Michele Grant
Founder, The Power Dressers™ | #1 Amazon Bestselling Author | Executive Presence and Professional Style for Women Leaders
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, United States
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Michele Grant is the founder of The Power Dressers™, a professional presence and leadership platform for women, and the #1 Amazon bestselling author of The Power Dressers™: A Women's Guide to Professional Style. The book is a 2024 Page Turner Awards finalist for both Book Award and Cover Design, and it has been featured in Yahoo Entertainment, on the SHRM Podcast, and on radio programs across the country including KBLA Los Angeles, WBAI New York, WSOU, WKIM, and On Point with Carlette Christmas.
Michele speaks on executive presence, professional style as a leadership tool, and how women build visibility and influence in the rooms where decisions are made. She has delivered a keynote at the Page Turner Awards, led a professional presence workshop for SHRM and the Women's Media Group, taught a workshop at Parsons School of Design, and spoken at Women Techmakers NYC, the Women Changemakers Forum, and Cornell Johnson School of Management.
Her perspective on presence comes from 20+ years leading enterprise transformation and 10+ years leading M&A integration for Fortune 500 companies, including the $30 billion ViacomCBS merger and NBCUniversal's $39 billion Sky acquisition. She has spent her career in boardrooms and steering committees where credibility is read before a word is spoken, and The Power Dressers™ grew out of what she learned there.
Michele is the founder of the Power Dressers Academy, a digital learning platform for professional women, and a professional apparel line. She serves as President of the Cornell Johnson Women's Leadership and Advocacy Network and Chair of the Loughlin Society at St. John's University, and she is a 2026 recipient of the St. John's University Alumnae Achiever Award. She holds a B.S. in Computer Science from St. John's University and is completing her Cornell Johnson Executive MBA (May 2027).
Speaking and media inquiries: media@powerdressers.com
Area of Expertise
Topics
Show Up Like the Leader You Already Are: Executive Presence for Women Ready for the Next Room
Most women are promoted on what they deliver and passed over on how they are perceived. The gap between the two is executive presence, and it is a skill, not a personality trait. Drawing on 20+ years in Fortune 500 boardrooms and steering committees, where credibility is read before a word is spoken, and on the framework behind her #1 Amazon bestseller The Power Dressers™, Michele Grant breaks presence into practical, buildable parts: how you enter a room, how you dress for the decision being made rather than the day on the calendar, how you hold the floor, and how you signal that you belong at the level above the one you occupy. Attendees leave with a personal presence audit, three changes they can make before their next high-stakes meeting, and a clear view of the difference between being visible and being memorable. Designed for women at the manager, director, and rising executive level, and for the leaders who sponsor them.
Format: keynote (30 to 45 minutes) or interactive workshop (60 to 90 minutes). Virtual or in person. Audience: women in leadership and those preparing for it; HR, DEI, ERG, and leadership development programs; women's conferences and professional associations. Related book: The Power Dressers™: A Women's Guide to Professional Style (#1 Amazon bestseller, 2024 Page Turner Awards finalist). Michele has delivered this content for SHRM and the Women's Media Group, Parsons School of Design, Women Techmakers NYC, and the Women Changemakers Forum.
Presence Under Pressure: How Women Build Credibility in the Highest-Stakes Rooms
The rooms that decide careers are rarely the rooms where anyone is comfortable. Steering committees, board presentations, deal reviews, the meeting where a program is in trouble and everyone is looking for someone to trust. Michele Grant has spent 20+ years in those rooms, leading enterprise transformation and M&A integration for Fortune 500 companies, including the $30 billion ViacomCBS merger and NBCUniversal's $39 billion Sky acquisition. This talk is about what she learned there about presence when the stakes are real: how credibility is established before you speak, how to hold composure and authority when the news is bad, how to be direct without being dismissed, and how the way you show up, in what you wear, how you carry yourself, and how you handle the first two minutes, shapes whether a room follows you. It connects the practical style framework of The Power Dressers™ to the moments that matter most, so that presence becomes something a leader can prepare for rather than hope for.
Format: keynote or fireside chat (30 to 45 minutes); also works as a panel topic. Virtual or in person. Audience: women in senior and rising leadership roles, executive women's networks, leadership summits, corporate women's conferences, professional associations, MBA and executive education programs. Michele is a Cornell Johnson Executive MBA candidate (Class of 2027) and delivered the May 2026 Cornell Tech Business Network Forum keynote.
Signature Style, Signature Leadership: Aligning How You Look with How You Lead
Your style communicates how you lead before you say a word. Signature leadership is the visible alignment between who you are and how you lead, and this workshop teaches attendees to build it deliberately. Michele Grant, author of The Power Dressers™, walks through the power signals that shape first impressions, the silent resume your appearance submits before your qualifications are reviewed, and how leadership presence is read differently across global markets so leaders can adapt without losing authenticity. Attendees identify their style archetype (Visionary, Strategist, Connector, Creator, or Catalyst), work through a style shift case study, and complete a hands-on exercise: crafting a personal visual leadership statement that pairs one leadership trait they want to be known for with the style element that reinforces it. Everyone leaves with a written statement, a pre-meeting presence ritual, and one concrete change to make before their next high-visibility moment.
Delivered as a guest workshop for the Global and Local Leadership course at Parsons School of Design, School of Fashion (Spring 2025). Format: interactive workshop, 60 to 90 minutes, with worksheet and handout; adaptable to a 45-minute breakout. Virtual or in person. Audience: emerging and mid-career leaders, graduate and executive education programs, women's leadership programs and ERGs, global and multicultural teams.
Power Dressing in a Digital World: Executive Presence on Camera
Most professional first impressions now happen on a screen, and the rules are different there. This interactive session gives attendees a complete system for showing up with authority and warmth in virtual meetings, interviews, presentations, and conferences. Michele Grant, author of The Power Dressers™, covers the four components of a professional virtual appearance (attire, lighting, background, and camera angle), how to match attire to the type of meeting, the non-verbal cues that carry on camera, and the link between what you wear and how you perform. The session runs on live polls that surface the group's own habits and challenges, and closes with an attire analysis exercise in which attendees evaluate real virtual setups and name what works and what to change. Everyone leaves with a checklist they can apply before their next call.
Delivered as a virtual lunch-and-learn for the Women's Media Group of New York (November 2024). Format: 45 to 60 minutes, virtual-first, with live polls and handout; also works in person. Audience: professionals at every level, women's networks, ERGs, career services, remote and hybrid teams, media and communications organizations.
The Power of Color in Professional Settings
Color is the fastest message an outfit sends, and most professionals choose it by habit rather than intent. This workshop teaches attendees to use color as a deliberate tool for confidence, authority, and approachability. Michele Grant, author of The Power Dressers™, covers the psychology of color and how it shapes perception in the first moments of a meeting, how color meanings shift across cultures, and what different colors communicate in an interview, a client presentation, a team meeting, or on camera. The practical core of the session solves the four challenges people raise most: choosing colors that work for their own coloring, coordinating an outfit without overwhelming it, balancing bold and neutral tones, and using accessories to introduce color with restraint. Live polls, a color interpretation exercise, and story sharing keep the room engaged, and attendees leave with a plan for building color into their wardrobe on purpose.
Delivered as a private workshop for a members' organization (2025). Michele's perspective on color and professional presence was also featured in Yahoo Entertainment (November 2024). Format: interactive workshop or lunch-and-learn, 45 to 60 minutes, with live polls and a take-home handout. Virtual or in person. Audience: women's professional networks and ERGs, private members' clubs and social organizations, sorority and alumnae chapters, corporate lunch-and-learns, women's conferences, university and alumni programs, retail and beauty brand events. Related book: The Power Dressers™: A Women's Guide to Professional Style (#1 Amazon bestseller).
How to Power Dress for Writer Success: Presence for Authors, Editors, and Media Professionals
Writers are judged on the page and, more often than they expect, in the room: at pitches, panels, launches, festivals, and on camera. This session shows authors, editors, and media professionals how to present themselves with the same care they bring to their work. Michele Grant, #1 Amazon bestselling author of The Power Dressers™ and a Page Turner Book Award finalist, covers the first impressions that shape how industry contacts receive you, the fit and color choices that read as credible and creative at the same time, how to dress for book pitches and industry events versus public appearances and panels, and how to look polished and camera-ready for virtual pitches and interviews. Real examples walk through what works at a launch, on a panel, and in a virtual pitch to a publisher. Attendees leave with a short list of versatile pieces and a clear sense of how their look can reinforce their author brand.
Delivered as a keynote for the Page Turner Awards (November 2024). Format: keynote or workshop, 30 to 60 minutes. Virtual or in person. Audience: writers' conferences and festivals, publishing and media industry events, author associations, journalism and communications programs. Related book: The Power Dressers™: A Women's Guide to Professional Style (#1 Amazon bestseller; Page Turner Book Award and Book Cover Award finalist).
Making a Lasting First Impression: Career Readiness for Students and Early-Career Professionals
Opportunities open or close in the first moments of an interview, an internship visit, or a networking conversation, and students are rarely taught how those moments work. This session gives young people a practical, judgment-free guide to presenting themselves with confidence. Michele Grant, author of The Power Dressers™, covers why first impressions form so quickly and what they are based on, grooming and attire fundamentals for everyone (with specific guidance for young women and young men), the non-verbal cues that signal confidence, how to set up and show up for a virtual interview, and how to align appearance with career goals through simple goal setting. It closes with practice exercises attendees can repeat on their own: a mirror exercise, a recording drill, and an eye contact drill. Delivered in plain language for a co-ed audience of high school and college students.
Delivered for the WVI Dolphin Foundation Leadership Mentorship Program at the Harlem Educational Activities Fund (2024) as a career development module. Format: 45 to 60 minutes, interactive, with handout. In person or virtual. Audience: high school and college students, youth mentorship and leadership programs, career services, first-generation and early-career programs, parent and school associations.
Michele Grant
Founder, The Power Dressers™ | #1 Amazon Bestselling Author | Executive Presence and Professional Style for Women Leaders
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, United States
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