Speaking

For parents of tweens and teens.
Does the path still deliver?

Parents leave with language for the conversation they’ve been avoiding, and three changes that start that same night.

Book Seth to Speak → Download the talk one-pager (PDF)

Author of Pathbreaker Parenting25+ keynotes

Seth Marlowe speaking on stage

20+ Rotary clubs hosted this talk·32 years presenting to Fortune 500 executives

Teen leadership trainer, 2011–2017·Self-Directed Podcast guest

The talk

Built for parents.
Booked by leaders.

Book it for employee wellness and parent ERGs, for school parent nights, for church and community family nights.

The Keynote · Parents & Education

The Pathbreaker Parent

How to Raise Self-Directed Teenagers in a World That Still Defaults to College.

Working parents know credentials are losing relevance, yet most still default to the college-for-everyone script with their own kids. Funny, specific, and grounded in a real family story, this talk gives them a way out of the default.

Four ways to deliver this talk
Seth solo Seth + Donna Seth + Brooke All three

The keynote is the same in all four. Donna and Brooke add to it. See what each one is ↓

What you'll leave with
  • A reframe of success that drops the college-or-failure binary
  • The pivot away from taskmastering: be the one adult in your kid’s life who mentors instead of manages
  • Three changes that start tonight: build a growth mindset, reset their expectations, and hand them the wheel
  • The first four chapters of the book free, a twenty-minute read, by QR from the stage
  • The word-for-word conversation to start the pivot, straight from chapter 4 of the free download
  • Confidence that a different path isn’t a parenting failure, proven year by year by a real family story

Best for: Employee Wellness · Parent ERGs · Leadership Retreats · Lunch-and-Learns · Schools · Churches · Community Groups

Formats: 20-min breakout · 45-min keynote + Q&A · 60–90 min workshop

Download the talk one-pager (PDF) ↓

Same talk, three doors

For HR teams & parent ERGs

An employee-wellness hour aimed where working parents actually carry the stress: at home.

For schools

A parent night on the question every family in the parking lot is already asking: does the path still deliver?

For churches & community groups

A family evening about raising kids with direction, purpose, and a longer game than the next report card.

The Keynote · The Pathbreaker Parent

Four ways to bring it on stage

I've given the solo keynote 25+ times. New for 2027, Donna and Brooke can join me on stage. The story is theirs as much as mine, and a room hears it differently from the people who lived it.

Who can be up there with me

Not a rehearsed package. Two people who were actually there.

Seth and Donna Marlowe in the car on their wedding day in 1995

1995

Donna

My partner in crime since our wedding day, and my co-parent on every call in this talk. She will tell your audience what she wasn't sure about at the time; that's the part I can't cover on my own.

Brooke Marlowe

Today

Brooke

Our daughter. She left college after one semester and built a financially independent, self-directed life. She is the proof: even-keeled, quietly funny, and completely at home on a stage.

The four formats

25+ deliveries

Seth solo

The keynote. I deliver the full framework and the family story solo, from the bike lesson to the year-by-year proof. Everything on this page is in this version; the other formats add voices to it.

One projector, one mic, no travel party: the easiest version to say yes to.

Best for: most events; simplest logistics.

New for 2027

Seth + Donna

Both sides of the decision. I lead the keynote, then Donna joins me for a candid conversation about aligning as co-parents: the doubt, the outside pressure, the calls most couples make privately. Getting on the same page is the point of the whole talk; this format models it from the stage.

Best for: parent nights and couples-heavy audiences.

New for 2027

Seth + Brooke

Theory, then proof. I share the framework, then sit down with Brooke for a live conversation: why she left college after one semester, what rock bottom felt like, the change one dinner conversation sparked, how she found her game, and what she wishes parents understood about what teenagers go through. She takes audience questions, and she answers for herself.

Best for: audiences with teenagers or young adults in the room.

New for 2027

All three

All three of us on stage together: the full story from every side.

Best for: conferences and multi-session events with time for all three.

How I sound

I take my time.
I don’t waste yours.

Two clips from the Self-Directed Podcast with Mitchell Earl, former CEO of Praxis and one of the smartest people I’ve met. No captions, no quick cuts, and long enough to tell whether I can hold a thought.

On teenagers

I heard the word ‘fear’ a thousand times

45 seconds

On hiring

Would you check if she went to interior design school?

67 seconds

That’s me with one person across a table. A room pulls more out of me: more energy, more back and forth, more laughing. You’ll have to book me to see that part, which I realize is a convenient thing for me to say.

And if two minutes of clips isn’t enough to judge by, fair. Here’s a full fifty-minute episode ↗

What lands with people

“Thank you for such a fascinating program. Having taught senior English for many years, I was intrigued by what you had to say. Years ago, I would have strongly disagreed; today you make a lot of sense. I would love for you to come back sometime.”

— Myra Helms, Indian Trail Rotary Club
former senior English teacher
Book Seth to Speak →

“As a high school history and social studies teacher, I think this book is compelling for parents and teens. The chapter on getting children to think of and consider the cost of everything is extremely important and is often overlooked in traditional classroom settings.”

— Michael McCulloch, Teacher of the Year, 2025–26

“I couldn’t help but think of ways to present this material to all sorts of audiences — parents, teenagers, young adults, business leaders, educators, and school administrators.”

— Magon Bowling, reader · mother of two teenagers

“While there were certain things I didn’t fully align with, I think what Seth brings to the table is an opportunity to engage in a much-needed conversation about what it actually means to parent children we hope will become fully functioning, responsible adults.”

— Odell White, father of two pre-teens

About that photo

Not my first talk.
Just my first invoice.

There’s nobody in that photo. No audience, no room, just a guy and a curtain. Every stage photo I own is from a room I wasn’t paid to speak in. Yet. Better you hear that from me than work it out on your own.

The rooms I’ve presented to over the last 32 years
CEOCMOCFOROTARY MEMBERBOARD CHAIRTEENAGERHIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPALHR DIRECTORMOM OF TWO TEENSDAD OF TWO MIDDLE SCHOOLERSENTREPRENEURTEENAGER
CEOCFOCMOHR director

Senior executives at the largest companies in the world, including Amazon, Delta, Marriott, Apple, The Home Depot, Bank of America, Duke Energy, AT&T, Target and UnitedHealthcare.

Board chair

As an SVP for five years I presented to boards of directors and to their investors, who came from firms with portfolios in the billions.

Rotary member

As a club president I led weekly meetings for a year. And I’ve presented this talk to more than twenty Rotary clubs, in rooms of ten to eighty and up.

Teenager

From 2011 to 2017 I facilitated four days of leadership training each year for eighty to a hundred rising juniors and seniors in high school.

Mom of two teensDad of two middle schoolersHigh school principalEntrepreneur

How people introduced themselves at Rotary clubs, after presenting Pathbreaker Parenting, when they came up to ask a question or buy a book.

0 Invoices sent The only line here that’s about to change

As I book paid dates, I’ll add photos of real audiences and clips from those rooms; until then you get the honest version, which is the same thing I’d tell you on the phone.

Let's talk

Book Seth to speak

Tell me about your event and audience, and I'll come back with the right format and availability for 2027.

I respond personally, usually within a couple of days.

Download the talk one-pager (PDF) ↓

Or email seth@pathbreakerparenting.com