Women In Business Speakers

Gai Waterhouse

Gai Waterhouse is one of the leading horse racing trainers in Australia and her biography is fascinating. Waterhouse horses have won the Melbourne Cup as well as the Victoria Derby amongst numerous Group 1 wins. Gai Waterhouse is a phenomenon and her achievements are a testimony to what vision, planning, hard work, energy and dedication can produce. Gai has been honoured with the Westpac Business Owner Award and in 2000 was named the state's top businesswoman as the Telstra NSW Businesswoman of the Year.

Gemma Sisia

From God's house to the school house, Gemma Sisia has given many children the gift of education in Tanzania. With only $10 in her bank account, the former Guyra farm girl set up a school in Tanzania for poor but bright African children. Gemma found sponsors and supporters in Australia, and literally helped build the school - brick by brick - on an idyllic piece of land at the foot of Mount Meru in Tanzania. She named the school 'St Jude's' after the patron saint of lost causes - but in fact the school is a huge success, bringing a decent modern education to 890 kids who would otherwise be doing manual labour. She's written about her amazing experiences in her book called, simply, St Jude's. Gemma Sisla's story challenges us with the evidence of how the determination of one person can help change the world.

Georgie Stayches

With international, domestic and local as well as major, mass participation, business and community events under her belt, teamed with a long career in media and communications, Georgie brings a human lens to how we design CX and how every little detail impacts how a customer interprets, experiences and recalls a situation or event - from our senses to our built and natural environment.

Georgie is passionate about identifying the purpose and understanding human behaviour to create the best event and audience experience.

Graeme Wood

Graeme Wood Founder and Executive Director for Wotif revolutionised the travel industry in Australia in 2000. From his simple and innovative idea, Graeme has grown Wotif Holdings into a global company with a team of over 145 employees worldwide. Graeme's background is in information technology, with more than 30 years experience in the field of information systems and software development, beginning with NCR and later IBM. His career as an entrepreneur began in the early 1980s with the first of several technology start-ups.

Gretel Killeen

Most commonly known as the host of the phenomenally successful television program Big Brother, Gretel Killeen is also a best-selling international author of nineteen books and winner of the 2001 MO Award for Best Female Comic. On television she featured as a 'Beauty' on Beauty and the Beast and appeared as Ray Martin's wife for three years in the cult classic A Town Like Dallas (The Midday Show). Known as the 'Queen' of voice-overs for over fifteen years, Gretel also shared a ratings-winning breakfast show on Austereo. In her earlier years Gretel had the hallmarks of an academic - school captain, a member of the Australian Debating Team - however she dropped out of law school after six weeks, when she couldn't find the exam room. Six months later she accidentally started a career as a stand-up comic when she performed a serious poem and the audience laughed.

Heidi Dening

Heidi Dening is an award-winning businesswoman, author of the bestseller Her Middle Name Is Courage, and an engaging storyteller who has dedicated her career to inspiring thousands of people all over the world - from small children on remote Pacific islands to professional teams across 19 different industries.

Her goal is to elevate the professional resilience of audiences so they can make better decisions, be more innovative, have more energy, optimism and empathy, and successfully deal with change, stress, and uncertainty.

Holly Bryar

Crowned Miss Sydney Australia (2016) at the 6th annual sustainability pageant, Holly was determined from a young age to chase her dreams of working behind and in front of the camera.

After High School, she secured early entry into Charles Sturt University undertaking a double degree in TV Production & Graphic Design. It was during those four years Holly developed her love for creating children's content within film, television and design.

Upon completing her degree, Holly relocated to Sydney taking time to pursue her passion for acting. She completed various short courses at NIDA under the guidance of Don Christopher, Brendon McDonnell & Serhat Caradee (AFI/AACTA nominee). Soon after she was accepted into NIDA?S part-time course - Advanced Screen Actors Studio with Writer/Directors Elissa Down (Black Balloon) and Craig Boreham (Teenage Kicks). 

Holly has worked alongside the talented production teams of much-loved children's programs Giggle & Hoot and Play School at ABC Kids TV. She currently works freelance and still continues her passion for performing arts.

Holly Stiel

Holly Stiel is a trailblazing service philosopher who innovated a method of training based on her 17 years as a world-class concierge. Her clients include: Disney, Nordstrom, AVEDA, American Express, Visa Signature card, Hilton and Hyatt hotels. Stiel's 30 years of service experience have been parlayed into four books and three award-winning instructional DVDs. She custom designs corporate training programs and delivers inspirational talks and training classes.

Indra Nooyi

Indra Nooyi is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo (2006-2019); a Fortune 50 company with operations in more than 180 countries.

In this role, Ms Nooyi was the chief architect of Performance with Purpose, PepsiCo's pledge to do what's right for the business by being responsive to the needs of the world around it. As part of Performance with Purpose, PepsiCo was focused on delivering sustained growth by expanding its portfolio to include more nutritious products, limiting its environmental footprint, and empowering its associates and people in the communities it serves. During her tenure, PepsiCo grew net revenue more than 80%, and PepsiCo's total shareholder return was 162% beating the S&P over the same period.

Prior to becoming CEO, Ms Nooyi served as PepsiCo's president and chief financial officer and was a member of the company's board of directors. She was responsible for corporate functions, including finance, strategy, business process optimization, corporate platforms and innovation, procurement, investor relations and information technology. Between 1994 and 2000, Ms Nooyi directed corporate strategy and development for the company.

Before joining PepsiCo in 1994, Ms Nooyi spent four years as Senior Vice President of Strategy, Planning and Strategic Marketing for Asea Brown Boveri, a Zurich-based company. She was part of the top management team responsible for the company's U.S. business as well as its worldwide industrial businesses, representing about $10 billion of ABB's $30 billion in global sales.

Between 1986 and 1990, Mrs. Nooyi worked for Motorola, where she was Vice President and Director of Corporate Strategy and Planning, having joined the company as the business development executive responsible for its automotive and industrial electronics group. Prior to Motorola, she spent six years directing international corporate strategy projects at The Boston Consulting Group. Her clients ranged from textiles and consumer goods companies to retailers and specialty chemicals producers. Ms Nooyi began her career in India, where she held product manager positions at Johnson & Johnson and Mettur Beardsell, Ltd., a textile firm.

Ms Nooyi served as a member of the PepsiCo Board of Directors from 2001 to February 2019. Ms Nooyi is now a member of the board of Amazon, where she chairs the audit committee. She sits on the supervisory board of Philips and is a member of the nominating and corporate governance committee. She also serves on the International Advisory Council of Temasek; is an independent director of the International Cricket Council; and a trustee at the National Gallery of Art. She is on the Dean's Advisory Council at MIT's School of Engineering and serves on the boards of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the Partnership for Public Service. She is also an advisor to several early-stage companies.

Between 2019-2022, Ms Nooyi served as the Class of 1951 Chair for the Study of Leadership at West Point where she worked with the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership to fulfill the mission of character at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. She was also co-chair of The Reopen Connecticut Advisory Group, developing recommendations and guidelines for reactivating the state's economy post-pandemic.

Nooyi is the author of the book My Life in Full: Work, Family and Our Future, a memoir that offers insight and a call-to-action on how our society can blend work and family - and advance women - in the 21st century. My Life in Full is a New York Times bestseller and available in multiple languages.

Ms Nooyi is the recipient of 15 honorary degrees. In 2007, the Government of India awarded her the Padma Bhushan, the country's 3rd highest civilian honor. In that same year, she was named an "Outstanding American by choice" by the US State Department. In 2019, her portrait was inducted into the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, and in 2021 she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts of Sciences, the Academy of Science and the American Philosophical Society. She is a revered role model for women and immigrants and celebrated for her empowering messages on inclusivity.

She holds a B.S. from Madras Christian College, an M.B.A. from the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta, and a Master of Public and Private Management from Yale University. Ms Nooyi is married and has two daughters.

Back to Top