Speaking & Consulting with Martine Dardignac
I get called into rooms that seem unrelated. That's the point.
PMI chapters. Cultural heritage festivals. Restaurant academies. Hospitality panels. Wedding industry podcasts.
The contexts are different. The work is the same: helping people see that the systems holding their work together — or quietly breaking it down — are the real story.
I speak and consult at the intersection of operations, culture, and human-centered design. My background spans 18+ years of project management, multiple industries, and businesses I built from the ground up. I don't teach frameworks in isolation. I show what happens when you actually use them — in real rooms, with real stakes.
Signature Talk: Beyond the Gantt Chart
Leveraging Project Management Skills Outside the Traditional PM Role
Project management skills are often viewed through the lens of industry-specific roles — IT, construction, finance, operations. But the frameworks that make a great PM — scope management, risk assessment, stakeholder engagement, process design — don't stop working when you leave a traditional environment. They just need someone willing to take them somewhere new.
This fireside chat draws on my journey from nine years as an Operations PM at Microsoft to building and operating three businesses across wedding planning, catering, and consulting. Through candid storytelling and concrete examples, I explore how structured PM thinking translates into entrepreneurship, creative industries, and service businesses — and what it means for project managers who feel boxed into a conventional career path.
Attendees leave with a fresh perspective on the portability of their skills and practical frameworks for applying structured thinking in unexpected professional contexts.
Developed for PMI Westchester's 2026 speaker series. Available for conferences, panels, and leadership programming.
Topics I Speak On
These can be tailored for conferences, panels, workshops, or small-group sessions:
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Building Systems That Don’t Break People
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Building systems that support people, not burn them out
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Designing businesses that honor both creativity and capacity
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Practical leadership in small teams and creative environments
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The Invisible Work in Every Celebration
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Planning as emotional labor (and why it matters)
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Creating celebrations that feel joyful, not performative
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Multicultural experiences done with care and intention
02
Culture Isn’t a Theme. It’s Infrastructure.
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Culture isn’t a theme — it’s infrastructure
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Inclusivity without tokenism in creative and hospitality spaces
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Designing experiences that make people feel genuinely seen
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What No Template Teaches You About Running a Business
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Blending strategy with empathy
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Navigating invisible labor and leadership
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Building businesses from lived experience, not templates
Recent & Upcoming Engagements
PMI Westchester — Symposium (April 2026)
Beyond the Gantt Chart: a conversation about operations, emotional labor, and what project management frameworks miss.
Historic Hudson Valley — Pinkster Festival (May 2026)
Returning for a second engagement with HHV — this time as part of a larger public programming series including school field trips and festival programming. First invited in 2025 for a culinary demonstration; invited back for expanded programming in 2026.
NYC Restaurant Academy — Industry Panel
Invited to share perspective on building a creative career in food and hospitality. Audience: prospective culinary students exploring career paths in the industry.
HoneyBook — “Small Business Ownership & Disability” Panel
A conversation about navigating entrepreneurship with a disability — the operational adaptations, the invisible labor, and what sustainable business design actually requires.
Rising Tide Society — Chapter Leader & Educator
Led recurring training sessions for creative entrepreneurs on SEO strategy, business systems, automation, and workflows. Recurring engagements driven by member demand.
New York Wedding JaM — Podcast
A conversation about the operational and emotional side of wedding planning — what couples don’t see, and what planners carry.
New York Wedding JaM Podcast
Panel discussion
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New York Restaurant Academy Panel
Certifications & Training
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Project Management Professional (PMP) — Project Management Institute
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Certified #IAmRemarkable Facilitator — Google initiative focused on self-promotion and advocacy in the workplace
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Toastmasters International — Area Manager | Oversaw multiple chapters, supporting speaker development and club leadership
Let’s Connect
If you’re building a program around operations, culture, creative business, or hospitality — I’d love to hear about it.
📞 845-458-1255
Or reach out through the contact form.