Why some people and teams hold firm under pressure while others break

Leadership | Team Performance

Two teams face the same pressure. One holds together. The other starts to crack. Why?

Most organisations are asking more of their people than ever. Workloads keep growing and good people are burning out or leaving. Leaders are left wondering why resilience programs haven't made more of a difference.

Think of two buildings caught in the same earthquake. One remains standing while the other collapses. The force matters, but so does how each building is designed, how the load is distributed and its ability to flex without failing.

People and teams aren't so different.

Drawing on my journey to the summit of Everest, including the times my own inner structure didn't hold, I introduce Human Structural Integrity, a different way of understanding resilience. It looks beyond individual toughness to the foundations within us and the relationships and systems around us.

This keynote gives leaders a practical way to see where people and teams are vulnerable, and to build human structures that can withstand pressure without becoming rigid or breaking apart.

Because sustainable performance isn't about asking people to carry more. It's about strengthening what supports them.

Your audience will take away:

• Why building stronger individuals isn't enough when the systems around them remain vulnerable

• How to recognise the early warning signs that demands are exceeding capacity

• How to spot hidden risks like uneven workloads and over-reliance on particular people, and what to do about them

• Practical ways to strengthen trust and shared responsibility for sustainable performance

Closing the gap between the culture you describe and the one you live

Culture | Leadership

Every team tells a story about who they are. But is it the story people actually experience, or the one they think others want to hear?

The values are on the wall and the engagement survey says one thing, yet the conversations in the corridor say another. When people feel they can only say what's expected, the gap between the culture we describe and the one we live quietly grows. Trust erodes and good people start to disengage.

The real story shows up in everyday decisions, especially in what gets tolerated when things become difficult.

From my years leading schools and working across different cultures, I've seen how our shared sense of identity shapes the way we behave and what we come to expect from one another.

This keynote helps leaders and teams look honestly at the gap between intention and experience, and create the openness needed to close it.

Because a strong culture isn't built through what an organisation says about itself. It's built through what people consistently experience.

Your audience will take away:

• An understanding of how shared stories and unspoken expectations shape behaviour

• Ways to recognise where the official story differs from people's lived experience

• How to create conditions where people feel able to speak openly, rather than saying what's expected

• Practical starting points for rebuilding trust and bringing shared values into everyday decisions

Bringing inclusion inside

Inclusion | Wellbeing

We talk a lot about diversity, equity and inclusion in our workplaces and communities. But what if we applied those same principles to the different parts within ourselves?

Each of us is one person, but we're made up of many parts. There's the confident part that speaks up in meetings and the part that worries about getting things wrong. There's the ambitious part that wants to step forward and the cautious part that holds us back.

Some parts we proudly show the world. Others we try to hide or push away.

Yet every part has its place.

Inner diversity is recognising the many different parts of ourselves. Inner equity is understanding that each part has different needs and deserves an appropriate voice. Inner inclusion is making room for all of who we are, including the parts we'd prefer to hide.

That doesn't mean letting every part take charge. It means understanding what each part is telling us and choosing how we respond.

When we stop treating parts of ourselves as unwelcome, we respond more thoughtfully under pressure, and we become better equipped to extend genuine inclusion to others.

Your audience will take away:

• A fresh understanding of how diversity, equity and inclusion can apply within ourselves

• Ways to recognise the inner voices and needs influencing their reactions and decisions

• How to acknowledge difficult emotions without letting them drive behaviour

• Practical approaches to self-acceptance that strengthen wellbeing and relationships with others

Finding your way forward when the life you planned changes

Change | Transition

When the life we planned changes, the obvious question is "What happens next?" Often the harder one is "Who am I now?"

After a restructure, the organisational chart can change overnight. Our sense of who we are and where we belong often takes much longer to adjust. Many people stay stuck or quietly disengaged long after the change itself has happened.

The same is true in life. A lost role, an unexpected diagnosis, a relationship ending or a dream that doesn't unfold as planned can shake far more than our circumstances. It can unsettle the whole story we've built about who we are.

Weaving in my own experiences of disruption and finding my footing again, I introduce the Identity Realignment Cycle™, a model I've developed to help people understand the stages we move through when change disrupts our sense of self.

This keynote helps people recognise where they are in the process of change, and what might be keeping them stuck, so they can begin taking meaningful steps forward.

Moving forward isn't necessarily about getting back to who we were. Sometimes it's about discovering who we're becoming.

Your audience will take away:

• An understanding of why major changes can unsettle our identity, not just our circumstances

• A practical way to recognise where they are in the process of change and what may help them move forward

• How to identify personal stories or assumptions that may be keeping them stuck

• Ways to reconnect with what matters most and take purposeful action when the future feels uncertain

Telling the difference between real limits and the ones we've simply assumed

Courage | Possibility

When people hear that I climbed Mount Everest while living with multiple sclerosis, they often expect a story about how anything is possible.

That's not what I believe.

Some limits are real, and they deserve our respect. But many of the limits we live by are ones we've simply accepted without ever testing whether they're true.

What have you already decided is beyond you, without ever really finding out?

Through stories from my adventures, including some wonderfully imperfect moments along the way, I invite audiences to question the assumptions shaping their lives. Sometimes the wisest decision is to accept a boundary. Other times, it's worth finding out whether an assumption still holds true.

Because sometimes the biggest shift isn't believing anything is possible. It's being willing to ask, "What if I could?"

Your audience will take away:

• Greater awareness of how self-limiting beliefs influence their choices

• Ways to distinguish genuine limitations from assumptions they've never tested

• How to decide which boundaries deserve respect and which assumptions are worth exploring

• Practical ways to take considered action without waiting until they feel completely confident

An epic adventure story

Conferences | Special Events

In 2023, I reached around 8,000 metres on Mount Everest, only to discover that the oxygen I needed to continue wasn't there. My summit attempt was over, roughly 850 metres short of the top of the world.

What followed was one of the hardest periods of my life.

Three years later, in May 2026, I went back. At 54, living with multiple sclerosis, I stood on the summit, becoming the first Australian with MS to climb the world's highest mountain.

But the summit is only a small part of the story.

Told through breathtaking photographs and video from the mountain, this is the full Everest adventure, from the first improbable dream to the final steps onto the summit. It's a journey filled with remarkable people and moments of real danger, with humour and heartbreak along the way.

And beneath the adventure is a deeply human story about knowing when to turn back and finding the courage to begin again.

Your audience will experience:

• An unforgettable journey through Everest, from preparation and base camp to the summit

• The physical and emotional realities of climbing in the Death Zone

• Why trust and the support of others matter when pursuing ambitious goals

• A story that reminds us an ending isn't always the end of the journey

"Jen came to talk to us about her experience climbing her mountain, and I was honestly captivated from the get-go. Jen is authentic. Jen is brave. She is a modern-day adventurer who tells her story with depth, humour, and clarity. A gifted storyteller and natural on stage, Jen's ability to inspire and engage makes her an exceptional speaker for leaders and large groups. She shares the journey of someone audacious enough to set a crazy goal and go for it, covering planning, execution, recovery, and redirection for further success. I'm so grateful I was able to hear her story. It was such a privilege—I hope you do too!"

Carla Khoo

Program Manager, Everest Engineering

“Jen’s talk on identity and alignment through challenge and change gave our team a powerful new lens for understanding both our clients and ourselves. Her story, from navigating MS to climbing Ama Dablam and Everest, was deeply inspiring and beautifully connected to real-life adaptability. We left with insights we can immediately apply in our work and our own lives.”

Helena Ashurst

Sales & Marketing Consultant, Ray White Rockhampton