Jerome Mayne

Humorous Fraud and Ethics Expert, Former Felon and Author of Diary of a White Collar Criminal

Expert on

  • Storytelling
  • Ethics
  • Humor
  • Team Building

Fee Range

$20,000–$25,000

Travels from

AZ, US

Biography

Jerome Mayne is a former white-collar criminal who has a hell of a story to tell. He was sentenced to almost two years in federal prison. He is also a former touring stand-up comedian. He now uses his experiences to give audiences a serious, yet funny, unforgettable look at rationalization, judgment and consequences.

Jerome was not a Wall Street kingpin or criminal mastermind. He was a regular finance professional who knew he was crossing lines and still found ways to minimize, reframe and compartmentalize what he was doing. The consequences did not stay contained to him. They changed his career, his family and the rest of his life.

That is what makes the story useful in business. Jerome takes audiences inside the thinking that makes questionable choices easier to justify: minimizing, reframing, normalizing and convincing yourself that what you are doing is not really that bad. The result is serious business content without a sermon – a perspective shift around ethical drift, judgment, accountability and the stories we tell ourselves before consequences arrive.

Since 2001, Jerome has spoken for corporate, health care, hospitality, association and financial-services audiences to name a few. His keynote style combines candid storytelling, business relevance and the timing of a former touring stand-up comedian. Jerome is the author of Diary of a White Collar Criminal. His flagship keynote is Choices and Consequences.

Speaker Videos

CHOICE AND CONSEQUENCES -- MAKING GOOD DECISIONS BETTER

Jerome Mayne is a former white-collar criminal. He was not a Wall Street kingpin or criminal mastermind. He was a finance professional who saw the trouble, knew he was crossing lines, and still found ways to believe the catastrophic consequences belonged somewhere farther down the road. They did not. His choices sent him to federal prison, changing his life and the lives of people around him.

Choices and Consequences is a serious, funny and candid keynote about rationalization, ethical drift, judgment and accountability. Jerome takes audiences inside the thinking that made those choices easier to justify at the time: minimizing, reframing, normalizing and convincing yourself that what you are doing is not really that bad.

The keynote is a perspective shift, not a morality lecture. The stories and lessons spark critical discussion around judgment, ethical drift and accountability. Audiences see how self-talk changes perception, how small permissions become patterns, and why the most important moment is often before a decision feels obviously wrong.

Audience takeaways

  • Recognize rationalization before it becomes a decision-making habit.
  • Spot ethical drift – the gradual movement of a personal or organizational line.
  • Notice reframing and minimizing language that makes a risky choice easier to accept.
  • Understand how small exceptions can compound into legal, financial, reputational and operational exposure.
  • Give teams a shared language for questioning a choice before it becomes an organizational problem.
  • Separate short-term justification from long-term consequence – and remember the lesson because it is carried by story and humor, not a compliance lecture.