Most people try to move faster by working harder — optimizing inside the same rules everyone else is playing by. But the people who move fastest aren’t just better at the game; they change the game they’re playing. In this keynote, Kemer Stevenson shares lessons from a nearly two-decade career navigating high-pressure creative and technical environments, exploring why careers often stall even when talent and effort are high — and what actually creates momentum over the long term. Drawing on real experiences, personal missteps, and a set of practical guiding principles, Kemer reframes career growth as a strategic problem rather than a test of endurance. This talk is about learning to recognize when you’re optimizing the wrong game, how to make yourself legible and memorable in complex systems, and how to build a career that compounds through clarity, trust, and intention — not burnout or hustle. Attendees will leave with a new lens for thinking about progress, opportunity, and what it really means to move forward in demanding creative and technical fields.

Join Kemer at the Connect Stage for an informal session to network, change ideas, and discuss the themes presented at his heynote.