I’ve spent my career learning what leadership looks like in the real world—from managing teams and transforming a corporate department to building a multimillion-dollar business, serving as a nonprofit board president, and helping professionals grow into stronger leaders.

Those experiences shape the work I do today as a keynote speaker and workshop facilitator. I help leaders navigate challenges, strengthen communication, recognize their capabilities, and lead with greater confidence and impact.

2004

I left a successful corporate career in Memphis and moved to Houston, TX, not knowing that six months later I’d be building a logistics business from our kitchen table.

2010

After years in the corporate world, I decided it was time to do something different. I quit my job, packed up my puppy and took a six-week road trip across the West. When I came home, I turned my love of photography into a business and began a completely different chapter of my career.

2017

By 2017, life had changed considerably, both personally and professionally. I was running my photography business, consulting with businesses on marketing, and teaching college part-time. It was another season of figuring out how to use what I’d learned and where I wanted to go next.

2020

After 16 years in Texas, I moved back home to Tennessee and started over again. I was teaching virtually, rebuilding my network and figuring out what business looked like in a new place during a very uncertain time. That chapter eventually led to more speaking, podcasting and the leadership work I do today.

My leadership experience began at IMC Companies in Memphis, TN, where I worked my way up from accounts payable clerk to supervisor and eventually led the Driver Services department. I helped transform a department facing elimination into an essential part of the company’s operations. Working with hundreds of owner-operators and five regional vice presidents taught me how to earn respect, build trust, and make difficult decisions.

Later, I co-founded a logistics and cotton warehousing company in Houston, TX that grew to $9 million in annual revenue within three years. We operated four warehouses in Houston and Dallas, with more than 100 employees/drivers and 24/7 operations. We challenged longstanding industry practices by introducing barcode tracking for cotton shipments and monthly storage billing. We also coordinated months of logistics for a historic Cargill cotton sale involving more than two million bales destined for China.

Those experiences, combined with my background in education, coaching, and consulting, shape how I approach leadership development today. I know firsthand that leadership requires more than a title. It requires judgment, communication, adaptability, and the ability to bring people together.

Archaeology Now

Board President (2019–2020)
Board Member (2016–2020)

Houston, TX

Archaeology Now is the Houston affiliate of the Archaeological Institute of America. I joined its board in 2016 with a clear view of where the organization needed to go, and social media was central to it. I worked with the executive director and an ad agency to refresh the brand, and I helped plan the yearly programming that put me in the room with visiting diplomats and internationally renowned archaeologists and historians.

When COVID hit, the digital presence I’d built positioned the organization to move forward with virtual events and reach audiences it never could have gathered in one room.

Leadership means seeing what an organization will need before it knows it needs it.

American Heart Association

Volunteer Leader, Speaker & Photographer

Houston, TX & Memphis, TN | (2000–Present)

My mother’s journey with heart disease connected me with the American Heart Association more than 25 years ago. From 2000 to 2004 in Memphis, I was invited to speak at AHA events as a Heart Walk company leader for IMC Companies, sharing her story with the community.

From 2010 to 2020 in Houston, I created, photographed and chaired Heart Throbs, a sponsor feature of the Bay Area & Galveston Go Red for Women luncheon that became a crowd favorite and drew more women into the conversation about heart health. Each year I presented the segment on stage and shared my mother’s story. Over those 10 years, the luncheon raised more than $2 million.

Since 2020, back in Memphis, I’ve photographed more than 70 Memphis women leaders as Memphis Women of Impact, an AHA initiative for women’s heart and brain health, with their portraits featured at the yearly luncheon.

I’ve used photography and storytelling as my leadership tools to raise awareness and drive community impact.

Sandy Adams with the 2020 Heart Ambassadors at the 2019 Bay Area & Galveston Go Red for Women Luncheon, hosted by the American Heart Association, February 22, 2019 at South Shore Harbour Resort, League City, TX.

Sandy Adams, Vice President of The Memphis Rebounders, with the board presenting a $15,000 check to Head Coach Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway at the annual Happy Hour Hoops, October 5, 2026, at the Laurie-Walton Family Basketball Center, University of Memphis.

Memphis Rebounders

Vice President, Board of Directors

Memphis, TN | (2021–Present)

As Vice President of The Memphis Rebounders, I serve on a seven-member volunteer board supporting the University of Memphis men’s basketball program. With a team this small, everyone steps in wherever they’re needed, and I focus on marketing and promotion alongside our president, who leads that effort.

Since 2021, our board has raised more than $500,000 for the program, including funding for locker room renovations at FedExForum. That kind of result comes from clear roles, trust and a team that shows up.

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I’ve taken a few unexpected paths in my career, and every one of them has shaped how I think about leadership.

If you’re looking for a speaker who brings real-world experience, fresh perspectives, and conversations that challenge people to think differently, I’d love to hear what you’re planning.