Women To Watch Awards 2026 honors Marla Albertie

Marla J. Albertie, PhD, has lived on board a United States aircraft carrier and therefore considers herself unstoppable. A native of Jacksonville, Florida, she loves to read, travel, and shop. Many of her travels have been on cruises—she has taken 25 thus far. Marla believes life is a journey, and we all have the power to create the life we want—after all, you only live once. She is passionate about seeing growth in people’s lives and inspiring others to pay it forward.

As an energetic visionary, she is the owner and founder of the award-winning TruthSpeaksGroup LLC, an innovative research firm rooted in Industrial-Organizational Psychology that specializes in leadership development. Marla J. Albertie, LLC, is her namesake company. She is also the founder and executive director of I/O for Teens Inc., a skill-, confidence-, and career-building organization that teaches teens how to achieve their dreams based on the science of human behavior. Additionally, she owns MJA Publishing LLC, a private publishing company, and co-owns Rogers Logistics Group LLC.

Marla is a certified professional career, executive, and life coach; a trainer (APTD – Associate Professional in Training and Development); a Certified Chief Happiness Officer; a Certified Positive Psychology Practitioner; a former Director of HR; an instructor and facilitator of psychology; an Amazon Bestselling author; and has over 30 years of experience in business, coaching, and training. She holds a Master of Education in Adult Education, a Bachelor of Applied Science in Supervision and Management, and an Associate of Applied Science in Financial Services. She earned her PhD in Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

Marla serves on the boards of FIOP and the National University Alumni Association. She is an adjunct instructor at SNHU and an Assistant Professor at Colorado Technical University.

Marla loves speaking, teaching, and writing. Among her many ventures are the Motivational Movement K.I.M. (Keep It Moving), Truth Speaks Academy, the annual Women’s Empowerment Conference, I.M.A.G.IN.E. (I’m Awesome Growing IN Excellence), her YouTube channel featuring the talk show Creating Your Career with Marla J. Albertie (36 episodes), and her former blog, TheWorkingWoman.co. She has published two books and two poems and co-authored two others, with more on the way.

She is a proud graduate of the D’Aniello Institute for Veteran & Military Families Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans (EBV). Marla is an active sustaining member of the Junior League of Jacksonville and a member of ATD, SIOP, FIOP, Blacks in I/O, APA, ICF, IBPA, and ALLi. She is a strong advocate for suicide prevention, justice-impacted individuals, and mental health. When she is not trying to save the world, Marla enjoys a good story, visiting the movies (nachos in hand), cruising, shopping, reading, and spending time with those closest to her.