Company: The Audacious Agency, Australia
Company Description: The Audacious Agency empowers and supports women in business to enter business awards. Their mission is to help women embrace owning their successes and shine the light on all they do. Using their decades of experience in PR and branding, they educate and guide women to leverage the process to stand out and be well known, well paid and wanted.
Nomination Category: Thought Leadership Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Female Thought Leader of the Year - Business Services
 Nomination Title: TONI POWELL
- Briefly describe the nominated individual: history and past performance (up to 200 words):
Total 199 words used.
In 2009, Toni Powell’s life fell apart in a fairly public way. The domino effect included losing her home, the family business, her self-worth, many treasured relationships, and her big, beautiful, dream project. This resulted in devastating mental anguish that Powell seemed unable to escape. After a year on the couch crying, lost in depression and suicidal thoughts, she decided to take action and find ways to help herself.
Her journey to wellbeing led her to film interviews with many researchers, authors, and leading lights in the fields of happiness, neuroscience, gratitude, and wellbeing. What she discovered amazed her, healed her troubled mind, and filled her with hope.
Since 2011, Toni has taught all she learned in a hilarious mix of neuroscience, comedy, lived experience, true stories, short film and life wisdom through in-house workshops, books, conference speaking and online coaching courses. She helps thousands of people stop stressing, change their mindset and enjoy their lives fully.
Her ability to identify the issues and effectively communicate simple and memorable solutions across all ages and sectors has made her one of the most recognised and enjoyed positive culture/wellbeing communicators in Australia. She’s a TEDx speaker, award winning filmmaker and author.
- Outline the nominee's thought leadership achievements since July 1 2020 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Total 248 words used.
In 2019, Toni worked with the leadership team at Coolum High School, after discovering a huge morale problem among staff - with 70% reporting low morale. By mid 2020, the situation reversed and 70% reported high morale.
AVID AUSTRALIA (an arm of Victoria University) heard about the rapid turnaround at Coolum and asked Toni to develop a program for struggling female school principals. Taking her wellbeing and positive culture material, she turned into a 31 video online coaching course called HAPPY HEALTHY PRINCIPALS. In Term 4, 2020, the first dozen principals participated.
The results were beyond anyone’s expectations, and all participants experienced significant, often profound, life change.
Toni has delivered the Happy Healthy Principals and Happy Healthy Educators coached program to hundreds of school leaders. The WA Department of Education offered a suite of Toni’s programs for principals, deputies, business managers, and various other departments because the feedback and results are so compelling. Some leaders coached their own teams through the online program wanting the whole staff to benefit in the same way they have.
Word spread organically about the quality and effectiveness of her programs, so she’s now a learning partner with the Queensland Association of School Principals (Qassp), AVID Australia (Vic Uni), The Leadership Institute (WA) and IEC’s Workplace Wellness programs.
Corporate leaders highly value Toni's work (Happy Healthy Leaders), and she loves working with educators, because educators educate, and she knows the tools participants learn will be passed on to the kids and their parents.
- Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 93 words used.
Delve into Toni's support document to explore in more detail the significance of her work and who she helps.
The documents contains information on -
Toni's approach - how she changes workplace cultures
Her programs - especially the program for school principals, which forms the foundation of this entry.
Her impact as a speaker and author - Toni's humourous and entertaining keynotes and books that explore leadership and relationships.
The document wraps up Toni's submission with stories from those who have worked with her and the media who want to speak to her.
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes, explaining the achievements since July 1, 2020 of the nominated woman, OR written answers to the questions? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video. If you are submitting written answers to the questions for this category, provide them in the spaces below:
- Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the nominee's past performance (up to 250 words):
Total 245 words used.
Toni’s approach is different - instead of equipping leaders with more communication skills, increasing understanding of diversity, or introducing them to mindfulness to change culture and wellbeing, Toni takes a truly alternative approach.
“Stressed, tired, overwhelmed and exhausted leaders don’t need more information on how to change culture. They need an easy and quick way to change how they relate to themselves and the outside world. If you help them do that, then wellbeing becomes the norm, and great workplace cultures are the outcome.” Toni PowelL
Easy. Enjoyable. Effective: This is what Toni wants every program to be. While her work is packed with science, her programs are designed with stressed, time poor leaders in mind. They're highly visual, use many formats, are entertaining, funny, interesting and, most importantly, relate-able. Toni’s programs are filled with her own vulnerabilities and struggles which clearly demonstrate how this work is lived out in real life. She takes the academic and makes it practical, real and liveable.
One school, one workplace, and one individual at a time, Toni reminds the tired, stressed, anxious, and overworked modern-day human how to tap into an abundance of joy, simply by utilising her knowledge of the human brain. This is profoundly significant for the individuals she impacts, but also for the world. The fact is that happier leaders and happier adults will trickle down to happier kids, happier marriages, happier parents, happier teams, and, in time, to a happier and better world.
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