Beth McDonough
Reconstruction of Life Strategist
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
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Beth McDonough is an author, keynote speaker, recovery advocate and reconstruction of life strategist.
She guides people through their lowest moments to rebuild what stands next after public collapse, when visibility is high, consequences are real, and the path forward is unclear.
Beth is a living case study in recovery, resilience and reconstruction. She occupies the space between catastrophe and comeback.
An investigative journalist for 30 years, Beth covered disasters until she became one. Two highly publicized DUIs. Fired twice. First by the newsroom, then by society. Her work speaks to people whose mistakes live online permanently.
Beth understands what it takes to recreate a life while the world watches, because she did the work on herself first. She is the case study. Alcohol took her down once, an invisible illness tried to again. The breakdown became her blueprint for showing others how to re-emerge structurally stronger than before, from the inside out, when willpower isn’t enough.
Beth shares an original message for audiences hungry for something stronger than motivation and more compassionate than discipline.
Beth developed the STILL STANDING™ method, a five-step framework that treats recovery & resilience like reconstruction projects for life AFTER impact. The approach is evidence-based, trauma-aware, shame-informed and pressure tested.
Before her collapse, Beth documented some of the most defining breaking news events of our time:
• 9/11 terrorist attacks
• Oklahoma City bombing
• I-35W Minneapolis bridge collapse
• Prince’s sudden death
• Escape of kidnapped teen Jayme Closs
• Civil unrest following George Floyd’s death in police custody: Beth was wounded by gunfire while reporting
Her work has appeared on CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX News along with countless podcasts, newspapers, magazines and talk shows.
She’s earned multiple Emmy Awards, a national Edward R. Murrow Award, the prestigious duPont- Columbia Journalism Award for coverage of George Floyd’s death and the racial reckoning that followed.
Beth authored two memoirs, STANDBY and STILL STANDING, one book opens the wound. The second shows the rebuild. She's also been featured in a Lifetime documentary with survivor advocate Elizabeth Smart called, “Smart Justice: The Jayme Closs Case.”
Beyond the newsroom, Beth channeled her love for animals into owning a dog daycare before returning to journalism with renewed perspective.
Today, she lives in southern Utah desert surrounded by red rock mountains. Sharing life with her rescue weiner dog, she continues to tell stories about resilience, redemption, reinvention and reconstructing a life after a career spent in the fast lane.
Area of Expertise
Topics
Some Repeat Implosion, Others Rebuild
STILL STANDING™: The Reconstruction of Self is a powerful keynote that challenges audiences to rethink how they evaluate behavior change, recovery, resilience, and human potential. Drawing from her extraordinary journey from award-winning investigative journalist to DUI offender, inmate, and ultimately author and speaker, Beth McDonough takes audiences behind the headlines and into the hidden structural failures that often precede collapse. Through compelling storytelling, humor, audience interaction, and a practical five-part framework called STILL™ (Stabilize, Truth, Install New Systems, Load-Bearing Supports, and Landscape a Life), Beth reveals why some people rebuild after adversity while others repeat destructive patterns.
More than an inspirational story, STILL STANDING™ provides a practical lens for identifying the difference between surface-level compliance and genuine reconstruction. Audiences leave with actionable tools to recognize behavioral evidence of lasting change, make more informed decisions, and apply the framework to the people they serve as well as themselves. Whether addressing court professionals, treatment providers, recovery communities, leaders, or individuals navigating life's setbacks, Beth's message is clear: collapse does not have to define a person. When we learn to inspect the structure beneath the behavior, we improve outcomes, strengthen accountability, and create more opportunities for meaningful transformation.
Ideal for legal conferences, judicial education programs, probation and court services, treatment and recovery organizations, healthcare groups, women's wellness events, leadership conferences, and professional associations. This highly interactive one-hour keynote combines powerful storytelling, research, audience participation, multimedia slides, video, and an on-stage construction demonstration that visually brings the reconstruction process to life. Participants leave with a practical blueprint for evaluating sustained behavior change, strengthening resilience, and distinguishing between surface-level compliance and genuine transformation.
In addition to the keynote, Beth offers extended workshops, leadership trainings, and cohort-based programs that provide deeper application of the STILL™ framework for organizations seeking lasting impact and measurable outcomes.
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