Hi. I’m Neena Meehan, and I want to tell you what it was really like to pay thousands of dollars for TEDx coaching through Taylor Conroy’s company, Leadr.co (formerly Thought Leader). I’m not here to hype it. I’m not here to trash it. I’m here to just lay it all out, because I wish someone had done that for me.

Why I Did It

I’m a creativity coach, speaker, and nonprofit founder. My background is in theater and education—I run Bay Area Children’s Theater and help people rediscover creative play. For a long time, I knew I wanted to get my message out there in a bigger way. TEDx felt like the right platform, but I didn’t have the first clue where to start. I knew I had something important to say, but packaging it? Pitching it? Landing a stage? It all felt overwhelming.

Then Leadr came up in my feed. Their ads are everywhere. At first, I brushed it off—it felt too “market-y” for me. But then I started reading stories from people who had gone through the program and actually landed talks. And I thought, maybe this is my shot.

The Cost (Let’s Be Real)

The program isn’t cheap. It’s thousands of dollars. You pay upfront. You commit. It’s not a small decision. But I was ready to invest in myself, and honestly? I needed someone to hold me accountable.

What you get in return is structure: weekly group coaching, frameworks for how to pitch, step-by-step breakdowns of how to develop your idea into something TEDx-worthy. But just to be super clear: they don’t get you a TEDx talk. You do the work. You write the pitches. You get the rejections. You keep refining.

There were definitely moments where I thought, “Wait, shouldn’t they just pitch this for me?” But that’s not the model. It’s education, not execution.

The Good

Here’s what worked for me:

• Structure: The system kept me moving forward when I would’ve stalled.
  
• Support: The community is full of people chasing similar goals. That helped me not feel alone.
  
• Coaching: The live calls gave me some great feedback. My talk got sharper every time I revised it.
  
• The “One-Minute Video”: I almost didn’t make this, but it turned out to be one of the most useful tools in my pitch.
  

I ultimately delivered my TEDx talk: “How Creative Play Is the Antidote to Stress.” I got to share my passion, my work, and my personal story with an audience that valued it. That moment was real. It wasn’t filtered or polished—it was me. And it felt worth it.

The Not-So-Great

Let’s not pretend it’s all roses.

• It’s a serious time commitment. This isn’t passive income—it’s active effort.
  
• You’ll need to handle rejection. I pitched multiple times before getting a yes.
  
• It’s not one-on-one coaching unless you pay extra. You’re in a cohort, and sometimes you don’t get your questions answered right away.
  

Also, the program isn’t perfect for every type of speaker. If you just want a done-for-you, white-glove experience—this isn’t that. It’s DIY, with scaffolding.

Was It Worth It?

Yes, but not in the way I thought it would be.

I didn’t just get a TEDx talk. I got clarity. Confidence. A sense of “I can do hard things.” And most importantly, I got to say something that matters to me, in a format that has reach. That alone was worth the investment.

But here’s the warning I promised: if you sign up thinking they’ll magically do it for you—you’ll be disappointed. If you think this will be easy or instant—it won’t. If you’re not ready to get uncomfortable and do the work—don’t waste your money.

If, however, you have a message that’s been burning inside you, and you’re ready to show up, get coached, get vulnerable, and get it done? Then yeah. It might just change your life.

It did mine.

—Neena Meehan