Starla Sampaco

Starla Sampaco is a keynote speaker, Emmy-nominated news anchor, and former University of Washington adjunct faculty member. As a speaker and educator, she teaches women and professionals of color how to advocate for themselves in the workplace. In addition to giving keynotes and leading corporate workshops, she is available to emcee conferences and corporate events.

Starla was previously the primary TV news anchor for KCTS 9 (Seattle’s PBS channel). She was also an adjunct faculty member at the University of Washington Communication Leadership Master’s Program, where she developed and taught a course on self-advocacy, professional visibility, and personal branding. Starla founded Career Survival Guide in 2019, and her work has appeared in the Harvard Business Review.

Starla’s past clients include Microsoft, AT&T, and SHRM. Her corporate workshops and keynotes teach mid-career professionals how to:

• grow their professional visibility,
• internalize their value and articulate it to others,
• feel confident speaking up and taking up space in the workplace, and
• ask for what they need.

This content is geared towards professionals of marginalized backgrounds – specifically women, people of color, people who grew up low-income, and people who were the first in their families to attend college (first-gen).

As an extension of this work, Starla has conducted dozens of research interviews with early-career women and people of color to learn about their career pain points. Using this data, she works with HR leaders and hiring managers by sharing strategies for recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce. In 2021, she launched a workshop called “Why You’re Not Retaining Women and People of Color…and What You Can Do About It” at the Washington State SHRM Employment Law Conference.

Starla worked in TV and media for more than 10 years. Prior to joining KCTS 9, she covered Washington state politics as a legislative reporter for TVW and also hosted a technology news show for GeekWire. She is a recipient of the International Examiner’s Community Voice Award and was awarded a spot on Puget Sound Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 list.