Alyssa Walsh reflected on her role as keynote speaker at the Agherculture college event held at the governor’s mansion in Oklahoma City. “We just had an incredible night here with women across Oklahoma, around 100–150 young women chose to spend their first Friday night back on campus here with us to grow, not only in professional development, but grow in community, grow in connection,” she said. Walsh shared her own journey of starting a business in college, shifting from building a portfolio for an employer to running her own company full-time. “It was so fun to get to share some of those insights that mentors have shared with me, some of the things I’ve done wrong, a few of the things I’ve done right, and get to kind of walk through my journey.”
A strong advocate for entrepreneurship, Walsh emphasized that college is the perfect time to take small risks. “College is an area where you’re never going to be surrounded with so many opportunities to fail and have people forget about it,” she explained. For her, those risks included teaching herself graphic design and videography. “No one’s ever gonna remember that crappy t-shirt design that you had. I had several,” she joked. What started as small, low-risk opportunities eventually led her to filming her first wedding video on a cell phone—an experience that launched her videography business.
Walsh also introduced her “open doors and windows” analogy as students consider their own career paths. “Although there are a lot of logical reasons why photography and videography go hand in hand, I didn’t feel passionate enough to set myself apart in that space,” she said. Instead, she focused on videography, branding, and graphic design. “For me, being different and being unique meant really diving into video I don’t try to be like a master of all trades. I really like to specialize and provide full value in the things that I offer.”
Throughout her keynote, Walsh encouraged students to take consistent action, even if the steps are small. “If the students walk away knowing that it’s time to take action now, there’s no better time than the present, then I’ve done my job as a keynote speaker,” she said. She compared careers to laying bricks one by one: “Not this huge, daunting task, but something that I can strategically try to accomplish day by day at the end of a very busy week or a very busy month, you can look back and see, okay, I still did one thing every day to move the needle forward on my big goal.”
Asked about the best advice she could offer, Walsh pointed to a key message that resonated with both students and panelists: “Comparison is a thief of joy.” She admitted, “It’s something I struggle with still. I think every woman is going to struggle with that again and again at some point in their life. You just get a little bit better each time.” That reminder, she said, struck a chord not only with her but with many students she visited with during the event’s networking hour.
In closing, Walsh emphasized the importance of embracing individuality. “God gave us specific gifts for a reason. There can only be one Alyssa in the world, and that’s a wonderful thing,” she said. “There’s only one of you, and that’s extremely special and extremely important.” Her hope for the students was that they left the event not only inspired to take action but also committed to valuing their unique strengths.
