Biography

Heidi Dening is an international keynote speaker, author and professional resilience educator. She helps leaders and teams perform under pressure, adapt to business challenges and make better decisions when it matters most.

Drawing on more than 27 years of business, education and leadership experience, along with extraordinary lived adversity, Heidi turns complex professional challenges into practical ideas audiences can use immediately.

Over more than 27 years, Heidi has built and sold an award-winning health and education business, founded an international not-for-profit with volunteers across three countries, and delivered keynote presentations and professional development programs across APAC and internationally.

Her clients have included Coca-Cola, LVMH, Westpac, Manulife, and Metcash, across topics including professional resilience, self-leadership and performance under pressure.

Heidi Dening is an award-winning international keynote speaker, author and professional resilience educator whose work has been recognised across speaking, business, education and community leadership.

She was named Best International Keynote Speaker (Asia Pacific) in the 2020 Acquisition International Worldwide Finance Awards and was included in the 50 Best Keynote Speakers on Rejecting Hustle Culture (2026), in the Global and Cross-Cultural Voices category.

Heidi has also been featured across television, radio, print and podcasts, including Channel Nine’s Weekend Today, SBS News, Women’s Agenda, SmartCompany and Mamamia.

Read more about Heidi’s awards and recognition.

Heidi’s work is shaped by extraordinary lived experience, including a paralysing illness that left her unable to walk, a gunpoint kidnapping, a life-threatening tsunami, a catastrophic earthquake and petrol bombs being thrown at her bedroom while she was leading a team in the Pacific.

These experiences are not shared for shock value. They are the foundation for the practical frameworks she teaches about choice, courage, connection and professional resilience.

Combined with more than 27 years of business, education and leadership experience, they give Heidi a rare ability to help audiences understand what it takes to think clearly, adapt and keep moving forward when circumstances are far from ideal.

Heidi believes that education changes lives, and that is why she has made it her mission to empower leaders and their teams to strengthen their professional resilience and embrace self-leadership strategies so they can overcome adversity, rise out of tough times and remain capable, future-focused professionals.

She is humbled that her keynote presentations, training and development programs, best-selling book, virtual masterclasses, insightful content and regular contributions to global education projects have transformed the lives of tens of thousands of people worldwide.