Distinguished resilience expert and award-winning author, Heidi Dening is a truly inspirational speaker who has transformed the lives of thousands of people around the globe. Showcasing profound courage in her personal life, Heid has overcome many adversities such as escaping being burnt when petrol bombs were thrown at her room, gunpoint kidnappings, tsunami terror and briefly losing the use of her legs from a paralysing illness. Her ability to move forward and progress with her life after suffering many challenges is very inspirational. As a speaker, Heidi shares the secret behind her courage, in addition to giving presentations on self-leadership, resilience and wellbeing.
After graduating from the Australian College of Physical Education with a degree in Health and Physical Education/Fitness, Heidi began her career as a Personal Development Teacher with the NSW Department of Education. She then landed a prestigious job where she was responsible for taking care of Senior Executives of Dow Chemical and their clients at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Heidi went on to launch the Jump Start Foundation a non-profit specialising in education and raising literacy levels in remote communities. For her outstanding work with the charity, Heidi was awarded the Australian Day Merit Award and Rotary International’s Paul Harris Fellows Award. Also, an astute businesswoman, after scaling her business Jump Start Your Life for 18 years, she sold it in 2015.
Heidi’s expertise as a resilience expert has seen her make regular media appearances on prominent media outlets. Recently she made an appearance on Channel Nine’s Weekend Today and was featured in a full-page article in a leading newspaper. Her resilience programs are also highly sought after by prominent businesses and Heidi has delivered presentations for prestigious organisations including Westpac, Accenture, ServiceNSW and Metcash to name a few. An accomplished writer, Heidi published her award-winning book, Her Middle Name is Courage where she shares strategies to overcome setbacks using personal anecdotes.
A role model for many, Heidi has won multiple awards including Westpac’s International Women’s Day Local Hero Award, she was named Best International Keynote Speaker in the Asia Pacific region and was listed on the NSW Government’s Inspirational Women showcase in the entrepreneurial and empowerment category. Heidi’s work examining the relationship between workplaces, stress, resilience, productivity, and mental health places her at the forefront of cutting-edge data, which she shares in her presentations. As an exceptional speaker, Heidi’s ability to mix science-based facts, business knowledge and personal experiences, allows her to deliver informative and highly captivating talks.
