Our Story

SpeakerPost did not begin with a business plan. It began with an observation made over many years spent moving between academia and industry.

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Founder Komal Shah Kapoor, Ph.D. spent a decade in marketing research and consumer insights in New York before teaching applied communication at several universities in Los Angeles. Working in both environments gave her a perspective that few people experience firsthand. Educators wanted students to learn from professionals actively working in their fields, while many professionals genuinely wanted to mentor, volunteer and share what they had learned throughout their careers. Yet bringing those two groups together often depended on personal networks, chance introductions and countless emails rather than a simple, reliable way to discover one another.

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The challenge was particularly noticeable in institutions with fewer resources. While some educators could draw upon established industry relationships, many were starting from scratch each semester, knowing that hearing directly from practitioners could change the way students understood their future careers. The obstacle was not a lack of expertise, nor was it a lack of generosity. It was discoverability.

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That realization led to a simple question that became the foundation for SpeakerPost:

 

"What if people who wanted to share their knowledge were

simply easier to find?"

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SpeakerPost was created to help answer that question.

 

Built on Service

From the beginning, SpeakerPost was built around service rather than monetization. There was no subscription model, no payment gateway and no business plan built around transactions. The goal was straightforward: make it easier for professionals to give back and easier for educators to discover guest speakers, mentors and subject-matter experts who could connect classroom learning with real-world experience.

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As virtual engagement became more common, geography became less important than expertise. Professionals could contribute to classrooms far beyond their own communities, while educators gained access to voices they might never otherwise have discovered. More importantly, the platform revealed something encouraging about human nature. Given the opportunity, people were remarkably willing to share their experience, encourage the next generation and contribute their time. They simply needed a trusted place where the people looking for them could find them.

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A Broader Need Emerges

As the SpeakerPost community grew, so did the ways people began using the platform. Conference organizers searched for speakers, podcast hosts looked for knowledgeable guests, journalists sought subject-matter experts, and corporations, associations and nonprofit organizations all arrived with remarkably similar needs. Although their audiences were different, they were trying to solve the same challenge: finding the right voice for the right opportunity.

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At the same time, speakers themselves were looking for something better. Many relied on outdated personal websites, LinkedIn profiles or word-of-mouth referrals that only reached a limited audience. They wanted a professional, searchable presence that reflected the breadth of their expertise and made it easier for the right opportunities to find them.

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SpeakerPost had not set out to build a platform for the broader speaking industry. The community revealed that need, and the company chose to grow alongside it. Rather than changing its mission, SpeakerPost broadened it.

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SpeakerPost Today

Today, SpeakerPost is a speaker discovery platform that helps conference organizers, educators, podcast hosts, journalists, corporations, associations and nonprofit organizations discover speakers by expertise, industry, location and speaking topics. SpeakerPost Pro builds on that foundation by giving speakers enhanced tools to strengthen their professional presence while supporting the platform's continued growth and long-term sustainability. At the same time, free profiles remain an important part of the SpeakerPost community, reflecting the company's ongoing commitment to education, volunteerism and mentorship.

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Although SpeakerPost has evolved beyond its original purpose, the idea behind it remains remarkably consistent. Meaningful opportunities begin when the right people are able to find one another. Whether that conversation takes place in a classroom, on a conference stage, in a podcast interview or inside an organization, every opportunity starts with discovery.

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SpeakerPost exists to make that discovery easier.