An Accidental Executive: How a free spirit became a powerhouse 

​This speech shares how to apply life lessons to enhance leadership. It outlines Kellie's journey from a happy-go-lucky young woman whose ambition was just to have fun to an award-winning, laser-focused powerhouse. At 22, she took off on a sailboat with five men to sail around the world for two years. She started her career in advertising in Toronto and moved to the Prairies to be a stay-at-home mother. (Self-awareness wasn't super high at that point!) She went hurtling back into the workforce with two kids under the age of two and rocketed up the ranks ... accidentally.

 

By turns funny, surprising and inspiring, Kellie discusses how she learned to navigate the corporate ​boardroom as an executive while raising two boys (one of whom has autism) and weathering divorce and remarriage. She had to learn how to manage her big presence so that she could increase her influence and make a difference. Ultimately, she found a way to be authentic and powerful. Kellie shares her thoughts on finding your niche by leveraging your strengths, managing your flaws and making it in the corporate world ... while staying true to yourself.

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Change the System from Within

How to make a difference ~ whatever role you're in

Employees are tired of change and bored with morale-boosting speeches. Engagement and trust are at all-time lows. Yet highly engaged employees give their best, stay with companies longer and serve as great ambassadors. They also feel much better about their lives - both personally and professionally. If you want to inspire employees to get in the game and quit being cynical about the difference they can make, this keynote is for you. Kellie is real and shares practical ideas with employees on how to quit fighting change, get aligned while remaining authentic, gain influence with bosses and have more fun at work.

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Culture change: It's all about you

The most difficult concept for most leaders to grasp is that culture isn't an ‘add-on’ responsibility. It's about ‘how’ people do ‘what’ they do. You don't set aside time to ‘do’ culture. It's something you live and breathe every day. How we compliment others (or don’t), coach them on performance issues, invite or don’t invite input, handle problems – all of these how’s define your culture. A common refrain is, “We don’t have time to add culture to our work; we’re already over-burdened.”  This is the crux of the issue. Without seeing that how you do your work now IS the culture, it's tough to shift the work environment to what you say you want it to be. Fish can't see the water they're swimming in.

 

This presentation targets leaders at all levels and is tailored to the individual audience. It can also be adapted to address employees.