Leadership / 01.19.19

INTIX 2019 Keynotes: Tickets to Dance and Success!

Doug James and Christine Payne

Opening Keynote Address: Cynthia Marshall

When Cynthia Marshall, CEO of the Dallas Mavericks, takes the stage to give the opening keynote at INTIX 2019, be prepared to get off your feet, and if she leads you in a sing-along of Ain’t No Mountain High Enough as she has done before, consider it a bonus! Cynthia Marshall (just “Cynt” for short) has had to climb more than a few mountains of her own, and along the way, she has helped many others do the same.

After growing up in a poor family in Richmond, California, Cynt fulfilled a promise to her mother and became the first in her family to graduate from college. She then went on to enjoy a rewarding 36-year-long career with AT&T, where she reached a pinnacle of success as SVP, Human Resources and Chief Diversity Officer.

Along the way, Cynt helped the communications giant become one of the most respected workplaces in the United States and was named one of the 50 most powerful women in corporate America by Black Enterprise magazine – not once, but twice. Later, she went on to form her own company, Marshalling Resources, a consulting firm specializing in leadership, diversity and inclusion, culture transformation and overall optimization of people resources. She also battled and beat colon cancer eight years ago.

In 2018, Cynt was named CEO of the Mavs. As one sports writer penned at the time: “In Marshall, the Mavericks are getting a confident, decisive and charismatic leader who has a strong history of knowing how to run an efficient business with emphasis on diversity and inclusion. And a huge dose of no-nonsense.”

That no-nonsense approach has already been put to test with the Mavs, a professional sports team that was known for its toxic culture. In her role, Cynt reports to Mark Cuban, one of the most colorful team owners in the NBA. She has not only pledged to change the workplace culture but to make the Dallas Mavericks the gold standard; the leader in diversity and inclusion in the NBA. As difficult as the challenge may appear, few doubt her resolve or her ability. Already she has begun to model a zero-tolerance policy for inappropriate behavior, develop a women’s agenda, institutionalize an inclusive and supportive culture and develop a best-in-class employee complaint process and operations infrastructure.

In her keynote at the 40th Annual INTIX Conference and Exhibition, which is sponsored by Ticketmaster, Cynt will talk about her life and career and share her strategy for values-based leadership. Her charisma, vibrant attitude and passion is contagious, and she will no doubt have you on your feet and dancing with enthusiasm and ready for you to embrace your INTIX experience! 

Closing Keynote Address: DeDe Murcer Moffett

By the time DeDe Murcer Moffett takes center stage to deliver this year’s closing keynote address, you’ll have had an opportunity to fully immerse yourself in INTIX 2019 and connect with the education, innovation, tools and relationships you need to ignite success within your organization and career. 

If you are still uncertain what to do with all the knowledge gained and connections made, or if you’re afraid to take the next step, you’ll definitely want to be there when this author, singer and motivational speaker shows us how to snap out of it and start seeing new achievable possibilities in business and life.

“What I try to do is help people identify where they may be boxed in, give them tips and strategies to step into their own spotlight of success. Identify where they are in a box of complacency, understand what is required to embrace disruptive change and identify their own unique strengths and passions and then help them kick their boxes to the curb and say, ‘SNAP Yes’ to a new, self-actualized life.”

SNAP Yes! The Art of Seeing New Achievable Possibilities in Business and Life is DeDe’s latest book, which follows on the heels of her earlier bestseller Wisdom Wedgies and Life's Little Zingers. With her books and presentations, DeDe is helping professionals at every level think, live, love and lead outside of the box.

Her passion comes from her own real-life experience overcoming a 24-year-long addiction to alcohol, which she blamed on having “sold out” instead of stepping up to become her own best self.

“When you sell out, you settle for a life that’s not exciting for you. You settle for a life that many times requires other things to numb you out. For me it was alcoholism, for others it could be working out or many, many other things. When you sell out, you will never see what you can really do. You will never see as many opportunities or possibilities. Think fear and worrying what other people think, there’s so many things that cause us to sell out. We inherently know and feel it in our core when we are not stepping up to our best self, so in my book SNAP Yes! I go through a lot of different ways to not sell out and grow great big balls of courage.”

One thing you won’t see in DeDe’s performance is any fear about what others might think! When she takes to the stage, it’s as a vibrant entertainer — her words carefully choreographed in a chorus of song and dance.

“By the time you walk out of the room,” says DeDe, “you will be inspired in both your life and career.”

“There’s always a new way to see something,” she says. “In the world of ticketing, there’s always a new achievable possibility.”

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