2020 Influential Businesswoman Awards

Acquisition International - 2020 Worldwide Finance Awards 19 eidi Dening, an empowering speaker, author and educator, has dedicated her career spanning twenty-two years to transforming the lives of thousands of leaders and their teams across the globe, teaching them to strengthen their resilience and embrace self- leadership strategies so they can rise above adversities better and brighter than ever before. Delivering powerful insights on stage, in workplaces, via online platforms or through her bestselling book, ‘Her Middle Name Is Courage – How Self-Leadership Transforms Pressure into Performance, Chaos into Clarity, and Rage into Resilience’, Heidi works with clients across industries to spread her universal message of resilience, courage, self-leadership and wellness; a message that is arguably more significant now than it has ever been. As the founder and CEO of her own organisation with experience in the finance, professional services, health and education sector, Heidi’s presentations and programs are a unique compilation of science-based facts from her degree, knowledge cultivated from over two decades of owning three successful businesses and insights about facing adversities based on her own experiences with a paralysing illness, tsunami terror and more. Beginning her career as a secondary school teacher in some of the best and worst institutions in Sydney, Vanuatu and London, Heidi quickly learned the skills to engage and inspire a notoriously tricky audience: a room full of teenage girls. These skills proved vital later in her career, and by comparison, no audience has ever proved so challenging! However, the highlight of Heidi’s career was the success of her health, fitness and education organisation, that she grew from her garage with $200 worth of second-hand equipment into a large, award- winning business, which she sold seventeen years later on her own terms. Heidi herself has become president of the industry body and built a resilient and successful company within one of Australia’s most transient industries. Heidi attracts companies across a variety of sectors, but they all share an understanding of the importance of their people, united in the knowledge that education creates lifechanging opportunities for individuals but also improves the business as a whole. According to the Association for Talent Development (ATD), companies that offer comprehensive training programs have a 218% higher income per employee than companies without formalised training. Through her programs, Heidi aims to bring out ideal attributes in individuals to help them and their businesses thrive in unpredictable climates. Now more than ever, organisations are looking for calm, kind, smart and visionary leaders to pull them through a challenging period. The outbreak of Covid-19 has had its impacts on business activity for Heidi as it has for businesses all over the world, but Heidi has been quick to adapt, offering the majority of her programs and presentations Across Heidi Dening’s work as a speaker, author and educator, her message is always clear; education changes lives. Having built and sold an award-winning health and education business, founded an international non-profit with volunteers across three countries, faced life-threatening adversities and debilitating illness and published her own bestselling self-leadership book, Heidi is an expert in resilience. Her work is currently dedicated to making sure organisations and their people are resilient enough to pull through stressful and changeable times such as these. Heidi Dening H through online mediums. This has actually meant business has been able to grow, with her global reach constantly expanding and Heidi being able to continue working creatively with organisations who believe the professional development of their teams is still the highest priority. While Heidi is keen to get back on stage soon, she is delighted to be able to continue working virtually and is currently working on the launch of ‘The Workplace Resilience Project’, a program designed specifically for organisations who care about their people, their brand and their bottom line. Focusing on creating safe environments, relevant policies, empowering education programs and realistic performance measurements, this program is designed to ensure workplaces can not only survive adversities, but they can thrive from them. Having always run her own business, Heidi considers herself fortunate to have avoided the majority of inequality that women in the corporate world often face. However, living by the words of David Morrison – “the standard you walk past, is the standard you accept” – Heidi works hard to ensure everyone has access to education, regardless of their age, gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation. Supporting disadvantaged children around the world, Heidi uses her resources to provide educational material to communities and families who do not ordinarily have access. As businesses become increasingly reliant on leadership training and motivation to pull through a period that is challenging all across the world, Heidi is well situated to provide the services and resources to bolster organisations of any shape or size. Meanwhile, as she pursues her own dreams, including to deliver a Ted Talk in the near future, there is no doubt that Heidi Dening is one to watch. Company: Heidi Dening Web Address: www.heididening.com Best International Keynote Speaker (Asia Pacific)