Create an experience with Norliza Pavlakos

Norliza Pavlakos is an entrepreneur, author and keynote speaker whose career has been built on one skill: starting before she was ready, and making it work.

Her first business began with no start-up capital at all. At 23, she created Australia’s first Miss India International pageant, building a promoter team from scratch and producing a full-scale event for 4,000 guests. She went on to turn around a struggling café with no hospitality experience, then co-founded Finest Alterations, growing it into a five-store tailoring brand trading seven days a week, with wholesale and walk-in trade, contracts for the Australian Open and the Grand Prix, and clients including luxury brands. In 2015, she walked away from that business to start again as a speaker, with no speaking experience and no bookings.

Her latest venture, The Support Pages, is a digital platform that GPs in Australia use to refer patients to mental health support, built over five years of research and testing.

She built all of it after being homeless at 16 and surviving an abduction at 19. Where many would have stopped, she started building. Today she brings that story, and the business lessons behind it, to audiences across many industries, including technology (Microsoft), professional services (PwC), aviation (Qatar Airways), private equity and finance (Vista Equity Partners) and renewable energy (Vestas and Eolian). She helps teams make confident decisions without certainty, lead under pressure and rebuild quickly when setbacks occur.

She is a Toastmasters International Golden Gavel Honouree (2021) and the author of Conviction and The Indefatigable Entrepreneur.

Speaking categories

Business  ·  Business & Leadership Resilience  ·  CEO & Entrepreneurs  ·  Leadership  ·  Women in Business  ·  Resilience  ·  Inspirational  ·  Motivational  ·  Mental Health & Wellness  ·  Survivors & Overcoming Adversity

Key points for Norliza Pavlakos

•     Survived homelessness and an abduction before the age of 20, then started her first business, Australia’s first Miss India International pageant, with no start-up capital, building a promoter team and producing a full-scale event for 4,000 guests.

•     Co-founded Finest Alterations and grew it to five stores trading seven days a week, with wholesale and walk-in trade and contracts for the Australian Open and the Grand Prix, before walking away in 2015 to speak.

•     Founder of The Support Pages, a digital platform GPs in Australia use as a referral source for mental health support, built over five years of research and testing.

•     Inspires audiences across many industries, including technology, professional services, aviation, finance and renewable energy, for organisations such as Microsoft, PwC, Qatar Airways, Vista Equity Partners, Vestas and Eolian.

•     Delivers business-tested frameworks for decision-making, resilience and leadership under pressure, not generic motivation.

•     Toastmasters International Golden Gavel Honouree (2021) and author of Conviction and The Indefatigable Entrepreneur.

Keynote topics

The Power of Nothing   SIGNATURE KEYNOTE · MOST BOOKED

Turning underestimation into your most powerful advantage.

How doubt, bias and adversity become the instincts, resilience and clarity that drive breakthrough success, for teams and individuals who have been counted out.

The Conviction Effect   LEADERSHIP KEYNOTE

Decisive leadership in uncertainty.

A leadership operating system for deciding boldly, acting quickly and creating alignment when the path isn’t clear, forged through building businesses from the ground up, not theory.

The One-Day Reset   PERFORMANCE KEYNOTE

Rapid resilience and performance reset under pressure.

A proven 24-hour recovery protocol that helps leaders and teams regain clarity and stabilise performance after setbacks, without needing months to rebuild.

Organisations she has spoken for

Microsoft  ·  PwC  ·  Qatar Airways  ·  Vista Equity Partners  ·  Vestas  ·  Eolian  ·  Zurich  ·  Dell  ·  Lenovo  ·  Coca-Cola  ·  Marriott  ·  Emirates