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Stop saying sorry

Dr. Maja Jovanović

travels from Canada

Women's Advocate, sociologist, author, and TEDx speaker

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5 out of 5 stars

“Wow, Professor Maja’s was not just excellent – it was the best I’ve seen in 7 years organizing our conference”.

Erin Burba, Senior Program Director, EUCI See all references

Why you should book Dr. Maja Jovanović for your next event:

  • She has a Ph.D. in sociology and focuses on women’s mental health. She researches confidence, and all the issues that influence confidence, such as: perfectionism, imposter syndrome, people-pleasing, apologies, deflection of praise and mindset.
  • Her informal, humorous, and energetic speaking style both educates and inspires women and organizations to get out of their comfort zones and take action.
  • She can customize her talks and workshops to different audience types and needs.
Non-binding request for Dr. Maja Jovanović

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Dr. Maja Jovanović is a sociologist, author, and TEDx speaker. She is a confidence researcher and (unnecessary) apology hater. She graduated with a Ph.D. in sociology focusing on the sociology of women's health. Professor Maja is in the middle of her 6-year global study on women’s confidence. She analyzes how women’s confidence gets diminished through internal struggles (like perfectionism and people pleasing) and external hurdles (such as unconscious bias, sexism, racism, imposter syndrome, cultural expectations, and toxic work situations).

Why you should book Dr. Maja Jovanović for your next event:

  • She has a Ph.D. in sociology and focuses on women’s mental health. She researches confidence, and all the issues that influence confidence, such as: perfectionism, imposter syndrome, people-pleasing, apologies, deflection of praise and mindset.
  • Her informal, humorous, and energetic speaking style both educates and inspires women and organizations to get out of their comfort zones and take action.
  • She can customize her talks and workshops to different audience types and needs.

After graduating, Dr. Maja Jovanović attended an academic conference which completely changed the path of her research, her career, and indeed her life. At this conference, Professor Maja witnessed how women at the pinnacle of their careers would over-apologize for mundane issues, minimize their knowledge and downplay their experiences. From that moment on, she was on a crusade to research and speak about women’s confidence and get more women off the apology train!
Dr. Maja Jovanović is the author of “Hey Ladies, Stop Apologizing… and other career mistakes women make”, which is available as a book, workbook or in an audiobook format.

Professor Maja wants to bring attention to how often and for what reason women apologize so much. She wants women to know that confidence is a muscle that strengthens with use, and with every unnecessary apology, deflection of praise, or bias that we encounter, our confidence gets chipped away at.

When she is not giving talks, Maja is teaching Sociology of Health part-time at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and conducts her own research.

See keynotes with Dr. Maja Jovanović
Keynote by Dr. Maja Jovanović

Forget the Apologies & learn how to lead with confidence

Do you find yourself apologizing for no good reason? Do you deflect praise or minimize your accomplishments? Are you frustrated that women’s confidence is often perceived as arrogance? Do you find it exasperating that we live in a world of double-standards where the burden of proof for women’s competence is so much higher? If this sounds like you, then this is the workshop for you!

Learning Objectives:

  • Discover why women over apologize, how we’re perceived and how we can switch out “apology-lingo” for leadership-lingo
  • Discuss how our confidence & communication styles are influenced by unconscious gender & racial biases
  • Learn about the latest research on confidence & apologies coming out of Prof. Maja’s 5-year global study
  • Discuss actionable science-backed strategies on how we can grow our confidence
Keynote by Dr. Maja Jovanović

Perfectionism is Paralysis: How to boost your confidence without multitasking or people-pleasing

Does perfectionism or fear of failure hold you back? Do you set impossible standards and goals for yourself? Do you get overwhelmed with the strains on your time that you resort to multitasking? Do you say “yes” to other people’s demands of your time when you really want to say “no”? If so, then this is the workshop for you!

Learning Objectives:

  • Discuss different types of perfectionism and how it shows up in our personal and professional lives.
  • Examine how our Automatic Negative Thought (ANT’s) can fuel our perfectionist tendencies and lead to poor coping strategies (like procrastination, multitasking & people-pleasing).
  • Examine how our people-pleasing habits (the disease to please!) keep us locked into saying yes to everyone else’s demands of our time.
  • Learn how science backed strategies of monotasking and deep work are the antidote to multitasking.
Keynote by Dr. Maja Jovanović

How Male Allies & Gender Bias influence women’s confidence

Are you frustrated that women’s confidence is often perceived as arrogance and lack of likeability? Are you frequently interrupted during meetings? Do you deflect praise or minimize your accomplishments? Are you wondering how men can be part of the solution too? If so, then this is the workshop for you!

Learning Objectives:

  • Discuss how our confidence & communication styles are influenced by unconscious gender & racial biases
  • Understand how male allyship is a state of learning & knowledge sharing combined with consistent ally actions in both public and private settings.
  • Learn about the latest research on confidence coming out of Prof. Maja’s 5-year global study
  • Discuss actionable science-backed strategies on how men can be better allies to women at home, in their social life and at work.
Keynote by Dr. Maja Jovanović

I thought it was just me: Unpacking the Imposter Syndrome we all feel

The imposter syndrome is the inability to own your successes. Have you ever felt like you don’t belong, that you’re not good enough? Do you worry that you’ve fooled people and you’ll be exposed as an imposter or fraud? Imposters tend to deflect praise and minimize their accomplishments. They attribute their successes to external sources like “being lucky”.

Learning Objectives:

  • Understand the common fears behind the imposter syndrome and identify how it shows up in your life
  • Discuss how our confidence & communication styles are influenced by unconscious gender & racial biases
  • Learn the latest research on confidence coming out of Prof. Maja’s 5-year global study
  • Understand the poor coping tactics we employ that lead to procrastination, avoidance & perfectionist habits

Maja Jovanovic's TEDx: How Apologies Kill Our Confidence

See keynotes with Dr. Maja Jovanović
Non-binding request for Dr. Maja Jovanović

Send a simple request. You’ll get a quick reply with fees and availability

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Dr. Maja Jovanović
Dr. Maja Jovanović

5 out of 5 stars

“Wow, Professor Maja’s was not just excellent – it was the best I’ve seen in 7 years organizing our conference”.

Erin Burba, Senior Program Director, EUCI See all references

Keynote topics with Dr. Maja Jovanović