Lauren Burns PhD

Dr Lauren Burns created sporting history by winning the first Olympic gold medal for Taekwondo when the sport made its debut at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. 

Inspiring | Memorable | Empowering | Insightful | Authentic 

Lauren delivers powerful, engaging, and life-changing presentations. Lauren’s genuine passion for inspiring and empowering participants shines through her unique blend of humour, down-to-earth storytelling, and evidence-based tips for achieving optimal well-being and high-performance living. Her ability to captivate audiences with relatable anecdotes and practical strategies is what sets her apart. 

Through her presentations, Lauren elevates the potential of each individual in the room, motivating them to take action and make positive changes in their lives. 

Over the past 20 years, Lauren has combined all of her learning and experience into nine core elements, making up the Circle of Lifestyle. 

KEYNOTES, WORKSHOPS & MASTERCLASSES 

POPULAR TOPICS:   

ELEVATING POTENTIAL 

Transforming Lauren’s Olympic and life experiences into practical life strategies 

Audience participation through taekwondo moves, concluding with one person on stage to break a board 

Lauren discusses aspects of her Cycle of Lifestyle and how they impact performance, mindset, relationships, and overall well-being 

Discover practical strategies to bring structure, balance and energy 

Understand the importance of interpersonal relationships for well-being, stress management, and peak performance 

"Lauren was absolutely sensational."  BHP 

“Excellent, Lauren’s energy was intoxicating. Our guests were mesmerised.” PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS 

LEAP – LIFESTYLES OF ELITE ATHLETIC PERFORMERS 

• Learn from the world’s best athletes. Insights from Lauren’s PhD research 

• Discover the lifestyle and mindset factors that contribute to the success of Olympic and World Champion winning athletes 

• Explore psychological attributes such as intrinsic motivation, resilience, realistic optimism, self-regulation, and a thirst for knowledge that define elite performers 

• Elevate potential by adopting the mindset and habits of successful athletes into daily life 

VALUES + LIFE PLANNING 

• The benefits of understanding your personal values are well recognised. Personal values are deeply held beliefs and principles that guide individuals’ behaviour, decisions, and attitudes 

• Lauren guides participants through the process of identifying their own personal values, what they need to add into their life to support their values, and what they need to change to reflect these values 

• Using your values-based decision making has positive impacts on: 

- Health and Well-being - Decision-Making and Goal Setting - Work Satisfaction and Engagement 

• Effective planning is key to both well-being and high-performance. Lauren empowers participants with strategies for short, medium and long-term planning – where they leave equipped with knowledge and recourses to continue incorporating planning into their life 

“Thanks Lauren for the breathing exercises, the values alignment but most of all thank you for the push to do more planning”  PARTICIPANT   

“Engaging. So good to step outside ‘work’ development and think of development on a personal level as well Life as a Big Picture. Thank You!!!”  PARTICIPANT

ACTIVE TAEKWONDO WORKSHOP 

Make your event Memorable – all participants break boards! 

An excellent way to kick-off or wrap-up a conference – with high energy and sense of achievement and purpose. 

Lauren conveys key messages relating to self-belief, mental imagery, and incorporates the ancient practices of the martial art taekwondo, to cultivate the indomitable spirit. 

The boards are a metaphor for Action | Commitment | Breakthrough.

Workshops include: 

    Simple, high energy taekwondo moves 

    Focus on fun, teamwork, practical skills and key messages 

    All participants breaking boards 

    Signing of participants’ boards as take home memento 

“The room was electric, they stood clapping their broken boards together. Lauren signed every board, which was printed with the conference theme ‘Breakthrough’. The memento boards now adorn many offices. Fantastic!” WRIGLEY 

“240 staff stood and applauded with their successfully broken boards – unbelievable... It was an amazing atmosphere and all were cheering and clapping their boards at the end, an awesome energy in the room. Our people have seen the best. Fantastic!”  ECOSEAGATE 

LEADERSHIP + ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS 

Helping individuals and organisations reach their optimal potential. 

Over the past 20 years, Lauren has combined all of her learning and incredible experiences into 9 core elements, with key focus areas being: 

• Wellbeing • Lifestyle and Mindset • Strategic Planning and Goal Setting 

• Relationships and Connection • Motivation • Resilience 

These elements support wellbeing and are essential for mental health, thriving and performing under pressure. 

These programs run over 3, 6, or 12 months and begin with a keynote, followed by a combination of masterclasses, workshops and individual or group coaching. A truly unique offering.

LAUREN'S OTHER COMMITMENTS 

• Nutritional Ambassador for Nino Early Learning Adventures – creating seasonal, wholefood, delicious menu’s for Nino’s Centres
• 1:1 Performance and Lifestyle Coaching 
• Research with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) on the characteristics of relationships on Olympic gold medal winning performances. 
• Involved with Gold Medal Ready program - AIS
• Lauren sits on the Scholarship Selection Committee for the Sport Australia Hall of Fame (SAHOF)

AS A BRAND AMBASSADOR

Lauren believes in developing lasting relationships with companies that have aligned values and synergy. Some suggestions:

1.    Wellness and Lifestyle Products: Lauren lives and breathes lifestyle, she is a credible personality with a PhD in athlete, lifestyle and mindset.

2.    Fitness Equipment: Lauren understands the benefits of movement and exercise, she works out every day and would be a perfect fit for a fitness equipment brand. Lauren has also recovered from multiple injuries so knows first-hand the importance of small steps and incorporating tools and equipment into daily use.

3.    Food and Beverage: Lauren is a degree qualified naturopath and nutritionist. She is passionate about a healthy diet for optimal performance, energy and lifestyle. Lauren is happiest in the kitchen, she has written a cookbook and the camera loves her. She would be a strong asset to the right brand. She has a particular penchant towards organic wholefoods and ‘eating the rainbow.’

4.    Kitchen: All things kitchen! This is Lauren’s happy place. Supporting others to find joys in the kitchen no matter their level of cooking experience brings her much joy.

5.    Herbal Teas: Herbal medicine was a large component of Lauren’s undergraduate degree and she often prescribes herbal teas to clients as they are very accessible and have excellent health benefits.

6.    Supplements and Nutraceuticals: with Lauren’s qualifications, along with background in high performance, she would be a great brand ambassador for products that support optimal performance and overall general health and well-being.

7.    Travel: Lauren loves to travel. Currently she travels extensively for speaking engagements and for family adventures. She is also an excellent writer so can also articulate travel tips, experiences, recommendations and parenting hacks.

8.    Wellness Destinations and Spas: Lauren understands the power of taking time to stop, pause, and recharge. Throughout her Olympic journey, and as a mum running a business and busy household, she makes it a priority to schedule regular breaks. With her knowledge and expertise in health and wellbeing along with her own personal commitment to self-care, she would be a perfect fit for a brand in this category.

9.   Athletic Clothing: An active lifestyle is what Lauren is all about, and to do that you need to be comfortable. Lauren would be an excellent fit for athletic clothing as she wears it every day – at the gym, school pick up, and generally leading a busy life.

10. Gardening: One of Lauren’s core values is achievement. Often this manifests in planting something and watching it grow. Lauren has a flourishing vegetable garden which her family reaps the reward from year round. She adores being in nature and cultivating a beautiful environment through plants both inside and out.  

11. Water Bottles: Not only drinking water but measuring how much you drink is a key lifestyle measure Lauren always works on with her coaching clients. Lauren is also passionate about the environment and making the best choices where we can to support reusables and limiting single-use plastics.

SPEAKING TESTIMONIALS 

"We were looking for a speaker who could inspire, unite and help us bring our individual and team goals to life. Lauren did all of this and more. She was warm, engaging, funny & targeted her session delivery and include practical strategies to help us achieve our goals." MEDIBANK

"Thank you so very much for your great presentation to the Summit - from the very positive feedback received, your message really resonated with the 4000+ people in the room! Your talk definitely ticked all the boxes in the brief that we had been given by the client. Also, thank you for being so nice to work with, as well as for your professional and diligent approach." IDA

“Couldn't have gone better, everyone loved Lauren. Really hit the mark covering across mental health. She was authentic, funny and raw… no bullshit and everyone could see that. Feedback was that "she is the best speaker they've ever had”  YARRA RANGES COUNCIL

“Lauren was inspirational. Her affinity with wellbeing made her the ideal speaker at our conference. She managed to combine her remarkable story, with points that were highly relevant to our audience, industry sector, and region." DAYLESFORD MACEDON TOURISM

“10/10! Very well prepared and able to anchor her life experience into the needs of the audience. The messages were very well presented and thought through.  One of the most relatable and inspirational presenters I have seen.” FUTUREGEN FOUNDATION

"10 - 10!!! Lauren was outstanding on the night, her engagement with all that she met, her willingness to interact for photos, meeting people, bringing books, was exceptional, also the organisers had the great fortune of breakfast the following morning, which was insightful, fascinating and invaluable for e2e. Her presentation on the night was first class, interactive, energic and highly educational and very entertaining - Lauren was amazing, to add to this has been her incredible connection on her social media platforms, which was amazing. We love Lauren and want her be part of the e2e journey." ENHANCE to EMPOWER 

"Excellent. Lauren was absolutely superb.  She had the audience totally captivated from the minute she walked onto the stage until she finished 40 minutes later.  Her honesty and humour were inspiring and she was certainly a highlight of the conference." NATIONAL FOODS

"Excellent. Lauren has an outstanding story to tell and is generous with her medal, autographs, photographs etc. I strongly recommend her." ANZ 

"Your inspirational message to our guests was first class and really sealed for us a great night of recognition, for the top achievers in our Dealer network. I know that our people will benefit from your experience and can only hope that some of them can "dare to dream", and achieve just as you have done." MERCEDES-BENZ

“Excellent. An empowering presenter that left the audience touched, moved and inspired.” PROPERTYINVESTING.COM

"Excellent. Lauren was a perfect choice for this event. Her delivery and ‘story telling’ ability made for an enthralling forty minutes. Most importantly she was ‘real’.  SIMON CREELY PRODUCTIONS

"The impact you made on Sue has been amazing, it was a life-changing event for her. She is so proud of her achievement (breaking the board) and the fact that you believed in her has given her so much more confidence. We all got so much out of your presentation and your 'success leaves clues' has made me look at things in a totally new light." IXL APPLIANCES

"Excellent. Not only was Lauren well prepared, inspiring and provoking, she made people feel special with her generous time mingling with everyone. I would recommend her in a heartbeat." INCIRCLES

"Lauren was excellent!"  DEPARTMENT OF INFRASTRUCTURE 

"Excellent. More than a draw card. Lauren is interesting, natural and relaxed as a presenter and has some great stories regarding pushing oneself and overcoming obstacles." TATTERSALL'S

“Excellent. Lauren was very natural and her enthusiasm was catching. She involved her audience and worked extremely well in our small and intimate setting. We received great feedback from all who attended." CITY OF GLEN EIRA

"Excellent. Professional, engaging and motivating – a fantastic conference presentation package."  ACTA

“Excellent. It was refreshing to listen to someone so natural and with a joy of life. An ordinary person doing extraordinary things.” AIOP TASMANIAN DIVISION

“Excellent. Great presentation. Interesting, active and informative!" VICTORIAN TAXI ASSOCIATION

"Lauren and the crew were simply excellent! She provided a great way to close our event with the sounds of around 800 people breaking and then clapping boards it was a great thrill for all." JOHN DANKS & SON 

"Brilliant! Lauren was enthralling - she captivated the audience as she spoke with us. This is quite rare as most presenters seem to speak to you and it's so much more fulfilling and inspiring to have someone - a perfect stranger - just neatly and happily step into your mind. I have already experienced a number of highly excited people congratulating us for letting them hear Lauren.

Lauren won the hearts of everyone in the room as we all experienced the highs and lows of her sporting career - please let her know how much we enjoyed her adventure and how she captured our hearts." BGKLLEN

"She was great! Lauren has a fantastic personal style - very informal and personable. Her presentation was engaging, and she really made an effort to speak with different members of the team 1:1 following the presentation." FOSTERS

"10 /10….Lauren was an absolute pleasure to work with – she took the time to understand our event, communicate with our team beforehand and on the night was able to read the vibe in the room exceptionally well.

Throughout the evening Lauren (as the MC) was able to seamlessly navigate any changes to schedule or tweak the script as she went. Through personal anecdotes Lauren engaged with our guests and was able to inject her own personality and warmth into the evening. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Lauren for your next event."  AUSTRALIAN SPORTS COMMISSION