Confidence Is a Decision, Not a Gift, Keynote Speaker Says

By Elena Vasquez

A leadership keynote scheduled for January 8, 2027, in Chicago will argue a point many practitioners may find useful: confidence is not inherited. It is built, decision by decision, like strength in a muscle.

Juan Bendaña, author of "Confident by Choice: The Three Small Decisions That Build Everyday Courage," will deliver the keynote "Lead Through Change: Embrace Challenges, Elevate Performance, and Unlock Belief in a Better Future" at the 2027 AVMA Veterinary Leadership Conference (VLC). Zoetis sponsors the talk. Registration is already open.

Bendaña now coaches global leaders on confidence, but his starting point was rough. In high school, an English teacher — "Mrs. H." in his book — told him: "Some people were born with the gift of communication. You were not."

That verdict did not hold.

Who is the speaker?

Bendaña grew up in Toronto as a Nicaraguan Canadian who described his younger self in his book as the "self-conscious, bullied, seventy-five-pounds-overweight Gringo Juan." While other children joined band or played sports, he attended professional conferences.

His mother took him and his two older siblings to a personal development conference when he was 12. They "stuck out like sore thumbs" among the adults, he recalled. Still, something clicked.

"I realized that this was something that you could do," Bendaña told AVMA News. "And then I was like, 'I don't think I can do that because I'm terrified of public speaking. And I don't think I have the charisma or the confidence or the ability or the background to do that. But one day, that could be cool.'"

He later left the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, where he studied psychology, to pursue entrepreneurship. A difficult breakup pushed him toward another turning point: a friend named Luis invited him to California for a fresh start.

What changed his thinking?

Living on Luis's couch, Bendaña watched his friend live the life he wanted — a best-selling author who spoke for a living and coached business leaders. He assumed Luis had been born with natural confidence.

Luis corrected him. Confidence, his friend showed him, "is a result of decisions and actions, not just a starting point."

That insight planted the seeds of what became the Confidence Cycle, the framework Bendaña will present at the VLC. He calls it a research-backed, repeatable method that helps leaders tap into what he describes as the "X-factor" — the driver of performance, adaptability, and leadership amid uncertainty and disruption.

The takeaway in plain words: he treats confidence as an outcome of action, not a prerequisite for it.

How did the cycle work in practice?

Bendaña applied the framework to his childhood dream of professional speaking. He practiced speaking two hours a day. He built a website. He emailed event planners within a five-hour drive of Toronto.

Those small steps snowballed into a career that now includes keynotes for American Express, Sony Pictures, and Disney, plus a book and coaching practice centered on the trait he once lacked entirely — "no confidence—zero, none, nada," as he puts it.

What does the keynote promise attendees?

Bendaña's core message dismantles common assumptions. Confidence, he says, is not extroversion. It is not competence. It is not genetics. It is not the absence of insecurities.

There is no "Confidence Genie," he argues, distributing varying amounts of "this magical trait" and skipping some people. Anyone holding back, second-guessing, or playing it safe, he says, can learn the tools to break through hesitation and lead — even without feeling ready.

For veterinary professionals navigating change in practice, the pitch is direct: move toward the goal before certainty arrives.

What are the conference details?

The 2027 Veterinary Leadership Conference runs January 7-9, 2027, in Chicago. Attendees can earn up to 15 hours of continuing education.

Registration is open now, and Bendaña's January 8 keynote offers practice leaders a framework they can test against their own hesitation the following Monday morning.