Dr. Kasi Lacey takes the stage at Lindenwood University on March 17, not only delivering keynotes but delivering the message she has lived firsthand.
A nationally recognized psychologist, executive coach, and founder of H & L Consulting, Dr. Lacey is known for helping organizations and women build confidence, overcome burnout, and create a safe psychological space. But her journey did not begin in a boardroom; it began at 16.
“I moved out on my own at 16, where school was my safe place,” Lacey stated. “I chased stability through my grades, college, and eventually my Ph.D., since home was not that place for me.” Those years were pivotal for her, “not just academically but for understanding people, the relationships with those people, and myself.”
Her drive, security, and self-understanding led her to earn her Ph.D in Counselling Psychology and build a 15 year career in higher education, leadership, and serving as a Vice President and Dean of Student Life. Even at the executive level, she faced many challenges that many women, just like her, face every day.
“For many years, I was the only woman at the leadership table. I felt the glass ceiling, I felt trapped.”
With having experiencing toxic leadership and systemic barriers, she pushed herself to reconsider her impact. She valued her work in therapy and administration; however, she began to see limitations within traditional systems.
“In therapy, you are often bound by insurance and institutional structures,” she explained, “coaching and speaking allowed me to reach more women and organizations in a much bigger way.”
Lacey has been encouraged by audiences who repeatedly told her she was a powerful speaker. By launching her own buisness she was able to blend psychology, leadership development, and lived experiences into keynotes and coaching programs that reach leaders and women across the country.
At the center of her work is one of her core beliefs, “confidence is not something you’re born with, it is a skill. It is not a personality trait; it is something you build.”
She defines confidence not as dominant or volume but rather as an internal trust.
“It is about self-awareness and self-trust. We tell women to ‘just be more confidence’ but what does that really even mean? Confidence is not about interrupting people or talking over them; it is about feeling grounded in who you are.”
For many students and professionals, the biggest barrier to that grounded confidence is imposter syndrome. Lacey notes that as women rise into leadership roles, self-doubt often increases much more than it disappears. Her practical advice towards this is, “Keep a brag book.” In this, write down your accomplishments, no matter how small or big, and when you feel like a fraud or that you are not good enough, you have proof that you are. She also stated, “Your thoughts are not facts.”
The internal work is only half of the equation. During her pre-Lindenwood interview, Lacey spoke on the intersection of confidence and psychological safety, especially when it comes to team leadership, club organizations, and campus events.
“Confidence is internal and psychological safety is environmental,” she explained.
Looking especially at the college setting, psychological safety means that a student feels safe to be themselves, make mistakes, and speak up without fear of embarrassment or punishment. “If someone lacks confidence and the environment is not safe, their nervous system goes into fight-or-flight,” she said. It is simply not a place where everyone can thrive.
Lacey believes that student leaders have more influcene then they realize when it comes to shaping their environment, “You have more power than you think,” she said. “People do not connect with a perfect robot; they connect with authenticity.”
Captains, organization presidents, and team leaders set the tone, and when they make and admit these mistakes, it allows for disagreement and models vulnerability.
“How you model behavior creates the culture,” Lacey said.
Burnout is another major theme in her line of work; she connects this directly to nervous system overload, and it is something she says high-achieving students know well.
“We hustle. We push. We tell ourselves we will rest later,” she said, “But your body does not know the difference between being chased and getting a stressful text.”
Her simple advice for students?
“Sleep,” she said, laughing. “But no one listens to that one.” Instead of overhauling their lives overnight, she encourages students to begin with one small, manageable habit. “You do not need an eight-hour self-care routine. Start with one 15-minute reset. Simply schedule yourself into your calendar.”
As the conversation around leadership evolves, Lacey believes bold leadership in 2026 looks much differnet then it did a decade ago, stating, “ten years ago, it felt like you needed to have all of the answers,” she reflected, “now bold leadership is being real, you do not need to know everything, and be willing to grow.”
Authentic leadership, she states, requires breaking down the hierarchy and embracing humanity: “You do not have to show up perfect and polished because no one will connect with that.”
Her upcoming book, Your Confidence Comeback, is set to release this spring and grew from repeated audience questions. “People kept asking, ‘Where’s your book?'” She said, however, the deeper motivation was personal, stating, “It is a legacy piece, I wanted my daughters to grow up and see confident women in leadership.”
Her message to students is simple but powerful: “You are enough exactly as you are, there is so much power in your voice, step into that, take up space.”
As she sets to speak to Lindenwood students and staff on March 17, Lacey hopes people leave not just inspired but equipped with the tools of self-awareness and confidence to build enviornment where both individuals and teams can thrive.
Because, as she reminds the audience, confidence is not something you can fake; it is something that you build.
