Keynotes, Workshops and Seminars in Portland
Financial wellness keynote speaker in Portland
I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, and Portland is where my clients in financial services started. I teach Portland employers’ people how to handle money in a city that costs more than it looks.
Anyone can get good with money
What money stress looks like in Portland
Portland does not feel like an expensive city until you try to live in it. Costs run about 15 percent above the national average and housing about 33 percent above. Half of the metro’s renters are cost-burdened, and more than a quarter spend over half their income on housing. Healthcare is the biggest employer by a wide margin, with electronics, software and the big footwear and apparel headquarters behind it, so the room is a mix of hospital staff, engineers and people in creative and corporate jobs who all thought Portland would be easier than this.
That is the room I walk into in Portland, and it is a room I know. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, and two of the first firms to put me in front of their clients and their people are here. I teach how money works in Portland numbers, and I give the employer a way to make the benefits package part of the plan.
15%
Portland cost of living runs about 15% above the U.S. average, with housing 33% above
51%
of Portland-metro renters are cost-burdened, and 27% spend more than half their income on housing
$534K
About $534,000 typical home value in Portland
Sources:
- C2ER Cost of Living Index via RentCafe, September 2026
- Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, America’s Rental Housing 2026
- Zillow Home Value Index, July 2026
Hi, I’m Hillary
I have spent 16 years teaching people how money works. Fourteen of those were inside banking and mortgage lending, where I watched smart, hardworking people sign for things they did not understand because nobody had ever explained it in plain language. I started Financial Footwork in 2016 to fix that, first with professional sports organizations, then with the employers, associations and universities who saw what it did for a room.
Since then I have worked with 15+ professional sports organizations and 50+ employers, associations and universities, and I was named a Top 50 Financial Speaker in 2022 and 2023. I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, and in Portland I have worked with Ferguson Wellman Capital Management and River Capital PDX. My book, Train Your Money, is the method I teach from the stage.
Here is what that means for you. I am not a financial advisor looking for clients, and I do not pitch a product or collect your employees’ information from the stage. I teach. Your people leave knowing what to do with their next paycheck, and you get a room that finally understands why the benefits matter.
Keynotes, workshops and seminars for Portland employers, associations and conferences
Keynotes
45, 60 or 90 minutes. The conference general session, the all-hands, the annual meeting, the awards night. High energy, practical, and everybody leaves with something to do this week.
Workshops
90 minutes, half day or full day. Small groups, hands on, worksheets out. Eight topics across three tracks, from paycheck planning to credit to retirement.
Seminars
60 or 90 minutes for the whole room, live or virtual. The lunch and learn, the open enrollment session, the quarterly money talk. Book one, a series of two, or a full season of four or more.
The keynotes Portland organizations book most
Train Your Money (flagship)
How to handle money like a pro athlete handles pressure. The pick for a general session or all-hands.
The $183 Billion Problem
Why money stress is a performance issue and what leaders can do about it. The pick for HR, benefits and leadership audiences.
The Math Has to Math
Income, lifestyle and the decisions that decide everything. The pick for sales teams, trades and anyone paid on production.
The Belief Before the Money
Building the confidence to make the next decision. The pick for young professional programs, wellness weeks and women’s events.
Money, Backwards
Why smart people struggle with money, and the Three E’s that fix it. The pick for leadership retreats and high-earner rooms.
Portland rooms I am in most often: financial services firms and credit unions, healthcare and tech employers, and the associations that meet in the Rose City.
Financial services → HR and benefits → Associations →
Financial services → HR and benefits → Associations →
Onsite in Portland, virtual anywhere
Portland is a short flight and a place I know well.
Onsite
Keynotes, workshops and seminars at your office, your conference or your venue, anywhere in the U.S.
Virtual
Live sessions for remote and distributed teams, built for a screen instead of a stage.
Hybrid
In the room with your leaders or your headquarters, live online for everyone else, same session, same playbook.
What people who booked Hillary say
“Hillary helped us reimagine client education by using a strength training approach to build financial habits. Her creative keynotes, collaboration, and follow through made her an outstanding partner.”
Mary Faulkner
EVP, Branding and Communications, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management
“Hillary Seiler’s keynotes challenge audiences to approach financial decisions with greater clarity and discipline. Employees leave with practical systems that strengthen financial decision-making and support performance at every level of the organization.”
Michael Knapp
CEO, River Capital PDX
Trusted by Portland organizations and employers across the country
Questions Portland event planners ask
Also speaking in
Let’s put Portland on the calendar
Tell me about your event, your audience and your date. Matt, my booking agent, will get back to you within one business day.