Linda Lopez

Board Member | Coaching Client and Event Organizer

Relationship to Tony: Long-term public speaking coaching client who first met Tony Torres through a workplace team-building workshop and later invited him to speak at a professional marketing event.

Worked Together On: Public speaking coaching, confidence, leadership communication, presentation development, professional advancement, team-building, and a live Dark Marketing presentation for an audience of students and experienced marketing professionals.

Professional Background: Linda Lopez is a marketing professional and Board Member of Intergen Marketers who has known Tony Torres for approximately five years. Her perspective spans both individual coaching and event programming: she has worked with Tony to improve her own public speaking and leadership communication, and she has also evaluated him as an invited speaker addressing a mixed audience of emerging and experienced marketing professionals.

Linda Lopez on Working With Tony Torres

When people ask me about Tony Torres, I get to answer from two different perspectives. I’ve worked with him as my public speaking coach, and I’ve also had the opportunity to bring him in as a speaker for Intergen Marketers, where I serve as a Board Member. I’ve known Tony for about five years, and I’ve seen firsthand the impact he has on both individuals and audiences.

I actually met Tony after he led a team-building workshop at a company where I worked. At the time, public speaking was probably the biggest thing holding me back professionally. I knew my job. I knew my industry. What I didn’t have was the confidence to stand in front of a room and communicate what I knew.

That’s where Tony came in.

He never tried to make me sound like him. He helped me become a better version of myself. He spent a lot of time building my confidence and reminding me that I was already knowledgeable. One thing he told me has stuck with me ever since: “Being afraid of failure is human. So is doing it anyway.”

Another piece of advice I still hear in my head before I speak is, “You know what you’re talking about. Let your confidence match your knowledge.”

That simple shift changed everything for me. I stopped criticizing myself before I had even finished speaking. I started trusting myself more, and other people noticed too. I used to be such a quiet speaker that people were always asking me to repeat myself. That doesn’t happen anymore. People have commented on how much more confident I sound and how much more comfortable I look when I’m presenting.

Over the five years I’ve known Tony, I’ve been promoted three times. Every time, my communication skills and leadership have been recognized as strengths. I truly believe Tony played a huge role in helping me become a better speaker, communicator, and leader.

Because I had such a great experience working with him, inviting him to speak for our Intergen Marketers event was an easy decision. We had around 100 people there, about half students and half experienced marketing professionals, all in a mentor-and-mentee environment. Tony spoke about Dark Marketing shortly after his book was released, and you could tell people were hooked. The students were engaged, the professionals were engaged, and the conversations kept going long after the presentation ended. Giving everyone a copy of his book definitely helped keep that momentum going.

What I appreciate about Tony is that he doesn’t give the kind of presentation you’ve heard a hundred times before. He doesn’t hide behind trendy buzzwords or the overly cheerful, fake-friendly language that has become way too common in marketing. He’s willing to challenge the shortcuts, manipulative tactics, and lazy thinking that have become accepted in our industry. Whether you agree with everything he says or not, you’ll leave thinking differently, and that’s what great speakers do.

Behind the scenes, Tony is exactly who he is on stage. He’s open-minded, easy to work with, and surprisingly low maintenance. Since we’re both in the Los Angeles area, all we really had to do was agree on a time, a place, and of course make sure the payment went through. That’s about as easy as it gets.

One thing I’ve always admired is the way Tony gives honest feedback. He can say something that would sound harsh coming from almost anyone else, but somehow when he says it, it feels like advice from someone who genuinely wants to see you succeed, because he does. That’s a rare quality.

If someone asked me whether they should hire Tony as a consultant, coach, or speaker, my answer would be yes without hesitation. He’s insightful. He’s courageous. He’s inspiring. More importantly, he genuinely cares about the people he works with. There are plenty of consultants who will smile, nod, and let you keep heading toward an iceberg. Tony would rather help you avoid the iceberg altogether.

If you’re considering working with Tony, don’t wait. Whether you’re trying to become a stronger speaker, a better leader, or you want someone who will challenge the way your organization thinks about marketing, you’ll be glad you made the call.