and hospitality… it would be Susan Salgado.

– JASON H. SPRAWKA, DIRECTOR, GLOBAL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE, FORD

We really wanted to engage a speaker who could get our teams thinking differently about achieving our goals. Susan was the perfect choice. She has such a compelling vision on how to develop cultures centered around delivering on the customer experience.

– COLLEEN KARETI, VP OPERATIONS, HYATT HOTELS CORPORATION

Rated one of our top speakers, Susan delivered a powerfully engaging talk about adopting strategies to put hospitality at the center of the business model. We couldn’t agree more that it’s all about how you make your customers feel.

– MARK GALANTE, SVP, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, PURE INSURANCE

Susan delivered an amazing keynote during our first virtual sales meeting. We were thrilled with how much time she spent with us before the meeting, learning about our company, talking to employees, and listening to executives speak before her session. Her message was perfectly aligned with our focus on creating exceptional culture, and we received amazing feedback from our attendees – they all thought she knocked it out of the park, as did we!

– JESSICA MCGRATH, CMP, EVENTS MANAGER, ASSA ABLOY DOOR SECURITY SOLUTIONS

Susan Salgado was the perfect voice to help us hone in on the importance of culture and the role of the leader in shaping it. Her conversational style, stepped approach and engagement of the team resulted in an audience that spent the rest of the conference quoting her and applying her tools to their go-forward plans. Her experience and passion for the industry shone through and we are a stronger team after her guidance.

– LISA HAMMOND, VP HUMAN RESOURCES, LM RESTAURANT GROUP

When looking to bring in a dynamic speaker who would be able to relay timely leadership insights about organizational culture, we were thrilled to work with Susan. In this new world of virtual presentations, she not only was keen on making the presentation interactive but also delivered a message that transcended the format. It was a delightful experience all around!

– ORDAN BEYERGRASSROOTS, ADVOCACY MANAGER, NORTHWEST CREDIT UNION ASSOCIATION

Susan was able to immediately capture the attention of our seasoned luxury retail audience. She was captivating with her simple ‘truths’ about the culture of customer experience. Her warm and engaging presence was matched with her expertise to deliver a strong message about how a few fundamental key elements can set you apart from your competitors, resulting in client loyalty and employee retention.

– KATHY DAVOUDI-GOHARI, PRESIDENT, RODEO DRIVE COMMITTEE

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