Get clear before you get loud.

Ni Ema Baptista grew up in East Oakland, entered foster care at four, and aged out at 18. That same year, she started at Clear Channel as a gopher, the person sent to handle whatever needed handling. The title was small, but the view was wide. She saw what happens before the public shows up, and she has spent more than twenty years since then helping companies, leaders, and cultural institutions get that part right.

Today she is the founder and CEO of Ni Ema B. Consulting, which she launched in 2020, and she works between the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. She led public relations and communications for San Francisco Juneteenth, founded and produced the sold-out Power Connect Launch Experience in Oakland, and interviewed Blavity founder Morgan DeBaun at AfroTech. She holds certificates from Harvard Business School Online in Disruptive Strategy and from Cornell University in Women's Entrepreneurship, and she mentors current and former foster youth.

On stage, she hands audiences the same questions she asks her clients, and puts them to work before the session ends.

Every talk comes back to one framework. It shows how the pieces of a business fit together, and why publicity is only one of them.

Strategy decides.

Brand promises.

Product and culture prove.

Marketing attracts.

Publicity amplifies.

Reputation remains.

Get Clear Before You Get Loud

Attention is the goal for most businesses, and most aren't ready when it comes. A spotlight shows people what's great about you and everything you haven't figured out yet. Ni Ema walks audiences through what has to be true before they go public, so attention turns into trust, customers, and revenue.

Audiences leave with: The Readiness Questions, four questions to answer before any launch, pitch, or press moment.

Best for: founders, entrepreneurs, creatives, and small business owners.

Strategy Decides. Reputation Remains.

Marketing, PR, branding, and publicity get used like they mean the same thing. They don't, and mixing them up wastes money. Ni Ema breaks down what each one does, how they depend on each other, and why reputation is what's left after the attention moves on.

Audiences leave with: a shared language their team can use to plan, budget, and stop working against itself.

Best for: corporate teams, marketing and communications leaders, and nonprofits.

AI Can Support Your Judgment. It Can't Replace Your Responsibility.

AI can research, draft, and move fast. It can also give a confident answer that's wrong. Ni Ema looks at where AI strengthens communications and strategy, where it creates risk, and why the advantage belongs to people who ask better questions.

Audiences leave with: a simple check for using AI without handing it the decisions.

Best for: tech conferences, business schools, and innovation events.

Would You Launch It? (Interactive Workshop)

The room becomes a company's leadership team. Six departments look at one opportunity and vote: go, wait, or no. Then a surprise offer arrives, and every team has to defend its call.

Audiences leave with: firsthand experience of how real business decisions get made, and why going viral isn't a business model.

Best for: universities, accelerators, conference breakouts, and team offsites.

Conversation Topics for Podcasts and Media

From foster care to Clear Channel to CEO: what you learn when you're the one sent for everything

What to get right before you hire anyone to make you visible

What running communications for San Francisco Juneteenth taught me about live events

Why going viral isn't a business model

AI, reputation, and who's responsible when it gets it wrong

Bring the Workshop to Your Team

Would You Launch It? and Get Clear Before You Get Loud are available as private sessions for leadership teams, staff retreats, and founder cohorts.

Stages and Credentials

Guest Speaker, Business 40, Las Positas College (September 2026)

Public Relations and Communications Lead, San Francisco Juneteenth Parade and Festival (2026)

Founder and Producer, Power Connect Launch Experience, Oakland (sold out, 2025)

Interviewer, Morgan DeBaun, founder and CEO of Blavity Inc., at AfroTech in Oakland

Formats

Keynotes, workshops, panels, fireside chats, podcasts, and guest lectures. Based between the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. Available for in-person events nationwide and virtual events worldwide.