Dr. Phyllis Mindell founded and led Well-Read from 1979 to 2015 as it grew into an international supplier of seminars on all aspects of communications. After a protegee who holds a leadership position urged Phyllis to “rebrand” her work for young professionals, she decided to do so by offering free educational services in addition to consulting, coaching, and speaking for corporate and nonprofit clients. Our new web domain, Smart, Strong, & Sassy (smartstrongsassy.com) fits Phyllis’s ideas to today’s demands of the young, cool, ambitious women who struggle to find their authentic voices in the worlds of education, business, and technology. We welcome you to visit often and benefit from the latest insights from Phyllis and the Family of Experts.

[Read more about Phyllis and SSS]

For nearly 40 years, as founder and president of Well-Read, Dr. Phyllis created, presented, and wrote all course books for seminars in women’s language, reading, writing, public speaking, and  leadership. She has also mentored young women who apply her ideas to their lives and work; they now hold leadership positions in medicine, law, psychiatry, business, and the nonprofit world. Their stories are featured in Profiles.  Phyllis’s experiences, added to a long life as a wife; mother; friend; grandmother; and independent scholar, enable her to reach across generations to young women. Smartstrongsassy.com, brings you the skills needed to succeed and lead on your own terms, without shedding your integrity or femininity.

As an original thinker in her fields, she’s  written four books and dozens of articles, columns, and research papers on all aspects of leadership, language, and communications. Power Reading was cited as one of the 30 best business books of the year and selected for Soundview Executive Book Summaries. A Woman’s Guide to the Language of Success and How to Say It for Women: Communicating with Confidence and Power have sold over 200,000 copies and been translated into German, Chinese, and Arabic. How to Say It for Executives was lauded by the Carnegie Library. And you’ll find their practical tips right here, for free.

An engaging, inspiring, and provocative speaker, she has keynoted and addressed such audiences as Simmons Women’s Leadership Conference, University of Michigan Medical School, Xerox International, and dozens of others in the US and abroad. Her students come from more than twenty countries, her corporate clients include Fortune 500s as well as nonprofits to whom she donates her time.

She earned the doctorate from the University of Rochester, the MS from City College of New York, and the BA from Brooklyn College. She has also done postdoctoral study in neurolinguistics, literature, and writing. Dr Mindell holds the title of adjunct Professor at Georgetown Medical School, where she helps scientists and doctors hone their professional and patient communication skills.

Phyllis is celebrating her upcoming 80th with this website, a future book, and a return to speaking and consulting.