In this keynote, Charlotte Friborg shares a deeply personal narrative that begins with a morning in 2018 when she sensed an inner voice urging her to let her daughter leave school early, a decision that saved her life during the Parkland school shooting. She describes the survivor’s guilt that followed, her subsequent work with a pet‑therapy dog, and a transformative retreat in Arizona where she discovered the power of being fully present. Friborg frames these experiences as evidence of an "inner authority"—a quiet inner voice that guides us when we cultivate presence. She contrasts the modern tendency to seek external certainty amid rapid societal change with the need to listen inwardly, arguing that presence is no longer a luxury but a responsibility. The talk culminates in an invitation for the audience to create space for this inner voice, emphasizing that answers already exist within us. After the speech, audience members reflect on the impact of her storytelling, highlighting the themes of presence, authenticity, and inner guidance.
Chapters
Everyone, I just am so excited for our next speaker. Y'all, this woman, her story, I— wow. Okay. So this woman was actually going to come and speak at Legends Live, our big live annual event that we just had like 3 weeks ago. And she had an injury and she wasn't able to come and we were just in dismay about it. So this talk is like, we're just like, ah, yes, waiting. I am so excited for everyone to experience this exquisite woman, the deep journey. Her story is so incredible. I'm so excited for you to hear it and to hear that wisdom of her path. Everyone, I wanna welcome to the stage Charlotte Friborg. Her talk is titled Finding Uncertainty in Uncertain Times. Please welcome Charlotte. Let's give her a huge round of applause.
Woo!
Woo!
Charlotte!
Yeah!
Woo! Woo-hoo!
Thank you. I'm taking you back to a morning. In 2018. I was sitting in car line about to drop my daughter off at her high school in Parkland, Florida. It was Valentine's Day and students were walking in with balloons and flowers. We were both a bit tired, unsettled. We had a family emergency the day before. And then I heard a voice inside me. It told me to tell my daughter that she could text me if she wanted to come home early. It didn't make sense. My kids already knew they could ask for that, as long as they didn't take advantage of it. See, I'm originally from Denmark, so raising my children in another country has at times felt different, and challenging, and I was used to my internal dialogue, negotiation as Christine said. The voice was strong, so I said it. She didn't respond, and the voice told me, "Say it again." So I did. She looked at me and said, "Mom, I'll be fine. It's Valentine's Day." and off she took. 3.5 hours later, she texted me, "Can you pick me up?" I did. Later that afternoon, while I sat in my office, I got a text message: "There's a shooter on campus." That day, 17 people lost their lives and 17 were injured. And as I was sitting there holding my daughter while we waited to hear from everyone we knew, you would think I felt relief, but what I felt was guilt, survivor's guilt. Why did I listen when others didn't get that chance? For a very long time, I could only talk to a few trusted people in my life about the fact that I had heard that voice and my daughter decided to leave early. A few days later, I walked in the park where the vigil had been held the night before. 17 angels were placed on the amphitheater stage, lit up from within. The edge of the stage was covered with flowers, letters, and countless candles. The energy felt heavy, people whispered, and it was quiet. As I was walking next to the stage, I felt something move through me, like the ground shaking inside my body, and the voice came back, stronger, clearer, like it wanted everyone to hear it: "It is time you share your gift, Charlotte. Show the world there is another way to live together." It wasn't in that immediate moment I jumped completely in, but for the rest of that school year I worked with my golden retriever Maggie, Charlotte Friborg and I had trained for several years to become a pet therapy team, and it felt rewarding in a way to see how much help this was for the students. At the same time, I noticed the feeling of guilt every single time I was on campus, and I was aware there was more and different work for me to do when time was— 3 weeks after the horrific shooting, I was at a retreat in Arizona with my mentor and a small group of friends, and for the first time in my life, I experienced complete peace. For the first time, I felt complete. Nothing in my life had changed, not my relationships, not my circumstances, not my bank account, not my community who were all still in shock and grieving, but something had changed inside me. I was fully present with my life, not judging it, not trying to fix it, not trying to escape it, just present. And in that presence, there was clarity, there was peace, and there was a knowing. And I realized something that moment in the car line. That was not luck. That was me listening to something we all have: our inner authority. I know now this voice has always been with me, but I have not always known and trusted its significant power. There was a time in my life where I did not trust myself as much. I was 25 and living in Denmark, and I remember standing in front of a mirror knowing I wanted to leave the job I had spent years being educated for and that I had been offered, and at the same time arguing with myself. Who am I to do this? What if this is a mistake? What will others think? Maybe you know that feeling where part of you knows, but another part gets louder, more logical, more convincing, more afraid. I did go. I got accepted into a competitive international business academy, and I remember filling out a personality assessment they used to evaluate future leaders. And even there, my focus wasn't on answering truthfully. It was, what is the right answer How do I fit in? How do I make sure they don't see I don't belong here? And when I received my feedback, one sentence stayed with me: It is time you get to know yourself, Charlotte. Who I had learned to be was not who I truly was. Despite I showed leadership in action, I started to spiral down into feeling depressed and considered that maybe life was not for me. But I asked for help and from there started a journey of getting to know myself, It inspired me to dive deep into learning, implementing, teaching, and helping others too. The story of when I was disconnected from myself and looked outside for answers is not just my story. That is how many of us live today. We're moving faster than ever. There's more information, more opinions, more pressure than any time before. We are told to keep up, to figure it out, to make the right decisions quickly. And at the same time, there's uncertainty everywhere in the world, in the economy, in technology changing faster than we can understand. And what happens? We start looking outside even more for answers, for certainty, for someone to tell us what to do. But the more we look outside, the further we move away from the one place that actually knows. And I have seen this Not only in my own life, but in the women I work with. When they slow down and begin to trust what they already sense inside, they make decisions they had sometimes been postponing for years. They change direction, they speak up, They moved forward with clarity they didn't think was possible. And today, this is what I know: we all have an inner authority. It shows up uniquely for each of us. It doesn't shout, it doesn't rush, it doesn't compete with the noise of the world. It speaks when we are present enough to hear it. And in a world that is moving faster and faster, being present is no longer a luxury, it is our responsibility. Because when we are not present, we disconnect from ourselves, and when we disconnect from ourselves, we disconnect from others, we stop listening deeply, we stop trusting, and when we stop trusting, we start living in fear. But when we come back, even for a moment, and become present with our life, as it is, that is where clarity begins, that is where trust is rebuilt, that is where we can move forward, not to survive but to thrive. And I still have moments where I lose it, where the critical voice gets loud again, But now I know I can come back, back to the present moment, and from there I can listen again. So my invitation to you is simple: be present with your life, not the version you think it should be, but the one you are living right now. Because your inner authority is already speaking. The question is, are you creating the space to hear it? You don't need more answers, you need more presence so you can hear the answers already within you. I believe in you. Thank you!
Ahh! Amazing, Charlotte! Bravo, Charlotte!
Beautiful, Charlotte!
Phenomenal!
Thank you—
incredible wisdom. Wow, wow, Charlotte, thank you so much. What epic storytelling and essential wisdom for these times. Thank you so much. I want to open up here for someone to provide reflection to her. What'd you love? What stood out for you, either about what she said or how she said it? Just open it up. You can start talking.
I'll comment. This is Kaylee. Um, how she said it, I mean, the message definitely resonated with me very deeply, but, um, I felt like how you were saying it, I was definitely along for the journey. And especially like, I've been holding my breath. When you said Parkland, I was like, I knew where it was going, and yet your pacing just kept me right there. So anyway, just how you delivered it was amazing.
Thank you so much, Carrie Lee. Let's have one more, one more reflection, celebration. What touched you? What'd she leave you with? What'd you appreciate about what she said or how she said it?
I loved so much how your, your message was about being present and how present you were. Like, you were so present that I was right there hanging on to every word, and you had so many gems. 'Who I learned to be was not who I truly was.' I think that that was just such a powerful message. There's so many other gems that I could state, but really, really, I just want to call out the presence of just really learning how to be still enough to hear the magic and the nudges. It's the nudges that are already in us that if we make the space for them, we can connect to that inner thought. Inner authority. So I love that. I just love the message and the delivery. It was beautiful.
Thank you, Lorraine. Thank you.
Thank you, Lorraine. What a great, great celebration and reflection. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, I'm just seeing here in the chat so many people writing and sharing about the different pieces of what really touched them. And it is just this, you know, Charlotte, I just want to reflect on the depth of the wisdom that it's it's, it's about presence. It's about cultivating presence, and within presence we get what we need. And that inner voice is really that— that's the fertile landscape in which it lives. And I just am so touched by it, as well as your storytelling. And thank you so much for, you know, just the— what you've walked, what you're walking, and that you really are the embodiment of what speak of. Thank you so much. Beautiful, beautiful. Let's give her another big round of applause. Thank you. Gorgeous, gorgeous. Celebrating you. Amazing.
