Milena Miteva-Regos
Keynote Speaker · Founder of Unhustle · Former CMO
The conversation your leadership team needs — and hasn’t had yet.
milena@unhustle.com · unhustle.com/speaking
Your people are running harder than ever — and getting less of what matters.
Engagement is collapsing. Burnout is at record levels. And the AI era is accelerating both, fast. Most organizations respond by asking for more output, which is the one intervention guaranteed to make it worse.
Milena spent 23 years inside that machine as a marketing strategist and CMO — and burned out running it. The decade since has gone into 300+ interviews with founders, CEOs and high performers, asking for a sustainable way to work and lead.
Audiences get the research, the argument, and a way out that does not require anyone to quit their job and move to the woods.
Five talks. Every one customized to your audience before it is delivered.
- 01
The keynote from the book
Finding Your Desire Path
For audiences who have done everything right and still feel the gap between the life they built and the life they wanted. Milena names that gap — the Default Path Trap — and shows why willpower is the wrong tool for it.
They leave with: Language for what they have been feeling, and a first concrete step off the path they defaulted onto.
- 02
Most requested
The Human Edge in the AI Era
Creativity, empathy, judgment and strategic thinking are now the scarce skills — and they are precisely the ones hustle culture burns first. A clear-eyed look at what actually differentiates people and organizations as the work changes underneath them.
They leave with: A read on which of their capabilities AI does not touch, and what the current pace is costing those capabilities.
- 03
For leadership teams
From Knowledge Workers to Meaning Makers
Engagement is collapsing and burnout is at record levels while AI accelerates both. This session is about rebuilding roles, expectations and culture around the capabilities machines cannot replicate.
They leave with: A practical frame for where human work is heading, and what to change first.
- 04
Provocative session
AI Has No Taste, But You Do
A sharper, more contrarian talk on creativity, human judgment, and the difference between generating output and having a point of view. Best suited to audiences who have heard the standard AI keynote and want the argument underneath it.
They leave with: Conviction about what is theirs to bring — and why speed is not the advantage they think it is.
- 05
Workshop
Unhustle Your Organization
A working session for teams ready to build an Unhustle Culture — sustainable high performance — rather than talk about it. Interactive, applied to the room's real constraints, and built to produce commitments people keep after the offsite ends.
They leave with: Specific, agreed changes to how the team works — not a list of wellness suggestions.
Keynote
45–60 minutes, with Q&A
Workshop
90 minutes to half a day, interactive
Also available
Fireside chats, panels, leadership offsites
Delivery
Virtual by default; select in-person engagements
- —Author of Unhustle (March 2027), foreword by Chip Conley
- —Has spoken at the World Economic Forum
- —People’s Choice Award, Wisdom 2.0
- —Highest-rated breakout sessions, AHLA Foundation Forward
- —A decade of research — 300+ interviews with founders and CEOs
- —Former CMO — 23 years, 1-800-Flowers, UFC Gym, Ritz Carlton
- —The Unhustle Letter — readers in 54 countries
- —Host of The Unhustle Podcast — ICF Certified Coach
Full background and credentials →
“We brought Milena in to host workshops for hundreds of hotel industry leaders. Her sessions ended up being the highest-rated breakout sessions at the conference. I am excited to continue working with Milena and champion the growth of the Unhustle movement.”
Anna Blue President, AHLA Foundation
“We recently had Milena share the Unhustle concept with our HR Superstars Community. Through honest conversation and practical advice she added so much value and depth. We received rave reviews from all who attended and it was our highest attended session to date.”
Adam Weber SVP Community, 15Five
“Milena is an engaging, focused, and energetic speaker who consistently produces overwhelmingly positive feedback. I was able to easily identify the areas I wanted to work on and incorporate strategies to feel empowered and less stressed.”
Deni St Lawrence Deputy Director of Operations, Women in Data
“I can't wait to amplify the amazing work you're doing.”
Arianna Huffington Founder & CEO, Thrive Global
Bio and headshot, ready to paste.
Short bio · 70 words
Milena Miteva-Regos is the founder of Unhustle and the author of Unhustle: A Rebel's Guide to Escaping the Grind and Building Life Wealth (March 2027), with a foreword by Chip Conley. A former CMO with 23 years in global brand strategy, she has spoken at the World Economic Forum and won the People's Choice Award at Wisdom 2.0. She writes The Unhustle Letter and hosts The Unhustle Podcast.
Full bio · 195 words
Milena Miteva-Regos spent 23 years as a marketing strategist and CMO, building brands for 1-800-Flowers, UFC Gym, Ritz Carlton and public figures including Madonna — and burned out doing it. What followed was a decade of original research: more than 300 interviews with founders, CEOs and high performers, grounded in modern science and ancient wisdom, into why people who win by every external measure so often lose the life underneath it. She calls it the Default Path Trap.
She is the founder of Unhustle and the author of Unhustle: A Rebel's Guide to Escaping the Grind and Building Life Wealth (March 2027), with a foreword by Chip Conley, founder of the Modern Elder Academy. She has spoken at the World Economic Forum, won the People's Choice Award at Wisdom 2.0, and her workshops for the AHLA Foundation were that conference's highest-rated breakout sessions. She hosts The Unhustle Podcast and writes The Unhustle Letter, read in 54 countries. She is an ICF Certified Coach and a Certified Human Potential Coach, and holds a B.A. in Business Administration from the American University in Bulgaria and an M.A. in International Marketing from Alliant International University, San Diego.
Bring this conversation to your audience.
Tell us the date, the audience and what you want them to leave with. Milena replies to speaking inquiries personally.
Unhustle: A Rebel’s Guide to Escaping the Grind and Building Life Wealth — with a foreword by Chip Conley, founder of the Modern Elder Academy. March 2027.