About Ricky-Lee Watts
Speaker • Facilitator • Retreat Leader • Emcee • Model
I help people, teams, and communities build trust, clarity, and grounded leadership through speaking, facilitation, retreats, hosting, and experiential work.
A Grounded, Relational Approach
I’m Ricky-Lee Watts — a Nuučaańuł speaker, facilitator, retreat leader, conference emcee, and model from Port Alberni, working across Vancouver Island, Vancouver, and beyond.
Across speaking, facilitation, retreats, hosting, and creative media, I create experiences that help people feel more present, connected, and able to engage with what matters. My work is rooted in emotional intelligence, strong room awareness, and a steady ability to meet the energy of a space with care, clarity, and intention.
Whether I’m on stage, guiding a retreat, facilitating a group, supporting model wellness, or working in front of the camera, I pay attention to both the visible and subtle parts of an experience — how people arrive, how trust builds, and what becomes possible when a space is well held.
What Shapes My Work
My work is shaped by psychology, Indigenous leadership, wellness, personal growth, fashion, community work, and years of global travel.
I’ve spent much of my life exploring how people grow through challenge, relationship, reflection, and meaningful experience. My background in psychology and facilitation continues to shape how I understand confidence, belonging, communication, and transformation.
At the core of my work are values rooted in respect and interconnectedness, including the Nuučaańuł teachings of ʔiisaak and hišukʔiš c̓awaak. These values guide how I speak, facilitate, create, collaborate, and move through the world.
A Life of Leadership, Learning & Connection
My path has moved through many spaces: Indigenous youth leadership, clean energy, community health, public speaking, modelling, government, retreats, wellness, and creative storytelling.
At the heart of it all, the work has remained consistent: helping people reconnect with what matters, remember their own capacity, and move forward with greater courage, clarity, and care.
I’ve created and led national Indigenous youth programming, facilitated wellness and empowerment sessions, hosted major conferences, walked runways, contributed to research, served my Nation, and supported teams and communities through moments of reflection, growth, and change.
These experiences have taught me that powerful work is not only about inspiration. It is also about relationship, preparation, presence, boundaries, and care. It is about building spaces where people feel safe enough to be honest, supported enough to grow, and steady enough to take meaningful action.
What This Work Creates
Grounded Presence
I create spaces where people feel calm, supported, and able to show up more fully as themselves.
Relational Connection
My work supports trust, open communication, and stronger relationships within groups and teams.
Practical Shift
People leave with clearer perspective, renewed confidence, and tangible ways to move forward.
What People Experience
“Ricky-Lee has a grounded and calming presence that allows people to feel at ease almost immediately. His ability to create a safe and open environment makes it easier to reflect, connect, and grow.”
“Ricky-Lee brings a rare blend of intelligence, tact, and compassion. I’ve watched him lead diverse groups to success with honesty and emotional clarity.”
Selected Experience & Features
Ricky-Lee’s work has moved across speaking, facilitation, retreats, modelling, media, and public-facing creative collaborations — supporting organizations, cultural spaces, conferences, campaigns, and community-centered experiences.
Selected Experience
ICCE National Conference
Mułaa / Rising Tide Surf Society
Tapestry Education Conference
DreamStill
SWAIA Native Fashion Week
Specsavers
ICBC
Media, Features & Public-Facing Work
TIME / APTN / Supernaturals — Upcoming Docuseries
Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week
Indigenous Tourism BC
NDN Collective
The Lancet — Indigenous adolescent health & wellbeing publication
Natural History Museum of London
Interested in working together?
Whether you’re looking for a speaker, facilitator, retreat leader, or creative collaborator, I’d love to hear what you’re building and explore how I can support it.
