Motivational speakers are one of the happiest careers in the United States.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, motivational speakers rate their career happiness 4.3 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 1% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy motivational speakers are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Motivational speaker | 4.3 | $55k |
| Life coach | 4.1 | $47k |
| CEO | 4.0 | $120k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are motivational speakers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do motivational speakers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as motivational speakers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are motivational speaker’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are motivational speakers making the best use of their abilities?
Are motivational speakers happy with their salary?
Motivational speakers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.2/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most motivational speakers having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked motivational speakers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
214 motivational speakers
25% of motivational speakers rated their compensation 5 stars
21% of motivational speakers rated their compensation 4 stars
23% of motivational speakers rated their compensation 3 stars
15% of motivational speakers rated their compensation 2 stars
16% of motivational speakers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do motivational speakers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, motivational speakers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 4.4/5. Unlike many careers, motivational speakers have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become motivational speakers.
We asked motivational speakers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
4.4 out of 5 stars
219 motivational speakers
64% of motivational speakers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
21% of motivational speakers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
10% of motivational speakers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
2% of motivational speakers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
3% of motivational speakers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as motivational speakers?
Motivational speakers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.5/5. The majority of motivational speakers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked motivational speakers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.5 out of 5 stars
233 motivational speakers
65% of motivational speakers rated their career fit 5 stars
27% of motivational speakers rated their career fit 4 stars
6% of motivational speakers rated their career fit 3 stars
1% of motivational speakers rated their career fit 2 stars
2% of motivational speakers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a motivational speaker’s work environment?
As a whole, motivational speakers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.3/5. A solid majority of motivational speakers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a motivational speaker.
We asked motivational speakers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
4.3 out of 5 stars
237 motivational speakers
54% of motivational speakers rated their work environment 5 stars
31% of motivational speakers rated their work environment 4 stars
10% of motivational speakers rated their work environment 3 stars
3% of motivational speakers rated their work environment 2 stars
3% of motivational speakers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are motivational speakers making the best use of their abilities?
Former motivational speakers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 4.3/5. Most motivational speakers surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a motivational speaker, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked motivational speakers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
4.3 out of 5 stars
233 motivational speakers
55% of motivational speakers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
29% of motivational speakers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
10% of motivational speakers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
3% of motivational speakers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
2% of motivational speakers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars