Unlock Potential | Challenge Possibility | Lead Purposefully

I’ve done hundreds of media interviews on everything that impacts our lives from workplace bullying and mental health to over-parenting and gender diversity. While living in Australia I was the Resident Coach on Australia’s top morning show Sunrise but have also appeared on Today Show, Al Jazeera, CNN, Bloomberg, Fox News to the Wall Street Journal and Psychology Today.

To watch some TV interviews, please visit my media page here.

You can also read my Forbes Courage Works column or listen to my Live Brave Podcast.

Not to brag or anything, but I was hands down the best writer in my class right up to high school. I guess I should also mention that I was the only kid in my class in my rural one room school (it’s since grown to two rooms!)

Seriously though, while I’ve never considered myself a brilliant wordsmith, I’ve now written four books—Find Your Courage, Stop Playing Safe, Brave and Make Your Mark—because I decided that I wouldn’t let my fear of being a lousy author keep me from writing about the things that light me up. And like every brave thing I’ve ever done, I’m so glad I did. My books have now been translated into six languages and thousands of people have shared with me how they’ve changed their lives. I hope you’ll check them out!

Oh, I should also mention that I’ve co-authored two other books with some cool people like Stephen Covey, Jack Canfield, Ken Blanchard and John Gray.

The first time someone told me I should be a coach, I laughed. “I can hardly catch a ball,” I replied. I soon discovered this new field of ‘coaching’ was a great fit for my professional experience (Fortune 500 business and psychology), personality and passion for helping people better themselves.

I was fortunate to learn from two of the ‘founding fathers’ of the coaching profession – Thomas Leonard and Julio Olalla – as well as the inimitable, Tony Robbins. I then started my coaching business with four kids under six (told you I was passionate!)

While my speaking, media and writing schedule now takes up more of my time than it did when I first embarked on my ‘second career,’ I still love supporting other passionate, big thinking people who value an objective sounding board to bounce ideas, challenge their thinking and keep them focused on what matters most. If you think you’re one of those people, let’s connect.

Growing up in the “Aussie bush,” the horizons of my world didn’t stretch very far. However, upon leaving home, I soon realized there was a whole world waiting to be explored. So after graduating from university, I saved up a few dollars (sorting corn by day, serving beer by night) and set off around the world with little more than a backpack, some travelers checks and an intrepid spirit.

Since then I’ve traveled to 70+ countries, spent three years living in Papua New Guinea, and over ten in the USA, experiencing many adventures along the way.

A few highlights include crossing the Sahara Desert (part of it in an armed convoy), piranha fishing in the Amazon (a bit chewy!), staying in Palestinian refugee camps, climbing to the icy summit of Papua New Guinea’s tallest peak, camel racing in Qatar, slaughtering goats for Christmas lunch in Nigeria, hitchhiking in Jordan, cycling rafting in Nepal, cycling through Beijing (brave or crazy? debatable), drinking tea with Tuareg tribesmen in Algeria, and swimming with whale sharks in the Philippines.

Now that my four kids are older, we share new adventures together! Most recently we hiked up Mt Kilimanjaro. A lesson in GRIT if ever there was one! (I wrote about our adventure here.)

I passionately believe that the social, political and economic empowerment of women is critical to addressing the most pressing problems in our organizations and society today. In fact, I focused my PhD on how we can advance stronger pipelines of female leadership and unleash the full value of feminine leadership traits to improve the decisions made at senior tables.

Over the last 15 years, I have spoken at hundreds of women’s leadership and empowerment events across the world, from Shanghai to Singapore, Kuala Lumper to Nairobi and Switzerland. As a member of the Advisory Board of the Women’s Democracy Network, focused on empowering more women into positions of civic leadership in emerging democracies, I regularly support women to build their capacity to lead change with great impact and influence.

I have been privileged to serve women in many forums and enterprises including:

• Ambassador for Google’s WomenWill, speaking in Tokyo Japan
• Honoree of the Women’s Economic Forum
• Working in Africa with Women for Women in Africa, sponsoring young women and leading a women’s program in Kibera slum
• Running my Brave Women’s workshops and weekends
• Supporting the establishment of the Women’s Leadership Institute at Forbes School of Business & Technology, University of Arizona
• Establishing Australian Women in Washington DC.
• Partaking in Women in Technology Roundtable with Hon Karen Andrews to attract and advance more women in STEM careers

My life has been blessed with opportunities. But not everyone is as fortunate. So I value the chance to support causes that work toward creating a more equitable and inclusive world. One way I do that is by mentoring women entrepreneurs in developing countries like India through the UN Global Initiative. I also support the work of The Hunger Project whose bold mission to end world hunger is increasingly within our reach (recently bringing the 30,000 Malawians living in the village of Nchalo to full self-sufficiency, even despite the COVID pandemic).

Additionally, I am honored to support the work of Women for Women in Africa by sponsoring the education of students in Kibera slum which I visited with my family in 2016. In fact, our climb up Mt Kilimanjaro with my four teenage children helped raise funds to elevate the future of children in Africa’s largest slum.

I am also passionate about removing the stigma surrounding mental illness which creates so much heartache and suffering for so many. My advocacy around mental health is partly inspired by my youngest brother had with mental illness which led to his suicide in 2010.

Other advocacy, advisory and ambassadorships include: Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) and Google’s Women Will initiative. I also sit on the advisory board of Forbes School of Business & Technology and am a mentor to young women in their Center for Women’s Leadership.

Last but not least, I am the mother of four rowdy, untidy, curious but very loveable children – Lachlan, Maddy, Ben and Matthew. They teach me lessons on courage, resilience, patience, acceptance, forgiveness and gratitude every single day. Oh, and letting go. Probably the hardest lesson of all.

Being a working mum with four kids, I’ve practiced plenty of conscientious neglect over the years. While my kids are yet to manage their own lives fully, they are incredibly self-reliant, adaptable, passionate and resilient young people. If you’d like to read a recent column I wrote on raising brave and resilient kids, please click here.

The photo above is from Angkor Wat, Cambodia. From the Himalayas to the Amazon to our recent climb up Mt Kilimanjaro and time in Nairobi’s Kibera slum, already they’ve seen more of the world than I knew existed at their age.

Not only do I want them to experience the world, but to do their part in making it a better one.