Designing Employee Experiences That Create Belonging —
and Drive Performance
THE BELONGING JOURNEY™
Keynotes, Workshops, and Consulting that help organizations intentionally design the everyday experiences that build connection, engagement, and results.
KEVIN FINKE
Founder + CEO, Experience Willow
Keynote Speaker
Human-Centered Designer
People & Culture Consultant
Trusted by:
ANDREA LEDFORD
Chief People Officer, IEX
The energy of Kevin's on-stage delivery, combined with his passion for belonging, creates an incredibly impressive speaker experience for our international team.
WHO Is THIS work for?
leaders who know something needs to change but aren’t sure where to start
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You’re leading a team through change, growth, or uncertainty
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You feel the gap between what you say your culture is—and how it’s actually experienced
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Engagement, trust, or connection isn’t where you want it to be
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You’re ready to move beyond surface-level culture efforts and do something that actually sticks
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You want practical ways to lead better—not just ideas that sound good
If that sounds familiar, you’re in the right place.
A Better Way to Think About Belonging
Belonging isn’t a perk or a program—it’s the result of everyday employee experiences.
When those experiences consistently signal that people are valued, included, and able to contribute, performance follows. When they don’t, engagement drops, turnover rises, and organizations feel the impact.
Most companies try to encourage belonging. Very few know how to design for it.
That’s where Kevin comes in.
Kevin helps organizations intentionally design the employee experience—so belonging isn’t left to chance, but built into how work actually happens.
“A sense of belonging isn’t just about gathering people around the proverbial table. It’s also about what happens after they’re seated.”
—Kevin Finke
JEFF HUGHES
CEO, Enverus
Kevin helped us get moving in the right direction, and today he helps keep us on track. He's not afraid to tell us what we really need to hear to deliver real impact for our employees and business. That's refreshing.
MEET KEVIN
Kevin’s work is grounded in a simple idea: belonging isn’t created through intention—it’s created through experience.
For years, Kevin struggled to feel like he truly belonged—across school, teams, and early in his career. That experience didn’t just shape his perspective—it led him to study, understand, and ultimately design for belonging in a different way.
Today, Kevin helps organizations move beyond surface-level culture initiatives to intentionally design employee experiences that foster connection, engagement, and performance.
His approach blends human-centered design with real-world organizational challenges—giving leaders practical tools to build environments where people feel valued, included, and able to do their best work.
“Building a culture of belonging is a journey; one that requires a clear map, the right tools and an abundance of patience.”
—Kevin Finke
How belonging actually gets built
Belonging doesn’t happen all at once—it’s shaped by a series of everyday moments across the employee experience.
From onboarding…
To team interactions…
To how leaders communicate, recognize, and make decisions…
Each moment either strengthens connection—or quietly erodes it.
Most organizations don’t struggle with what they want their culture to be.
They struggle with how it actually shows up in the day-to-day.
That’s where this work focuses.
It comes down to three things:
Moments
The interactions that shape how people experience work.
Signals
What those moments communicate—whether people feel valued, included, trusted…or not.
Systems
The habits, behaviors, and structures that reinforce those signals over time.
Kevin helps organizations identify and redesign these elements so belonging becomes a consistent, built-in part of how work happens—not something left to chance.
What this looks like in practice
Most culture work focuses on values.
This work focuses on experiences.
1. Identify the moments that matter most
Where employee experience is shaping connection, trust, and engagement—like onboarding, team meetings, feedback, and key leadership interactions.
2. Understand what’s really being experienced
Not what’s intended—but what employees actually feel day to day, and the signals they’re receiving in those moments.
3. Design better experiences at scale
Practical changes to moments, signals, and systems that leaders and teams can apply immediately—and sustain over time
KEYNOTES
High-impact keynotes that reframe how organizations think about belonging—and how to build it.
Kevin blends storytelling with practical insight to show why belonging isn’t a program, but the result of everyday experiences at work.
Audiences leave with a clear, actionable perspective on how to create stronger engagement, connection, and performance.
WORKSHOPS
Hands-on sessions that help leaders turn ideas into action.
Through interactive, tailored workshops, Kevin works with leadership teams to identify the moments that shape employee experience—and redesign them to strengthen connection, trust, and performance.
Participants walk away with practical tools they can apply immediately.
CONSULTING
Partnering with organizations to design better employee experiences—at scale.
Kevin works with organizations to uncover where belonging is being created—or broken—and helps design more intentional, consistent experiences across teams and leadership.
The result: stronger engagement, improved retention, and a culture that works in practice—not just on paper.
KEYNOTES
Known as "the belonging guy," Kevin's keynotes are a perfect mix of storytelling, wisdom, enlightenment and challenge wrapped up in a blanket of passion and energy. Your audience will leave energized, curious and inspired.
WORKSHOPS
Through highly personalized, immersive and actionable workshops, Kevin helps leadership teams and others within your organization understand the importance of a culture of belonging and how to create and sustain one.
The 3 Drivers of Belonging at Work
PSYCHOLOGICAL
SAFETY
Employees need to feel safe to speak up, be themselves, and be treated with respect by leaders and peers.
CONNECTION
Employees need to feel connected—to their teams, their leaders, and the broader purpose of the organization.
MEANINGFUL
CONTRIBUTION
Employees need to feel their work matters—that they’re adding value and helping achieve meaningful outcomes.
When these experiences are in place, organizations see:
Higher engagement and performance
Improved quality and collaboration
Stronger retention and loyalty
Better business results
ANDY SLENTZ
SVP HR & Office Management
Hess Corporation
Kevin is incredibly effective at design thinking and workshop facilitation. His ability to connect, be transparent and lead others to share and discuss difficult topics, are exceptional. Kevin’s energy, presence and knowledge are surpassed only by how much he genuinely cares about my people and making a difference in our business.
Coming soon...
BELONGING JOURNEY™
THE PODCAST
BELONGING JOURNEY™
THE BOOK
BELONGING JOURNEY™
THE BLOG
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BOOK A BELONGING JOURNEY™ DISCOVERY SESSION.
Find out if Kevin is a good fit for your organization's needs by scheduling a free 15-minute conversation.