DSM Intern Connection 2025 – Wired for Resilience

From struggling first-generation student to successful coach, Vanessa shares how understanding yourself is the real key to crushing your goals. Through personal stories and brain science, she shows how to break free from old patterns that hold you back and create the life you want. Using her Active Operating Protocol, you'll learn practical ways to manage stress, build confidence, and turn life's biggest challenges into opportunities for growth all while staying true to who you are.

The DSM Intern Connection event series returns to Greater Des Moines (DSM). The series will feature opportunities for interns and college-aged students to connect with community leaders and executives, as well as opportunities to network with fellow students while learning about what makes DSM unique and truly the place to be.

A first-gen graduate turned national speaker, Vanessa McNeal knows firsthand what it's like to push past barriers and create your own path to success. With a Master's in Social Work and expertise in understanding how stress and past experiences shape our choices, she's on a mission to help others unlock their full potential. Her Active Operating Protocol emerged from both her personal journey and her work with diverse audiences from TEDx stages to Fortune 500 companies and military institutions like the National Guard and Air Force. When she's not teaching others how to turn their challenges into superpowers, she's coaching leaders to better understand their own operating systems and crush their goals.