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Harriet Waley-Cohen

travels from UK

Multi award-winning speaker and coach in the corporate world supporting diversity, equity & inclusion, gender balance and women’s empowerment.

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4.75 out of 5 stars

"Harriet is an honest and genuine speaker who everyone in the room could relate to on some level - her own honesty has helped to break the stigma around mental well-being and has already inspired some positive change in our workplace. I would recommend Harriet to any organisation looking to promote emotional well-being, and to anyone looking for the tools to take a proactive approach to their own mental health."

Shannon Walsh - Goodman Masson See all references

Why you should book Harriet Waley-Cohen for your next event

  • Harriet has a wealth of personal experience and expertise to draw from, making her relatable and empowering speaker.
  • Harriet is a accomplished speaker with awards in storytelling and leadership.
  • Harriet is deeply committed to advocating for women’s rights and promoting gender equality, making her an impactful addition to any event.
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About Harriet

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International Keynote speaker Harriet Waley-Cohen is a certified health coach and women's leadership coach, and entrepreneur. She empowers women to make life-changing transformations to become the most powerful versions of themselves, and thus to fulfil their potential and purpose.  

Why you should book Harriet Waley-Cohen for your next event

  • Harriet has a wealth of personal experience and expertise to draw from, making her relatable and empowering speaker.
  • Harriet is a accomplished speaker with awards in storytelling and leadership.
  • Harriet is deeply committed to advocating for women’s rights and promoting gender equality, making her an impactful addition to any event.

Hunted down to speak for audiences including Microsoft, Barclays, and Invesco, Harriet has empowered thousands of people over the last 19 years to believe in themselves and their potential. 

She has been through multiple transformations and knows what it takes to make deep rooted changes that stick, and to get through tough times and come out the other side stronger and wiser. Harriet is 20 years in recovery from addictions, left an unhappy marriage and went on to thrive, shifted from a 10-year banking career into motherhood and entrepreneurship, overcame a pain condition after being driven into on the motorway in 2016, and is a breast cancer survivor. 

Harriet’s mission is to make sure women know their true value and can make the impact they want to make in the world. 

She knows how vital it is that the cultural conditions in organisations and in society at large are supportive; empowering women from the bottom up will not be enough without big picture change to end inequality and the structural oppression of women. The benefits to organisations and the world go far beyond individual women, from higher and more sustainable profits to better wellbeing, spread of money and power, and environmental health. 

She is described by Vanessa Vallely OBE, MD of WeAreThe City as ‘a real superwoman who empowers others wherever she goes.’ 

Harriet won Best Storyteller and Most Memorable Speaker at The UK Female Speakers Conference in 2019, and was also given an award for leadership in the world by The Network for Transformational Leaders. 

She is a certified Health Coach (IIN), Women’s Leadership Coach (One of many), an accredited VictimFocus trainer, and has a B.Sc. in Psychology. 

 

See keynotes with Harriet Waley-Cohen
Keynote by Harriet Waley-Cohen

From Imposter to Invincible

In this workshop, Harriet explores research insights that will help the audience to abandon seeing imposter syndrome as a mindset, individual issue to understanding corporate, cultural and structural triggers. The biggest myths around imposter syndrome will be exposed, enabling better understanding and breakthroughs. The audience will learn and move beyond the mistakes individuals make that can embed imposter syndrome and be taken through mindset shifts and practical actions steps to empower them to stop feeling like a fraud, show up confidently, step into their power and have the success and respect they deserve.

Keynote by Harriet Waley-Cohen

Own Your Brilliance: Turn Your inner Critic into an Inner Cheerleader

In this transformative interactive workshop, Harriet teaches her audience the science behind the inner critic. By going through the mistakes ambitious men and women make in their quest for confidence and success, and presenting some powerful guiding principles, participants leave being able to own their brilliance and expertise. The result? Confident, successful professionals who are in control of their inner world, no longer restrained by their inner critics. 

Keynote by Harriet Waley-Cohen

Progress, Not Perfection: The Toxicity of Perfectionism and How to Break Free

In this interactive talk, Harriet will explain the different aspects to perfectionism including its positive and negative behavioural, emotional and mindset markers. She will share research findings into the causes and impact of toxic perfectionism, including how it affects men and women differently. Harriet will then explore how intersectional factors can contribute to perfectionism. The final part of the workshop is dedicated to empowering the audience to shift to the healthier, more productive paradigm of progress and self-validation, thus ensuring far greater wellbeing, confidence and success in the future. 

Keynote by Harriet Waley-Cohen

Before You Lead Others, Lead Yourself

In this keynote, Harriet creates a clear contrast between leadership of others and self-leadership. She outlines the power of self-leadership as a key driver of success, being respected by others and seen as having leadership potential, as well as feeling confidently in control.  This talk will enable participant to move beyond limiting beliefs and behaviours that will prevent them from having excellent self-leadership. The audience will learn key pillars of self-leadership including practical actions steps to take immediately: mindset, confidence, self-awareness and more. 

Keynote by Harriet Waley-Cohen

Women & The Self-Worth Crisis: A Call to Action

In this powerful, eye-opening keynote, Harriet explores why women don’t women feel good enough, through outlining the impact on women’s self-worth of cultural, media, political, medical, corporate and religious paradigms. Harriet will also outline the additional impact of intersectional factors and individual life experiences. The detrimental impact of women feeling inadequate is outlined at individual, organisational and global levels. Harriet works with the audience to co-create a vision for the future, ensuring that personal and organisational pledges plus action steps are defined, with the aim of creating a new future where women are valued and know their worth. 

Keynote by Harriet Waley-Cohen

Why should we care about gender balance? How could this be important contributor to future success?

In this workshop, Harriet shifts the conversation around gender balance far beyond the moral case to encompass several more layers through her unique framework, supporting her audience to become pro-active allies for gender balance, inclusion and belonging. Risks and opportunities are discussed at the business, brand and individual career level. A powerful part of this session is an open conversation exploring how the current, patriarchal system hurts men as well as women, albeit in different ways. A shared vision is created for a different way forward on a bigger picture level: how would we like it to be for men in the future, and what difference would that make? How might gender balance and a different culture in the workplace be part of this? What kind of difference will it make for women, humanity and the planet?

Keynote by Harriet Waley-Cohen

From the conceptual to the practical at the individual level: the future of allyship and leadership

In this session, Harriet outline what someone would be like who is either upholding the current system of inequality, or to be neutral or to be proactively part of change. Allyship is for all, not just an expectation for men to change. The identity, mindset and behaviour of an excellent ally. This session includes permission to get it wrong and an opportunity to air concerns. Part of being an excellent ally is being a leader for the future: research insights on leadership traits and career cycle norms, how these interplay with gender stereotyping, and barriers to diversity, equity, inclusion and gender balance. The latest research into the behaviours, skills and values the leaders of the future need, and the role of self-leadership within this. 

Keynote by Harriet Waley-Cohen

From the conceptual to the practical at the organisational level

What could change at the organisational level to help your organisation lead the way in the industry on diversity and gender balance? Hiring/promoting processes, general culture, performance measurement, remuneration criteria, parental, caring responsibility and flexible working policies. Measuring and tracking. 

Create a top level project plan. The staff and especially the leadership team know best how to create change and make it happen internally – so what works and what commitments are realistic now, and in the future. Time frames. Communication plan. 

 

    Keynote from speaker Harriet Waley-Cohen

    Emotional Wellbeing Masterclass

    • In this interactive talk, Harriet explains how to understand emotions in a way that is simple yet powerful helpful for seeing emotions as useful guidance tools. Harriet also covers how to pro-actively manage emotional wellbeing, how to cope when strong powerful emotions suddenly rise up, and how to communicate emotions in an empowered way for productive conversations and good results.

    Keynote from speaker Harriet Waley-Cohen

    Emotional Wellbeing: Progress Not Perfection

    • Speaker Harriet Waley-Cohen shows her audience the ways in which perfectionism can be both positive and negative are put forward, with an emphasis on discovering the ways in which perfectionism can be toxic for wellbeing, career and mental health. An alternative paradigm is put forward, where participants learn alternative ways of doing and being to toxic perfectionism in every area of life including their business lives.

    Keynote from speaker Harriet Waley-Cohen

    Women’s Leadership: How to Unleash Your Inner Powerwoman

    • In this interactive talk, Harriet unveils the key ways women can disempower themselves and hold themselves back in their career and wider life. Impactful solutions are put forward that can be implemented immediately to enable women to step into the most powerful version of themselves.

     

    Keynote from speaker Harriet Waley-Cohen

    Women’s Leadership: The Essential Qualities of Being A Powerful Female Leader

    • Drawing on the strengths of different female archetypes such as the queen, Harriet dives into the qualities of different styles of powerful female leadership, illustrating that power, confidence and being a woman in business are far from incompatible.

     

    Keynote from speaker Harriet Waley-Cohen

    Women’s Leadership: Speak up For Yourself With Confidence

    • In this interactive talk, you will learn hacks for changing different aspects of language, the use of the voice, and negotiation tactics, thus empowering women to be truly confident about speaking up for themselves and making the impact they want to make in their career and wider life.
Harriet Waley-Cohen - video

An Inside Out Solution To The Outside In Problem of Toxic Perfectionism

Click on the video to get a foretaste of a keynote by Harriet Waley-Cohen

See keynotes with Harriet Waley-Cohen

References

Harriet is an honest and genuine speaker who everyone in the room could relate to on some level - her own honesty has helped to break the stigma around mental well-being and has already inspired some positive change in our workplace. I would recommend Harriet to any organisation looking to promote emotional well-being, and to anyone looking for the tools to take a proactive approach to their own mental health.

Shannon Walsh

Goodman Masson

I really enjoyed learning more about my needs! How important it is to make sure they are met. Also loved #findyourmission. I was very interested in the way we had to think about us. Thing that is basic but we don't think about it. The pyramide (noisy/nice/need). Having tools & real experiences to explain the subject/idea. The description/perception of perfection - real life story: very interesting, I'm very impressed. Recognising the complexity of emotion and the practical solutions offered. Very relevant topic in today's highly demanding world - the importance of media was well explained.

Henriette Phillips

Parent & Professional Coaching
03.10.2016

Interview with Harriet Waley-Cohen

Who or what inspires you most?

I am inspired by people who are willing to keep going through thick and thin to make change happen – whether that’s for themselves, their families, for humanity or for the planet in general. I also find people who don’t give up easily inspiring, as well as people who aren’t afraid to stand out from the crowd and stand up for what they believe in, even if that might carry a personal cost to them. Malala Yousafzai is one example of someone who inspires me.

Do you have a favourite experience from your speaking career?

I was thrilled to be invited to speak at a fundraising event for The Orchid Trust  in June 2015, and I will always remember that night for several reasons. It was a very enjoyable evening, the audience were high engaged with the speakers and entertainers, a significant amount of money was raised to fund new projects and my talk on female sexuality and intimacy in relationships was extremely well received. Without a doubt, it was the time I’ve had the most fun on stage too!

What makes your keynotes and workshops unique?

I bring heart, passion, authenticity and my personal experience to every talk and workshop. I’m not afraid to show audiences who I am, what I’ve been through and draw on every aspect of my life experience and training to deliver points and learnings with maximum impact. Connecting with the audience is the number one way to make a lasting impact and an element of vulnerability to achieve that is essential.

In your opinion, what are the most important factors for mental wellbeing?

The greatest influencers on mental wellbeing range from our home surroundings, how satisfied we are with our career and relationships, to our physical health, which covers exercise and diet, and to our ability to make space for creative expression and spirituality.

Every person is different in terms of the key things that make them happy and fulfilled – for one person music might be essential and for another, getting out into nature frequently makes all the difference.

That said, the ability to take a step back from the minutiae of life, assess what is out of balance and then invest time in those areas that make us feel happy, is vital. Having an effective inner support circle is also extremely important.

Can you give three tips for individuals struggling with low self-esteem?

I’d suggest putting into place a plan of action that lifts self-esteem by showing yourself that you are a person of worth. Esteem grows with estimable actions. This might be to do with what you wear, how you feed yourself or some other way.

Second, find a way to be of service to others, so that you feel like a productive and valued member of society. Volunteer work can be wonderful here.

Thirdly, make a list every night of three positive things that happened that day that you played a part in making happen, and then list one thing you’d like to work on improving for the next day. This gives balance and over time, helps people to see that not only do positive things happen for them, they play a vital role in making them happen.

See keynotes with Harriet Waley-Cohen
Non-binding request for Harriet Waley-Cohen

Send a simple request. You’ll get a quick reply with fees and availability

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Harriet Waley-Cohen
Harriet Waley-Cohen

4.75 out of 5 stars

"Harriet is an honest and genuine speaker who everyone in the room could relate to on some level - her own honesty has helped to break the stigma around mental well-being and has already inspired some positive change in our workplace. I would recommend Harriet to any organisation looking to promote emotional well-being, and to anyone looking for the tools to take a proactive approach to their own mental health."

Shannon Walsh - Goodman Masson See all references

Keynote topics with Harriet Waley-Cohen