CanvasRebel
Meet Zormarah Lyda
A candid conversation with CanvasRebel exploring Zormarah's journey, leadership, entrepreneurship, resilience, and the experiences that shaped the vision behind Candidly Unsed.
Read the Feature(opens in a new tab)Recognition • Media • Speaking
In the Room. On the Stage. In the Conversation.
Candid conversations are creating meaningful connections beyond the coaching room. Explore recent recognition, media features, and upcoming appearances featuring Zormarah “Zhee” Lyda, Founder & CEO of Candidly Unsed.
Recognition & Media
Recognized. Featured. Candidly Seen.
From leadership and entrepreneurship to resilience, authenticity, and personal transformation, these features reflect a growing conversation around what it means to lead, live, and evolve without losing yourself in the process.
Boss Up Girl Collective
100 Women Winning — Class of 2026
Recognized Among 100 Women Winning
Zormarah Lyda, Founder & CEO of Candidly Unsed, was selected as a member of Boss Up Girl Collective's 2026 class of 100 Women Winning, recognizing women creating impact, leading authentically, building businesses and communities, and redefining leadership.
View the Honorees(opens in a new tab)She Rises Studios
Unapologetically Becoming
A feature exploring Zormarah's journey through transition, service, entrepreneurship, leadership, self-reflection, and the decision to build Candidly Unsed from a place of authenticity rather than perfection.
Read the Feature(opens in a new tab)Intuit IDEAS
Military Cohort · 2025–2026
Intuit IDEAS Program Completion
Zormarah completed Intuit's year-long IDEAS (Invest, Develop, Empower, Accelerate, and Scale) small business accelerator as part of the nationwide virtual cohort for military veteran and military spouse entrepreneurs. The 2025–2026 program concluded September 29, 2026, and graduates have been invited to Los Angeles for an in-person graduation, November 12–14, 2026.
Explore Intuit IDEAS(opens in a new tab)Upcoming Speaking Engagements
Catch Zhee live.
Join Zormarah “Zhee” Lyda for candid conversations about leadership, resilience, authenticity, vulnerability, personal evolution, and what happens when we stop performing leadership and start practicing it.
Oct29–302026
Featured Speaker · Conference Session
HBCU CDM Conference
The Human Behind the Résumé: Navigating College to Career
Morgan State University · Baltimore, Maryland
This conversation explores the transition from college life into the workplace through the lens of HR, leadership, and real-world professional experience. Zormarah helps students think beyond simply “getting the job” and consider how to navigate workplace culture, communication, expectations, relationships, and their own developing professional identity. The session encourages students to enter their careers with curiosity, self-awareness, and confidence, while recognizing that professionalism does not require them to lose the human behind the résumé. At the heart of it is a simple idea: the human is becoming harder to find in many of the rooms we walk into — and the next generation of professionals has an opportunity to change that. Students leave better prepared to navigate the workplace, ask better questions, build meaningful professional relationships, and remain grounded in who they are while learning who they are becoming.
Invite Zhee to Your Campus →(opens in a new tab)Nov72026
VIP Featured Guest · Podcast Interview · Hosted by Dr. Chi Quita Mack
The Beauty in You Podcast
Beyond Resilience: Choosing Yourself in Transition
Glen Burnie, Maryland
After nearly two decades in the Army, one of the questions Zormarah is asked most is, “Why didn’t you do 20?” It’s often asked with the assumption that she didn’t want it or failed in some way. For the first time, she is speaking life to truth in a raw, unfiltered interview with Dr. Chi Quita Mack. Tune in to hear the raw, unapologetic details of a life rooted in resilience, transition, identity, and the quiet cost of always being expected to endure as a woman of color and veteran.
Explore the Podcast(opens in a new tab)Recent Stages & Highlights
Rooms she’s already stood in.
A look back at recent appearances — the audiences, the conversations, and what the room walked out with.
Past Engagement · Conference Presenter
RBLP 2026 Conference
The Art of Humility and Vulnerability in Leadership
Oct 13–14, 2026 · The Rushmore Hotel & Suites · Rapid City, South Dakota
Zormarah opened with a question for the room: how many of us have led the meeting, solved the problem, supported everyone else — and never once admitted we were struggling too? From there, she made the case for humility and vulnerability as leadership strengths, not liabilities.
Past Engagement · Featured Speaker
From Breakthrough to the Bank Brunch
Sep 12, 2026 · The Westin Washington National Harbor · Oxon Hill, Maryland
Zormarah took the mic to talk candidly about turning lived experience into influence — naming the cost of performing strength, and what changes when women stop waiting to feel ready before they take up space.
Speaking Inquiries
Bring a Candid Conversation to Your Stage
Looking for a speaker who can move beyond polished talking points and create conversations that challenge people to think, reflect, and lead differently? Zormarah “Zhee” Lyda brings lived experience, leadership insight, vulnerability, humor, and candor to conversations that stay with audiences long after the room clears.
Invite Zhee to Speak →Book Zhee
Planning an event? Let’s find a date.
Grab time directly on Coach Zhee’s calendar to talk through your audience, your theme, and what you want people walking out with.