Speaker, Storyteller, Presence Coach

Dean Lincoln Hyers has lived a life that reads like fiction—and turned it into something real.

After being attacked by a mugger, Dean chose an unexpected response: he befriended his assailant and walked away on a handshake. Years later, when diagnosed with cancer, he refused to let fear define the experience, turning treatment into one of the most purposeful years of his life.

Those moments forced a question: What actually determines how we respond when life gets hard?

Dean didn’t settle for inspiration—he went looking for a pattern. What he uncovered became a simple but powerful sequence of choices that restores agency, transforms fear into purpose, and lights the way forward when circumstances feel out of control.

Professionally, Dean is co-founder of SagePresence, a firm that has helped architecture, engineering, and construction teams win their way onto over $18 billion worth of projects by strengthening how professionals show up in high-stakes moments. A former filmmaker, Dean has coached everyone from Hollywood actors to architects, from courtroom litigators to covert agents—translating the tools of story, performance, and presence into real-world communication.

But it was personal crisis that gave his work its depth.

Out of violence and illness came a philosophy rooted in balance, resilience, and conscious choice. That philosophy now forms the foundation of his keynote work and his book, CODEWORD: JOY — The Survivor’s Guide to Inner Light.

At the intersection of business and humanity, Dean speaks to people who don’t want slogans—they want something they can use. His work isn’t about denying difficulty. It’s about meeting it with clarity, courage, and intention—and helping others do the same.